Joshua Mills (1797 – April 29, 1843) was a pioneer physician and an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

of the Whig Party who served as the second

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

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. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 1838 to 1839 and later as the city's fifth mayor in 1842. Born and raised in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, Mills arrived to Cleveland in 1827 after receiving an education in medicine. As a physician, he established "the most successful pharmacy in the city" at that time. In 1832, Mills gained public recognition when his aid in Cleveland's 1832 Cholera Epidemic allowed him to secure a position as a member on the municipality's first Board of Health. In 1836, Mills became a Whig

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

, a member of

Cleveland City Council Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the street from Public Auditorium in Downtown Cleveland. Cleveland Ci ...

and in 1837, council president. A year later, he was elected mayor of Cleveland. He was defeated by Nicolas Dockstader for reelection in 1840 and by John W. Allen in 1841. In 1842, he was re-elected as the city's fifth mayor.

References

Cleveland City Council members Mayors of Cleveland Ohio Whigs 19th-century American politicians 1797 births 1841 deaths Burials at Erie Street Cemetery {{Ohio-mayor-stub