Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County. William Alexander Taylor
of the market, and all other officers of the borough of Columbus, now in office therein shall remain and continue in their respective offices and perform the several duties thereof under the provisions of this act, until the second Monday of April next until the mayor and city council are elected and qualified, and all laws, ordinances and resolutions heretofore lawfully passed, and adopted by the mayor and council of the borough of Columbus, shall be, remain and continue in force, until altered or repealed by the city council, established by this act; Provided that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to restrain or prevent the General Assembly from altering or amending the same whenever they shall deem it expedient.
Sec. 28. That the mayor and council of the borough of Columbus shall appoint two suitable persons in each ward to be judges of the first election; also two suitable persons to be clerk in each ward, and procure a suitable place in each ward for holding the election, and at every annual election thereafter the city council shall appoint two of their members in each ward, who are not candidates for re-election, to be judges, and make such other arrangements by ordinance respecting said elections as shall be lawful and convenient for the citizens of the several wards.
Sec. 29. That this act shall be taken and received in all (councils) and try all judges, magistrates and other public officers, as a public act, and all printed copies of the same which shall be printed by (or) under the authority of the General Assembly shall be admitted as good evidence thereof without any other proof whatever: that the act entitled an act to incorporate the town of Columbus, in the county of Franklin, passed February tenth, eighteen hundred and sixteen, and all acts to amend the same, and all supplements thereto, and all laws and parts of laws heretofore passed and coming within the provisions of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.
John H. Keith, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
David T. Disney, March 3, 1834. Speaker of the Senate.
First City Election.
Pursuant to the provisions of the 28th section of the charter, the borough council set the election thereunder for the 10th of April, 1834, at which a mayor and twelve councilmen were elected, four councilmen being chosen from each of the three wards into which the city was divided.
The term of the mayor was for two years and the councilmanic term was of like length, save that one-half of the councilmen first chosen from each ward, to be ascertained by lot, were to serve for but one year, the other half to serve for two years, and thereafter two councilmen from each ward were to be chosen annually, to the end that the term should be for two years for all after the first election. The following were chosen: Mayor, John Brooks.
Councilmen.
First Ward—Joseph Ridgway. R. W. McCoy, Henry Brown, Otis Crosby.
Second Ward—Jonathan Neereamer, Noah H. Swayne, Francis Stewart, William Long.
Third ward—John Patterson, Christian Heye, William Miner, William T. Martin.
Officers by Appointment.
The council proceeded to elect (or "appoint") the following officers: President, Robert W. McCoy; recorder, William T. Martin; treasurer, William Long; surveyor, J. A. Lapham; marshal and clerk of the market, Abraham Stotts.
The subsequently most noted man among the above was Noah H. Swayne, who ended his distinguished career on the supreme bench of the United States, he having retired in 1881 and died in 1884. fifty years after serving as city councilman in the Ohio capital.
Robert W. McCoy continued in council and was reelected president of the body until he resigned his seat in 1853, having been a councilman continuously from 1816 to 1853, a period of thirty-seven years.
William T. Martin continued as recorder until 1839: William Miner succeeded him until 1843, and then the office was filled by Joseph Ridgway, Jr., until the office was abolished in 1850. Then the office of city clerk was created and was filled by B. F. Martin, not related, however, to William T. Martin, until 1857, when he was succeeded by Joseph Dowdall.
William T. Martin, however, served as councilman, and concurrently as mayor, or recorder at times, from 1816 to 1839, and after that for twenty or more years in county, township and other offices, making his official tenure considerably more than half a century, and counting all the concurrent official years and terms, his services were equivalent to one hundred and fifty years, and in each and every office, whether one or two or three held concurrently, he was the model of official efficiency and promptness, and wound up his career by writing the best early history of Columbus that was ever printed, and to whom the writer of this desires to formally and most comprehensively express his obligations and make his acknowledgments.
William Miner was appointed recorder in 1843, followed by Joseph Ridgway, Jr. The office of recorder was abolished in 1850 and its duties devolved on the city clerk, a newly created official. Mr. Benjamin F. Martin, son of William T. Martin, was chosen the first clerk and continued to hold the office until 1857, when he was succeeded by Joseph Dowdall.
R, W. McCoy continued as treasurer until 1834 and was succeeded in that year by William Long. The office of city solicitor was created in 1851.
By an ordinance passed by the council on the 18th of February 1846, the city was divided into five wards. All north of Gay street to constitute the first ward; all between Gay and State streets, the second; all between State and Rich streets, the third; all between Rich and Mound streets, the fourth; and all south of Mound street the fifth. Each ward to be represented by three members in council.
But subsequently, by an act of the legislature passed May 3, 1852, for the organization of cities, etc., the number of councilmen for each ward is reduced to two. The fifty-ninth section of that act provided that on the first Monday in April, 1853, there shall be two members elected in each ward, one of whom shall serve two years, the other one year. And the last section of the same act provides that the officers in office at the passage of the act should hold out their respective terms.
It now became a question whether to hold an election or not. The term of one of the members in each ward expired at this time which would reduce the council to the number required without any election; but it would not be in accordance with the letter of the above provision requiring an election at this particular time; and the members not being disposed to resign their places the two members in each ward whose term did not expire held on and the council ordered an election for two additional members. So that the first year, under the new charter, each ward had four members instead of two, the second year three members, and the third year (1855) the council was reduced to the number required—two in each ward.
Borough and City Officers, 1810—1908-1909.
Following are the borough and city offices, as they are respectively designated herewith, from 1816 to 1908-9, with the dates of incumbency: Mayors.
There has been but one office from the beginning of municipal government in Columbus that has not been changed in name or official significance, and that is the office of mayor. These mayors and the years of their incumbency, under both the borough and city government, from 1816 to 1909, have been: Jarvis Pike, 1816-17; John Kerr, 1818-19; Eli C. King, 1820-22; John Laughrey, 1823; William T. Martin, 1824-26; James Robinson, 1827; William Long, 1828-29; Philo H. Olmsted, 1833; John Brooks, 1834-35; Warren Jenkins, 1836-37; Philo H. Olmsted, 1838-39; John G. Miller, 1840-41; Thomas Wood, part of 1841; Abram I. McDowell, 1842; Smithson E. Wright, 1843-44; Alexander Patton, 1845; A. S. Decker, 1846; Alexander Patton, 1847-49; Lorenzo English, 1850-60; Wray Thomas, 1861-64; James G. Bull, 1865-68; George W. Meeker, 1869-70; James G. Bull, 1871-74; John H. Heitmann, 1875-78; G. G. Collins, 1879-80; George S. Peters, 1881-82; Charles C. Walcutt, 1883-86; Philip H. Brack, 1887-90; George J. Karb, 1891-94; Cotton H. Allen, 1895-96; Samuel L. Black, 1897-98; Samuel. J. Swartz, 1899-1900; John N. Hinkle, 1901-02; Robert H. Jeffrey, 1903-05; DeWitt C. Badger, 1906-07; Charles A. Bond, 1908-09.
Other City Officers.
In 1834 the other city officers were: Marshal, corresponding with the present superintendent of police; surveyor, corresponding with the present city civil engineer; recorder,