was an American inventor and politician who served as the mayor of
Edmonston, Maryland
Edmonston is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 1,445.
The community is located from Washington, D.C. Edmonston's ZIP code is 20781.
History
The area of present-day Edmon ...
in 1927 and 1943.
Biography
Matsudaira was born in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
on September 13, 1885, as the son of a Japanese father,
Tadaatsu, and an American mother, Carrie Sampson. He was a descendant of the
Fujii-Matsudaira clan. After his father's death, he lived with his maternal grandparents in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. On May 1, 1912, Matsudaira filed fo
U.S. Patent 1,111,912concerning the functions of a thermometric fire-detector. The patent was granted to him on September 29, 1914.
In 1925, Matsudaira sent a letter to the
Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.
is the diplomatic mission of Japan to the United States. It is located at 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., in the Embassy Row neighborhood. In addition to serving as Japan's diplomatic mission in the United States, the embassy pro ...
, asking whether he was related to
Tsuneo Matsudaira
was a Japanese diplomat of the 20th century.
Diplomatic and political career
The son of Lord Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu, Tsuneo served as Japanese Ambassador to the United States. In 1929–1935 served as Ambassador to Britain, and in that ...
, the
Japanese Ambassador to the United States at the time.
Matsudaira was elected as the mayor of
Edmonston, Maryland
Edmonston is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 1,445.
The community is located from Washington, D.C. Edmonston's ZIP code is 20781.
History
The area of present-day Edmon ...
, in the summer of 1927.
The election reportedly made him the first Japanese American mayor in the United States. He was re-elected as mayor of Edmonston in 1943.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira, Kinjiro
1885 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American inventors
American mayors of Japanese descent
American politicians of Japanese descent
Asian-American people in Maryland politics
Fujii-Matsudaira clan