Henry F. McElroy (1865–1939) was the first

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. He held this position during the era of

political boss In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...

Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...

Life and Work

Henry Francis McElroy was born on April 17, 1865 in

Amboy, Illinois Amboy is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States, along the Green River. The population was 2,500 at the 2010 census. The chain of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. began in Amboy when Samuel Carson opened his first dry goods store there in 1854. T ...

, less than 100 miles west of Chicago. He moved to Kansas City in 1896 to practice real estate. He was elected as one of two

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

s of

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...

in 1922. The other county judge was

Harry S Truman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

. The role of county judge was more like a

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

er, but McElroy went by "Judge McElroy" even when he was City Manager. The role of City Manager was created when a new city charter was passed on November 3, 1925 and implemented the following April. The City Manager is hired by the Mayor and City Council, ideally as a non-partisan city administrator. While this new form of local government worked well in other cities and still exists in Kansas City, this city council was controlled by

Political Boss In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...

. McElroy became known as the heavy-handed implementer of the policies of Pendergast's machine. McElroy's business background and the "Country Bookkeeping" he developed as a store manager in Iowa impressed the Kansas City business community. They felt he was just what a City Manager should be. With this accounting method, he managed to cut in half the five million dollar deficit inherited from the previous administration, and announced a slight tax increase to cover the rest. However, he was not shy about exerting his power. One of his first acts was to take over the mayor's large office and relegating Mayor Albert I. Beach to an office behind that of the City Clerk. He also usurped the Mayor at various civil functions.Redding, William M.; Tom's Town: Kansas City and the Pendergast Legend; J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1947 The federal investigation of Pendergast alleged that McElroy received graft payments from city service providers, contractors for the many building projects ( Municipal Auditorium,

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Jackson County Courthouse Jackson County Courthouse may refer to: * Jackson County Courthouse (Arkansas), Newport, Arkansas * Jackson County Courthouse (Georgia), Jefferson, Georgia * Jackson County Courthouse (Florida), Marianna, Florida * Jackson County Courthouse (Illino ...

), and city real estate purchases. McElroy resigned as City Manager on April 13, 1939.

Personal

McElroy married Marie S. Orbison in 1906. They had two children, Mary and Henry Jr. Marie died in 1920 and McElroy never remarried. He refused to delegate his child-rearing responsibilities. "I reared those children myself," McElroy was quoted, "because it was my duty. I supervised their baths, their food, their dressing, and their comings and goings. It was my job and no one else could do it." On May 27, 1933, his daughter Mary was

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

with a ransom demand of $30,000. McElroy paid the ransom. During the Pendergast investigation, it was discovered that the ransom was reimbursed with city funds. $16,000 was recovered and returned to the city when the kidnappers were caught. The Pendergast investigation severely affected McElroy's health. On September 15, 1939 he died at his home of uremia and heart disease, the day after subpoenas were issued by a grand jury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McElroy, Henry F. 1865 births 1939 deaths People from Amboy, Illinois Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri American city managers