1851 Boston mayoral election

← 1850 Dec. 8, 1851 (1st vote) Dec. 17, 1851 (2nd vote) Dec. 24, 1851 (3rd vote) 1852 →

Candidate Benjamin Seaver John H. Wilkins Party Whig Whig First vote Did not contest 4,423 45.13% Second vote 3,970 47.31% Did not contest Third vote 3,990 50.05% Did not contest   Candidate Jerome V. C. Smith Adam W. Thaxter Jr. Party Know Nothing Democratic First vote 2,672 27.26% 1,250 21.95% Second vote 2,680 31.94% 1,290 15.37% Third vote 2,736 34.32% 1,024 12.84%

Mayor before election John P. Bigelow Whig Elected Mayor Benjamin Seaver Whig

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The 1851 Boston mayoral election saw the election of Benjamin Seaver, a former president of the Boston Common Council, as mayor of Boston. The election took three votes, as no candidate secured the needed majority in the first two attempts. In the third attempt, Seaver won the required majority by the margin of a single vote. Incumbent Whig mayor John P. Bigelow was not a nominee for reelection.

First vote (December 8, 1851)[edit]

Candidates

• Jerome V. C. Smith ("Native American Party" –Know Nothing),^[1] physician
• John H. Wilkins (Whig)^[1]
• George F. Williams (Free Soil Party)^[1]
• Adam Wallace Thaxter Jr. (Democratic Party),^[1] merchant^[2] and Democratic for mayor in the first vote of the 1844 election

Result

Second vote (December 17, 1851)[edit]

Candidates

• Benjamin Seaver (Whig),^[4] former president of the Boston Common Council
• Jerome V. C. Smith, physician
• John H. Wilkins
• George F. Williams
• Henry B. Rogers
• Adam Wallace Thaxter Jr., merchant^[2] and candidate for mayor in 1844

Result

Third vote (December 24, 1851)[edit]

Candidates

• Benjamin Seaver (Whig),^[4] former president of the Boston Common Council
• Jerome V. C. Smith, physician
• Henry B. Rogers
• Adam Wallace Thaxter Jr., merchant^[2] and candidate for mayor in 1844

Result

Summary table of all votes[edit]

See also[edit]

• List of mayors of Boston, Massachusetts

References[edit]