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Walter Smith Gurnee (March 9, 1813 – April 17, 1903) served as
Village of Gurnee, IL history page1st Inaugural speech at Chicago Public Library2nd Inaugural speech at Chicago Public Library
1813 births 1903 deaths Illinois Democrats New York (state) Democrats Mayors of Chicago People from Haverstraw, New York Place of death missing Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery {{Illinois-mayor-stub
Mayor of Chicago
The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...
(1851–53) for the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
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. The Village of Gurnee, Illinois is named for him.
Biography
Gurnee was born in Haverstraw, New York and arrived in Chicago in 1836 after spending time in Michigan. Once in Chicago, he established a tannery, which, by 1844, employed between thirty and fifty men. He was a founding member of theChicago Board of Trade
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...
. Prior to becoming the mayor of Chicago, Gurnee was the primary partner of Gurnee & Matteson, a saddlery and leather firm. Gurnee did well enough in this business, and in his tannery, that he amassed a large fortune before moving to New York City.
Gurnee campaigned for the mayoralty on the issue of public ownership of the city's water supply. Once in office, he fought against the merger of the Illinois Central and Michigan Central railroads, originally planned to meet up south of the city. He was elected to two terms, winning the mayoralty in 1851 and being reelected in 1852.
Gurnee unsuccessfully attempted to stage a return to the mayor's office in the 1860 mayoral election. He lost to "Long John" Wentworth, who had previously served a term as mayor as a Democrat, but had switched to the Republican Party.
References
External links
Village of Gurnee, IL history page
1813 births 1903 deaths Illinois Democrats New York (state) Democrats Mayors of Chicago People from Haverstraw, New York Place of death missing Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery {{Illinois-mayor-stub