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The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Mayors and Postmasters of Des Moines, Iowa


Mayors of Des Moines, 1853-1960 (may be incomplete!)
Benjamin Luce 1853-54 Lampson P. Sherman 1854-55 Barlow Granger 1855-56 William DeFord 1856-57 Charles W. Nash 1857 William H. McHenry 1857-58 H. E. Lemoreaux 1858-59 R. L. Tidrick 1859-60 P. H. W. Latshaw 1860-61 Ira Cook 1861 W. S. Barnes 1861-62 Thomas Cavanagh 1862-63 William H. Leas 1863-65 George W. Cleveland 1865-68 Sumner F. Spofford 1868-69 J. H. Hatch 1869-71 Martin Tuttle 1871-72 J. P. Foster 1872-73 Giles H. Turner 1873-74 A. Newton 1874-76 Giles H. Turner 1876-77 George Sneer 1877-79 William H. Merritt 1880-81 P. V. Carey 1882-85 James Harvey Phillips 1886-87 William Lytle Carpenter 1888-90 John H. Campbell 1890-92 C. C. Lane 1892-94 Isaac L. Hills 1894-96 John MacVicar 1896-1900 Jeremiah J. Hartenbower 1900-02 James M. Brenton 1902-04 George W. Mattern 1904-08 Adoniram Judson Mathis 1908-10 James R. Hanna 1910-16 Joe H. Allen as of 1937 Heck Ross as of 1950 A. B. Chambers as of 1951-52 Allen W. Denny as of 1953-54 Reinhold O. Carlson as of 1960

Events and Candidates (may be incomplete!)

  • 1902: John M. Work (Socialist), defeated.
  • 1916 Mar 27: John MacVicar, elected; Lewis E. Royal, defeated.


    Postmasters at Des Moines, 1845-1973 (may be incomplete!)
    Josiah Smart 1845-46 Thomas K. Brooks 1846 Phineas M. Cassady 1846-48 Robert S. Tidrick 1848-49 Hoyt Sherman 1849-53 Wesley Redhead 1853-57 Wesley Redhead 1857-61 John Teesdale 1861-67 George C. Tichenor 1867-71 James S. Clarkson 1871-79 John Beckwith 1879-86 William H. Merritt 1886-90 Isaac Brandt 1890-94 Edward H. Hunter 1894-98 Lewis Schooler 1898-1902 John McKay, Jr. 1902-07 Joseph I. Myerly 1907-11 Louis C. Kurtz 1911-15 George A. Huffman 1915-24 Zene C. Thornburg 1924-25 Edwin J. Frisk 1925-26 Edwin J. Frisk 1926-34 Lemuel S. Hill 1934 Lemuel S. Hill 1934-40 Edith M. Johnson 1940-41 Edith M. Johnson 1941-57 David H. Crenshaw 1957-61 John P. McNerney 1961-62 John P. McNerney 1962-73

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    The Political Graveyard

    The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 320,919 politicians, living and dead.
     
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