Mark Matthew Fagan (September 29, 1869 – July 16, 1955) was an Irish Catholic mayor of
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.United States, 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
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
, asked him to run for mayor, which Fagan did and won becoming the 27th mayor of Jersey City. 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
Henry Otto Wittpenn (October 23, 1871 – July 25, 1931) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from January 1, 1908 to June 16, 1913. He was a member of the New Jersey State Highway Commission and was the p ...
. 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 succeeded him as mayor. It would be 75 years before another Republican,
Bret Schundler
Bret D. Schundler (born January 14, 1959) is an American Republican politician from New Jersey. Schundler was the mayor of Jersey City from 1992 until 2001. Schundler was the city's first Republican mayor since 1917. He ran for Governor of New Je ...
, 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 parcel i ...
in Jersey City.
See also
*
List of mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey
The Mayor of the City of Jersey City is the head of the executive branch of the government of Jersey City, New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north a ...
References
Further reading
* Noble, Ransom E. ''New Jersey Progressivism Before Wilson'' (Princeton UP, 1946 online