John Weaver (mayor)
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John Weaver (October 5, 1861 - March 19, 1928) was an American lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1903 to 1907.
Early life and career
John Weaver was born in Stourport-on-Severn, England in 1861, the son of Benjamin Weaver and Elizabeth Wilks Weaver.[1] After his mother died in 1874, Weaver found his prospects in England to be dim, and emigrated to the United States in 1881.[2][3] On arriving there, he went to work as a messenger boy and later as a clerk at John Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia.[3] He became a naturalized American citizen in 1889.[2] In 1885, he married Emily Jennings, the sister of his co-worker, William Nicholson Jennings.[4]
Weaver studied shorthand at night and became a stenographer for a local attorney, John Sparhawk.[3] Sparhawk encouraged him to study law, and he did so, being admitted to the bar in 1890.[3] When Sparhawk's health began to fail, Weaver took over much of his practice, and soon became a respected local attorney.[3] Weaver's success drew the attention of Philadelphia's Republican political machine, which was then the dominant political force in the city. When the ring's leader perceived that District Attorney P. Frederick Rothermel was becoming too independent, they nominated Weaver, a political unknown, instead.[3] Rothermel ran against Weaver as an independent, but Weaver defeated him by a substantial margin.[5]
As district attorney, Weaver showed signs of the same independence that imperiled Rothermel's position with the party, including initiating prosecution for voter fraud against a local politician.[3] Despite this, the ring deemed Weaver reliable enough to nominate him for mayor in 1903. Weaver was elected by a large majority over Francis Fisher Kane, the Democrats' nominee.[6]
Mayor
References
- ^ Stewart 1905, p. 603.
- ^ a b Passport 1922.
- ^ a b c d e f g Stewart 1905, p. 604.
- ^ Silcox 1993, p. 14.
- ^ New York Times 1901.
- ^ New York Times 1903.
Sources
- "Passport Application". Ancestry.com. June 6, 1922.
- "Result in Pennsylvania". New York Times. November 7, 1901.
- "Philadelphia's New Mayor". New York Times. February 18, 1903.
- "Ex-Mayor Weaver of Philadelphia Dead". New York Times. March 19, 1928.
- Allen, Philip Loring (1906). America's Awakening: The Triumph of Righteousness in High Places. New York, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. OCLC 3353081.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Silcox, Harry C. (1993). Jennings' Philadelphia: The Life of Philadelphia Photographer William Nicholson Jennings (1860-1946). Holland, Pennsylvania: Brighton Press. OCLC 29150597.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Stewart, William R. (October 1905). "The Real John Weaver". Cosmopolitan. 39 (6): 601–606.
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