Damien Marchesseault (or Marchesseau) (April 1, 1818 – January 20, 1868) was a Canadian-born American politician who served as the seventh

mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...

from May 9, 1859, to May 9, 1860, and then again from January 7, 1861, to May 6, 1865. Marchesseault assumed the office one last time interrupting

Cristobal Aguilar José Cristóbal Aguilar (1816 – April 11, 1886) was a Californio politician and journalist, who served three terms as Mayor of Los Angeles, the last Hispanic to hold the office until 2005, with the election of Antonio Villaraigosa. He was ...

's first term in office for three months.

Biography

Born in St.-Antoine-sur-Richelieu,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Marchesseault was described as a carousing onetime

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

gambler. With Victor Beaudry, he started an ice vending company using ice from what is now known as Icehouse Canyon near

Mount San Antonio Mount San Antonio, commonly referred to as Mount Baldy or Old Baldy, is a summit in the San Gabriel Mountains on the border of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties of California. Lying within the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument an ...

. During his term as

Zanjero of Los Angeles The Zanjero (; ), sometimes known as the Water Overseer or Water Steward, was the official in charge of water management for the city of Los Angeles in the 19th century. The position was considered to be more important than even the Mayor of Los ...

(water steward), Marchesseault and a partner laid wooden water pipes that burst and turned streets into sinkholes. Marchesseault killed himself on 20 January 1868, leaving a suicide note to his wife, Mary Clark Marchesseault, stating his motivation was shame from his drinking and gambling debts.

Legacy

Marcheassault Street in Los Angeles is named for him.

References

* ''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938'', Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchessault, Damien Mayors of Los Angeles Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members 19th-century mayors of places in California 1818 births 1868 deaths American politicians who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in California American people of French-Canadian descent Emigrants from pre-Confederation Quebec to the United States People from Montérégie