PEORIA VILLAGE PRESIDENTS AND CITY MAYORS: 1835 TO PRESENT

 

While doing research on another subject, I discovered that there was no one complete list of Peoria mayors anywhere online, that I could find. I managed to compile the following list, which I believe to be complete, at least in order of terms served. Corrections, with sources, are most welcome.

 

VILLAGE PRESIDENTS:

 

One-year Village President terms:

 

Rudolphus Rouse:

Born 07-20-1793, NY; Died 04-30-1873, Peoria, IL

Village President: Five one-year terms from 1835-1836, 1837-1838, 1838-1839, 1839-1840, 1840-1841

Find A Grave Memorial# 26932075

 

George B. Parker:

Born 1807; Died 1865

Village President: One one-year term from 1836-1837

Find A Grave Memorial# 67873591

 

Peter Sweat:

Born 1801; Died 1868

Village President: One one-year term from 1841-1842

Find A Grave Memorial# 35818652

 

Lewis Howell:

Born 1810; Died 1880

Village President: One one-year term from 1842-1843

Find A Grave Memorial# 132471560

 

John King:

Village President: One one-year term from 1843-1844

 

Halsey Oswin Merriman:

Born 02-09-1815, NY; Died 03-23-1854, Peoria, IL

Village President: One one-year term from 1844-1845

Find A Grave Memorial# 5213003

 

 

CITY MAYORS:

Peoria was incorporated as a city on 04-21-1845,

 

One year mayoral terms:

 

William Hale:

Born 12-07-1783; Died 11-25-1859, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1845

Find A Grave Memorial# 63612464

 

Charles T. Stearns:

Mayor: One one-year term in 1846

 

William Mitchell:

Mayor: Two one-year terms in 1847 and 1848

 

Jacob Gale:

Born 02-22-1814, NH; Died 10-20-1900, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Two one-year terms in 1849 and 1864

Find A Grave Memorial# 74575551

 

Dennis Blakeley:

Born 1791, MA; Died 03-02-1856, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1850

Find A Grave Memorial# 51248470

 

George Clinton Bestor:

Born 04-16-1811, Washington, DC; Died 05-14-1872, Washington, DC.

Mayor: Three one-year terms in 1851, 1853 and 1854

Find A Grave Memorial# 51873874

 

Jonathan Kearsley Cooper:

Born 11-09-1814, PA; Died 11-22-1884, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1852

Find A Grave Memorial# 137664599

 

Charles Ballance:

Born 11-10-1800, KY; Died 05-11-1871, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1855

Find A Grave Memorial# 53721409

 

Gardner Thurston Barker:

Born 01-10-1814, NY; Died 10-26-1894, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Three one-year terms in 1856, 1857 and 1862 and one two-year term in 1870

Find A Grave Memorial# 98042494

 

William R. Hamilton:

Born 02-18-1816, PA; Died 12-29-1905, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Two one-year terms in 1858 and 1859

Find A Grave Memorial# 5663357

 

Dr. John D. Arnold:

Born 06-08-1820; Died 04-1863

Mayor: One one-year term in 1860

Find A Grave Memorial# 52769079

 

William Alpheus Willard:

Born 07-27-1828; Died 07-17-1865

Mayor: One one-year term in 1861

Find A Grave Memorial# 77858033

 

Matthew W. McReynolds:

Born 1825; Died 05-11-1896, Chicago, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1863

Find A Grave Memorial# 121087803

 

Henry T. Baldwin:

Born 01-28-1836, IN; Died 01-14-1917, Rockford, IL

Mayor: Two one-year terms in 1865 and 1866

Find A Grave Memorial# 53658824

 

Philipp Bender:

Born 10-22-1823, Germany; Died 07-26-1876, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One one-year term in 1867

Find A Grave Memorial# 93506232

 

Two year mayoral terms:

 

Peter Rutgers Kissam Brotherson:

Born 07-14-1811, NY; Died 07-06-1891, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Two two-year terms in 1868 and 1872

Find A Grave Memorial# 119933569

 

John Baptist Warner:

Born 10-11-1826, OH; Died 12-28-1920, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Six two-years terms in 1874, 1878, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1897 and one one-year term in 1892

Find A Grave Memorial# 5580049

 

Leslie Robison:

Born 08-08-1834, MI; Died 11-19-1926, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1876

Find A Grave Memorial# 134157854

 

Frank Hitchcock:

Born 01-29-1838, OH; Died 04-25-1895

Mayor: One two-year term in 1882

Find A Grave Memorial# 50749561

 

Samuel A. Kinsey:

Born 02-15-1827, NJ; Died 01-09-1921, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1886

Find A Grave Memorial# 119597294

 

Charles Corning Clarke:

Born 03-22-1856, Peoria, IL; Died 09-01-1901, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Two two-year terms in 1890 and 1892

Find A Grave Memorial# 100643070

 

Beginning in 1893, elections were held in odd-numbered years.

