Biography

04/14/1848 - 03/08/1901

Christopher Lyman Magee, Jr. (R43) Allegheny (Part) County 1897-1901

Early Life:

Christopher Lyman Magee, Jr., born April 14, 1848, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; son of judge Christopher Lyman Magee Sr. and Elizabeth S. Steel Magee; third ward public school education; Pittsburgh High School; Western University (University of Pittsburgh); president, Consolidated Traction Company of Pittsburgh; elected, treasurer, city of Pittsburgh 1871, re-elected 1874; delegate, Republican state convention from 1872-1897, with the exception of the years 1877 and 1890; delegate, Republican national convention, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896; married, Eleanor Louise Gillespie, 1878; member, Pittsburg fire commission 1878-1888; member of sinking fund commission, city of Pittsburgh; life trustee, Carnegie Fine Arts and Museum Fund; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1897-1901; died, March 8, 1901 (aged, 52) in office of the Senate, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interment, Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, treasurer, city of Pittsburgh 1871, re -elected, 1874.

Delegate, Republican state convention, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883,1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897.

Delegate, Republican national convention, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 43rd district, Allegheny (Part) County, 1897-1901; committee assignments, Banks and Building and Loan Associations, Corporations, Finance, Insurance, Railroads and Street Passenger Railways; last public appearance in the senate, January 15, 1901, cast a vote for John Dalzell, United States Senate, defeated by Matthew S. Quay.

Legacy: 

Is honored with several monuments throughout the city of Pittsburgh, including one on Schenley Plaza created by the sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens. 

His home "Maples" became a maternity hospital on January 19, 1911, which continues today as Magee-Women's Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a hospital for women and their babies, envisioned by Magee in his will. As stipulated, it opened after his wife's death and was named, Elizabeth Steel Magee Hospital in honor of his mother, would "be open to the sick and injured of all classes without respect to their religion, creed, color, or previous condition ... I especially desire the admission to this hospital of all females who may apply for admission thereto for lying-in purposes and as to all such I direct that they be admitted without any question asked as to their lives or names," Mr. Magee directed.....

Purchased a trolley barn at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Craig Street, Pittsburgh, 1895, turned it into a 5,000-seat arena, named it Duquesne Gardens. The building hosted its first hockey game, 1899.

Brother, William Addison Magee, Jr., Pennsylvania State Senate, 43rd district, Allegheny (Part) County 1901-1904.

William Addison Magee Jr. - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Nephew, Charles J. Magee, Pennsylvania State Senate, 43rd district, Allegheny (Part) County 1913-1917.

Charles J. Magee  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, Cochran, (1900) T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1187, 1192-1194, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1161.

Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) · Saturday, March 09, 1901, page 1.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) · Friday, July 04, 2008, page C1.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Wednesday, January 19, 2011, page C1.

Christopher Lyman Magee (1848-1901) - Find a Grave Memorial