1st ward, Chicago

1st Ward - Chicago
Ward
Ward 1
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
City	Chicago
Established	1837
Communities	list
Government
• Type	Ward
• Body	Chicago City Council
• Alderperson	Daniel La Spata (Democratic Party)
Website

The 1st Ward is one of the 50 aldermanic wards with representation in the City Council of Chicago, Illinois.

History

By the mid-1890s, the ward's partisan lean had firmly become Democratic. ^[1] The last Republican to represent the ward on the Chicago City Council was Francis P. Gleason, who left office in 1897.

In the 1940s, the ward was referred to as being the "wealthiest ward in the world". ^[2]

Past alders

The current alderperson for the 1st ward is Daniel La Spata.

Before 1923

Before 1923, wards were represented by two aldermen.

Aldermen							# Council	Aldermen
Alderman			Term in office	Party	Notes	Cite		Alderman			Term in office	Party	Notes	Cite
		J.C. Goodhue	1837–1838			[3]	1st			Hiram Pearson	1837–1838			[3]
		E.A. Haddock	1838–1839			[3]	2nd			Eli B. Williams	1838–1839			[3]
		James A. Smith	1839–1840			[3] [4]	3rd			Oliver H. Thompson	1839–1840			[3] [4]
		Orsemus Morrison	1840–1841			[3]	4th			Julius Wadsworth	1840–1841			[3]
		John Davlin	1841–1842			[3]	5th			Charles Follansbee	1841–1842			[3]
		John Calhoun	1842–1843			[3]	6th			Norman B. Judd	1842–1843			[3]
		Cyrenus Beers	1843–1844			[3]	7th			Hugh T. Dickey	1843–1844			[3]
		John P. Chapin	1844–1845	Whig		[3]	8th			Asher Rossiter	1844–1845			[3]
		Thomas Church	1845–1846			[3]	9th			J. Young Scammon	1845–1846	Whig		[3]
		Levi Boone	1846–1847		Redistricted to 2nd ward in 1847	[3]	10th			George Manierre	1846–1847	Democratic		[5] [6]
		James Hutchinson Woodworth	1847–1848		Previously served in 2nd ward	[5]	11th			Peter L. Updike	1847–1849			[3]
		Edward Manierre	1848–1849		Previously served in 2nd ward	[3]	12th
		James Carney	1849–1851		Previously served in 2nd ward	[3]	13th			R.C. Bristol	1849			[5]
										Peter Page	1849–1852		Previously served in 2nd ward	[3]
							14th
		John Sears Jr.	1851–1853			[3]	15th
							16th			Eli B. Williams	1852–1855			[3]
		A.D. Taylor	1853–1855			[3]	17th
							18th
		Sylvester Sexton	1855–1857			[3]	19th			James Long	1855–1860			[3]
							20th
		William Bross	1857–1859	Republican		[3]	21st
							22nd
		J.K. Botsford	1859–1863			[3]	23rd
							24th			William Colby	1860–1862		Previously served in 4th ward	[3]
							25th
							26th			John T. Edwards	1862–1863		Redistricted to 4th ward in 1863	[3]
		James Hahn	1863–1864		Redistricted from 3rd ward; later elected alderman again in 1867 in 3rd ward	[3]	27th			Andrew Schall	1863–1864		Redistricted from 4th ward	[3]
		George W. Gage	1864–1866	Republican		[3] [7]	28th			Charles D. Peacock Sr.	1864–1865			[3]
							29th			Joshua C. Knickerbocker	1865–1869			[8]
		William Cox	1866–1870			[8]	30th
							31st
							32nd
							33rd
							34th			Richard Sommers	1869–1871			[3] [8]
		Joshua C. Knickerbocker	1870–1872			[8]	35th
							36th			Chauncey T. Bowen	1871–1873			[3]
		William H. Richardson	1872–1876			[3] [9]	37th
							38th			Thomas Foley	1873–1876			[3] [9]
							39th
		Daniel Kimball Pearsons	1876–1879			[3] [5]	40th			John T. McAuley	1876–1878			[3]
							41st
							42nd			Murray F. Tuley	1878–1879			[3]
										Swayne Wickersham	1879–1884	Democratic		[3] [10]
		Arthur Dixon	1879–1891	Republican	Previously served in 2nd ward	[3] [11]	43rd
							44th
							45th
							46th
							47th
							48th			William P. Whelan	1884–1890	Democratic		[3] [11]
							49th
							50th
							51st
							52nd
							53rd
							54th			Nicholas A. Cremer	1890–1892			[3]
		John R. Morris	1891–1893			[3]	55th
							56th			John Coughlin	1892–1938	Democratic	Continued as 1st ward alderman after 1923 switch to single-member constituencies, later died in office	[3] [12] [13]
		Louis I. Epstean	1893–1895			[3]	57th
							58th
		Francis P. Gleason	1895–1897	Republican		[3] [1]	59th
							60th
		Michael Kenna	1897–1923	Democratic	later represented ward again (1939–1943)	[3] [13]	61st
							62nd
							63rd
							64th
							65th
							66th
							67th
							68th
							69th
							70th
							71st
							72nd
							73rd
							74th
							75th
							76th
							77th
							78th
							79th
							80th
							81st
							82nd
							83rd
							84th
							85th
							86th

