James Patrick Rossiter (September 13, 1890, in

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– September 26, 1943, in Erie,

) was a prominent

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

.New York Times obituary, 26 September 1943

Family

He was the second of seven children of Louis T. Rossiter, an insurance company superintendent, and his wife Elizabeth C. "Lizzie" (Griffin) Rossiter. The family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

after James was born and by 1900 was living in the town of Wenonah in Gloucester County. His father brought the family to Erie in 1903, where he again worked in the insurance field. By 1910, the family lived a
439 West Fifth Street
just off Erie's posh Millionaires Row, which runs along West Sixth Street between

Perry Square Perry Square is one of the series of city squares planned by famed surveyor Andrew Ellicott in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. The park diverts the flow of 6th Street for two wooded city blocks bisected by State Street, which separates the ...

and Gridley Park.Carney, John G., Highlights of Erie Politics, 1960, pg 117 After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he returned to living with his parents at their West Fifth Street home. In 1930, he and two adult siblings were living with their widowed father a
616 West Ninth Street
just southwest of their West Fifth Street homestead.

Education

He attended the Burns School in Erie and graduated Erie High School in 1910. He studied pre-law at the Pennsylvania State College, where he served one year in

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as a condition of his attendance at what was then a land-grant college. He finished his law studies at Georgetown University Law School, where he graduated in 1916.

Military service

Regarding Rossiter's service in

, John G. Carney's "Highlights of Erie Politics" says that Rossiter enlisted in the US Army as a private, served eighteen months, and left as a captain. His New York Times obituary says Rossiter served as a lieutenant in an artillery unit in World War I. He was among the founders of the Roger Israel Post 11 of the

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and actively promoted the cause of

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

Career

Rossiter was a lawyer in Erie when he registered for military service in June 1917. After the war, he resumed his legal work from his parents' West Fifth Street home. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

Erie County, Pennsylvania Erie County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the northernmost county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,876. Its county seat is Erie. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. ...

. He appeared before the District of Columbia court, United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. He was a lawyer in private practice living in Erie when he registered for the draft in 1943. He served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, from 1932 to 1936. After the mayoralty, he was appointed chief counsel to Pennsylvania's General State Authority in 1937. He resigned that post effective 31 July 1939 and was considering the Democratic candidacy for judge of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. He was to be replaced in the general counsel position by Winfred D. Lewis of Lansford, Pennsylvania He was an unsuccessful candidate for

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

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in 1928. He served as assistant district attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, but twice failed in his bid for the position of district attorney. He was the supportive

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chairman for Erie County when Democratic-Liberal candidate for state governor John Hemphill visited Erie in October 1930, pushing for repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. He represented his party to three of its national conventions. He seconded the nomination of former Governor

Alfred E. Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Civ ...

as the

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at the

1932 Democratic National Convention The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois June 27 – July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for president and Speaker of the House John N. Garner from Tex ...

. He was also named to attend the

1936 Democratic National Convention The 1936 Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 23 to 27, 1936. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John N. Garner for reelection. Changes to ru ...

.Clearfield (Pennsylvania) Progress, 27 April 1936

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossiter, James Patrick Mayors of Erie, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers 1890 births 1943 deaths Politicians from Philadelphia United States Army personnel of World War I Georgetown University Law Center alumni People from Wenonah, New Jersey 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers