Stirling Fessenden (29 September 1875 – 1 February 1944), an American lawyer who practised in Shanghai, was the chairman of the

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

from 1923 to 1929 and then

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the Council from 1929 to 1939.

Early life

Fessenden was born September 29, 1875 in

Fort Fairfield, Maine Fort Fairfield is a town in Aroostook County, eastern Maine, United States, located along the Canada–US border. The population was 3,322 at the 2020 census. History Fort Fairfield is named for John Fairfield, 13th and 16th governor of Mai ...

, United States. The son of

Nicholas Fessenden Nicholas Fessenden (November 23, 1847 – December 18, 1927) was a US attorney and politician who served from 1891 to 1896 as Secretary of State of Maine. Life Nicholas Fessenden was born in Saco, Maine, the son of Hewett Chandler Fessenden (1 ...

, Judge and later

Secretary of State of Maine The secretary of state of Maine is a constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Maine and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The Secretary of State performs duties of both a legislative branch as well as an executive branch off ...

, and Laura Sterling, he came from a prominent New England family which included

Samuel Fessenden Samuel Fessenden (July 16, 1784 – March 13, 1869) was an American attorney, abolitionist, and politician. He served in both houses of the Massachusetts state legislature before Maine became a separate state. He was elected as major general i ...

, a Massachusetts state senator and US Treasury Secretary William P. Fessenden. In 1896, he graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(Bowdoin College, in 1932, awarded him an honorary

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

.) He studied law in the

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

, evening department.

Legal practice in Shanghai

Fessenden came to Shanghai in April 1903 to work as a sub-manager with the American Trading Company. In 1905, he commenced practicing law in partnership with Mr

Thomas R. Jernigan Thomas Roberts Jernigan (1847–1920) was US consul (representative), consul in Kobe, Japan (1885–1889), and later Consulate General of the United States, Shanghai, US consul general in Shanghai, China (1893–1897). After leaving the diplomat ...

. In 1907, he was admitted to practice in the newly established

United States Court for China The United States Court for China was a United States district court that had extraterritorial jurisdiction over U.S. citizens in China. It existed from 1906 to 1943 and had jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters, with appeals taken to the U ...

. He and Jernigan, were, initially, the only American lawyers to pass the strict bar exam introduced by the new judge, Lebbeus Wilfley. Later he formed a partnership with Major Chauncy Holcomb in the firm of Fessenden & Holcomb. He served as Chairman of the Far Eastern Bar Association in Shanghai for many years.

Shanghai Municipal Council

Stirling Fessenden Lord Mayor of Shanghai

In 1920, Fessenden was elected a member of

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, i ...

Board of Trustees and in October 1923 he became chairman of the Municipal Council. Following the outspring on violence in Shanghai from 1925, he re-organized the

Shanghai Volunteer Corps The Shanghai Volunteer Corps (SVC) (1853−1942) was a multinational, mostly volunteer force controlled by the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement. History The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was created on 1 ...

. He created the American Mercantile Company, mostly dealing with Shanghai real-estate in 1925 along wit
Harry Virden Bernard
In 1929, Fessenden resigned from his post as Chairman of the Municipal Council and took up the post of Director-General (later

) of Municipal Council, charged with the administration of the council. After the Japanese invasion of China, the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...

was encircled by Japanese troops. The Japanese authorities claimed that he conspired with the Americans against Japan. With effect from June 30, 1939, Fessenden retired from his position with the council due to eye disease. He was succeeded by

G. Godfrey Phillips George Godfrey Phillips CBE (7 June 1900 – 24 October 1965), was a British barrister and, later, solicitor, who served as the Commissioner General of the Shanghai Municipal Council from 1939 to 1942. He was also co-author with E. C. S. Wade ...

, the secretary of the Council.

Internment and death

In 1941, when Japan occupied the Shanghai International Settlement at the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the Japanese forced Fessenden to be interned with Russian refugees. After he was completely blind, Chinese servants took care of him. Fessenden was offered a passage out of Shanghai in September 1943 on the

Teia Maru MS ''Aramis'' was built for France's '' Messageries Maritimes'' for the France-Southeast Asia colonial route. One of her distinguishing features was that her funnels were square-shaped. She was built to carry 1,045 civilian passengers in first, ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

(where passengers would transfer to the MS Gripsholm to take them back to the United States). However, knowing that he had little time to live, he declined. He died of a heart ailment, in Shanghai on February 1, 1944. Fessenden had indicated before his death that he wished to be cremated.Letter dated September 8, 1943 from Fessenden to his brother Thomas Fessenden. There is no record of his burial in Shanghai, so he presumably was.

Early life

Legal practice in Shanghai

Shanghai Municipal Council

Internment and death

References

Further reading