James Patrick Rossiter | |
|---|---|
| 36th Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania | |
| In office 1932–1936 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph C. Williams |
| Succeeded by | Charles R. Barber |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1890-09-13)September 13, 1890 |
| Died | September 26, 1943(1943-09-26) (aged 53) |
| Party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University Law School |
James Patrick Rossiter (September 13, 1890, inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania – September 26, 1943, inErie,Pennsylvania) was a prominentpolitician inPennsylvania.[1][2]
He was the second of seven children of Louis T. Rossiter, an insurance company superintendent, and his wife Elizabeth C. "Lizzie" (Griffin) Rossiter. The family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs inNew Jersey after James was born and by 1900 was living in the town ofWenonah inGloucester County.[3] His father brought the family to Erie in 1903, where he again worked in the insurance field. By 1910, the family lived at 439 West Fifth Street, just off Erie's posh Millionaires Row, which runs along West Sixth Street betweenPerry Square andGridley Park.[4][5][6]AfterWorld War I, he returned to living with his parents at their West Fifth Street home.[7] In 1930, he and two adult siblings were living with their widowed father at 616 West Ninth Street, just southwest of their West Fifth Street homestead.[8]
He attended the Burns School in Erie and graduated Erie High School in 1910. He studied pre-law at thePennsylvania State College, where he served one year inROTC as a condition of his attendance at what was then aland-grant college. He finished his law studies atGeorgetown University Law School, where he graduated in 1916.[4]
Regarding Rossiter's service inWorld War I, John G. Carney's "Highlights of Erie Politics" says that Rossiter enlisted in the US Army as a private, served eighteen months, and left as a captain.[4] His New York Times obituary says Rossiter served as a lieutenant in an artillery unit in World War I.[1] He was among the founders of the Roger Israel Post 11 of theAmerican Legion and actively promoted the cause ofveterans.[4]
Rossiter was a lawyer in Erie when he registered for military service in June 1917.[9] After the war, he resumed his legal work from his parents' West Fifth Street home.[10]
He was admitted to the bar and practiced law in theDistrict of Columbia andErie County, Pennsylvania. He appeared before theDistrict of Columbia court,United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, theSupreme Court of Pennsylvania, and theSupreme Court of the United States.[4] He was a lawyer in private practice living in Erie when he registered for the draft in 1943.[11]
He served asmayor ofErie, Pennsylvania, from 1932 to 1936.[12]
After the mayoralty, he was appointed chief counsel to Pennsylvania's General State Authority in 1937. He resigned that post effective 31 July 1939 and was considering the Democratic candidacy for judge of the Erie CountyCourt of Common Pleas. He was to be replaced in the general counsel position by Winfred D. Lewis ofLansford, Pennsylvania[13]
He was an unsuccessful candidate forjudge of theSuperior Court of Pennsylvania in 1928.[4][14] He served asassistant district attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, but twice failed in his bid for the position of district attorney.[4]
He was the supportiveDemocratic Party chairman for Erie County when Democratic-Liberal candidate for state governor John Hemphill visited Erie in October 1930, pushing for repeal of theEighteenth Amendment.[15] He represented his party to three of itsnational conventions.[1] He seconded the nomination of former GovernorAlfred E. Smith as thepresidentialcandidate at the1932 Democratic National Convention.[16] He was also named to attend the1936 Democratic National Convention.[17]