Sterling Fessenden
Encyclopedia
Sterling Fessenden - an American lawyer, the chairman of the Shanghai
Municipal Council
from 1923 to 1929.
Sterling Fessenden was born September 29, 1875 in Fairfield, Maine
, United States
. In 1896, he graduated from Bowdoin College
and came to Shanghai in 1903 to join the American law firm. In 1905, along with his partners, he established the law firm of his own.
In 1920, Fessenden was elected a member of Shanghai Municipal Council Board of Trustees and in 1923 he became a chairman of the Municipal Council.
He took active part in arranging of Shanghai massacre of 1927
.
In 1929, Fessenden resigned from his post in Municipal Council and became an executive director of Industry Council.
In 1938, he was elected a Secretary-general of Municipal Council, but soon the Japanese occupation authorities claimed that he conspired with the Americans against Japan. On June 30, 1939, Fessenden retired due to eye disease.
In 1941, when America came into a Pacific War, the Japanese forced Fessenden to move to the Russian refugees. After he was completely blind, the Chinese servant took care of him. Fessenden died September 20, 1943 in Shanghai.
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Municipal Council
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement began originally as a purely British settlement. It was one of the original five treaty ports which were established under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the first opium war in the year 1842...
from 1923 to 1929.
Sterling Fessenden was born September 29, 1875 in Fairfield, Maine
Fairfield, Maine
Fairfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,735 at the 2010 census. The town includes Fairfield Center, Fairfield village and Hinckley...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1896, he graduated from Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
and came to Shanghai in 1903 to join the American law firm. In 1905, along with his partners, he established the law firm of his own.
In 1920, Fessenden was elected a member of Shanghai Municipal Council Board of Trustees and in 1923 he became a chairman of the Municipal Council.
He took active part in arranging of Shanghai massacre of 1927
Shanghai massacre of 1927
The April 12 Incident of 1927 refers to the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party organizations in Shanghai by the military forces of Chiang Kai-shek and conservative factions in the Kuomintang...
.
In 1929, Fessenden resigned from his post in Municipal Council and became an executive director of Industry Council.
In 1938, he was elected a Secretary-general of Municipal Council, but soon the Japanese occupation authorities claimed that he conspired with the Americans against Japan. On June 30, 1939, Fessenden retired due to eye disease.
In 1941, when America came into a Pacific War, the Japanese forced Fessenden to move to the Russian refugees. After he was completely blind, the Chinese servant took care of him. Fessenden died September 20, 1943 in Shanghai.
Further reading
- The Fall of Shanghai by Noel Barber
- Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai by Robert Bickers
- Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City, 1842-1949 by Stella Dong
- Shanghai and beyond by Percy Finch
- Shanghai and the edges of Empires by Meng Yue
- My Twenty Five Years In China by John B Powell
- Shanghai. The collision point of culters by Harriet Seargant
- The Shanghai Green Gang: Politics and Organized Crime, 1919-1937 by Brian G. Martin
- Hunting opium and other scents by Maurice Springfield (Halesworth: Norfolk and Suffolk Publicity, 1966)
- Shanghai splendor : economic sentiments and the making of modern China, 1843-1949 by Wen-hsin Yeh