Hugh Moffat (politician)

Hugh Moffat
Hugh Moffat
Mayor of Detroit
	In office; 1872–1875
Preceded by	William W. Wheaton
Succeeded by	Alexander Lewis
Personal details
Born	1810; Coldstream, Scotland
Died	August 6, 1884; Detroit, Michigan

Hugh Moffat (1810 – August 6, 1884) was a carpenter, lumberman, businessman, and mayor of Detroit, Michigan.

Early life

Moffat Block, built in 1871 on the SW corner of Fort and Griswold

Hugh Moffat was born in Coldstream, Scotland in 1810.[1] He soon emigrated to America, settling first in Albany, New York, and in 1837 moving to Detroit. He began work as a carpenter, and built up a successful and profitable business as a builder,[1] constructing, among other things, Mariners' Church as well as the now demolished St. Paul's Church, Biddle House, and the Moffat Block.[2] In 1852, he expanded his business into the lumber trade by purchasing a sawmill and forested land.[1] His lumber business was even more profitable than his carpentry had been. In 1878, Moffat took on two partners: his son Addison and Florence D. Eatherly, a "confidential employee and faithful friend."[1]

Politics

Moffat was an active member of the Fire Department, the Mechanic's Society, and president of St. Andrew's Society.[1] In 1871, he was elected mayor of Detroit as a Republican.[1] Moffat served two terms as mayor, with his administration notable for his vetoes of spending initiative passed by the Detroit City Council and vetoes of multiple authorizations to allow saloons to open on Sunday afternoons in Detroit.[1] By the time he stepped down as mayor, Moffat had earned the appellation "Honest Hugh Moffat."[1]

Later life

Hugh Moffat was married three times.[1] The first marriage, in 1836, was to Margery McLachlan. Margery died in 1856, and Moffat married her cousin, Isabella McLachlan, in 1859.[1] Isabella died in 1869, and Moffat married Julia E. Hubbard, the sister of Thomas W. Palmer, in 1879; she died the next year.[1]

Hugh Moffat himself died on August 6, 1884.[1] He was survived by four children: Mrs. George MacMillan, Mrs. Edward W. Bissell, Alice E. Moffat, and William Moffat.[1] A second son, Addison Moffat, died in 1884 shortly before his father.[1]

gollark: I'm pretty sure very directional antennas are a thing.

gollark: Wouldn't that just be... a (probably illegally high powered) FM transmitter?

gollark: I'd say it's Discord's fault - assuming this is true of course, I haven't seen it tested - for implementing such an awful system.

gollark: Since apparently the idea is that the restricted channels would still be visible to everyone but approved-submitter-only, you could maybe do *roles* for "knows lasers" and stuff and ask people to check that before offering advice on some things. Though you'd have to have that be checked manually, unlike with a channel.

gollark: It seems like there's kind of an excess of channels even *now*, without that in place.

References

Silas Farmer (1889), THE HISTORY OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN, pp. 1046–1047
Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society (1886), Historical collections, Volume 13, Page 76 - Volume 30, Page 3760, The Society, pp. 621–625

Political offices
Preceded by William W. Wheaton	Mayor of Detroit 1872–1875	Succeeded by Alexander Lewis

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[farm-1] Silas Farmer (1889), THE HISTORY OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN, pp. 1046–1047

[pion-2] Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society (1886), Historical collections, Volume 13, Page 76 - Volume 30, Page 3760, The Society, pp. 621–625