Lexington, KY - Having recently inaugurated the 53rd mayor (56th if the three who served non-consecutive terms are counted) in Lexington's storied history, it might be fun to look back at some of the city's more notable mayors. (To be fair, no mayor since the city-county government merger in 1972 will be scrutinized.) This first of a two-part series covers some mayors of the 19th century.
Although named in 1775 and settled in 1779, Lexington did not elect its first mayor until 1832, the year it was incorporated - long after she began to decline in economic status among the western cities. It should be noted, however, the first mayor was the son of the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies, John Wesley Hunt.
Charleton Hunt (mayor from 1832-1834) was an alumnus of Transylvania University, the college with the most mayoral alumni (12, compared to the University of Kentucky's 10; in the interest of full disclosure, the authors are Transylvania graduates). After graduating in June 1821, Hunt left for Frederick, Md., one of the eastern cities to which Lexington was inordinately attached (others being Philadelphia and Williamsburg, Va.). There he studied law under Roger Taney, who, as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, would write the infamous Dred Scott Decision. Hunt returned to Kentucky the following year, establishing his practice in Paris. In 1824 he married Rebecca T. Warfield of another dynastic Lexington family. After Lexington incorporated in 1832, Hunt was elected mayor, and reelected in 1833 and 1834 (mayors served one-year terms until well into the 20th century), shepherding the community through the cholera epidemic of 1833. Hunt returned to his law practice, only to die of scarlet fever on Dec. 27, 1836.
Lexington's second cholera epidemic in 1849 claimed the city's third mayor, J.G. McKinney (1837-1838), who died July 5 of that year. Another notable figure also died in the epidemic: Robert S. Todd, father of Mary who would marry Abraham Lincoln.
Lexington's fifth mayor, Daniel Bradford (1841), was the son of the publisher of the Kentucky Gazette, John Bradford. Daniel succeeded his father as publisher of the city's first major newspaper. He later published and edited the Lexington Public Advertiser.
James Logue (1842-1845) was Lexington's only immigrant mayor, born in Letter Kenney, Ireland, in 1783. He emigrated to the United States at age 30 and settled in Lexington, where he operated a co-ed academy (rare in those times) and served as the city librarian before being elected mayor.
The ninth mayor, George P. Jouett (1848-1849), was the first-born of famous Kentucky portraitist Matthew H. Jouett. He studied medicine at Transylvania under Dr. Benjamin Dudley, one of the nation's early medical pioneers. After practicing medicine for several years, Jouett entered the mercantile field, owning the Mississippi River boat Baltic, among others. Although elected to two terms, he resigned during the second to return to his business interests. When the War Between the States broke out, he enlisted in the Union army and was appointed colonel of the 15th Kentucky Volunteers. He was killed in the Battle of Perryville.
Thomas H. Pindell (1854), the city's 12th mayor, was a major in the army during the War of 1812 and served as an aide to Gov. Isaac Shelby in the Northwest campaign. He owned a ropewalk on North Limestone and was an officer of the Bank of Kentucky for 20 years.
Thomas B. Monroe, Jr. (1859) served as editor of the Kentucky Statesman, a pro-Southern newspaper. He served as secretary of state under Gov. Beriah Magoffin. When Kentucky declared its neutrality in 1860, Monroe joined the Confederate 4th Kentucky Infantry as a major and was killed near Burnesville in 1862.
D.W. Standeford (1866) won by two votes in what may have been the city's closest mayoral election.
Lexington's longest serving mayor was Jerry T. Frazier (1867, 1869-1880). The Baltimore native moved to Cynthiana as a child and later to Lexington to work as a merchant and tailor. Prior to his first election as mayor, Frazier served on the city council for several years. Turned out of office after his first term, he ran again a year later and would serve 12 consecutive terms.
Frazier's sole defeat came at the hands of J.G. Chinn (1868), a veteran of the War of 1812. Chinn trained as a physician and received his degree in medicine from Transylvania University. Elected mayor at age 71, he outlived three wives, the last of which he married at age 80, she being 90. She died 12 years later and he followed two years after that.
One of the city's most effective mayors was Claude M. Johnson (1880-1887), during whose tenure the waterworks were built in 1884. He voluntarily left office to serve as an Indian agent in the territory of Arizona, but returned to Lexington eight years later.
Although J. Hull Davidson (1892-1893) may be remembered as one of the organizers of the Chamber of Commerce or as an owner of the Phoenix Hotel, his mark on history is stained by charges of embezzlement. After serving as tax collector from 1888-1891, a shortage of $14,714 for those years was noted in the city treasury, an amount that later rose to $125,400. A suit to collect was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Henry T. Duncan (1894-1895, 1900-1903) is remembered for founding the Lexington Press in 1870. It merged with Desha Breckinridge's Transcript to become the Lexington Herald.
The last mayor of the 19th century was J.B. Simrail (1896-1899), who served under Gen. John Hunt Morgan, with whom he was imprisoned in Columbus, Ohio. Contemporaries, however, remember him for an infamous bar fight with the editor of the Herald over an editorial.
(Next month, we will bring the record up to 1972, when the city and county governments merged.)