William Case (August 10, 1818 – April 19, 1862) was an American politician of the Whig Party and served as the 12th

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 1850 and 1851. He was the first Cleveland-born citizen to become mayor. In his early career, he helped establish and became the first president of the Cleveland Library Association in 1846 (later the Leonard Case Reference Library, today the location of the Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse). In 1850, he founded the short-lived Cleveland University in the city's Tremont neighborhood. He also served as president of the Cleveland, Ashtabula, and Painesville Railroad and secured the funding to finish its Chicago-to-Buffalo route. In 1846, Case was elected to

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 served as an alderman from 1847 to 1849. In 1850, Case was elected mayor of Cleveland as part of a "Rail Road Ticket" of Whig candidates who disfavored disturbing the location of the terminus of the

Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad (CC&C) was a railroad that ran from Cleveland to Columbus in the U.S. state of Ohio in the United States. Chartered in 1836, it was moribund for the first 10 years of its existence. Its charter was ...

, defeating Democratic candidate and former City Council president Benjamin Harrington. In 1851, he was re-elected for another one-year mayoral term as part of a "Citizen's Ticket" of Whigs and

Free Soilers The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

, defeating challenger Robert Parks. During his tenure, Case "organized the city workhouse, poorhouse, and house of refuge, as well as the city finances." He is often credited with establishing the Cleveland nickname, " The Forest City", as a result of a citywide fruit-tree planting campaign.

References

Mayors of Cleveland 1818 births 1862 deaths Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Ohio Republicans 19th-century American politicians {{Ohio-mayor-stub

See also

References