John D. Fredericks


John Donnan Fredericks was an American lawyer and politician from Los Angeles, California, who served two terms as a U.S. representative from 1923 to 1927. As District Attorney of Los Angeles County he successfully prosecuted the McNamara brothers for their 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building.

Biography

Born in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, Fredericks attended the public schools and Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1896, and commenced practice in Los Angeles.

Spanish-American War

Fredericks served as an adjutant in the Seventh Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish–American War in 1898.

Early political career

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 for their bombing of the Los Angeles Times building on October 1, 1910. Clarence Darrow was the chief attorney for the defense.
Fredericks was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of California in 1914 against popular incumbent Hiram W. Johnson, who had been elected under the Republican Party banner four years earlier but now ran under the short-lived Progressive Party of Theodore Roosevelt. 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 on May 1, 1923, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Z. Osborne. He was elected in 1924 to a full term in the Sixty-ninth Congress, but did not seek renomination in 1926. His congressional career ended March 3, 1927.

Later career

In 1915, after leaving office as Los Angeles County district attorney, Fredericks founded the law firm of Fredericks and Hanna. The firm is still in existence and is now known as Hanna and Morton LLP.

Death and burial

Fredericks died of a heart attack on August 26, 1945. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Electoral history

John D. Fredericks won the special election to replace fellow Republican Henry Z. Osborne, who died in office.