1862 Chicago mayoral election explained

Election Name:1862 Chicago mayoral election
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Election Date:April 15, 1862
Previous Year:1861
Next Year:1863
Image1:File:Francis-sherman (1).jpg
Nominee1:Francis Cornwall Sherman
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:7,437
Percentage1:54.32%
Nominee2:Charles N. Holden
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:6,254
Percentage2:45.68%
Mayor
Before Election:Julian Sidney Rumsey
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Francis Cornwall Sherman
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

In the Chicago mayoral election of 1862, Democrat Francis Cornwall Sherman won a second non-consecutive term, defeating Republican Party nominee Charles N. Holden.

Sherman had previously served as mayor two decades earlier, after winning the 1841 election. He had also been an unsuccessful candidate in the 1856 mayoral election.

Campaign

The election was held on April 15, 1862.[1] It was the second of four Chicago mayoral elections which took place during the course of the American Civil War. It was also last regularly-scheduled Chicago mayoral election to a one-year term.

Democratic nominee Francis Cornwall Sherman, was a businessman who had previously served as mayor from 1841 through 1842.[1] He was also supported by a nonpartisan ticket which bore the slogan "for the Union and the Constitution".[2] Due to the fact that his son was a noted brigadier in the Union Army, Sherman was able to comfortably avoid accusations that his own loyalties sided anywhere but with the Union.[2]

Charles N. Holden, a former Chicago alderman and former Chicago City Treasurer, was the nominee of the Republican Party.[2] [3] Efforts had been made for the party to nominate former congressman and mayor John Wentworth. However, Holden supporters succeeded in getting him nominated over Wentworth.[2] Some Wentworth supporters, angered over this, placed their support behind Sherman instead.[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mayor Francis Cornwall Sherman Biography . www.chipublib.org . Chicago Public Library . 3 January 2021.
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=jQlQDwAAQBAJ Rogues, Rebels, And Rubber Stamps: The Politics Of The Chicago City Council, 1863 To The Present by Dick Simpson, Routledge, Mar 8, 2018 (pages 29–30)
  3. Web site: Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. . 27 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm . 4 September 2018 . dead .