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James Pendergast | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).png) Pendergast in a 1902 publication | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Francis Pendergast January 27, 1856 Gallipolis, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 1911 (aged 55) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Saint Mary's Cemetery Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Kline Doerr (m. 1886; died 1905) |
| Relations | Thomas J. Pendergast (brother) |
| Occupation | Politician |
James Francis Pendergast (January 27, 1856 – November 10, 1911) was a Democratic politician and the first Big City Boss of Kansas City, Missouri. He was the elder brother of Thomas J. Pendergast and Michael J. Pendergast.
Early life
[edit]Pendergast was born on January 27, 1856, in Gallipolis, Ohio, to Michael and Mary Pendergast. His family moved to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1859. He was educated at the public schools there and at Christian Brothers College. In 1876, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri.[1][2]
Career
[edit]
Early business career
[edit]Pendergast moved to the industrial West Bottoms neighborhood of Kansas City in 1876, living in boarding houses. He worked in meatpacking houses, Keystone Iron Works, A. J. Kelly Foundry, and D. M. Jarboe Foundry.[1][2] According to family legend, in the early 1880s, he purchased a saloon called Climax, named after the winning horse that funded the purchase. However, this business does not appear in records from the time. In 1881, he purchased a two-story saloon, boarding house, and hotel in the West Bottoms called American House. The establishment held gambling devices and acted as an informal bank where meatpacking workers could cash their paychecks or take loans.[3] Pendergast ran the boarding house for about 31 years, and it provided him with the connections and influence to begin his career in politics.[1][4]
Political career
[edit]In 1884, Pendergast was elected as a delegate to represent the Sixth Ward in the West Bottoms in the Democratic City Convention.[4] In 1887, after population growth had expanded the city legislature and the West Bottoms became a part of the First Ward, Pendergast became the Democratic committeeman for the First Ward, responsible for assembling supporters for a voice vote in "mob primaries."[3]: 19 He was elected alderman of the First Ward from 1892 to 1910.[1][4] Known as "Alderman Jim" and "Big Jim", Pendergast ran on a pro-gambling and pro-working-class platform. He facilitated the release of men arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and donated food and coal.[3]: 20–21 A national economic downturn in the 1890s and lack of interest in providing charity to those affected on the part of the city's other business elites gave Pendergast the opportunity to claim sole responsibility for holding the city together during this time, while increasing his political power.[3]
In 1894, Pendergast's younger brother Tom moved to Kansas City, working odd jobs and assisting at his brother's saloon and horse-race track concessions stand. Through a political favor, Jim Pendergast obtained a job for Tom as a deputy constable in the First Ward city court. In 1896, Tom received a higher-paying job as deputy marshal in county court that allowed him to stop working other jobs and gave him more free time to focus on learning about city politics from his brother. Under Jim Pendergast's guidance, Tom began to participate in grass-roots political organizing in his spare time, helping secure votes for his brother's political cronies.[3]
Pendergast's chief political rival within the Democratic party was Joe Shannon. Pendergast's faction was called the "goats", and Shannon's was the "rabbits". One suggested explanation is that Shannon's political acumen was built on a network of informers like rabbits, and another is Pendergast's appeal to the poors living in bluff-side shanties like goats. These two animal symbols were printed atop voting ballots, ostensively to aid illiterate voters. Kansas City's common political jargon included those animals until long after World War II, and Harry S. Truman was a goat.[3]: 32
Personal life
[edit]Pendergast married Mary Kline Doerr in 1886. She was ten years older than him and had a son from a previous marriage.[3]: 18 She died in 1905.[1]
He died on November 10, 1911, at his sister's home in Kansas City.[1] He was buried at Mount Saint Mary's Cemetery in Kansas City.[5]
Legacy
[edit]After Pendergast's death, a statue of him was placed in Mulkey Square overlooking the West Bottoms. It is now in Case Park on Quality Hill.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "James Pendergast is Dead". Kansas City Times. November 11, 1911. p. 1. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Political History of Jackson County. Marshall & Morrison. 1902. p. 183. Retrieved September 6, 2024 – via Archive.org.
- ^ a b c d e f g Larsen, Lawrence H.; Hulston, Nancy J. (July 5, 2013). Pendergast!. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6099-4.: 28–29
- ^ a b c Brown, A. Theodore; Dorsett, Lyle W. (1978). K.C.: A History of Kansas City, Missouri. pp. 108–112. Retrieved September 6, 2024 – via Archive.org.
- ^ "The Pendergast Pallbearers". The Kansas City Star. November 12, 1911. p. 14A. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
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