Since 1923

See also: List of Chicago alderpersons since 1923

Since 1923, wards have been represented by a single alderman. Elections have also been nonpartisan, though officeholders often still publicly affiliate with parties.

Alderman			Term in office	Councils served in	Party	Notes	Cite
		John Coughlin	1892–1938	61st–93rd	Democratic	Continued as 1st ward alderman after 1923 switch to single-member constituencies, died in office	[3] [12]
		Michael Kenna	April 2, 1939 – April 9, 1943	94th	Democratic	Previously represented ward 1897–1923	[3] [13]
		John Budinger	April 9, 1943 – 1951	95th, 96th	Democratic		[3]
		John D'Arco Sr.	1951–1963	97th–99th	Democratic		[3]
		Michael Fiorito	February 16, 1963 – May 6, 1963	99th	Democratic
		Donald Parrillo	1963–1968	100th, 101st	Democratic	Resigned
		Fred Roti	1968–1993	101st–106th	Democratic
		Jesse Granato	1993–May 19, 2003	106th, 107th, 108th	Democratic
		Manuel Flores	May 19, 2003 – January 4, 2010	109th, 110th	Democratic	Resigned to assume office as chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission
		Proco Joe Moreno	March 26, 2010 – May 20, 2019	111th, 112th, 113th	Democratic
		Daniel La Spata	May 20, 2019–present	114th, 115th	Democratic

See also

• First Ward Ball

References

1. "Public Officials of Chicago (1895–1896) The Municipal Herald of Chicago Containing a Portraiture of the City of Chicago Consisting of Portraits of the Mayor, City Treasurer, City Attorney, City Clerk, Members of the City Council, and Leading Officials of the George B. Swift Administration of 1895–96 and All Desirable Information Regarding the Same Chicago" (PDF). John C. Sterchie. 1896. p. 15. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
2. Evans, Ryan (April 7, 1943). "Kelly Wins, But G.O.P. Gains; Return Mayor to Office By 116,159 Margin; Machine Strength Slips Sharply" . Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office". Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
4. Fergus, Robert (1876). "Fergus' Directory of the City of Chicago 1839". Northern Illinois University Digital Library (Newberry Library at Northern Illinois University). Robert Fergus. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
5. Moses, John (1895). ... History of Chicago, Illinois: Pre-historic agencies; Rise and fall of French dominion; First permanent settlement; The massacre; Rudimentary. Munsell & Company. pp. 115, 132, 133, 139, 226. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
6. ""Valley of the Kings" Graceland Cemetery Tour" (PDF). Ravenswood LAke View Historical Association. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
7. "Gage, George W." Papers Of Abraham Lincoln. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
8. Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). History of Chicago: From 1857 until the fire of 1871. Higginson Book Company. pp. 49–50. ISBN   9780832857249 . Retrieved July 12, 2020.
9. Ahern, M. L. (1886). Political History of Chicago: (covering the Period from 1837 to 1887) Local Politics from the City's Birth; Chicago's Mayors, Aldermen and Other Officials; County and Federal Officers; the Fire and Police Departments; the Haymarket Horror; Miscellaneous. Donohue & Henneberry, printers and binders. pp. 116–120.
10. Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1886). History of Chicago: From the fire of 1871 until 1885. A. T. Andreas. pp. 101–102, 865–870.
11. "Roll of the New Council, Including Holding-Over Aldermen and Those Elected Yesterday". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. April 7, 1886. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
12. Evans, Arthur (November 12, 1938). "Coughlin to Get Kind of Funeral That He'd Wish". Chicago Tribune . Chicago, IL: Tribune Co. p. 12.
13. "Board of Alderman". The Daily News Almanac and Political Recorder. Chicago Daily News: 310. 1901. Retrieved July 17, 2020.