Mason, Roswell B.

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Roswell B. Mason Soundex Code M250

Wikipedia page about Roswell B. Mason

Roswell B. Mason was born in New Hartford, New York on Thursday, September 19, 1805, and died in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, January 1, 1892 (aged 86). He's buried in Rosehill Cemetery. Mason served as 13th Mayor of Chicago (term: 1869–1871) for the Citizens Party.

Roswell B. Mason (1805-1892) the city's 13th Mayor, was known as the "Fire Mayor," and was credited with saving Chicago from disgrace in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Elected as part of a large movement to fight corruption, Mason kept donated money out of the hands of the Chicago City Council. Mason believed, as others did too, that if the council controlled these funds, they would end up in aldermanic pockets. Mason decided instead that the money should be disbursed by the Relief Aid Society. This proved to be a wise decision, since the Mayor had earlier sent a message back East that read, "Before mourning one hundred thousand people will be without food and shelter. Can you help us?"

While the fire spread, Mason continued to work in the Courthouse until the bell tower crashed through the flaming roof. He helped set the Cook County Jail prisoners free, personally directed the razing of buildings on Wabash Avenue and Harrison Street, and called upon Civil War General Philip Henry Sheridan (Sheridan Road) to declare martial law and keep order.

His obituary in the Chicago Evening Post referred to his term in office as a "wise, cool-headed administration which did much to restore the people to their normal frame of mind."

Mason's remarkable decisiveness, however, had it's drawbacks. Before he was Mayor, he helped create the Greater Grand Crossing community and indirectly caused a train crash that killed 18 people and injured 40.