William Carr Lane

William Carr Lane (December 1, 1789 – January 6, 1863) was a doctor and the first Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, serving from 1823 to 1829 and 1837 to 1840. He was also the Governor of New Mexico Territory from 1852 to 1853.

Born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania to Presley Carr Lane and Sarah "Sallie" Stephenson, Lane attended college in Pennsylvania and studied medicine in Louisville, Kentucky. He entered the U.S. Army, and was appointed post surgeon at Fort Harrison on the Wabash River north of Terre Haute, Indiana in 1816. He resigned from the army in 1819 to enter private practice. He married February 26, 1818 in Vincennes, Indiana to Miss Mary Ewing, daughter of Nathaniel Ewing and Ann Breading. Their children were Anne Ewing Lane (1819–1904), Sarah L. Lane (1821–1887), and Victor Carr Lane (1831–1848).

Lane served as St. Louis's first mayor from 1823 to 1829, when the city's population was around 4,000. He oversaw the first public health system in the city, free public schools, and street improvements, including the paving of Main Street. Lane helped erect the city's first town hall. He was also instrumental in beautifying the city with fountains and greenery. The City Seal was adopted, and election procedures were written. Perhaps the most memorable event in his term was a visit by Lafayette in 1825, and a ball given in his honor.

Lane served again as mayor from 1837 to 1840. In 1852, President Millard Fillmore appointed him to be the new governor of the New Mexico Territory. After this term, Lane returned to St. Louis and practiced medicine until his death in 1863. He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.There is also a street in city of St.Louis named in his honor.

References

External links

• William Carr Lane at the St. Louis Public Library Mayors Exhibit website.
• William Carr Lane at Find a Grave

Mayors of St. Louis, Missouri Lane Page Johnston Darby Daggett Maguire Wimer Pratte Camden Mullanphy Krum Barry Kennett How King O. Filley Taylor C. Filley Thomas Cole Brown Barret Britton Overstolz Ewing Francis Noonan Walbridge Ziegenhein Wells Kreismann Kiel Miller Dickmann Becker Kaufmann Darst Tucker Cervantes Poelker Conway Schoemehl Bosley Harmon Slay

Governors of New Mexico U.S. Military Admin (1846–1851) Military Kearny Price Washington Munroe Civilian Bent Vigil Connelly U.S. Territory (1851–1912) Calhoun Lane Meriwether Rencher Connelly Mitchell Pile Giddings Axtell Wallace Sheldon Ross Prince Thornton Otero Hagerman Curry Mills State (since 1912) McDonald C. De Baca Lindsey Larrazolo M. Mechem Hinkle Hannett Dillon Seligman Hockenhull Tingley Miles Dempsey Mabry E. Mechem Simms E. Mechem Burroughs E. Mechem Bolack Campbell Cargo King Apodaca King Anaya Carruthers King Johnson Richardson Martínez See also Mexican governors of New Mexico, Spanish governors of New Mexico