Frank Putnam Flint (July 15, 1862 – February 11, 1929) was a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

from 1905 to 1911.

Early life

Frank Putnam Flint was born on July 15, 1862, in

North Reading, Massachusetts North Reading (pronounced, as is with Reading, Massachusetts, Reading as ()) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,554 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area was first settled ...

, to Althea Louise (née Hewes) and Francis Eaton Flint. In 1869, his family moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, where he attended public schools. He had asthma. In 1888 he moved to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, then

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.

Career

In 1888 or 1890, he was appointed a clerk in the United States marshal's office in Los Angeles, and began to study law. In 1892 he was appointed assistant United States attorney under Mathew Thompson Allen. In 1883 he resigned and formed a law partnership with Allen, Allen & Flint, which lasted two years until Allen became a judge. In 1895, Flint and Donald Barker reformed the law firm as Flint & Barker. In 1897 Flint was appointed United States attorney for the southern district of California, and served four years. Flint was active in Republican politics. He was a fruit-grower, politician and banker. In Los Angeles he was a member of the chamber of commerce and of its law committee; a member of the Municipal League, the Sunset club, the

California club The California Club is an invitation-only private club established in 1888, based in Los Angeles, California. According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', "The people who run Los Angeles belong to the Jonathan Club; the people who own Los Angeles b ...

, the Union League club, the Republican league, the Masonic order and Knights Templar. He attended the Presbyterian church, was a trustee of

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

, a director of two banks (Equitable Savings, Los Angeles National). He served as

United States Attorney for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against th ...

from 1897 to 1901 and as a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

until 1911 as a Republican, and holds the distinction of being the 1000th senator in overall seniority. Flint served one term in the Senate and did not seek reelection. Flint was elected as president of the board of trustees of Occidental College in 1914. Flint served as chairman of the National Boulder Dam Association and advocated for the building of the Boulder Dam (later renamed the

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

). In 1915, he became president of the Los Angeles Investment Company. He served in that role until his resignation in October 1928.

Personal life

On February 25, 1890, he married Katherine J. Bloss in Los Angeles; and they had two children. His brother Motley H. was postmaster of Los Angeles. Flint lived on Flintridge Avenue in Pasadena. He was a majority stockholder of Flintridge Country Club, but in 1927 withdrew his stake. Flint died on February 11, 1929, aboard the '' S.S. President Polk'' near the harbor of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. His body lay in state at

Los Angeles City Hall Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the Mayor of Los Angeles, mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is loca ...

. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale.

Legacy

The city of

La Cañada Flintridge, California La Cañada Flintridge, commonly known as just , is a city in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Crescenta Valley, in the western edge of the San Gabriel Valley, it is the l ...

, is named, in part, for him, as he was a developer of Flintridge, which merged with La Cañada in the late 20th century. As a senator from California, he played a great part in making the Mission style the official architectural style of government buildings in Southern California and played a major political role in bringing Owens Valley water to metropolitan

References

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