Herman C. Baehr (March 16, 1866 – February 4, 1942) was an

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of the

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who served as the 36th

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Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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, from 1910 to 1911.

Life and career

Born in

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

, Baehr was the son of Jacob and Magdalena Zipf Baehr, both of whom had earlier lived in Cleveland from 1850 to 1862. The family returned to the city after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Baehr was educated in public schools, but left at age 14 to pursue a career in his father's brewing company. An ethnic

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, he resumed his education abroad and attended Lehman's Scientific Academy in

Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...

. Returning to the U.S., he graduated from the First Scientific Station of New York in 1887, and received a

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degree. When he returned to Cleveland, Baehr took up an official position at his father's Baehr Brewing Company. After Baehr Brewing was taken over by Cleveland-Sandusky Brewing Corporation, he assumed the post of secretary and treasurer for that company. Baehr became interested in Republican politics and eventually met Mark Hanna. His friendship with Hanna sparked a second career in politics. In 1903, at Hanna's urging Baehr ran for and was elected County Recorder. Hanna died the following year, and local GOP looked to Baehr to run against

Tom L. Johnson Tom Loftin Johnson (July 18, 1854 – April 10, 1911) was an American industrialist, Georgist politician, and important figure of the Progressive Era and a pioneer in urban political and social reform. He was a U.S. Representative from 1891 to ...

for the city's mayor. In 1909, Baehr ran a solid election against Johnson, with support from Millionaire's Row and the recent influx of German immigrants who were drawn to Baehr's German ancestry. He finally defeated Johnson, in what many see as the greatest upset in Cleveland politics. Although he was heavily criticized by the press, Baehr's tenure as mayor was relatively efficient. He restored conservative fiscal policies, oversaw further downtown development, and carried through with Johnson's idea of a three-cent fare. In 1912, he stepped down as mayor and instead became the first vice-president and director of the Forest City Savings and Trust Company.

Personal life and death

Baehr married Rose E. Schulte of Cleveland on April 22, 1898. In retirement, Baehr spent winters at a home in Los Angeles, California. He died there suddenly of a stroke on February 4, 1942. His wife, Rose, was in ill health and could not immediately transport his remains to Cleveland for burial. Baehr was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. Rose Baehr died in Los Angeles in 1956, having never moved her husband's remains to Cleveland. She was interred next to him at Forest Lawn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baehr, Herman C. 1866 births 1942 deaths Mayors of Cleveland Ohio Republicans