Francis Cornwall Sherman | |
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| 5th & 23rd Mayor of Chicago | |
| In office May 5, 1862 – May 3, 1865 | |
| Preceded by | Julian Sidney Rumsey |
| Succeeded by | John Blake Rice |
| In office March 4, 1841 – March 7, 1842 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Loyd |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Wright Raymond |
| Chairman of theCook County Board of Commissioners | |
| In office 1851–1853 | |
| Illinois State Representative | |
| In office 1844–1850 | |
| City Treasurer of Chicago | |
| In office 1842–1843 | |
| Preceded by | N.H. Bolles[1] |
| Succeeded by | Walter S. Gurnee[1] |
| Chicago Alderman from the2nd ward[1] | |
| In office 1837–1838 Serving with Peter Bolles | |
| Preceded by | office established |
| Succeeded by | James Curtiss/ John S.C. Hogan |
| Chicago Village Trustee | |
| In office 1835–1836 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1805-09-18)September 18, 1805 |
| Died | November 7, 1870(1870-11-07) (aged 65) Chicago,Illinois |
| Resting place | Graceland Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 7 (includingFrancis) |
| Residence(s) | Chicago,Illinois |
| Signature | .png) |
Francis Cornwall Sherman (September 18, 1805 – November 7, 1870) served asMayor of Chicago,Illinois, for three terms (1841–1842, 1862–1865) as a member of theDemocratic Party.
Sherman was born September 18, 1805, inNewtown, Connecticut.[2] He married Electa Towbridge ofDanbury, Connecticut.[2][3]
Sherman arrived in Chicago on April 7, 1834.[4] He built a smallboardinghouse, and used those profits to buy astagecoach, establishing a stage line from Chicago toGalena,Joliet,Peoria, and other towns in Illinois.[4] In 1835, he began to work in brick manufacturing and construction.[2][4]
In July 1835, he was elected a village trustee, holding his seat for a year.[2][5] In 1837, he opened the City Hotel, ahotel that would be later renamed theSherman House.[6] Also in 1837, after Chicago incorporated as a city, Sherman was elected an alderman from the2nd ward on the newly createdChicago Common Council, and held this seat for one year.[1][2]
Sherman was elected mayor of Chicagoin 1841, running as theDemocratic nominee and defeatingWhig nominee Isaac R. Gavin.
While the Wig Party had been national dominant in the recent1840 national election, the party was discordant by March 1841 and ran a poor campaign in Chicago which aided the election of Democrats to eight of the Chicago Common Council's twelve seats.[4] Sherman was sworn in on March 4, 1841.[7] At the time, Chicago had a population of only 5,000. Because of his party's majority in the city council, the small size of the city, and the lack of contentious issues arising: Sherman's first mayoralty was uncontroversial.[4] His first mayoralty ended on March 7, 1842, when he was succeeded by WhigBenjamin Wright Raymond.[8]
After leaving office as mayor, Sherman held various other elected offices. He wasCity Treasurer of Chicago from 1842 through 1843.[1] He then served in theIllinois House of Representatives from 1844 through 1850.[2][5] During this time, was a delegate to the 1847 Illinoisconstitutional convention.[2]
In 1850, Sherman retired from his brickmaking venture in order to focus himself on public service and developing the properties that he owned.[4] He expanded his hotel, adding two floors atop its existing three, and renaming it the "Sherman House".[4]
Sherman served Chairman of theCook County Board of Commissioners from 1851 through 1853.[2][5] Sherman ran in the contentious1856 Chicago mayoral election as ananti-Nebraska Democrat. He lost to pro-Nebraska DemocratThomas Dyer.[9]
Sherman rebuilt and re-opened the Sherman House Hotel in 1861, making it one of the grand hotels of Chicago.[4]
Sherman was again elected mayor in the1862 Chicago mayoral election, defeatingRepublican nomineeCharles N. Holden.[4] Sherman was sworn in as mayor on May 5, 1862.[10]
