Lexington, KY - In the last issue, we looked back on some of Lexington's more colorful mayors up to the turn of the 20th century. Of the total 52 elected mayors in Lexington's history, three served non-consecutive terms, including Henry T. Duncan, re-elected as the first mayor of the last century.
The first newly elected mayor of the 20th century was Thomas A. Combs, who served as our 27th mayor (1904-1907). The Breathitt County native was reared in Menifee County and moved to Powell County as an adult to open a sawmill and general store. He moved his family to Lexington in 1895 where he, his brothers and father founded the Combs Lumber Company, a legacy of which is still in operation, although not in lumber. Before being elected mayor, Combs served several years on city council. He resigned as mayor to successfully run for the Kentucky Senate (serving 1908-1912). In 1914, he was appointed as director of the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, where he served for almost two decades.
This was an interesting time in Lexington politics. From the 1860s, Lexington had been run by someone other than the mayor. First, Dennis Mulligan, a councilman who took control of the local Democratic Party and ran the patronage program from his store at the corner of Vine and Limestone. He was succeeded by William F. "Billy" Klair, who leveraged his insurance contracts with the city to hold sway over appointments and employment. Klair, who also served as state representative and as Lexington's postmaster, rose to power in the late 1880s and pulled the strings well into the 1930s. He died in 1937. Henry T. Duncan's son, Henry, Jr., who led the reformist opposition, referred to Combs and Klair as "two mangy rats" and as "the Siamese Twins of Lexington politics."
Combs' successor, Dr. R.B. Waddy, was also not native of Fayette County, but of Spotsylvania County, Va. (In all, 17 pre-merger mayors were from outside Fayette, with seven hailing from outside Kentucky.) At age 18, Waddy quit school to work in railroad construction. At age 23, he began the study of medicine and earned his degree a year later. He moved his practice to Lexington in 1891, where he served as a member of the Board of Health and as president of the Board of Aldermen, before serving one year as mayor.
John Skain (1908-1911) was first elected to the city council, where he served as president four years before he was elected mayor. (Until 1912, Lexington's government was made up of a mayor, eight aldermen elected at-large, and two councilmen from each of the city's six wards. In 1912, a city commission form of government was adopted.) Following his term as mayor, Skain managed the Phoenix Hotel for five years and was a commissioner of Eastern State Hospital for seven years.
Fleming County native J. Ernest Cassidy (1912-1916) operated a general store in rural Bourbon County before moving to Lexington where he opened a cigar factory. On Dec. 15, 1897, his brother accidentally shot off Cassidy's hand, and thereafter he wore a cosmetic hand. Cassidy served 12 years as city clerk before being elected mayor. While mayor, he built an apartment house on the northeast corner of Maxwell and Woodland, in which he operated a grocery store.
James C. Rogers (1916-1919) came up through the ranks of the Fayette County sheriff's office (serving as sheriff 1886-1891), when he took a teller position at the old Central Bank, then served as clerk of the Circuit Court. While mayor, Rogers suffered from a long series of illnesses and died on Nov. 9, 1919.
Rogers' successor, Councilman William H. McCorkle, is noted as serving the shortest term as mayor - just two months, giving both paychecks to his wife. He also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and as superintendent of Public Works.
Thomas C. Bradley (1920-1924) earlier served as county assessor, sheriff and superintendent of Public Safety. After elected mayor and while he was traveling out of town, his old family home on North Upper between Short and Second streets was torn down for a parking lot (a longtime Lexington tradition). Somewhat annoyed, he instituted the first city-wide zoning regulations. The noted horse owner and steward at Churchill Downs helped organize the Citizen's Trust Bank, where he served as president until his death in 1946.
Hogan Yancy (1924-1928), a Louisville native, was a star football and baseball athlete at Transylvania College, which withdrew from the Collegiate Athletic Association over allegations that Yancy had played professional ball in South Carolina. Yancy later served as coach at Transylvania while earning his law degree. Prior to serving as mayor, he was city attorney and founded the Lexington Building & Loan Association.
James J. O'Brien (1928-1932) was a stalwart of the Klair machine, serving as a secretary to both Combs and Skain, as well as city clerk and city commissioner.
Two mayors, W.T. Congleton (1932-1934) and Reed Wilson (1936-1939) are better remembered for their business connections. Congleton founded the construction company that still bears his name. Wilson was president of Wilson Machinery & Supply Company (now Wilson Equipment Co.) and was vice president of Kinkead-Wilson Chrysler Company (the sign for which still stands on New Circle Road for a spa sales room).
Between the two was Charles R. Thompson (1934-1935), a mule breeder, who was appointed mayor when Congleton resigned to return to his business, this being the Depression years. Wilson was succeeded by another businessman, T. Ward Havely (1940-1943), president of Central Rock Company, and largely responsible for funding the construction of Blue Grass Field, initially a World War II Army Air Corps training center.
With World War II, the age of bossism was mostly over, certainly in Lexington, if not Chicago. Scholarly reasons for the decline include expanding suburbs, a booming economy and returning soldiers who, having overthrown dictators, did not succumb to the dictates of the old line political bosses. The post-war period would bring sweeping changes to Lexington, for good and bad.
(Originally intended as a two-part series, the third and final installment will appear in April.)