William Beans Magruder
17th Mayor of the City of Washington, D.C.
In office June 9, 1856 – June 14, 1858
Preceded by	John T. Towers
Succeeded by	James G. Berret
Personal details
Born	(1810-02-11)February 11, 1810 Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S.
Died	May 30, 1869(1869-05-30) (aged 59) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Anti-Know-Nothing Party
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Hutchinson, Sarah Van Wyck
Children	Milicent Magruder
Alma mater	University of Maryland Medical School at Baltimore
Occupation	Physician

William Beans Magruder (1810–1869) was a prominent physician and the seventeenthMayor of Washington City,District of Columbia, from 1856 to 1858.

Magruder was born inMontgomery County, Maryland in 1810. Shortly after his birth, the family moved toGeorgetown, D.C., where Magruder was raised and educated. He studied medicine and pharmacy in Washington, and then at theUniversity of Maryland Medical School at Baltimore, graduating in 1831 and setting up practice in Washington. A year later, a disastrous epidemic ofcholera broke out in Washington, and the citizens petitioned for Magruder to be placed in charge of the Western Hospital. His heroic conduct during the epidemic made his reputation as an important physician in the city. He shortly afterward traveled toCincinnati to assist that city with its own cholera epidemic.^[1]

Dr. Magruder was the subject of a famous anecdote that wound its way intoHarper's magazine. He was attempting to talk a small boy into taking a dose ofcastor oil, promising him that the medicine was very sweet, when the boy replied, "Well, then, if it's so good, why don't you take some yourself?"^[1]

Magruder entered public office in 1835, when he became a member of the Washington Board of Health. Two years later he was elected to the city's Common Council, then to the Board of Aldermen in 1843, where he served until 1856.

In 1856, incumbent mayorJohn T. Towers — a member of the controversial"Know-Nothing" American Party — declined to seek re-election. The Know-Nothings nominated one Silas H. Hill to succeed him as mayor; the city'sDemocrats,Republicans, and remainingWhigs banded together as the "Anti-Know-Nothing Party" and nominated Magruder. After one of the fiercest campaigns in the history of Washington, Magruder won the mayoral election by a mere 13 votes.

Magruder's term as mayor was mostly marked by improvements to the city's infrastructure, in particular building an archway over a stream that then ran near L Street and frequently overflowed, damaging the city streets. He did, however, deal with the crisis of the June 1857 Election Riots, in which the Know-Nothings recruited a street gang fromBaltimore, the Plug-Uglies, to come to Washington on its local Election Day and intimidate the voters at the polls; the Plug-Uglies turned away anti-Know-Nothing voters with rocks, guns, and knives, until some citizens brought weapons of their own and the violence grew intomob rule. When the rioters reached levels of over 1,000, Magruder closed the polls and requested military aid fromPresidentJames Buchanan. Before soldiers arrived, the rioters had stolen a Federal cannon and Magruder pleaded with the mob to abandon it and surrender untilNavy Marines arrived and dispersed the rioters.^[2]

Magruder did not receive the Anti-Know-Nothing nomination for mayor in the 1858 election, and the coalition's new candidate,James G. Berret, acceded to the office. Magruder ran again as an independent candidate in 1860 but lost to Berret. After leaving office, Magruder continued to practice medicine until dying from a stomach infection in May, 1869.^{[citation needed]} He was buried atOak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.^[3]

In 1887, the William Beans Magruder School was opened on the 1700 block of M Street NW.^[4] It was closed after the 1979-1980 school year, rehabilitated and reopened as the Magruder building, part of the Seward Square office complex.^[5][6]

• Media related toWilliam B. Magruder at Wikimedia Commons

• 1810 births
• 1855 deaths
• People from Montgomery County, Maryland
• 19th-century American physicians
• 19th-century mayors of Washington, D.C.
• People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
• Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)

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