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Thomas Dyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Dyer
18th Mayor of Chicago
In office
March 11, 1856[1] – March 10, 1857[2]
Preceded byLevi Boone
Succeeded byJohn Wentworth
Personal details
Born(1805-01-13)January 13, 1805
Canton, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJune 6, 1862(1862-06-06) (aged 57)
Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.
Resting placeGraceland Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Chicago, Illinois
Signature

Thomas Dyer (January 13, 1805 – June 6, 1862) served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1856–1857) for the Democratic Party. He also served as the founding president of the Chicago Board of Trade.

Biography

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Thomas Dyer was born in Canton, Connecticut on January 13, 1805.[3]

He was a meat-packing partner of former mayor John Putnam Chapin, who was one of Chicago's first meat packers. Chapin built a slaughterhouse on the South Branch of the Chicago River in 1844.[4]

Running as a "pro-Nebraska" Democrat (aligned with Stephen A. Douglas, who publicly backed his candidacy), Dyer won the contentious 1856 Chicago mayoral election, defeating former mayor Francis Cornwall Sherman (who ran as an anti-Nebraska candidate).[5][6]

He died in Middletown, Connecticut on June 6, 1862, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Mayor Thomas Dyer Inaugural Address, 1856". www.chipublib.org. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  2. ^ "Mayor John Wentworth Inaugural Address, 1857". www.chipublib.org. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1884). History of Chicago: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Vol. I. A. T. Andreas Company. p. 622. ISBN 978-0-405-06845-4. Retrieved November 15, 2021 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Group, Genealogy Trails History. "The History of Chicago's Mayors - presented by Illinois Genealogy Trails". www.genealogytrails.com. Retrieved January 26, 2018. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ Goodspeed, Weston A. (February 6, 2017). The History of Cook County, Illinois. Jazzybee Verlag.
  6. ^ Property Rules: Political Economy in Chicago, 1833-1872 by Robin L. Einhorn

Further reading

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  • Melvin G. Holli and Peter D'A. Jones, eds. Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors 1820-1980, (1981) p. 107.
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