G. W. Mordecai

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G. W. Mordecai
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 62nd district
In office
January 2, 1893 - January 7, 1895
Preceded byFrank T. Murnan
Succeeded byNathan LaFayette Bachman
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 70th district
In office
January 5, 1891 - January 2, 1893
Preceded byEgbert Harris Tucker
Succeeded byCyrus Mortimer Simpson
Personal details
Born(1844-04-18)April 18, 1844
Rosewood, Virginia, US
DiedJune 14, 1920(1920-06-14) (aged 76)
Madera County, California, US
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLouise Hunter Dixon (m. 1876)
Children4

George Washington Mordecai (April 18, 1844 – June 14, 1920) served in the California State Assembly for the 70th district from 1891 to 1893 and the 62nd district from 1893 to 1895[1] and during the American Civil War he served in the Army of the Confederate States of America.[2]

Early life and family[edit]

Mordecai was born at "Rosewood", his family's farm near Richmond, Virginia, the son of Augustus Mordecai and Rosina Young Mordecai.[3][4] He was named for his uncle, George Washington Mordecai (1801–1871).[5] His grandfather was educator Jacob Mordecai; his aunts included educators Emma Mordecai and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus, and another uncle, Alfred Mordecai, taught at West Point. One of his first cousins was anarchist Marx Edgeworth Lazarus.[6]

Career[edit]

Mordecai served in the Confederate Army from 1862 to 1865.[5] His uncle George, a lawyer and railroad president, helped Mordecai start a large sheep ranch in central California in 1868.[7][8] He was a member of the California Water & Forest Association.[9]

Mordecai served two terms in the California State Assembly, from 1891 to 1895.[5] One of his actions as a legislator was to create Madera County, by dividing Fresno County, in 1893.[10] He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the California State Senate. Later in life, he was a member of the Democratic National Committee in 1912,[11] and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1916 and 1920.[12]

Personal life and legacy[edit]

Mordecai married Mississippi-born Louise Hunter Dixon in 1876; they had four children (George W. Jr.,[13] Louise, Brooke, and Ethelfleda).[14] He died in Madera County, California, in 1920, at the age of 76.[11] As of 2020, his ranch is still an active business in Madera County,[12] and he is remembered as a local pioneer.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Join California - G. W. Mordecai". joincalifornia.com.
  2. ^ Vassar, Alexander C. (2011). Legislators of California (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  3. ^ Sweet, Nathan (January 1962). "The George Washington Mordecai Family". The Madera County Historian. 2 (1): 1, 4 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Guinn, James Miller (1905). History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the San Joaquin Valley, California: An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Chapman Publishing Company. p. 1282.
  5. ^ a b c Coate, Bill (2018-11-10). "Civil War veteran transformed Madera". The Madera Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. ^ Bingham, Emily (2003). Mordecai: An Early American Family. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8090-2756-9.
  7. ^ "George W. Mordecai Papers, 1767-1916". The Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  8. ^ Coate, Bill (2020-10-14). "Mordecai just missed the killing". The Madera Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  9. ^ "The Association's Annual Meeting". Water & Forest. 2 (4): 2. January 1903.
  10. ^ Coate, Bill (2018-03-07). "G.W. Mordecai: The Silent Mutineer". The Madera Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  11. ^ a b "G. W. Mordecai is Called by Death". The Fresno Morning Republican. 1920-06-16. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Mordecai Ranch". Madera County Farm Bureau. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  13. ^ "George Mordecai, Former Madera Prosecutor, Dies". The Fresno Bee. 1944-09-25. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Coate, Bill (2021-08-28). "The last Mordecai". The Madera Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  15. ^ Maddox, Darrell (1988-06-15). "Young Historians Honor Madera County Pioneer". The Fresno Bee. p. 52. Retrieved 2023-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
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