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Damien Marchesseault

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Damien Marchesseault
7th Mayor of Los Angeles
In office
May 9, 1859 – May 9, 1860
Preceded byJohn G. Nichols
Succeeded byHenry Mellus
In office
January 7, 1861 – May 6, 1865
Preceded byWallace Woodworth (acting)
Succeeded byJose Mascarel
In office
May 8, 1867 – August 8, 1867
Preceded byCristóbal Aguilar
Succeeded byCristóbal Aguilar
Personal details
BornApril 1, 1818
Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
DiedJanuary 20, 1868 (1868-01-21) (aged 49)
Los Angeles, California

Damien Marchesseault (or Marchesseau) (April 1, 1818 – January 20, 1868) was a Canadian-born American politician who served as the seventh mayor of Los Angeles from May 9, 1859, to May 9, 1860, and then again from January 7, 1861, to May 6, 1865. Marchesseault assumed the office one last time interrupting Cristobal Aguilar's first term in office for three months.

Biography

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Born in St.-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, Marchesseault was described as a carousing onetime New Orleans gambler. With Victor Beaudry, he started an ice vending company using ice from what is now known as Icehouse Canyon near Mount San Antonio.[citation needed]

During his term as Zanjero of Los Angeles (water steward), Marchesseault and a partner laid wooden water pipes that burst and turned streets into sinkholes.

Struggling with mounting debts, he slipped into an empty Los Angeles City Hall Council chamber on Jan. 20, 1868, and shot himself to death.

Marcheassault Street in Los Angeles is named for him.[1]

Death and suicide note

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Marchesseault killed himself on 20 January 1868, leaving a suicide note to his wife, Mary Clark Marchesseault, stating his motivation was shame from his drinking and gambling debts.[2]

References

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  1. ^ The Quarterly. The Society. 1914.
  2. ^ January 21, 1868, issue of the Los Angeles Semi-Weekly News
  • Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)
Political offices
Preceded by Zanjero of Los Angeles
May 12, 1866—May 8, 1867
Succeeded by
Preceded by Zanjero of Los Angeles
August 8, 1867—January 20, 1868
Succeeded by