William C. E. Thomas (November 21, 1818August 13, 1876) was an American publisher, clerk, and politician. He was the first Mayor of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

Biography

Born in

Muncy, Pennsylvania Muncy is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name Muncy comes from the Munsee Indians who once lived in the area. The population was 2,442 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan S ...

, he received an education at the Milton Academy at

Milton, Pennsylvania Milton is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the West Branch Susquehanna River, north of Harrisburg, located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley. It is approximately 10 miles upriver from the mouth ...

. While at Milton, he apprenticed in a

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

shop and learned the printing trade. In 1839, he moved west, settling at Galena, Illinois, where he worked for the Galena ''Daily Gazette'' for nearly ten years. After a period of bad health, he moved north to Green Bay, in the new state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. There, he partnered with Edwin R. Wadsworth and Cyrus Eames in a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

business. He worked here until 1851, when he became a general merchant. He became one of the more popular citizens at Green Bay, and, when the city received its official charter in 1854, he was elected their first Mayor, serving one year. When the first

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

office in Green Bay was opened in 1857, Thomas was hired as the agent for that office and worked in that role through 1871. Concurrent to this, he was city clerk, elected by the city council in 1858, and held that role until 1871. In 1871, he was appointed

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

for Green Bay by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

for a term to begin in 1872. He held this office until his death in 1876.

Personal life and family

Thomas married Jane H. Eames. Together they had two sons and a daughter, though only one son, William, survived infancy. He suffered from declining health for two years, beginning in 1874, and was confined to his home for the last two months of his life. After a month of significant suffering, he died on August 13, 1876. His former home at 318 North Van Buren Street stood until 2015, when it was replaced by a set of row houses.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, May 1, 1854

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, W. C. E. 1818 births 1876 deaths Mayors of Green Bay, Wisconsin 19th-century American politicians Politicians from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania