Jose Mascarel
| Jose Mascarel | |
|---|---|
| 9th Mayor of Los Angeles | |
|
In office May 5, 1865 – May 10, 1866 |
|
| Preceded by | Damien Marchesseault |
| Succeeded by | Cristóbal Aguilar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 18, 1816 Marseilles or Mentone, France |
| Died |
October 6, 1899 (aged 83) Los Angeles, California |
Jose Mascarel (April 18, 1816 – October 6, 1899) was a 19th−century sea captain, California landowner, investor, baker, and vintner; and a mayor of Los Angeles, California.
Mascarel was born in Marseilles or Mentone, France, on April 18, 1816. He died of heart failure on October 6, 1899, at the age of 83 in his home at 615 Ducommun Street in Los Angeles. A solemn high mass was scheduled for the Old Plaza Church, with interment following at the Catholic Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles. He was at his death the "[second-]oldest foreigner in Los Angeles, if not in California," after Elijah Moulton.
Mascarel's first marriage was in 1844 to Constancia Goytino of México, in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. They had nine children, Charles, Jose Jr., Constance, Hortense, Marie Larquier, Josephine Twist, Margarita Drouet, Adele Kracke, and Eugenie Hoover. She died in 1890.
However, "In spite of the opposition of relatives," the Los Angeles Times noted, Mascarel married Maria Jesus Benite Feliz on June 4, 1896, in a "quiet but romantic wedding" to "the woman who for thirty long years has been, to all intents and purposes," his wife. The Times added:
There was an attempt made to prevent the issuance of a marriage license to Mr. Mascarel, but it proved futile, as the law does not require a license to render the marriage valid in a case like this. . . . The desire to have the union made legal was brought about by the failing health of Mrs. Mascarel, who, although twenty years younger than her aged husband, is still a woman far advanced in years.
In an 1899 talk before the Historical Society of Southern California, Los Angeles historian H.D. Barrows noted that Mascarel was "physically of stalwart proportions, being over six feet in height and weighing over 200 pounds." Another contemporary, Horace Bell, recalled in 1881 that Mascarel was a "giant . . . with a great grizzly grip."
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