View source for Frank Flint

{{short description|American politician (1862–1929)}}
{{redirect|Senator Flint}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name                = Frank Flint
|image               = FrankPFlint.jpg
|caption             = 
|jr/sr               = United States Senator
|state               = [[California]]
|term_start          = March 4, 1905
|term_end            = March 3, 1911
|predecessor         = [[Thomas R. Bard]]
|successor           = [[John D. Works]]
|birth_date          = {{birth date|1862|7|15}}
|birth_place         = [[North Reading, Massachusetts|North Reading]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date          = {{death date and age|1929|2|11|1862|7|15}}
|death_place         = near [[Manila]], Philippines
|resting_place       = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]]<br />[[Glendale, California]], U.S.
|party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|occupation          = {{hlist|Politician|lawyer|banker}}
|spouse              = {{marriage|Katherine J. Bloss|1890}}
|children            = 2
}}
'''Frank Putnam Flint''' (July 15, 1862 – February 11, 1929) was a [[United States Senate|United States senator]] from [[California]] from  1905 to 1911.

==Early life==
Frank Putnam Flint was born on July 15, 1862, in [[North Reading, Massachusetts]], to Althea Louise (née Hewes) and Francis Eaton Flint.<ref name="history">{{cite book|last1=Shuck|first1=Oscar T.|title=History of the Bench and Bar of California|date=1901|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|location=Clark, New Jersey|page=1022|isbn=9781584777069|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XaU8GY32hUC&pg=PA1022|access-date=August 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-mother-of-frank-fl/129479262/ |title=Mother of Frank Flint Succumbs |date=1930-06-28 |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |page=13 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="brother">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pasadena-post-flint-famed-as-financi/129479570/ |title=Flint Famed As Financier |date=1930-07-14 |newspaper=The Pasadena Post |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref> In 1869, his family moved to [[San Francisco]], California, where he attended public schools. He had asthma. In 1888 he moved to [[Orange, California|Orange]], then [[Los Angeles]], California.<ref name="history"/>

==Career==
In 1888 or 1890, he was appointed a clerk in the United States marshal's office in Los Angeles, and began to study law. In 1892 he was appointed assistant United States attorney under Mathew Thompson Allen. In 1883 he resigned and formed a law partnership with Allen, Allen & Flint, which lasted two years until Allen became a judge.<ref name="history"/><ref name="obit2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pasadena-post-frank-flint-dies-aboar/129480472/ |title=Frank Flint Dies Aboard Steampship |date=1929-02-12 |newspaper=The Pasadena Post |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref> In 1895, Flint and Donald Barker reformed the law firm as Flint & Barker. In 1897 Flint was appointed United States attorney for the southern district of California, and served four years. Flint was active in Republican politics.<ref name="obit2"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Sketch of New Senator|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19050112.2.13.1|access-date=8 May 2016|issue=103|work=Los Angeles Daily Herald|date=12 January 1905|volume = 32|page=2}}</ref> He was a fruit-grower,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chapple|first1=Joe Mitchell|title=Affairs at Washington|journal=National Magazine|date=March 1905|volume=21|issue=6|page=586|url=https://archive.org/stream/nationalmagazine21brayrich#page/586/mode/1up}}</ref> politician and banker.

In Los Angeles he was a member of the chamber of commerce and of its law committee; a member of the Municipal League, the Sunset club, the [[California Club]], the Union League Club, the Republican League, the Masonic order and Knights Templar. He attended the Presbyterian Church, was a trustee of [[Occidental College]], a director of two banks (Equitable Savings, Los Angeles National).<ref>{{cite news|title=Sketch of New Senator|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19050112.2.13.1|access-date=8 May 2016|issue=103|publisher=Los Angeles Daily Herald|date=12 January 1905|volume = 32|page=2}}</ref>

[[File:"As we see 'em," a volume of cartoons and caricatures of Los Angeles citizens (1900) (14589887037).jpg|thumb|right|Caricature of Flint (c. 1900)]]

He served as [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of California]] from 1897 to 1901 and as a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[California]] from [[1905 United States Senate election in California|1905]] until 1911 as a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]], and holds the distinction of being the 1000th senator in overall seniority.<ref>https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/chronlist.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Flint served one term in the Senate and did not seek reelection.

Flint was elected as president of the board of trustees of Occidental College in 1914.<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pasadena-post-frank-flint-dies-aboar/129480093/ |title=Flint Dies Aboard Manila Liner |date=1929-02-12 |newspaper=The Pasadena Post |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-occidental-college/129483168/ |title=Occidental College Dedication |date=1914-02-19 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=12 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref> Flint served as chairman of the National Boulder Dam Association and advocated for the building of the Boulder Dam (later renamed the [[Hoover Dam]]). In 1915, he became president of the Los Angeles Investment Company. He served in that role until his resignation in October 1928.<ref name="obit2"/><ref name="obit"/>

==Personal life==
On February 25, 1890, he married  Katherine J. Bloss in Los Angeles; and they had two children.<ref name="history"/> His brother Motley H. was postmaster of Los Angeles.<ref name="brother"/> Flint lived on Flintridge Avenue in Pasadena. He was a majority stockholder of Flintridge Country Club, but in 1927 withdrew his stake.<ref name="obit2"/>

Flint died on February 11, 1929, aboard the ''[[SS President Taylor|S.S. President Polk]]'' near the harbor of [[Manila]].<ref name="obit"/> His body lay in state at [[Los Angeles City Hall]]. He was interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-body-of-flin/129481842/ |title=Body of Flint to Lie in State |date=1929-03-09 |newspaper=Los Angeles Evening Express |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2023-08-05}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Frank Putnam Flint Fountain.jpg|thumb|left|[[Frank Putnam Flint Fountain|Fountain in Los Angeles]] memorializing Flint]]

The city of [[La Cañada Flintridge, California]], is named, in part, for him, as he was a developer of Flintridge, which merged with La Cañada in the late 20th century. As a senator from California, he played a great part in making the Mission style the official architectural style of government buildings in Southern California{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} and played a major political role in bringing [[Owens Valley aqueduct|Owens Valley water]] to metropolitan [[Los Angeles]].

== See also ==
* {{Portal-inline|Biography}}
* [[Frank Putnam Flint Fountain]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Frank Putnam Flint}}
{{Congbio|F000207}}
* {{Find a Grave|10350}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=California
|class=1
|before=[[Thomas R. Bard]]
|after=[[John D. Works]]
|alongside=[[George Clement Perkins|George C. Perkins]]
|years=1905&ndash;1911}}
{{s-end}}

{{USSenCA}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flint, Frank}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:People from North Reading, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Politicians from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Politicians from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Occidental College people]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from California]]
[[Category:United States attorneys for the Southern District of California]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century California politicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]