Mark Matthew Fagan (September 29, 1869 – July 16, 1955) was an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

mayor of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, from 1902 to 1907 and 1913 to 1917.

Biography

He was born on September 29, 1869, in Jersey City. He had little formal education, and as a youth, he worked for his uncle as an undertaker. A Republican, he entered politics while still in his twenties becoming a county freeholder though he was not re-elected. In 1901, Republican Party boss, Colonel Samuel D. Dickinson, asked him to run for mayor, which Fagan did and won becoming the 27th

mayor of Jersey City The Mayor of the City of Jersey City is the head of the executive branch of the government of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint dep ...

. At age 32, he was the youngest mayor elected in Jersey City until that time and only the fifth Republican. He was re-elected for three consecutive two-year terms however, after feuding with his own party, he was defeated for re-election in 1907 by H. Otto Wittpenn. He unsuccessfully ran again in 1909. In 1913, Jersey City went to a city commission form of government, and Fagan was elected commissioner. He was then chosen by his colleagues to be mayor once more. As mayor, he was famous for building schools. In 1917, he stepped down as mayor, retired from politics and continued his career as an undertaker. Political boss

Frank Hague Francis Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956), known as Frank Hague, was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1917 to 1947, and vice-chairman of the Democratic National Comm ...

succeeded him as mayor. It would be 75 years before another Republican,

Bret Schundler Bret Davis Schundler (born January 14, 1959) is an American politician from New Jersey who served as the 42nd mayor of Jersey City from 1992 to 2001. He remains the last Republican to hold that office. He also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of ...

, would be elected mayor of Jersey City. Fagan died on July 16, 1955, and was buried in

Holy Name Cemetery Holy Name Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. It was established in 1866 and at the end of calendar year 2002 has accepted 264,984 burials. The cemetery parc ...

in Jersey City.

References

External links

* Chapter 1 of ''Upbuilders'' by

Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

* 1869 births 1955 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey New Jersey Republicans American people of Irish descent Burials at Holy Name Cemetery (Jersey City, New Jersey) {{NewJersey-mayor-stub

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links