James Mather (c. 1750 – October 7, 1821) was mayor of

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from March 9, 1807 to May 23, 1812, at which time he resigned. Mather's five-year administration overlapped, by a few weeks, the transition from the United States'

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period to the

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period, with New Orleans serving as the first

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. His place of birth is variously given as Coupland in

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; or

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. A merchant by trade, he moved to America in 1776, and by 1780 he was working in New Orleans, contracting with the Spanish Government to operate two vessels out of the port and importing articles required in the trade with the native peoples of

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and

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. Mather and his descendants owned a large

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plantation in Lutcher, Louisiana, until 1879. He was appointed mayor of New Orleans by William C.C. Claiborne, the territorial governor. Almost as soon as became mayor, he was obliged to take measures to defend the city against the possibility of a conspiracy by the friends of

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, which, however, did not eventuate. In November 1809, through similar measures, he is credited with suppressing an uprising of the

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population. Mather attempted to establish a viable police force for the city, but failed. He succeeded, however, in creating a tolerably efficient fire department. The last years of his administration saw him under fire for being under the influence of certain individuals, for failing to protect the city's interests by vetoing the resolutions of the city council, and for hiring people to write anonymous letters attacking his enemies and paying them with public funds: whether any of this was true has proved impossible to determine. In 1812, however, his health was infirm, and he resigned. James Mather retired to his son's property on the " Acadian Coast" along the

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, where he died in 1821.

References

External links

MATHER, James J.
in

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's ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''
Mather as mayor of New Orleans
(in Kendall's history of New Orleans)

transcription of a 1940 WPA compilation of the city's mayors
Letter dated 28 November 1807, from Charles Trudeau to the mayor at Louisiana Digital Library, in French, with biographical profile listing James Mather's family members.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mather 1750s births 1821 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Louisiana Mayors of New Orleans People from Lutcher, Louisiana