John D. Fredericks

John Donnan Fredericks (September 10, 1869 – August 26, 1945) was an American lawyer and politician from Los Angeles, who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1923 to 1927. As District Attorney of Los Angeles, he successfully prosecuted the McNamara brothers for their 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building.

John D. Fredericks
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 10th district
In office
May 1, 1923 – March 3, 1927
Preceded byHenry Z. Osborne
Succeeded byJoe Crail
26th Los Angeles County District Attorney
In office
1903–1915
Preceded byJames C. Rives
Succeeded byThomas L. Woolwine
Personal details
Born
John D. Fredericks

(1869-09-10)September 10, 1869
Burgettstown, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 26, 1945(1945-08-26) (aged 75)
Los Angeles, California
Political partyRepublican

Biography

Born in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, Fredericks attended the public schools and Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania.[1] He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1896 and commenced practice in Los Angeles, California. He served as an adjutant in the Seventh Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish–American War in 1898.[1] He was elected district attorney of Los Angeles County in 1902 and re-elected in 1906 and 1910 serving from 1903 to 1915. During his tenure as district attorney, he gained national attention for the successful prosecution of the McNamara brothers October 1, 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building and the Llewellyn Iron Works.[2] Clarence Darrow was the attorney for the defense. Fredericks was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of California in 1914 against popular governor Hiram Johnson, who had been elected under the Republican Party banner 4 years previous but now ran under the short-lived Progressive Party of Theodore Roosevelt.[1] In 1922, Fredericks was elected president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and served a one-year term.

Congress

Fredericks was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Z. Osborne. He was reelected to the Sixty-ninth Congress and served from May 1, 1923, to March 3, 1927. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1926.

Later career and death

In 1915, after serving as District Attorney of Los Angeles, Fredericks founded the law firm of Fredericks and Hanna. The law firm is still in existence today, known as Hannah and Morton LLP.[3] Fredericks died of a heart attack on August 26, 1945. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.[1]

References
  1. Spitzzeri, Paul R. (June 3, 2019). "Portrait Gallery: District Attorney John D. Fredericks, 3 June 1912". The Homestead Blog.
  2. Cowan, Geoffrey (1993). The People V. Clarence Darrow (1st ed.). New York, NY: Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc. pp. 113, 152–53, 155, 158–59, 190, 219, 223, 240, 256. ISBN 0-8129-2179-8.
  3. "www.HanMor.com". Hanna and Morton LLP.
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