Albion Interactive History / People
Charles F. Austin, 1836
First Mayor of Albion, 1885
School Board Member
Died 1899
City of Albion Mayor +
Biography
Charles F. Austin began his long service to the Albion Public Schools during 1879-1880. Austin had come to the Albion area in 1840, andfor many years was employed as a clerk in area hardware stores. He served as a village president, and was the first mayor of Albion when it was incorporated as a city in 1885. Under his direction, the affairs of the city prospered. Marshall Road within the city limits was renamed Austin Avenue in his honor. Austin School was erected in his memory in 1911. At the time of his death, the Albion Leader gave the following tribute:
His fellow citizens had honored him by successive election to places of great responsibility and important public trusts, but in none of these was his whole nature enlisted as it was in connection with his duties as a member of the school board. His most ardent desire was to be constantly doing something which should strengthen our school system, always striving to promote in the schools those influences and measures that would tend to secure the highestwelfare of teachers and pupils. He was the teachers true and tried friend, and his greatest ambition was that every pupil should have the best preparation for life which the schools can give. (Albion Leader, 15 April 1899)
Source: Frank Passic. A History of the Albion Public Schools. Albion, Michigan: E. Weil Publishing Services. 1991.