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DeWitt Clinton Cregier (June 1,1829 - November 9,1898) was an American engineer and politician. He served as Mayor of Chicago,Illinois (1889–1891) for the Democratic Party.
Cregier worked as an engineer with the City of Chicago,and was awarded,in 1875, U.S. patent 164,149 and in 1876, U.S. patent 173,768 ,both for fire hydrants. The latter was a combination drinking fountain,fire hydrant,and watering basin for animals. The Cregier hydrant is widely seen in old photographs of Chicago.
Cregier was also Master Mason,presided as Worshipful Master of Blaney Lodge No. 271,A.F. &A.M. of Illinois for eight years,and served as Grand Master of Illinois in 1870–1871. D.C. Cregier Lodge No. 81 in Wheeling,Illinois,is named after him. He was a fifth great-grandson of Martin Cregier,first Burgomaster of New Amsterdam. [1]
Cregier served as the chief engineer of the Chicago water system,and subsequently as Chicago's Commissioner of Public Works during the first mayoralty of Carter Harrison Sr. [2] Cregier came into conflict with Harrison when Cregier's own ambition to someday become mayor became apparent. [2]
In the 1887 Chicago mayoral election,the city's Democratic Party tried nominating him,but he declined their nomination. Ultimately,no Democrat would run in the election. [3]
Cregier won the 1889 Chicago mayoral election as the Democratic Party nominee,defeating incumbent Republican mayor John A. Roche. Cregier was sworn in as mayor on April 15,1889. [4]
As mayor,Cregier,alongside former Illinois Central Railroad president Edward Turner Jeffery and businessman Thomas Barbour Bryan,delivered the presentation for Chicago's successful bid to the fifteen member United States Senate committee that decided what location would be awarded the World's Columbian Exposition. [5]
Cregier lost his bid for reelection in the 1891 Chicago mayoral election. He had first seen Carter Harrison Sr. challenge him for the Democratic nomination. Cregier was able to win renomination over Harrison,as the local Democratic political machines had supported Cregier as they found him to be even more accommodating to them than Harrison had been. [6] However,he lost the election in a four-way race,featuring Carter Harrison Sr. as an independent Democrat,Hempstead Washburne as the Republican nominee,and Elmer Washburn as the "Citizens" nominee. Cregier placed second,losing to Republican nominee Hempstead Washburne.
Cregier's tenure as mayor ended on April 27,1891. [7]
In the 1893 Chicago mayoral election,Cregier ran as the nominee of the new "Citizens Party",but received little support. [8]
He died at his home in Chicago on November 9,1898,and was buried at Rosehill Cemetery. [9]
In October 2011,a biography of Cregier entitled:The New York Orphan Who Built Chicago subtitled:The Story of DeWitt Clinton Cregier A 19th-Century American Engineering Genius was published,written Gloria Cregier Emma,one of Cregier's last surviving two grandchildren.
Carter Henry Harrison Sr. was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago,Illinois,from 1879 until 1887 and from 1893 until his assassination. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives. Harrison was the first cousin twice removed of President William Henry Harrison,whose grandson,Benjamin Harrison,had also been president until just months prior to the assassination. He was also the father of Carter Harrison Jr.,who would follow in his father's footsteps,and would serve five terms as the mayor of Chicago himself.
Carter Henry Harrison IV was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician who served a total of five terms as mayor of Chicago but failed in his attempt to become his party's presidential nominee in 1904. Descended from aristocratic Virginia families and the son of five-term Chicago mayor Carter Harrison Sr.,this Carter Harrison (IV) became the first native Chicagoan elected its mayor.
Francis Cornwall Sherman served as Mayor of Chicago,Illinois,for three terms as a member of the Democratic Party.
Julian Sidney Rumsey served as mayor of Chicago,Illinois (1861–1862) for the Republican Party.
John A. Roche was an American politician from Illinois who served as Mayor of Chicago from 1887 to 1889. He was the 30th mayor of the city.
Hempstead Washburne was a Republican attorney and politician from Illinois who served as Mayor of Chicago from 1891 to 1893. He was the son of United States Secretary of State Elihu B. Washburne.
George Bell Swift served as mayor of Chicago,Illinois for the Republican Party. He was selected to replace the assassinated Carter Harrison,Sr. on a temporary basis as mayor pro tem in 1893 and lost a bid for election as mayor later that year. He was elected mayor when he ran in 1895.
Fred A. Busse was the mayor of Chicago,in the U.S. state of Illinois,from 1907 to 1911.
In the Chicago mayoral special election of 1893,John Patrick Hopkins was elected mayor. The election was triggered by the assassination of mayor Carter Harrison Sr.. Following Harrison's death,Republican George Bell Swift had been elected by City Council to serve as acting mayor until the special election could be held. In the election,which was held December 19,Hopkins narrowly defeated Swift by a half-percent margin.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1893,Democrat Carter Harrison Sr. won election,returning him the mayor's office for a (then-record) fifth non-consecutive term as mayor of Chicago. Harrison won a majority of the vote,defeating the Republican nominee,businessman Samuel W. Allerton,by a ten-point margin. He also defeated two third-party candidates:United Citizens nominee DeWitt Clinton Cregier and Socialist Labor Party nominee Henry Ehrenpreis,neither of whom received strong support.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1891 saw "Reform" candidate Hempstead Washburne narrowly win a four-way race against incumbent Democrat DeWitt Clinton Cregier,former mayor Carter Harrison Sr.,and Citizens Party nominee Elmer Washburn. Also running was Socialist Labor candidate Thomas J. Morgan. Due to the four-way split in popular support,Washburne won with merely a 28.83% vote share;less than a quarter-of-a-percent margin of victory over second-place finisher Cregier and only 2.47% ahead of third-place finisher Harrison.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1895,was held on Tuesday April 2 Republican candidate George Bell Swift was elected,winning a majority of the vote and defeating Democratic nominee Frank Wenter by more than a fifteen-point margin.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1897,Democratic nominee Carter Harrison Jr. was elected,winning a majority of the vote and defeating independent Republican John Maynard Harlan,Republican nominee Nathaniel C. Sears,independent Democrat Washington Hesing,as well as several minor candidates. Harrison carried a 26.7 point lead over second-place finisher Harlan,a margin greater than Harlan's vote share itself.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1899,Democrat Carter Harrison Jr. was reelected,winning a plurality of the vote and defeating Republican nominee Zina R. Carter,former Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld,as well as several minor candidates by a double-digit margin.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1889,Democrat DeWitt Clinton Cregier defeated incumbent Republican John A. Roche,winning a majority of the vote and a margin of victory in excess of ten percent.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1887 saw Republican John A. Roche win by a landslide,receiving more than a two-thirds majority of the vote,defeating Socialist Robert S. Nelson by more than 36 points,in a race where the Democratic Party had failed to field a candidate.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1861,Republican Julian Sidney Rumsey defeated People's nominee Thomas Barbour Bryan by a ten-point margin.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1879,Democrat Carter Harrison Sr. defeated both Republican Abner Wright and socialist Ernst Schmidt in a three-way race. Harrison had a nearly nine point margin of victory.
The 1884 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4,1884.
Frank A. Wenter Sr. was a German-born American politician who served as president of the Chicago Sanitary District and who was the unsuccessful nominee of the Democratic Party in the 1895 Chicago mayoral election.
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1 Acting officeholder. 2 Election declared null and void. |