Charles M. Fassett Explained

Charles Fassett
Order:22nd
Office:Mayor of Spokane
Term Start:1918
Term End:1920
Term Start1:1914
Term End1:1916
Predecessor:Charles Fleming
Successor:Charles Fleming
Predecessor1:William Hindley
Successor1:Charles Fleming
Occupation:Chemist, businessman
Alma Mater:Elmira Free Academy
Birth Date:23 December 1858
Birth Place:Elmira, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Kootenai County, Idaho
Spouse:Edith May Benham
(m.1884–1923, his death)
Children:1 daughter, 1 son

Charles Marvin Fassett (December 23, 1858 – August 10, 1923) was an American businessman and politician. He was the mayor of Spokane, Washington (1914–1916, 1918–1920), and author of works advocating the commission style of city government.[1] [2]

Education and business career

Originally from Elmira, New York, Fassett graduated from Elmira Free Academy, influenced by teacher Joel Dorman Steele to become a chemist. After briefly working as a pharmacist in Elmira, he moved west to Nevada at Reno, then at Eureka, working as a chemist, drug store owner, and assayer.[3] Late in 1889, he relocated north to Spokane, Washington, and opened C. M. Fassett & Co, assayers and chemists, which became one of the most prominent of such businesses in the Inland Empire.

Fassett also served as consultant to mining companies, including directing the building of the first cyanide leach gold mill in Korea in 1900. He was supported financially by his cousin, Congressman Jacob Sloat Fassett of New York, whose son Newton was partner and briefly manager of the firm when Charles Fassett became involved in local politics.[4] [5]

Government service

During the 1880s, Fassett served a term in the Nevada State Assembly and served as chief clerk at sessions in Carson City. In Spokane, Fassett became an advocate of clean politics and governance as exemplified by the commission style of city government, a typical Progressive Era reformer. With him leading the fight to change Spokane to a commission government, he became one of the first city commissioners in the spring of 1911. He was elected mayor and served December 1914 to January 1916 and again January 1918 to January 1920.[6] [7]

His books on commission style government -- Assets of the Ideal City[8] and Handbook of Municipal Government[9] —include descriptions of his service in Spokane. After leaving office, he became a professor on municipal government at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, which was his final residence.[2]

Death

On August 10, 1923, Fassett died at age 64 of an apparent heart attack while vacationing at his summer home on the banks of Spirit Lake in Kootenai County, Idaho,[1] [10] [11] [12] not far from Spokane. He had just returned by his motorboat from delivering a eulogy for President Warren G. Harding at Spirit Lake's Tesemini club.[1] [10]

Personal

Fassett married Edith May Benham of Reno, daughter of a Spokane pioneer, on January 1, 1884; they had a daughter and a son.

Notes and References

  1. News: C. M. Fassett dies after his speech at Harding services . Spokesman Review . August 11, 1923. 1.
  2. News: Death sudden for Prof. C.M. Fassett . Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas) . August 11, 1923 . 1.
  3. Book: Edwards . Jonathan . An Illustrated History of Spokane County, Washington . 1900 . W H Lever . San Francisco . 426 . 23 December 2018.
  4. Book: Durham . Nelson Wayne . History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington . 1912 . S J Clarke . Chicago . 167–168 . history of spokane and inland empire. . 31 December 2018.
  5. News: N. C. Fassett . Elmira Star-Gazette . 19 November 1931.
  6. Book: Rice . Bradley . Progressive Cities: The Commission Government Movement in America, 1901–1920 . 1977 . University of Texas Press . Austin . 96–97 . 31 December 2018. 9780292766396 .
  7. News: City Council Chambers, Spokane, Washington . 31 December 2018 . Official Gazette of the City of Spokane . January 5, 1918.
  8. Book: Fassett . Charles . Assets of the Ideal City . 1922 . Thomas Y Crowle . New York City . passim . Charles M Fassett assets of the ideal city'. . 31 December 2018.
  9. Book: Fassett . Charles . Handbook of Municipal Government . 1922 . Thomas Y Crowle . New York City . passim . Charles M Fassett handbook of municipal government. .
  10. News: Charles Fassett dies suddenly . Spokane Daily Chronicle . August 11, 1923 . 1.
  11. News: Death of Charles Marvin Fassett . Reno Gazette-Journal . August 11, 1923.
  12. News: Prof C. M. Fassett Dies . St. Louis Post-Dispatch . August 11, 1923.