Nicholas Dockstader (January 4, 1802 – November 9, 1871) was the third

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He served only one year in 1840. Dockstader was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

to Jacob and Angela (Hanson) Dockstader. Nicholas had two brothers, Richard and Butler. Dockstader and his brothers moved to

in 1826. He soon became the leading fur trader in the

Northeast Ohio Northeast Ohio is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills ...

region after he began dealing hats, caps, and furs to the local Indians. In 1834 he became the treasurer of the Cleveland & Newburgh Railway. In 1835 Dockstader became the treasurer of the village of

. He was then elected

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

after the city was incorporated in 1836 and elected to that position again in 1838. From 1837 to 1838 Dockstader was chosen as a delegate to the county and state Whig conventions. It was because of this popularity that he was elected mayor in 1840. He served one term as mayor, after which he returned to private business. Dockstader was married to Harriet Judd (1805–1837). Their 5 children were William, Richard, Charles, Julia, and Elisabeth. Dockstader died in

and is buried in Woodland Cemetery.

References

* ''The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History'' by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) Dockstader, Nicholas 1802 births 1871 deaths Ohio Whigs 19th-century mayors of places in Ohio Burials at Woodland Cemetery (Cleveland) {{Ohio-mayor-stub