Augustus Garrett
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox politician
|name = Augustus Garrett
|image = Augustusgarrett.jpeg
|birth_date = {{Birth-date|1801}}
|birth_place = New York, United States
|death_date = {{death date and age|1848|11|30|1801|mf=y}}
|death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|resting_place = Rosehill Cemetery
|residence = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|office = Mayor of Chicago
|order= 7th and 9th
|term_start = March 10, 1845{{cite web |title=Mayor Augustus Garrett Inaugural Address, 1845 |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-inaugural-address-1845/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=26 May 2020}}
|term_end = March 3, 1846{{cite web |title=Mayor John Putnam Chapin Biography |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-john-putnam-chapin-biography/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=26 May 2020}}
|predecessor = Alson Sherman
|successor = John Putnam Chapin
|term_start1 = March 7, 1843{{cite web |title=Mayor Augustus Garrett Inaugural Address, 1843 |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-inaugural-address-1843/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=26 May 2020}}
|term_end1 = April 2, 1844{{cite web |title=Mayor Alson Smith Sherman Biography |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-alson-smith-sherman-biography/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=26 May 2020}}
|predecessor1 = Benjamin Wright Raymond
|successor1 = Alson Sherman
|office2 = Chicago Alderman from the 2nd ward
|term_start2 = 1840
|term_end2 = 1841
|alongside2 = James Carney
|predecessor2 = Eli S. Prescott/ Clement C. Stose
|successor2 = Jason McCord/ Peter Page
|party = Democratic Party
|religion =
|spouse = Eliza Clark
|children =
|website =
}}
Augustus Garrett (1801 – November 30, 1848) was an American politician who twice served as Mayor of Chicago (1843–1844, 1845–1846). He was a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and career
Garrett married Eliza Clark in 1825 in Newburgh, New York. The couple's daughter Imogene was born in 1830. Departing New York, the Garretts lived in Cincinnati for a time, but had to flee the city after getting in debt. Moving to New Orleans, the couple's young daughter died of cholera in 1833 and was buried on the banks of the Mississippi. Garrett gave birth to a second child, a son named Charles, in 1834. The Garretts also had another son, John.{{Cite book|last1=Schultz|first1=Rima Lunin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44573291|title=Women building Chicago, 1790-1990 : a biographical dictionary|last2=Hast|first2=Adele|date=2001|publisher=Indiana University Press|others=Paul Avrich Collection|isbn=0-253-33852-2|location=Bloomington, IN|pages=306–307|chapter=Garrett, Eliza Clark|oclc=44573291}}{{Cite book|last=Cosgrove|first=Charles H.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1110148614|title=Fortune and faith in old Chicago : a dual biography of Mayor Augustus Garrett and seminary founder Eliza Clark Garrett|date=2020|isbn=978-0-8093-3795-8|location=Carbondale|oclc=1110148614}}
Move to Chicago
Facing difficulties in New Orleans as well, the Garretts separated for a short while - Augustus to Chicago, while Eliza returned to Newburgh. Reuniting in 1835 in Chicago, the couple worked in real estate and prospered. Garrett had a small auction house near the Chicago River and by the following year had formed a partnership with the Brown Brothers, which allowed him to become a leading land speculator and auctioneer. By October 1836, he had sales of more than $1.8 million.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}
From 1840 through 1841, he served as Chicago alderman from the 2nd ward.{{Cite web |url=http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |title=Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. |access-date=December 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |archive-date=September 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }}
Mayoralties
In 1842, Garrett ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago. He ran again in 1843 and was elected.
In 1844, Garrett initially won re-election, only to have the election invalidated based on charges of "illegal proceedings and fraud."{{cite web | last = Garrett | first = Augustus | title = Inaugural Address of Mayor Augustus Garrett | publisher = Chicago Public Library | date = March 7, 1844 | url =http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/mayors/garrett_inaug_1844.php | accessdate = June 5, 2012}} Garrett ran in a second election that year, but lost to Alson Sherman.
Garrett was again elected mayor in 1845.
During his terms in office, Garrett pushed to have the first brick school in Chicago, Dearborn School, turned into either a warehouse or an insane asylum, believing that the building was too large for use as a school.{{cite book | last = Gale | first = Edwin O. | title = Reminiscences of Early Chicago and Vicinity | url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.157159 | publisher = Revell | year = 1902 | location = Chicago | pages = [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.157159/page/n428 384]}}
Death and legacy
File:Augustus Garrett's grave at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago 1.jpg
Augustus Garrett died at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago on November 30, 1848, and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36683434/buffalo-weekly-republic/ |title=Augustus Garrett |newspaper=Buffalo Weekly Republic |page=7 |date=1848-12-19 |access-date=2020-04-04 |via=Newspapers.com}} Following his death, Eliza established the Garrett Bible Institute, now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, in nearby Evanston, Illinois.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-biography/ Garrett biography at Chicago Public Library]
- [http://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-inaugural-address-1843/ First Inaugural Address]
- [http://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-inaugural-address-1844/ Invalidated Second Inaugural Address]
- [http://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-inaugural-address-1845/ Third Inaugural Address]
{{Mayors of Chicago}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Augustus}}
Category:Date of birth missing
Category:19th-century mayors of places in Illinois