Levi Day Boone (December 6, 1808 – January 24, 1882) served as mayor of Chicago,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

(1855–1856) for the American Party (

Know-Nothings The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

Early life

Boone was born near

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, the seventh son of Squire and Anna Grubbs Boone. Squire Boone, Sr. was

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

's father and Levi Boone's great-grandfather, making Levi Boone Daniel Boone's great-nephew. Young Levi lost his father at the age of 9 when Squire finally succumbed to wounds which he incurred at the

Battle of Horseshoe Bend The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian ...

. Despite the poverty the family was plunged into by the death of Squire Boone, Levi graduated from the medical school of

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

in 1829 at the age of 21. He moved to Illinois and eventually established a practice in Hillsboro. In 1832, he served in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

, first in the cavalry and then as a surgeon. In 1833, Dr. Boone married Louise M. Smith, daughter of

Theophilus W. Smith Theophilus Washington Smith (September 28, 1784 – May 6, 1845) was an Illinois Supreme Court Justice from 1825 until his resignation on December 26, 1842. He holds the distinction of being the subject of Illinois's first impeachment trial, held ...

, Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, with whom he had 11 children.

Chicago years

Arriving in Chicago in 1835, he helped organize the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Medical Board and served as the organization's first secretary. Boone had a medical practice with

Charles V. Dyer Charles Volney Dyer (June 12, 1808 – April 24, 1878) was a prominent Chicago Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. Early life Charles was born in Clarendon, Vermont on June 12, 1808 ...

. He was elected the first president of the

Chicago Medical Society The Chicago Medical Society is the medical society for Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1850. History The society was founded in 1850 and is one of the oldest medical societies in the United States. The first president was ...

in 1850. In 1843, he contributed to the rift in the congregation of Chicago's First Baptist Church by giving a lecture on the scriptural basis of slavery. In 1850, Boone unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Chicago. He placed second, receiving 32.90% of the vote (losing to

James Curtiss James Curtiss (also Curtis; March 29, 1806 – November 2, 1859) was an American politician who twice served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1847–1848 and 1850–1851) for the Democratic Party. Early life Born on March 29, 1806, in Wethe ...

, who received 45.51% of the vote). Running a second time, Boone was elected mayor in the

1855 Chicago mayoral election In the 1855 Chicago mayoral election, Know Nothing candidate Levi Boone defeated Democratic incumbent Isaac Lawrence Milliken by a 5.75% margin. The election was held on March 8. Campaigning The mayoral election was unusual in that no ca ...

. Supported by a coalition of Know Nothings and temperance advocates, Boone ran for mayor on an anti-

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

platform, along with 7 aldermen running on the same ticket. He defeated incumbent Isaac Lawrence Milliken with nearly 53% of the vote. During his only year in office, he reorganized the Chicago police, combining the Day Police and the Night Watch into a single police force with 3 eight-hour shifts and requiring the police, for the first time, to wear uniforms. No foreign-born police were retained in the reorganization, and all new appointments were native-born Americans. He barred all immigrants from city jobs. Though not a

teetotaler Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be ...

, Boone was a temperance advocate and worked to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol. Anticipating the passage by referendum of a

Maine law The Maine Law (or "Maine Liquor Law"), passed on June 2, 1851 in Maine, was the first statutory implementation of the developing temperance movement in the United States. History Temperance activist Neal Dow helped craft the Maine liquor law whi ...

to prohibit the sale of beverage alcohol in June 1855, he got the city council to pass an ordinance that raised the cost of liquor licenses from $50 to $300 a year, limited the term to three months, and attempted to enforce an old and disregarded ordinance to close taverns on Sundays. Many saw this as a means of attacking German immigrants, and on April 21, the move sparked the Lager Beer Riot after several tavern owners were arrested for selling beer on a Sunday. The referendum failed in June 1855, by a statewide vote of 54% to 46%. Boone did not run for re-election in the mayoral election of 1856. In 1862, Boone was arrested and briefly held in Camp Douglas on suspicion that he had helped a Confederate prisoner to escape. He died in Chicago on January 24, 1882, and is buried in

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...

References

External links

Inaugural AddressBiography at Chicago Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, Levi 1808 births 1882 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Illinois People from Fayette County, Kentucky Burials at Rosehill Cemetery Mayors of Chicago Transylvania University alumni Illinois Know Nothings People from Hillsboro, Illinois American people of the Black Hawk War Temperance activists from Illinois Medicine in Chicago Chicago City Council members