Brooklyn plowed through 28 mayors in the 64 years it was an independent city, before the larger municipality swallowed it up in 1898. The mayoral terms were short, only one year at first and then two years starting in 1850.
Below, I offer a smattering of historic tidbits on some of our former leaders.
A first is a first, and George Hall was the very first mayor of Brooklyn. Hall was raised on a farm in Flatbush. As a village trustee, he proved himself extremely effective in “excluding hogs from the streets” and as a temperance man, he shut down “the shops of unlicensed liquor dealers.” So he was a natural candidate for mayor. That first mayoral term was only one year, but a productive year it was. In that time, omnibuses were introduced to the streets, a system of reservoirs and pipes was installed, and Hall purchased the site where City (Borough) Hall would be built, and still stands.
He ran again for mayor unsuccessfully in 1844, and then again in 1854 with the Know-Nothing Party. He had to fight off a nasty rumor that he was born in Ireland rather than New York, but he prevailed, becoming the first mayor after consolidation with Williamsburg. The city was so grateful for his level- headed courage during a cholera epidemic that they awarded him with a house at 37 Livingston St. where he lived out the rest of his days.
Jeremiah Johnson (pictured at left) served as mayor from 1837-38, beginning when he was 71 years old, which was about 140 in early 19th century terms. He was a man with some deep patriotic roots, descended from early Dutch settlers; his great-grandfather settled in Gravesend in 1657. His father fought in the Revolutionary War, holding command in the Kings County Militia. Johnson himself was a soldier, rising to the rank of major general in command of Fort Greene during the War of 1812, at the ready for a British invasion that never came to Brooklyn. He was a stickler for punctuality, and would adjourn a common council meeting if he didn’t have a quorum. His official portrait shows him pointing at his watch, set at 3 p.m., the time at which the Council regularly met.
Henry C. Murphy (pictured at top of story) was one of the few mayors whose influence only grew once he left office. He was a powerful player in Kings County civic life for decades. He was elected mayor at the young age of 32, but left that position after only one year when he got a better gig, serving as a U.S. congressman. He also went on to serve as a state senator for six terms; to be president of the company that backed the building of the Brooklyn Bridge; to be owner and editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle; to be president of the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway Company; and to be instrumental in organizing the Young Men’s Literary Association of Brooklyn — out of which grew the Brooklyn Lyceum, a parent institution of the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and other important cultural institutions. He also served as ambassador to the Hague under President James Buchanan.
Edward Copeland began his career as a grocer but gained some public attention through his efforts in aid of the Polish Revolution and the national uprising in Greece between 1828 and 1830. He served on Brooklyn’s Board of Trustees, and at one point refused to accept a nomination to run for Congress. But he was elected mayor for a term in 1849, and is remembered for his contributions to the advancement of the public education system in Brooklyn.
Thomas G. Talmadge was a New Jersey native who represented Manhattan in the state legislature before he came to Brooklyn in 1840, residing in Gowanus. He was elected as Mayor five years later. Most notable during his term was the completion of City (Borough) Hall, which had started about 20 years earlier but was held up by lack of funds.
Samuel Smith served as mayor beginning in 1850, and is the namesake for Boerum Hill’s Smith Street. He was a farmer who owned 28 acres of land in that area. For years he used to walk around selling milk which he suspended from a stick that he carried across his shoulders. But eventually he took part in less agricultural endeavors and at different times served as highway commissioner, justice of the peace, superintendent of the poor, county judge and assessor.
Frederick Schroeder (pictured at left) was something of a refugee. He fled Prussia with his family when he was 15 during the revolutionary upheavals of Europe in 1848. Shortly after his arrival Schroeder entered the cigar making business and eventually owned his own company. He also helped found the Germania Savings Bank, and served as Brooklyn’s comptroller before being elected mayor in 1876. He called for a new city charter that placed greater control in the hands of the mayor and went on to serve in the New York Senate, where he secured the new city charter. His tenure as mayor was also marked by the opening of Ocean Parkway, the early construction phases of the Brooklyn Bridge and the first elevated rail line in Brooklyn.
Seth Low was the only man to serve both as mayor of Brooklyn and as mayor of New York City. His father was the wealthy tea merchant A.A. Low, who built the fabulous mansion that still stands on Pierrepont Place at the corner of the Montague entrance to the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights. He was elected mayor in 1882 and served two terms. For over a decade after that he served as president of Columbia University, of which he was an alum, and then in 1902 became the second mayor of the newly consolidated New York City. In his later life, he served as chairman of the Tuskegee Institute and the National Civic Federation.
Frederick Wurster was Brooklyn’s last mayor and his term is pretty much characterized by just that. He was vehemently opposed to consolidation, but alas, the tides of history won out.
All photos are courtesy of the Brooklyn Borough Hall Portrait Collection
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The Brooklyn Historical has a new project in the works that I am very excited about. It's called Interpreting Brooklyn. They have chosen 10 artists — visual artists, writers and a composer — to spend time with their collection and create pieces inspired by what they find. The artist furthest along in her project, photographer Nora Herting, gave a work-in-progress talk at BHS this week.
