Mayor of St. Louis

Mayor of the City of St. Louis

Flag of St. Louis, Missouri
Mayor Francis G. Slay
Incumbent
Francis G. Slay
since April 17, 2001
Term length Four years
Inaugural holder William Carr Lane
Formation 1821
Salary $131,820[1]
Website Office of the Mayor

The mayor of the City of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis' city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the board of aldermen.[2]

Forty-five individuals have held the office of mayor of St. Louis, four of whom—William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How—served non-consecutive terms. The most terms served by a mayor was by Lane who served 8 full terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. The current mayor is Francis G. Slay, who took office April 17, 2001, and who won a fourth four-year term on March 5, 2013. As of April 27, 2013, he is the longest-serving mayor of St. Louis. The second-longest serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who took office April 15, 1913 and left office April 21, 1925, a total of 12 years and 9 days over three terms in office. Two others—Raymond Tucker, and Vincent C. Schoemehl—also served three terms as mayor, but served seven fewer days. The shortest serving mayor was Arthur Barret who died 11 days after taking office.

Duties and Powers

St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, shortly following the state of Missouri's admission to the Union four months prior. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, April 7, 1823.[3]

Elections

The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. Primary elections are held in March prior to the general municipal election. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election. The next election for mayor will be in 2017.

Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. The mayor served a two-year term after the adoption of a new city charter in 1859.[4] The mayor's office was extended to its present four-year term after passage of the Charter and Scheme in 1876 which separated the City of St. Louis from St. Louis County.[5] The mayor is not term limited.

Succession

If the office of mayor becomes vacant through death, resignation, recall, or removal by the board of aldermen, the president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor until a special mayoral election can be held; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the mayor, the president only acts out the duties of mayor. Should both offices be vacant, the vice-president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor.[2]

Five people have acted as mayor: Wilson Primm following the resignation of John Darby; Ferdinand W. Cronenbold following the resignation of Chauncey Filley; Herman Rechtien following the death of Arthur Barret; George W. Allen following the resignation of David Francis; Aloys P. Kaufmann following the death of William Becker.

List of Mayors and Gallery

# Mayor Took office Left office   Party Terms[B]
1 William Carr Lane April 14, 1823 April 14, 1829 Independent 6
2 Daniel Page April 14, 1829 November 11, 1833 Independent 4½[C]
3 John W. Johnson November 11, 1833 April 14, 1835 Whig 1½[C]
4 John Fletcher Darby April 14, 1835 October 31, 1837 Whig 2½[D]
— Wilson Primm October 31, 1837 November 15, 1837 Whig —[E]
1 William Carr Lane November 15, 1837 April 14, 1840 Whig 2½
4 John Fletcher Darby April 14, 1840 April 13, 1841 Whig 1
5 John D. Daggett April 13, 1841 April 12, 1842 Whig 1
6 George Maguire April 12, 1842 April 11, 1843 Democratic 1
7 John Wimer April 11, 1843 April 9, 1844 Democratic/Workingmen's 1
8 Bernard Pratte April 9, 1844 April 14, 1846 Whig 2
9 Peter G. Camden April 14, 1846 April 13, 1847 Know Nothing 1
10 Bryan Mullanphy April 13, 1847 April 11, 1848 Democratic 1
11 John Krum April 10, 1849 April 10, 1849 Democratic 1
12 James G. Barry April 10, 1849 April 9, 1850 Democratic 1
13 Luther Martin Kennett April 9, 1850 April 12, 1853 Whig 3
14 John How April 12, 1853 April 10, 1855 Democratic 2
15 Washington King April 10, 1855 April 15, 1856 Know Nothing 1
14 John How April 15, 1856 April 14, 1857 Democratic 1
7 John Wimer April 14, 1857 April 13, 1858 Emancipation 1
16 Oliver Filley April 13, 1858 April 9, 1861 Republican 2[F]
17 Daniel G. Taylor April 9, 1861 April 14, 1863 Union Anti-Black Republican 1[G]
18 Chauncey Filley April 14, 1863 March 19, 1864 Republican ½[H]
— Ferdinand W. Cronenbold March 19, 1864 April 11, 1864 —[I]
19 James Thomas April 11, 1864 April 13, 1869 Republican 2½
20 Nathan Cole April 13, 1869 April 11, 1871 Republican 1
21 Joseph Brown April 11, 1871 April 13, 1875 War Democrat 2
22 Arthur Barret April 13, 1875 April 24, 1875 Democratic ⅓[J][K]
— Herman Rechtien April 24, 1875 May 29, 1875 —[L]
23 James H. Britton May 29, 1875 February 9, 1876 Democratic ⅓[M]
24 Henry Overstolz February 9, 1876 April 12, 1881 Independent 1⅓[L][N]
25 William L. Ewing April 12, 1881 April 14, 1885 Republican 1
26 David R. Francis April 14, 1885 January 2, 1889 Democratic 1[O]
— George W. Allen January 2, 1889 April 6, 1889 Democratic —[P]
27 Edward A. Noonan April 6, 1889 April 8, 1893 Democratic 1
28 Cyrus Walbridge April 8, 1893 April 10, 1897 Republican 1
29 Henry Ziegenhein April 10, 1897 April 9, 1901 Republican 1
30 Rolla Wells April 9, 1901 April 13, 1909 Democratic 2
31 Frederick Kreismann April 13, 1909 April 12, 1913 Republican 1
32 Henry Kiel April 12, 1913 April 21, 1925 Republican 3
33 Victor J. Miller April 21, 1925 April 18, 1933 Republican 2
34 Bernard F. Dickmann April 18, 1933 April 15, 1941 Democratic 2
35 William D. Becker April 15, 1941 August 1, 1943 Republican ½[I]
36 Aloys P. Kaufmann August 1, 1943 April 19, 1949 Republican 1½[Q]
37 Joseph Darst April 19, 1949 April 21, 1953 Democratic 1
38 Raymond Tucker April 21, 1953 April 20, 1965 Democratic 3
39 Alfonso Cervantes April 20, 1965 April 17, 1973 Democratic 2
40 John Poelker April 17, 1973 April 19, 1977 Democratic 1
41 James F. Conway April 19, 1977 April 21, 1981 Democratic 1
42 Vincent C. Schoemehl April 21, 1981 April 20, 1993 Democratic 3
43 Freeman Bosley, Jr. April 20, 1993 April 15, 1997 Democratic 1
44 Clarence Harmon April 15, 1997 April 17, 2001 Democratic 1
45 Francis G. Slay April 17, 2001 Incumbent Democratic 4