Before the 1862 city elections, Republicans controlled city government in Chicago, holding both the mayoralty and a majority of seats on the Common Council. The Republican Party had enjoyed great recent success in Chicago elections. However, this changed in the 1862 elections. In March 1862, the Democratic-majorityIllinois General Assembly passed aredistricting of council wards thatgerrymandered the council's election map to the Democratic Party's advantage. Democrats also won the mayoralty. At the city Republican convention held before1862 mayoral election,Charles N. Holden defeatedJohn Wentworth (a popular former mayor and congressman) to secure the Republican mayoral nomination. Many angered supporters of Wentworth spited the Republican Party by instead voting for Sherman, aiding in his election. The low-turnout 1862 city elections saw the city government shift from Democratic to Republican control. With Democrats holding half of the council's seats and Sherman able to cast tie-breaking votes, Democrats became the majority party on the council.[4]
In November 1862, Sherman unsuccessfully ran for theUnited States House of Representatives, losing theIllinois 1st congressional district race to RepublicanIsaac N. Arnold.[5][11]
Sherman and aldermanJohn Comiskey had control over leading the Democratic bloc of the City Council, being opposed by the Republican bloc led byCharles C. P. Holden.[4] Despite there being a slight Democratic majority (a 10 Democrat-10 Republican split, with Sherman able to cast tie-breaking votes), the city council was deadlocked in 1862 and early 1863.[4] The deadlock became more severe when Holden led Republicans in refusing to attend meetings, thereby denyingquorum. This was done in hopes of preventing Democrats from taking votes that Republicans feared might undercut the Union Army's effort in theAmerican Civil War. As a result, no meetings were able to be held between December 22, 1862, and March 23, 1863. The death of a Republican alderman and the absence of Republican aldermanEdward Salomon (who was away fighting in the war) increased the Democratic majority on paper to a 10–8 majority. However, Democratic aldermanPeter Shimp declared himself a "War Democrat", effectively caucusing with the Republicans (as opposed to the "copperhead" Democratic majority). Presuming Salomon absence, Shimp's newly declared allegiance gave the council an effective 9–9 split with Sherman remaining the tie-breaker.[4] On March 23, 1863, the council held its first meeting with a quorum in months was assembled in order to select election judges for the city's 1863 elections. Salomon attended, which surprised many as he had not announced beforehand that he attended to attend. Combined with the vote of Shimp, this gave the Republican bloc an effective majority at the meeting. The council passed a number of measures, including "patriotic resolutions" introduced by Holden that indicated the city's support of the national government's leadership in the war. Shermanvetoed a number of the "patriotic resolutions".[4]
Sherman appointed a committee that recommended a new city charter which extended the terms of the mayor, treasurer, collector, city attorney, clerk of police court from one to two years, and also added the communities ofBridgeport and Hostein to the city's boundaries.[4]
Sherman was re-elected mayor in1863, very narrowly defeating the Republican nomineeThomas Barbour Bryan. This election was the city's first election to a newly extended term of two years. He was elected, in part, thanks to the newIrish-American andGerman-American population from Bridgeport and Holstein.[4]
_at_Graceland_Cemetery%2c_Chicago.jpg)
Sherman lost re-election in1865, in a race that was won by RepublicanJohn Blake Rice after the race heavily turned in the Republican Party's favor with sentiments shifting followingthe assassination of Republican presidentAbraham Lincoln days earlier. After the assassination, Sherman had all but formally withdrawn his candidacy.[12] Sherman's second mayoralty ended on May 3, 1865, when he was succeeded in office by Rice.[13] Sherman would later try again to win a fourth term as mayor in the1867 Chicago mayoral election, running once again as the Democratic nominee, once again losing to Rice.
Sherman died at his home in Chicago on November 7, 1870.[2][14] He was buried atGraceland Cemetery.[2]
Sherman and his wife Electa had seven children together.[2][3]
Sherman's son,Francis Trowbridge Sherman, was a brigadier general in the Union Army during theCivil War.[2]
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