 

Philo B. Miles:

Born 12-12-1849, Washington, IL; Died 06-11-1932, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1893

Find A Grave Memorial# 107489390

 

William M. Allen:

Born 10-21-1854, Canada; Died 01-02-1920, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1895

Find A Grave Memorial# 105737289

 

Henry W. Lynch:

Born 07-26-1857, Magnolia, IL; Died 08-09-1936, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1899

Find A Grave Memorial# 107582946

 

William Frederick Bryan Jr.:

Born 09-18-1856, PA; Died 10-09-1922, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1901

Find A Grave Memorial# 118460941

 

Edward Nelson Woodruff:

Born 02-02-1862, Peoria, IL; Died 12-22-1947, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Ten two-year terms in 1903, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1923, 1929 and 1935 and one four-year term in 1941

Find A Grave Memorial# 50371627

 

Allen B. Tolson:

Born 04-1866, MD; Died 1916

Mayor: One two-year term in 1905

Find A Grave Memorial# 54272946

 

Thomas O'Connor:

Born 11-1868, IL; Died 07-07-1934

Mayor: One two-year term in 1907

Find A Grave Memorial# 131707392

 

Victor P. Michel:

Born 1888; Died 1968

Mayor: One two-year term in 1921

Find A Grave Memorial# 103647490

 

Louis Mueller:

Born 01-21-1872, Peoria, IL; Died 06-03-1933, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Two two-year terms in 1925 and 1927

 

Homer L. Ahrends:

Born 12-04-1884, Peoria, IL; Died 02-1950, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1931

Find A Grave Memorial# 51248439

 

Charles Leo O'Brien:

Born 09-05-1890, Peoria, IL; Died 09-02-1959, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One two-year term in 1933

Find A Grave Memorial# 77527838

 

Mayoral terms became 4 years with the election of 1937.

 

David Hugh McClugage:

Born 08-26-1880, Tremont, IL; died 12-31-1944, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1937

Find A Grave Memorial# 167189561

 

Carl O. Triebel:

Born 08-07-1895, IL; Died 11-1972

Mayor: One four-year term in 1945

Find A Grave Memorial# 53262627

 

Joseph O'Neill Malone:

Born 08-31-1909, Peoria, IL; Died 08-26-1970, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1949

Find A Grave Memorial# 89041011

 

Robert D. Morgan:

Born 05-27-1912, Peoria, IL; Died 05-29-2002, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1953

Find A Grave Memorial# 59439474

 

Eugene L. Leiter:

Born 03-04-1913; Died 04-29-1978, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1957

Find A Grave Memorial# 125200557

 

Robert George Day:

Born 11-30-1913, Peoria, IL; Died 03-18-2005, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1961

Find A Grave Memorial# 77230129

 

Robert Joseph Lehnhausen:

Born 09-11-1919, Peoria, IL; Died 03-05-2018, Peoria, IL

​Mayor: One four-year term in 1965

Find A Grave Memorial# 173347382

​

Eugene Michael O'Brien:

Born 11-22-1930, MO; Died 03-01-2013, Peoria, IL

Mayor: One four-year term in 1969

Find A Grave Memorial# 106108299

 

Richard E. Carver:

Born 08-28-1937, Des Moines, IA. Died May 5, 2023, at his home in FL.

Mayor: Three four-year terms in 1973, 1977 and 1981, but vacated third term in third year

 

Charles Richard Neumiller:

Born 11-09-1932, Peoria, IL; Died 01-02-2015, Peoria, IL

Acting Mayor after Richard E. Carver vacated his third term, served 1984-1985.

Find A Grave Memorial# 140825760

​

James Aloysius Maloof:

Born 10-18-1919, Peoria, IL; Died 01-19-2013, Peoria, IL

Mayor: Three four-year terms in 1985, 1989, 1993

Find A Grave Memorial# 103833378

 

Lowell “Bud” Grieves:

Living

Mayor: One four-year term in 1997

 

David Preston Ransburg:

Born 12-17-1938; Died 11-11-2017

Mayor: One four-year term in 2001

Find A Grave Memorial# 185253508

 

James Ardis:

Living

Mayor: Four four-year terms in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017

​

Rita Ali:

Living

Mayor: One four-year term beginning in 2021

 

 

SOURCES:

 

"Revised Ordinances of the City of Peoria, Illinois", published by Authority of the City of Peoria, 1910, Brown-Williams Printing Company, Peoria, Illinois

 

www. ancestry.com

 

www.findagrave.com

 

www.peoriacountyillinois.info

 

en.wikipedia.org

 

Last revised 12-29-2014

 

copyright 2021 JW