Julian Sidney Rumsey

Julian Rumsey
22nd Mayor of Chicago
In office 1861–1862
Preceded by	John Wentworth
Succeeded by	Francis C. Sherman
Personal details
Born	(1823-04-03)April 3, 1823 Batavia, New York
Died	April 20, 1886(1886-04-20) (aged 63) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Political party	Republican
Residence	Chicago, Illinois

Julian Sidney Rumsey (April 3, 1823 in Batavia, New York - April 20, 1886 in Chicago, Illinois) served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1861–1862) for the Republican Party.

Rumsey arrived in Chicago on July 28, 1835 to work in a shipping company owned by his uncles. He and his brother subsequently became partners. This firm, then known as Newberry and Dole, sent out the first shipment of grain from Chicago in September 1839. In 1852 Dole retired, and the firm, which was for a time known as Rumsey Brothers, devoted itself exclusively to the grain commission business.

Rumsey was identified with the history of Chicago for more than half a century. During that period he was mayor, county treasurer, and president of the Chicago Board of Trade. He was a charter member of the Board of Trade, and through his efforts the present system of grain inspection and grading was adopted. This achievement gave him the title of the “Father of Grain Inspection.”

Mr. Rumsey always took an interest in national and state politics. In 1861, during the period that preceded the Civil War, he did much, as mayor, to arouse the enthusiasm of his fellow citizens in favor of the preservation of the Union, and at the mass meeting in Metropolitan Hall a few days after the firing on Fort Sumter, he delivered a stirring address. He was a member of the first war finance committee, and of the Republican state committee the same year. During the Panic of 1873 he was president of the Corn Exchange National Bank.

He is buried in Graceland Cemetery.

Memorials

Rumsey Avenue, which runs NE/SW between the intersections of 87th St. & Pulaski and 85th St. & Hamlin, on Chicago's far Southwest Side, is named for him.

Notes

References

•  Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "Rumsey, Julian Sidney". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. 
• Julian Sidney Rumsey at Find a Grave

External links

• Inaugural Address

Mayors of Chicago Ogden Morris Raymond Loyd F. C. Sherman Raymond Garrett A. Sherman Garrett Chapin Curtiss Woodworth Curtiss Gurnee Gray Milliken Boone Dyer Wentworth Haines Wentworth Rumsey F. C. Sherman Rice Mason Medill Bond 1 Colvin Hoyne 2 Heath Harrison, Sr. Roche Cregier Washburne Harrison, Sr. Swift Hopkins Swift Harrison, Jr. Dunne Busse Harrison, Jr. Thompson Dever Thompson Cermak Corr Kelly Kennelly R. J. Daley Bilandic Byrne Washington Orr Sawyer R. M. Daley Emanuel 1 Acting officeholder.    2 Election declared null and void.