John Christian Lodge (August 12, 1862 – February 6, 1950) was an influential politician from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, serving as mayor from 1922 to 1923, in 1924, and from 1927 to 1929, and spending over 30 years on the

Detroit City Council The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location ...

Biography

John C. Lodge was born in Detroit on August 12, 1862, to Dr. Edwin A. Lodge and Christiana Lodge (née Hanson). He attended the

Michigan Military Academy The Michigan Military Academy, also known as M.M.A., was an all-boys military prep school in Orchard Lake Village, Oakland County, Michigan. It was founded in 1877 by J. Sumner Rogers and closed in 1908 due to bankruptcy. Some journalists h ...

in 1881. He worked as a reporter and city editor for the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' from 1889 to 1896. In 1897 he entered the

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

industry, and was connected with the Dwight Lumber Company.

Politics

Lodge was the chief clerk for the Wayne County Auditors from 1897 to 1905, then served for two years as the secretary to mayor George P. Codd. He was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

from Wayne County's 1st district, from 1909 to 1910, and served as chair of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors. He was a member of the

beginning in 1910, and held the position for 17 years before being elected mayor, nine of them as council president. During that time, Lodge served twice as acting mayor: once from December 5, 1922, to April 9, 1923, after James J. Couzens's resignation to assume the office of

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, and once from August 2, 1924, to November 21, 1924, after Joseph A. Martin's resignation. In 1927, Lodge was elected mayor in his own right, serving from 1927 to 1929. He was defeated in his quest for renomination in 1929. After his stint as mayor, Lodge returned to the city council, serving there from 1932 to 1947. Lodge died on February 6, 1950, and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. After his death, the John C. Lodge Freeway (M-10) in Detroit was named after him.

Family

Lodge was the great uncle of aviator

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

. Before Lindbergh's famed transatlantic flight, he approached Lodge for funding. Lodge declined, convinced his grandnephew faced certain death. Lindbergh would go on to receive funding from supporters in St. Louis, rather than Detroit.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
"In Detroit"

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

magazine, January 23, 1928. 1862 births 1950 deaths Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Mayors of Detroit Detroit City Council members Detroit Free Press people Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit) 20th-century American politicians {{Detroit-stub