Los Angeles County
Biographies
JOHN JOSEPH McMAHON
McMAHON, JOHN
JOSEPH, Attorney at Law, Los Angeles, California, was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut,
August 31, 1882, the son of James McMahon and Katherine (Taft) McMahon. He is of Irish descent, but the family is one
of the oldest in the United States,
its members having settled in New England
during the early days of the Republic.
Mr. McMahon
attended the public and high schools of Wethersfield
and moved to California
when he was twenty-one years of age.
After leaving the high
school of Wethersfield,
he entered the employ of the Hartford, Connecticut, Electric Light Company,
studying electricity in all its branches.
In addition to the practical work he did in the company’s plant he was
taking a special course in electricity in the Hiler Institute of Hartford. At that time he intended following the
profession of Electrical Engineering and he still retained this ambition when
he arrived in Los Angeles
in the year 1903.
Mr. McMahon’s
first work in California
was in the Construction Department of the Pacific Light & Power Company,
where he was one of the expert constructors of electrical machinery. He remained there only about a year, however,
resigning his place to accept a better position with the Los Angeles Interurban
Railway Company, as one of the operators of its principal power plants. While serving in this position, Mr. McMahon
met with an accident that caused him to abandon electrical work and practically
changed the entire course of his life.
His health became impaired as a result of his injury and he was
compelled to give up all work for nearly a year.
In 1905, Mr.
McMahon went to the Hawaiian Islands and after a stay there of about six
months, returned to the United
States, considerably improved, although not
entirely recovered from the effects of the accident referred to before. About this time he took up the study of law
and was a student in the University
of Southern California Law Department
for about two years, but it was not until about the year 1907 that he was
strong enough to devote himself to his studies for any sustained length of
time.
Mr. McMahon then
took up the work seriously and in 1911 was graduated from the University with
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was
admitted to the Bar almost immediately and opened practice in Los Angeles, but he also took a post-graduate
course at the University and in 1912 was awarded the degree of Master of Laws.
Although he is
one of the newer members of the legal profession in Los Angeles, Mr. McMahon has attained a
degree of prominence and has been an active participant in the politics of the
city and State. He entered the political
field about the year 1908 and since that time has been among the forceful
speakers and workers in the ranks of the Progressive Republicans of
California. He has taken the stump in
various campaigns and had a part in the selection of County
Delegates to the State Convention at
which Hiram Johnson, later candidate for Vice President of the United States,
was nominated for Governor of California.
In Los Angeles politics Mr.
McMahon is allied with the Good Government forces and during the campaign of
George Alexander, in 1911, for re-election as Mayor of the city, he had charge
of the speakers’ bureau. This was one of
the most important municipal campaigns in the history of the Southern
California metropolis, when the Good Government forces of the city were
fighting against the introduction of Socialism into the affairs of Los Angeles, and the
management of the speakers’ section had much to do with the ultimate success of
the Alexander cause.
In 1910, Mr.
McMahon took an active part in the campaign of Judge W. P. James for
re-election to the District Court of Appeals and in 1912 took up the management
of Judge F. M. Houser’s campaign for re-election to the Superior Court of Los
Angeles County.
Since engaging in
the practice of law, Mr. McMahon has devoted himself assiduously to his work
and only his affiliations outside of his professional work are of a political
nature in association with the so-called Good Government organization.
Professionally,
Mr. McMahon has been connected with a number of business houses, including
building and real estate enterprises.
Mr. McMahon is a
great believer in the future industrial importance of Los Angeles and states that the admirable
political and city government conditions make it the most desirable residence
city in the country.
Transcribed
by Bill Simpkins.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 885, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Bill
Simpkins.
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