Samuel Henderson (c.1800 –1883) was the first mayor of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The first mayoral election was held on April 24, 1847, and Henderson, a member of the Whig Party, took office on May 1. He served a two-year term.

Biography

Henderson was a native of Kentucky and was one of the first settlers of Indianapolis. He was appointed the post master from March 1822 to February 1831. By 1835 he was one of the wealthiest people in the town, owning not only a farm, but also lots within the Mile Square and elsewhere in the state. When Indianapolis was incorporated as a town in 1832, he was chosen to serve as the first president of the town board of trustees, serving for one year. He became one of the eight directors of the first bank in Indianapolis opened in 1834. The directors arranged large loans to themselves, leaving Henderson and the others in a precarious financial position during the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

. The advent of the railroads in Indiana prompted the town to obtain a city charter from the Indiana legislature in 1847. Henderson was elected as the mayor on April 24, 1847, for a two-year term. However, he became convinced that Indianapolis would become merely a way station on the railroad lines, and after his term as mayor, he sold his real estate holdings at reduced prices and headed for

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to join the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

. He died there in 1883.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Samuel 1800s births 1883 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Indiana Mayors of Indianapolis Indiana Whigs