The Life of CHRISTOPHER LYMAN MAGEE
Christopher Lyman Magee was a powerful political boss in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Along with William Flinn (1851—1924), his political partner, the two ran the Republican Party machine that controlled the city for the last twenty years of the 19th century.
He was born in Pittsburgh and was educated in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Western University of Pennsylvania, today's University of Pittsburgh. When his father died, he became an office boy for the iron manufacturing firm of Park, McCurdy, and Company. By 1864 he took a job in the city controller's office, and in 1869 a better position in the city treasurer's office.
Magee came from a large family which was prominent in local politics. His uncle, Squire Thomas Steele, had been president of city council and also had run the office of controller. Through Steele's influence, Magee obtained his first jobs in government.
At age 22 Magee ran on the Republican ticket for city treasurer, but lost. In 1873, however, he won. He then helped to pass a bill revising property assessments upward, and another bill to collect from tax delinquents. Magee cut city debt in half during his term.
In 1879, in the city's Sixth Ward, one of Magee's brothers ran for office against William Flinn, an upstart in local politics. However Magee and Flinn struck up a partnership, as Flinn eyed a seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and Magee had a natural enemy at the state level, the political boss Matthew Quay. So Flinn became Magee's man.
In 1887 the two succeeded in changing the city charter at the state legislature that took the power of appointments away from city council and granted it to department heads. Magee and Flinn also consolidated Republican control within both the city and Allegheny County. Finally, the two were successful in placing public monies into banks and financial markets associated with industrial Pittsburgh's phenomenal growth after the American Civil War. This won them untold favors from big business, especially allowing them to grant jobs to thousands and thus build their political machine.
In The Shame of the Cities, the landmark 1903 book by Lincoln Steffens on political corruption in American cities, Steffens wrote about the alleged Flinn-Magee collusion: "Magee wanted power, Flinn wealth.... Magee spent his wealth for more power, and Flinn spent his power for more wealth.... Magee attracted followers, Flinn employed them. He was useful to Magee, Magee was indispensable to him.... Molasses and vinegar, diplomacy and force, mind and will, they were well mated." Reformers eventually reined in Flinn by passing legislation to curb corruption and kickbacks.
Magee did win two terms to the state senate, but his political influence was largely limited to Pittsburgh.
Magee made his early forturne in the local street car industry. He began as president of Transverse Railway Company, secured franchises through his political maneuverings, and eventually gained control over competing lines. He then merged the street car companies into the Consolidated Traction Company, of which he served as president.
Magee also owned much real estate in the city and he served on the boards of many banks and corporations. Magee's chief business partner was Joshua Rhodes, chairman of the National Tube Company, which later became part of U.S. Steel.
He also served on the boards of nonprofit institutions such as hospitals and universities. In 1895 he gave $100,000 to established the Pittsburgh Zoo.
He married Eleanor Louise Gillespie in 1878. They built a stately home called "Maples", where they frequently entertained business and political associates. The house was at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Halket Street in the city's Oakland district. The couple had no children. The Magees were membll