Richard Vaux (December 19, 1816 – March 22, 1895) was an American politician. He was

mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

Early life and education

Richard Vaux was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, December 19, 1816. The son of the lawyer philanthropist

Roberts Vaux Roberts Vaux (January 25, 1786 – January 7, 1836) was an American lawyer, jurist, abolitionist, and philanthropist. Early life He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of a well-known Quaker family (Richard and Anne Roberts Va ...

, he was educated by private tutors at the Friends Select School in Philadelphia and Bolmar's French School in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the ...

. After studying law, Richard Vaux was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in Philadelphia on April 15, 1837, about a year after his father's early death. Vaux traveled to London with government dispatches and remained for a year to serve as secretary of legation under Andrew Stevenson, United States Minister to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Vaux returned to Philadelphia in 1839 and was elected a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, then a delegate to the Democratic State convention in 1840. Vaux began the private practice of law in Philadelphia in 1840, around the time of his marriage as mentioned below. Vaux served as

recorder of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

of Philadelphia from 1842 to 1849, although the position lacked any salary, and in 1845 published the ''Recorders' Decisions'' which became well known (as was his never having been reversed by a higher court). The

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...

appointed Vaux Inspector of the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1842, and he served as secretary and later as president of the board of inspectors until his death. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

in 1884.

Mayoral campaigns

An unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Philadelphia in

1842 Events January–March * January ** Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem. ** American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first pe ...

, 1846, and

1854 Events January–March * January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''. * January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born. * January 9 – The Te ...

as a Democrat opposing Whig candidates, Vaux was elected mayor in 1856. He was subsequently defeated for reelection in 1858 by Alexander Henry. Vaux also served as a member of the Board of City Trusts 1859–1866, and its president 1863–1865.

Congress

Vaux was elected in 1890 as a Democrat to the 51st Congress to fill the vacancy left by the death of

Samuel J. Randall Samuel Jackson Randall (October 10, 1828April 13, 1890) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who represented the Queen Village, Society Hill, and Northern Liberties neighborhoods of Philadelphia from 1863 to 1890 and served as the 29th ...

and served from May 20, 1890, to March 3, 1891, having lost his bid for reelection in 1890.

Personal life

Deeply involved with the

Masonic fraternity Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

since the age of 26, Vaux served as Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, officially The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdictions Thereunto Belonging, is the premier masonic organizat ...

in 1868. He thus laid the cornerstone of the iconic Masonic Temple of Philadelphia which remains the headquarters for Freemasonry in the state, symbolically tapping it into place with the same gavel George Washington had used during the Masonic cornerstone ceremony for the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

building. Vaux married on March 12, 1840, Mary Morris, daughter of Jacob Shoemaker and Sarah Morris Waln. Richard and Mary Vaux had six children, of whom Jacob Waln Vaux was the fifth. Vaux died on March 22, 1895, in Philadelphia and was interred in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaux, Richard 1816 births 1895 deaths Politicians from Philadelphia Mayors of Philadelphia Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Members of the Philadelphia Club Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) 19th-century American politicians Members of the American Philosophical Society