Jose Mascarel

Jose Mascarel (born April 18, 1816 in Marseille , France , †  October 6, 1899 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American politician of French origin. He was Mayor of Los Angeles in 1865 and 1866.

Career

At the age of eleven, Jose Mascarel was hired as a sailor on a French merchant ship. At the age of 21 he joined the French Navy for four years. After that he was the captain of a merchant ship. In addition to his native French, he also spoke fluent Spanish. In 1844 he settled in Los Angeles, then still in Mexico , where he spent the rest of his life. He first worked as a cooper . Then he founded a bakery. Later he also worked in the wine business. He made some fortune and appeared as an investor in the Farmers and Merchans Bank of Los Angeles . He was also a landowner. In 1874 he opened the first goods store in what would later become Hollywood .

In the 1860s he embarked on a political career as a member of the Republican Party . Between 1864 and 1865 he was a member of the Los Angeles City Council . From 1867 to 1882 he was again a member of this body with interruptions. During the civil war he was loyal to the Union and resisted secession tendencies in his home country. In 1865, Mascarel was elected mayor of Los Angeles. He held this office between May 5, 1865 and May 10, 1866. He campaigned unsuccessfully for a ban on weapons in his city. The first oil companies were founded in the Los Angeles area. Jose Mascarel died in Los Angeles on October 6, 1899.

Web links

• Jose Mascarel in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• The Mayors of Los Angeles