Representative John Donnan Fredericks

John Donnan Fredericks (September 10, 1869 – August 26, 1945) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Los Angeles, California, who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1923 to 1927. Over the course of his career he gained prominence as district attorney of Los Angeles County, as a candidate for governor of California, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives during a significant period in American political and social history.

Fredericks was born in Burgettstown, Washington County, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1869. He attended the public schools in his native state and went on to study at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. After completing his collegiate studies, he read law, and in 1896 he was admitted to the bar. Shortly thereafter he moved to California and commenced the practice of law in Los Angeles, which would remain the center of his professional and political life.

In addition to his early legal practice, Fredericks served in the military during the Spanish–American War. In 1898 he was an adjutant in the Seventh Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, contributing to the state’s mobilization during the brief but consequential conflict. Returning to civilian life, he continued to build his reputation as an attorney in Los Angeles, positioning himself for entry into public office in the rapidly growing region.

Fredericks was elected district attorney of Los Angeles County in 1902 and took office in 1903. He was re-elected in 1906 and 1910, serving continuously as district attorney from 1903 to 1915. During this twelve-year tenure he became nationally known for his role in the prosecution of James B. and John J. McNamara, union activists charged in connection with the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building on October 1, 1910, an attack that killed more than twenty people. The high-profile case, in which Clarence Darrow served as chief attorney for the defense, drew widespread attention to labor unrest and political violence in the early twentieth century. Fredericks’s office secured guilty pleas from the McNamara brothers, reinforcing his reputation as a determined and capable prosecutor.

After leaving the district attorney’s office in 1915, Fredericks returned to private practice and helped found the law firm of Fredericks and Hanna in Los Angeles. The firm, which later became known as Hanna and Morton LLP, continued as a fixture in the city’s legal community long after his death. Fredericks also remained active in public affairs and Republican politics. In 1914 he was the Republican nominee for Governor of California, running against popular incumbent Hiram W. Johnson. Johnson, who had originally been elected as a Republican, sought re-election under the Progressive Party banner associated with Theodore Roosevelt. Fredericks was unsuccessful in this bid for the governorship but maintained his standing as a leading Republican figure in the state. In 1922 he further solidified his civic profile when he was elected president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, serving a one-year term and participating in efforts to promote the city’s commercial and industrial development.

Fredericks entered national politics in 1923. Following the death in office of Representative Henry Z. Osborne, a special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy, and Republican John D. Fredericks won the contest. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth Congress on May 1, 1923, representing a California district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was subsequently elected in 1924 to a full term in the Sixty-ninth Congress. During his two terms in Congress, which extended from May 1, 1923, until March 3, 1927, Fredericks participated in the legislative process as a member of the House of Representatives, representing the interests of his California constituents during a period marked by post–World War I adjustment, economic expansion, and evolving national policy debates. A member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the work of Congress but chose not to seek renomination in 1926, thereby concluding his congressional service at the end of his second term.

After leaving Congress in 1927, Fredericks resumed his legal and civic activities in Los Angeles. He continued his association with the firm he had helped establish and remained a respected figure in the city’s legal and political circles. His long career reflected the growth and transformation of Los Angeles and California in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from a regional center to a major urban and political hub.

John Donnan Fredericks died of a heart attack on August 26, 1945. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. His career encompassed service as a local prosecutor, military officer, civic leader, candidate for statewide office, and member of the United States Congress, marking him as a significant participant in the public life of California and the nation during his era.