List of mayors of Jackson, Mississippi

Last updated

The post of Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi , was begun in 1834 and was originally referred to as "President of Selectmen" before being changed to "Mayor". Harvey Johnson Jr. elected in 1997 became the city's first black mayor. All of the mayors since have also been African American. The following individuals have held the office:

Contents

President of Selectmen

ImagePresident of SelectmenYearsNotes/Citation
Thomas H. Dickson 1834
S.P. Baley 1835
Thomas H. Dickson1836
S.P. Baley1836
John P. Oldham 1837–1838

Mayors

ImageMayorYearsNotes/Citation
John P. Oldham1839
H.R. McDonald 1840
John P. Oldham
(2nd term)
1840–1841
James H. Boyd 1842–1843
John P. Oldham
(3rd term)
1844–1849
James H. Boyd
(2nd term)
1850
J.P. Jones 1851
William H. Taylor 1852–1853
Richard Fletcher 1854
William H. Taylor
(2nd term)
1855–1857
James H. Boyd
(3rd term)
1858
W.A. Purdom 1859
Richard C. Kerr 1860–1861
Charles Henry Manship 1862–1863
D.N. Barrows 1864–1867
Maj. Thomas H. Norton 1868Union officer appointed as mayor [1]
Brevet Brigadier General James Biddle.png Bvt. Lt. Col. James Biddle1868Union officer appointed as mayor
Col. James P. Sessions (J. P. Sessions)1868–1869Native of Natchez, Mississippi, former Confederate officer, died April 3, 1886 [2]
Rhesa Hatcher 1869 [3]
Bvt. Lt. Col. Joseph G. Crane 1869Union officer appointed as mayor; stabbed to death by Edward M. Yerger, a former Confederate officer
Captain F.A. Field 1869Union officer appointed as mayor
A. Way Kelly 1869
E. W. Cabaniss 1869–1870 [4]
Oliver Clifton.jpg Oliver Clifton 1870–1871
Rhesa Hatcher
(2nd term)
1871–1872
Marion Smith 1872–1874
John McGill 1874–1888
William Henry 1888–1893
L.F. Chiles 1893–1895He served as Assistant Secretary of the Mississippi Senate [5] He was also a deputy sheriff, alderman, and secretary of the Mississippi Fair Association.
Testimony was given he proposed taking Charlie Morgan down to the swamp and tying him to a tree with someone posted to watch him until after an election because he was a leader of "negroes" [6]
Oliver Clifton.jpg Oliver Clifton
(2nd term)
1895–1897
Ramsey Wharton 1897–1899
H.M. Taylor 1899
W.W. Morrison 1899Mayor Pro Tem
John W. Todd1899–1901
William Hemingway 1901–1905
Oliver Clifton.jpg Oliver Clifton
(3rd term)
1905died before taking office
Ramsey Wharton
(2nd term)
1905 – November 1908Died in office
A C Crowder.JPG A.C. Crowder 1909–1913
Swepson James Taylor 1913–1917
Walter A. Scott 1917–1945
Leland L. Speed 1945–1949
Allen C. Thompson 1949–1969
Russell C Davis.jpg Russell C. Davis 1969–1977
Dale Danks, mayor of Jackson Mississippi.png Dale Danks 1977–1989
Rep Kane Ditto 1988.jpg J. Kane Ditto 1989–1997
Harvey Johnson Jr (1).jpg Harvey Johnson, Jr. 1997–2005first African American Mayor of Jackson
Frank Melton.jpg Frank Melton2005–2009died in office
Leslie McLemore photo.jpg Leslie B. McLemore 2009interim mayor
Harvey Johnson Jr (1).jpg Harvey Johnson Jr. (2nd term)2009–2013
Chokwe Lumumba 2013 (1) (cropped).jpg Chokwe Lumumba2013–2014died in office
Charles Tillman, mayor of Jackson.png Charles Tillman 2014
Tony Yarber, mayor of Jackson Mississippi.png Tony Yarber 2014–2017
Chokwe Antar Lumumba (3x4 cropped).jpg Chokwe Antar Lumumba 2017–2025 [7]
12-19-2024 FHEO Know Your Rights Jackson Mississippi-030 (cropped).jpg John Horhn 2025–present [8] [9]

See also

References

  1. "history comes to life". Wheeling News-Register . September 18, 2015. Five characters date from the Civil War era. Glenn Elliott will portray Maj. Thomas H. Norton, decorated Union soldier and later the military mayor of Jackson, Miss., during Reconstruction.
  2. "Death of Col. Jas. P. Sessions". The Clarion-Ledger . April 7, 1886 via Newspapers.com.
  3. J. Bomar Harris, ed. (1890). Charter of the City of Jackson, and Revised Ordinances of 1890: Together with Certain Miscellaneous Matters Pertaining to the City. Jackson, Mississippi: Clarion-Ledger Printing Establishment.
  4. J. Bomar Harris, ed. (1890). Charter of the City of Jackson, and Revised Ordinances of 1890: Together with Certain Miscellaneous Matters Pertaining to the City. Jackson, Mississippi: Clarion-Ledger Printing Establishment.
  5. Senate, Mississippi. Legislature (1902). "Journal".
  6. "Digest of Contested-election Cases in the Fifty-first Congress". 1891.
  7. "Chokwe Antar Lumumba sworn in as Jackson mayor". July 3, 2017.
  8. "'There is a readiness all over our community': Horhn issues a call to action in inaugural address". WLBT. July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  9. 16 WAPT News Jackson (July 1, 2025). "John Horhn sworn in as Jackson mayor". YouTube. Retrieved July 1, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Additional sources