Notes

  • A. ^ 45 people have served as mayor, four twice; the table includes these non-consecutive terms as well.
  • B. ^ The fractional terms of some mayors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple mayors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
  • C. a b Samuel Merry was elected mayor of St. Louis in April 1833, however, his eligibility was questioned by the City Council as he was a federal officer—United States Receiver of Public Moneys in St. Louis. Merry filed suit to force the council's compliance and in October 1833, he was ruled ineligible by the Missouri Supreme Court.[6] Johnston was elected mayor in a special mayoral election held a month later on November 9. Page continued to serve as mayor until the case was settled and Johnston elected.[7][8]
  • D. ^ Darby resigned from office. William Carr Lane was later elected to fill the vacancy.[9]
  • E. ^ As president of the Board of Aldermen, Primm acted as mayor following the resignation of Darby.[10]
  • F. ^ Oliver Filley's second term was the first mayoral term to last 2 years.[4]
  • G. ^ Daniel G. Taylor was the candidate of a one-time coalition of traditional Missouri Democrats, pro-slavery activists, and secessionists calling itself the "Union Anti-Black Republican" ticket. The coalition was suspicious of the Abolitionist platform of the Republican party, and argued that St. Louis should not be governed by "Black Abolitionists" who would support newly elected President Lincoln in acting, including the use of military force, to prevent secession of southern states. Mayor Taylor worked in concert with Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, until Jackson fled the state capitol to establish a Confederate aligned state government-in-exile. Mayor Taylor then cooperated with the new conservative-Unionist Governor, Hamilton Gamble.
  • H. ^ Chauncey Filley resigned after serving one year of his two-year term as mayor due to poor health.[11][12]
  • I. ^ As president of the Board of Common Council, Cronenbold acted as mayor following the resignation of Chauncey Filley.
  • J. a b Died in office.
  • K. ^ Barret became suddenly ill and died after only 11 days in office.[13][14]
  • L. ^ As president of the City Council, Rechtin acted as mayor following the death of Arthur Barret.[14][15]
  • M. a b Henry Overstolz was declared defeated by James Britton in the 1875 election, but contested the election and was seated as mayor nine months later after a recount of the ballots.[16]
  • N. ^ Per the new city charter of 1876, Overstolz became the first mayor of St. Louis elected to a four-year term.[5]
  • O. ^ Resigned from office to become Governor of Missouri.[17]
  • P. ^ As president of the City Council, Allen acted as mayor following the resignation of David Francis.[17][18]
  • Q. ^ As president of the Board of Aldermen, Kaufmann became mayor following the death of William Becker. He was later elected mayor, in a special mayoral election in November 1944, to fill Becker's unexpired term.[19]

Other high offices held

This is a table of governorships, congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by St. Louis mayors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Missouri.

