Mansfield was established in 1808, but was not incorporated as a town until early in the spring of 1828. When Mansfield was incorporated, the eligible male voters of the town were then empowered to meet and elect a city council on the first Monday of March annually, which would consist of one mayor, one recorder, and five trustees, all of whom must also be eligible male voters, and who would have a term of one year.
In the incorporation decree as reported in the newspaper, the duties of the mayor are described as follows:
6. That the mayor shall be a conservator of the peace within the limits of said corporation, and shall have the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace therein, both in criminal and civil cases; and in all his acts, as justice of the peace, he shall be governed by the laws defining the duties of justices of the peace, and shall be entitled to receive the same fees as justices of the peace are entitled to receive for similar services; he shall give such bond and security as is required by law of justices of the peace; he shall be authorized by law to hear and determine all cases arising under the laws and ordinances of the corporation, and to issue such process as may be necessary to carry into execution such laws and ordinances; and an appeal may be made from any final decision of judgment of the mayor to the court of common please of the county aforesaid, in the same manner as from that of a justice of the peace.”
Mansfield Gazette and Richland Farmer (Mansfield, OH), 27 February 1828, page 4.
Two prior (incomplete) lists of Mansfield mayors served as the initial sources and inspiration for this list. They are abbreviated as “Carrothers” and “Graham,” but the full citations are as follows:
John C. Carrothers, “Mayors of Mansfield,” Mansfield Daily Shield, 11 May 1919. Page 10, column 2.
A. A. Graham, History of Richland County, Ohio: Its Past and Present (Mansfield, Ohio: A. A. Graham & Co., 1880), p 520.
Both of these lists were published well after the initial names listed, and neither identifies any sources for their listings. Writing in 1880, Graham states that a full list of the Mansfield mayors was not possible, because the early city records (prior to 1846) had been lost, so it is unclear how Carrothers compiled his own partial list in 1919, which went as far back as 1835.
Thanks to the preservation of area newspapers, mayors back to the first Mansfield mayor, Simeon Bowman, in 1828 are able to be identified here, with some reliance on Carrothers and Graham. Where possible, these entries have been verified in local newspapers or directories. Where entries agree, they are simply both cited; if entries differ, most commonly when a first name was abbreviated in one listing but not the other, the more complete is used, and any differences are noted.
This is a living list. As more information is found, it will be updated and refined. If you have any information to be added to the list, please contact us!
1828: Simeon Bowman
Mansfield Gazette and Richland Famer, 30 April 1828, page 2, MRCPL Advantage Preservation; First name “Simeon” taken from Graham
1830: Jacob Lindly [Lindley]
Mansfield Gazette and Richland Farmer, 31 March 1830, page 3. MRCPL Advantage Preservation.
1832: E Hedges
Western Sentinel (Mansfield, OH), 11 April 1832, page 3. MRCPL Advantage Preservation.
1835: J G Gilkerson
Carrothers
1836: Joseph Berry
Carrothers
1837: B. W. Burr
Carrothers
1839: C. T. Sherman
Carrothers
1841: S. C. Coffenberry
Carrothers
1843: Job Hildreth
Carrothers
1845: T. H. Ford
Carrothers
1846: Joseph Lindley (Joe)
Carrothers; Graham
1846: T. H. Ford
Graham
1847: Frederick Cook (Fred)
Carrothers; Graham
1848: S. J. Kirkwood
Carrothers; Graham
1849: P. P. Hull
Carrothers; Graham
1850: Hubbard Colby (in Carrothers: “H Colbu”)
Carrothers; Graham
1851: N D McMillen (in Carrothers: ” N D McMullen”)
Carrothers; Graham
1852: Perkins Bigelow
Carrothers; Graham
1854: Andrew Poe
Carrothers; Graham
1855: Isaac Gass
Carrothers; Graham
1856: George F. Carpenter
Carrothers; Graham
1857: Stephen B Sturges
Carrothers; Graham
1857: Wilson M. Patterson
Mansfield Herald, 30 September 1857, page 3; Graham
1858: Isaac W. Littler
Mansfield City Directory; Graham; listed as 1859 in Carrothers
1860: William A. Moore
“New Mayor Sworn In,” Mansfield Herald, 11 April 1860. Page 3, column 3; Graham; Carrothers
1861: B. S. Runyan [Runyon]
Richland Shield and Banner, 3 April 1861, page 2; Graham; Carrothers
1862: James Cobean
Mansfield Semi Weekly Herald, 12 April 1862. Page 4; Carrothers
1864: Darium Dirlam
Carrothers; Graham
1866: Abner Slutz
Mansfield City Directory; Graham
1869: A. C. Cummings
Mansfield City Directory; “Cummins” in Carrothers; Graham
1871: John B. Netscher
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers; Graham
1875: Isaac W. Gass
Carrothers; Graham
1875: Jas. R. Richardson [Likely James]
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers; Graham
1879: James G. Craighead
Carrothers; Graham
1881: C. G. Stough
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1885: George A. Clugston
Mansfield Herald, 9 April 1885, page 6; Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1887: R. B. McCrory
Carrothers
1891: J. Newlon
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1893: Fred Black
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1895: R. B. McCrory
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1897: J. P. Henry
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1899: Huntington Brown
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers (Carrothers has 1901)
1901: Thomas R. Robinson
Bellville Messenger, 5 April 1901, page 7; Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1903: Huntington Brown
Mansfield Daily Shield, 7 April 1903, page 2
1905: William F. Voegele, Jr.
Mansfield City Directory; Carrothers
1907: Huntington Brown
Mansfield Daily Shield, 6 November 1907, page 1; Carrothers (1909)
1911: W. E. O’Donnell
Carrothers
1913: F. S. Marquis
Carrothers
1915: George H. Lowrey
Carrothers
1917: Henry G. Brunner
Carrothers
1923: Carl H. Stander
Mansfield News, 8 November 1923, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
1925: Captain J. Earl Ports
Mansfield News, 4 November 1925, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
1929: Arliss F. Porter
Mansfield News, 3 Jan 1929
1930: C. S. Moore
Mansfield City Directory
1932: Charles M. Lantz
Mansfield News, 4 September 1932, page 2; Mansfield City Directory
1935: E. A. McFarland
Mansfield News Journal, 6 November 1935, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
1937: Claude M. Hunter
Mansfield News Journal, 3 November 1937, page 1
1938: E. A. McFarland
Mansfield City Directory
1939: C. M. Hunter
Mansfield City Directory
1939: William J. Locke
Mansfield News Journal, 8 November 1939, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
1946: Roy B. Vaughn
Mansfield City Directory
1949: Thomas B. Wright
Mansfield News Journal, 9 November 1949, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
1955: Robert S. Lemley
Mansfield News Journal, 9 November 1955, page 1; Mansfield City Directory
The Sherman Room at MRCPL 