List of mayors of Ashland, Kentucky

The Mayor of the City of Ashland, Kentucky is elected for a four-year term and is not term limited. The mayor presides over City Commission meetings, is a voting member of the City Commission and represents the city at major functions. The current mayor is Matt Perkins.

Mayor of The City of Ashland, Kentucky
Incumbent
Matt Perkins
since January 4, 2021
Term length4 years
Formation1876

The City of Ashland operates under a City Manager form of Government. Under this form of government the people of Ashland elect a Mayor and four Commissioners, who together, make up the Board of Commissioners, which possesses the legislative and executive powers of the city. The Mayor, as a member of the board, presides over all meetings, calls special meetings, and executes all bonds, notes, contracts, and written obligations authorized by the board.

The Mayor and four commissioners are elected by the citizens to act as their representatives in all legislative matters. Their primary duties are to enact ordinances and make policies that are for the ultimate good of the community as a whole. The mayor is elected for a four-year term and the Commissioners are elected for two-year terms. In home rule class cities with the City Manager form of government non-partisan elections are mandatory.[1]

List of mayors

  Democratic (6)   Republican (13)

OrderImageMayorTerm BeganTerm Ended Political PartyBirth and deathNotes
1Henry Bishop Brodess18761881 Republican(1830 – October 20, 1881)Before being elected, he was a local judge, and published an outspoken anti-slavery newspaper called the American Union. In 1860, Brodess was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. IN 1861, Brodess became a member of the Ashland Home Guard, an organization formed for "the defense and protection of our families and homes" from guerrilla raiders. Starting around November 15, 1862, Brodess served as a first lieutenant in Company A of the Fourteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. He tendered his own resignation and was honorably discharged on November 17, 1862. During his third term, Brodess died in office and John Means was appointed to serve the remainder of his term.[2]
2John Means18811882 Republican(September 21, 1829 – February 14, 1910)He organized the Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company and vice-president of Ashland National Bank.[2]
3William Wirt Culbertson18821883 Republican(September 22, 1835 – October 31, 1911)He also served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.[2]
4William Henry Harrison Eba18831883 Republican(November 5, 1831 – August 31, 1911)During the Civil War, Eba enlisted in Company I, Fifth West Virginia Regiment; was promoted to sergeant-major, March 1862; first lieutenant. He declined the post of adjutant after being acting adjutant two months. He was commissioned a month later by Governor Pierpont captain of Company F, same regiment. He was in various engagements, but none of the great battles of the war. Later, he became city truant officer.[3][2]
5Thomas Russell18831886 Before becoming mayor he was a street commissioner.[2]
6William Worth Patterson18861889 Republican(November 3, 1849 – March 28, 1921)He was a Freemason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.[2]
7Patrick Moriarty, Jr.18891889 (January 7, 1851 – October 25, 1928)Previously served on the City Council for a number of terms. Moriarty served as Park Commissionaire and was one of the charter members of the first Chamber of Commerce, then known as the Commercial Club of Ashland.[2]
8David A. Fisher18891892 (August 14, 1840 – January 19, 1911)He served in the American Civil War for the Union as a Private. During the War, Fisher was promoted to a full first sergeant.[2]
9J. C. Whitten18921894
10Thomas S. Newman18941897 (October 10, 1851 – October 3, 1930)
11William Arthur Ginn18971906
12Joseph Oscar Mathewson19061910 (February 4, 1871 - February 28, 1926)
13Dr. Albert Harrison Moore19101913 (1871 - September 26, 1913)A graduate of Jefferson Medical College in 1896, he was a member of the American Medical Association and the Kentucky State and Boyd County Medical Societies. He is recorded to have "died suddenly at his home, on September 22 [1913], aged 42 years."[4][2]
14J. M. McCleary19131913
15William Arthur Ginn19131914
16Dr. William Monroe Salisbury19141917
17Henderson Richardson Dysard19171921 Republican
18Dr. William Monroe Salisbury19211925
19William M. Nicholson19251926 A plumber by trade, later was appointed as plumbing inspector of Boyd County in 1930.[5][6]
20William Boggs Whitt19261926 Democratic(September 17, 1867 - December 19, 1926)Whitt was previously a member of the Kentucky Senate.[7] He committed suicide on December 19, 1926 by shooting himself through the heart. He had been in ill health.[8]
21Ernest E. Ramey19261927
22Charles F. Weaver19271928 Republican(1858 - October 21, 1932)In 1904, Weaver was a delegate to Republican National Convention from Kentucky.[2]
23William C. Frailie19281932 Republican
24Edgar Browne Hager19321935 Democratic
25William C. Simpson19361940 Republican
26Henry D. Shanklin19401943 Democratic
27Clyde R. Levi19441947 Republican
28William C. Simpson19481951 Republican
29David Aronberg19521955 Republican
30Wilburn Caskey19561959 Democratic
31David Aronberg19601964 Republican
32Wilburn Caskey19641968 Democratic
33Charles Henry Gartrell19681972 Democratic
34James J. Webb19721976
35David O. Welch19761980 Democratic[9][10]
36Jack T. Thompson19801984 Democratic[11]

Notes and references

  1. "Welcome to Ashland, KY". www.ashlandky.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  2. A History of Ashland, Kentucky 1786 - 1954
  3. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1953
  4. Shrady, George Frederick; Stedman, Thomas Lathrop (December 4, 1913). "Medical Record". W. Wood. Retrieved December 4, 2020 via Google Books.
  5. "Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting". December 4, 1909. Retrieved December 4, 2020 via Google Books.
  6. "The Portsmouth Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  7. Johnson, E. Polk (December 4, 1912). "A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities". Lewis Publishing Company. Retrieved December 4, 2020 via Google Books.
  8. "Mayor Shoots Self". The Decatur Herald. December 20, 1926. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  9. "Remembering David O. Welch". The Daily Independent. November 2, 2016.
  10. Roe, Lindsey (2012). "DAVID WELCH, Running the Distance for Civil Rights" (PDF). Berea College Magazine.
  11. "Former mayor of Ashland dies". Lexington Herald-Leader. April 15, 1987 via NewspaperArchive.
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