James D. Phelan

James D. Phelan (1910)

James Duval Phelan (born April 20, 1861 in San Francisco , California , † August 7, 1930 in Saratoga , California) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) and banker .

Early years

Phelan was born in San Francisco to an Irish immigrant who had become wealthy in the gold rush . He graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1881. He then studied law at the University of California at Berkeley and became a banker like his father.

Career

From 1897 to 1902 Phelan was mayor of the city of San Francisco, where he was able to raise enough money through the introduction of government bonds to implement major reform projects (see History of the City of San Francisco ). His successor was Eugene Schmitz .

At the turn of the century, Phelan bought large estates around the San Francisco Bay area and acquired the water rights to the Tuolumne River . He wanted to ensure the public water and electricity supply in "Greater San Francisco". The then US Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock tried to stop Phelan, but President Theodore Roosevelt whistled back.

Used in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake

Phelan was appointed to the Committee of Fifty , which was set up to deal with the crisis after the devastating earthquake of 1906 . When Edward Thomas Devin was managing the funds of the Red Cross on behalf of the President , Phelan was appointed to his side. This was mainly so that Eugene Schmitz did not get any of it into his hands, because there were considerable allegations of bribery against Schmitz (which ultimately led to his arrest). After Devin resigned, Phelan also took over the post of head of the Red Cross.

senator

Phelan around 1920

In 1915 Phelan ran for the Democrats for a seat in the US Senate. He won the election and belonged to it from March 4, 1915 to March 3, 1921. In 1920 he lost re-election to Republican Samuel M. Shortridge , possibly because of his overly conservative campaign. One of his campaign posters was titled "Keep California White".

Villa Montalvo and its legacy

Villa Montalvo, Phelan's house

After serving in the Senate, Phelan returned to banking and collected art . He died in his home in Saratoga in 1930. After his death, he bequeathed his property to the Californian people. Montalvo is now a state-run cultural center. Some of his correspondence can also be viewed in the library there. Phelan is buried in the family mausoleum in Colma .

Among other things, Phelan Avenue in San Francisco is named after him. The small village of Phelan in the High Desert also bears his name.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gray Brechin: Populist Rhetoric, Private Gain ( July 19, 2010 memento on the Internet Archive ) WRCA News, Volume 7, Number 3, October 2000. Retrieved July 2, 2009.

literature

• Gordon Thomas , Max Morgan Witts: The San Francisco Earthquake. Stein and Day, New York 1971, ISBN 0-8128-1360-X .

Web links

Commons : James D. Phelan  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• James D. Phelan in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Montalvo Arts Center