MAYOR MAYOR IN
THE HALL
NORMAN V.
KELLY
It is about time I compiled a ‘list’ of our mayors
that served here in Peoria, Illinois. I
wrote a lot about some of them, ignored some, and just plain disliked a few of
them. I was around way back when Mayor Woodruff served his final term, so I
have a personal knowledge of those that served after 1945. Our mayors were
dynamic men early on and we can thank them for the foresight that would make
Peoria one of the greatest small cities in the United States.
In 1845 Peoria became a city and we claimed one square
mile that contained 1,936 hardy souls. It is no secret that we grew up on the
shoulders of beer and whiskey into a city that was called ‘The Alcohol Capital
Of The World.’ It is also true that at one time Peoria produced 995 different
products.
After William Hale’s short term in 1845 fifteen men
served one year terms, perhaps you will notice that we named some of our
streets after some of those men. During the 1840 era we had Charles Stearns;
William Mitchell served two terms and then came Jacob Gale. In 1850 there came Dennis Blakely, George
Bestor, Jonathan Cooper and George Bestor served two more terms ending in 1854.
Next came Charles Balance and two-termed Gardiner T.
Barker followed another man that served two terms, William Hamilton. We are now
up to John D. Arnold who served just before the Civil War. When the Civil War started William Willard
served the first two-year term, but it was back to one year when Gardiner T.
Baker became our mayor once again. As
the Civil War was coming to a close Mathew Reynolds was mayor and Jacob Gale served
again until the end of 1865.
Henry T. Baldwin took over after the war and served
two one-year terms. Between 1867 and 1870, we had Phillip Bender followed by P.R.K. Brotherson. Up pops Gardiner T. Barker once again serving
three one-year terms, and now it is 1873 and P.R.K. Brotherson serves two more
terms.
John Warner got into the political wars and proved to
be a formidable foe for his political opponents. At one time we had a Warner Street but it
later gave way to South Jefferson Street.
Warner Homes was named after him and he was quite a force in Peoria. He came into office for a two-year term in
1873. He lost the next election to
Leslie Robinson, but won the next two-year terms. Frank Hitchcock took over the roost next,
followed by John Warner once again. In
1880 Samuel Kinsey was mayor for two years and here came old John Warner back
to take over until 1890.
The Gay Nineties dawned with Charles Clarke sitting on
top of the pile followed by…you guessed it…John Warner, but just for a one-year
term. Phillip Miles had a two-year term,
losing to William M. Allen. WHOA…who’s that winning again, good old john? It is
1899 and Henry W. Lynch is our city boss, and as the century turns our new
mayor is William F. Bryan.
Well it is 1903 and a new name came upon the scene, a
man that will dominate Peoria’s political scene even much more than John Warner
ever dreamed of and his name is Woodruff.
Edward Nelson Woodruff became our
mayor for the first time in 1903 and the battle was on for the right to serve
Peoria and all of those terms are now two years. From 1903 until 1945 Woodruff
was either our mayor or battling for the job. I have written a lot about this
man, I regret it never turned into a book.
1905 Allen B. Tolson won a heated battle and Woodruff
had to cool his heels. Thomas O’Connor was our next mayor and it was not until
1909 that Woodruff finally got the upper hand.
He managed to control this city six terms in a row losing finally to
Victor P. Michel in 1921. But, ‘Little
Napoleon,’ ‘The Little Warrior, ‘Old
Crooked Neck’ and ‘The Man About Town,’ won the following election. Louis Mueller won two elections in a row, but
‘Ole’ Ed,’ won again and stayed in office until
1931.
Homer L. Ehrends took over from Woodruff and Charles
L. O’Brien
won all of the marbles for the next two years going
out of office in May of 1935. Prohibition and the Great Depression were behind
us and Peoria, Illinois was back in the booze business and Mayor Woodruff is
back in ‘Hiz Honor’s’ favorite chair and
will stay until 1937. David McCluggage
won the political battle here in Peoria in 1937 and served as our mayor for two
terms, leaving office in 1941. All
during the incredible WW11 years, Mayor Woodruff was our mayor in his first
four-year term which proved to be his last.
Carl O. Triebel, the so-called Reformer, which he certainly was not,
took over from Woodruff. He took office
in May of 1945 and it was not until September 3, 1946 that he finally stopped
gambling here in Peoria, Illinois. Carl
left office in 1949. Joseph Malone began his administration in 1949, and was
replaced by Robert Morgan in 1953. Mayor
Eugene Leiter was in office until 1957.
All this political action took place in our old City Hall, and that old
building is still in use. Can you
imagine if those walls could talk?
After Mayor Leiter’s administration concluded, Robert
Day was elected followed by Robert Lenhausen, who ended his administration in
1969. E. Michel O’Brien took the reins
in 1969, giving way to Richard E. Carver in 1973. Carver held on for three terms handing over
the keys to city hall in 1984 to C. Richard Neumiller. Mr. Neumiller was an interim mayor 1984-1985.
Mayor James A. Maloof became Peoria’s Mayor in 1985
for three four- year terms, turning over the mayor’s office to Lowell (Bud)
Grieves in 1997. Four years later in 2001 David Ransburg won the office of
Mayor of Peoria, Illinois. Our current
mayor, Jim Ardis took over in 2005 and is our mayor here in 2012.
So, have you done the math? How many men served Peoria as mayor since
1845? So if we give William Hale mayor number
one…what number should we give to Jim Ardis?
If you can answer all these math questions I suggest you run for Mayor
of Peoria, Illinois. I think it is time
that we had a women run for mayor…you think?
Editor’s Note:
Norm Kelly is an author and Peoria Historian. He welcomes your comments. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net
1,1036 words.
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