* Denotes those offices that the mayor resigned to take.
† Denotes those offices that the mayor resigned to be mayor.
Mayor Mayoral term Other offices held Sources
William Carr Lane 1823–1829
1837–1840		 Missouri State Representative (1826–1828, 1830–1834)
Governor of New Mexico Territory (1852–1853)		 [20]
 
John Fletcher Darby 1835–1837
1840–1841		 Missouri State Senator (1838–1840)
U.S. Representative (1851–1853)		 [21]
[22]
Luther Martin Kennett 1850–1853 U.S. Representative (1855–1857) [23]
Nathan Cole 1869–1871 U.S. Representative (1877–1879) [24]
Joseph Brown 1871–1875 Missouri State Senator (1868–1871) [25]
James H. Britton 1875–1876 Missouri State Representative (1852–1856) [25]
David R. Francis 1885–1889 Governor of Missouri* (1889–1893)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1896–1897)
Ambassador to Russia (1916–1917)
Henry Ziegenhein 1897–1901 Missouri State Representative (1876–1878); [26][27]
James F. Conway 1977–1981 Missouri State Representative (1966–1974)
Missouri State Senator† (1974–1977)		 [28]
[28][29][30]

Living former mayors

As of September 2008, four former mayors were alive, the oldest being James F. Conway (1977–1981, born 1933). The most recent death of a former mayor was that of John H. Poelker (1973–1977), on February 9, 1990.

Name Mayoral term Date of birth
James F. Conway 1977–1981 June 22, 1933 (his page has diff. b-date)
Vincent C. Schoemehl 1981–1993 October 30, 1946
Freeman Bosley, Jr. 1993–1997 July 20, 1954
Clarence Harmon 1997–2001 March 18, 1955

References

General
Charters
Specific
  1. ↑ "The highest-paid City of St. Louis employees". bizjournals.com. October 30, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "St. Louis City Charter, Article VII". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  3. ↑ Conard, Howard Louis (1901). Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri 1. New York ; Louisville ; St. Louis: The Southern History Company. pp. 569–572. OCLC 32872107.
  4. 1 2 "St. Louis Mayors: Oliver D. Filley". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  5. 1 2 "St. Louis Mayors: Henry Overstolz". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  6. ↑ State v. Samuel Merry (Mo. 1833). Text
  7. ↑ "St. Louis Mayors: John W. Johnston". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  8. ↑ Shepard, Elihu Hotchkiss (1870). The Early History of St. Louis and Missouri. Saint Louis: Southwestern Book and Publishing Company. p. 112. OCLC 2804761. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  9. ↑ Stevens, Walter Barlow (1911). St. Louis: The Fourth City, 1764-1911. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. p. 112. OCLC 9351989. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  10. ↑ "Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis". Daily Commercial Bulletin and Missouri Literary Register. 1837-12-02.
  11. ↑ "St. Louis Mayors: Chauncey I. Filley". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  12. ↑ Missouri Democrat. 1864-03-16. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Reavis, L. U. (1875). Saint Louis: The Future Great City of the World (Biographical ed.). Saint Louis, MO: Gray, Baker & Co. pp. 467–470. OCLC 1805694. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  14. 1 2 "Arthur B. Barret. The Mayor's Illness Results in Death This Morning". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1875-04-24.
  15. ↑ "A Municipal Row". The Inter Ocean. 1875-05-19.
  16. ↑ "St. Louis Mayors: James H. Britton". St. Louis Public Library. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  17. 1 2 "The City Hall Change". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 2 January 1889. p. 10.
  18. ↑ "Next Municipal Chief". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 2 January 1889. p. 2.
  19. ↑ "Aloys P. Kaufmann". The New York Times. 1984-02-15. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  20. ↑ "Missouri State Legislators 1820-2000". MO.gov. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  21. ↑ "Missouri State Legislators 1820-2000". MO.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  22. ↑ "DARBY, John Fletcher". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  23. ↑ "KENNETT, Luther Martin". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  24. ↑ "COLE, Nathan". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  25. 1 2 "Missouri State Legislators 1820-2000". MO.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  26. ↑ "Missouri State Legislators 1820-2000". MO.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  27. ↑ State Almanac and Official Directory of Missouri for 1878. Saint Louis: John J. Daly & Co. 1878. p. 31. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  28. 1 2 "Missouri State Legislators 1820-2000". MO.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  29. ↑ Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1975–1977. Jefferson City and St. Louis, Missouri: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc. pp. 94–95. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  30. ↑ Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1977–1978. Jefferson City and St. Louis, Missouri: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc. p. 93. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
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