James S. Lithgow

James Smith Lithgow (November 29, 1812 — February 21, 1902) was an American politician, and the sixteenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, from January 2, 1866 to February 14, 1867.

James S. Lithgow
Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
In office
January 2, 1866 – February 14, 1867
Personal details
Born
James Smith Lithgow

(1812-11-29)November 29, 1812
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DiedFebruary 21, 1902(1902-02-21) (aged 89)
Louisville, Kentucky
Resting placeCave Hill Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Hannah Cragg
​
(
m. 1897; died 1891)
Children8
OccupationMetalsmith, politician

Biography

James S. Lithgow was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and apprenticed as a coppersmith there.[1] He moved to Louisville in 1832 and worked various jobs before starting Wallace & Lithgow, a metals company on Market Street in 1836. The business was successful, and made Lithgow wealthy. After the death of Wallace in 1861, the company became J.S. Lithgow and Co. and built its headquarters at what became the Board of Trade Building,[2] initially one of the largest and most expensive buildings in Downtown Louisville. This building was designed by Henry Whitestone, a prominent Louisville architect whose firm exists today as Luckett & Farley, who also still possess the original drawings. Lithgow lost both the building and his business in the Panic of 1873, but he regained his fortune with a new firm, Lithgow Manufacturing Co.

A Democrat, Lithgow was elected to the City Council in 1849, and was a member of the convention to draft a new city charter in 1866. After Philip Tomppert was impeached by the City Council in 1866, that same body elected Lithgow mayor. He resigned when a state appeals court reinstated Tomppert on February 14, 1867.

He married Hannah Cragg in 1897, and they had eight children. She died on March 28, 1891.[1]

James Smith Lithgow died in Louisville on February 21, 1902, and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.[3][4]

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References
  1. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. XI. James T. White & Company. 1901. p. 213. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via Google Books.
  2. Proffitt, Doug (November 10, 2015). "Lost Louisville: Ripped from history and never seen again". Louisville, Kentucky: WHAS-TV. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. "James Smith Lithgow". The Chattanooga News. Louisville, Kentucky. February 21, 1902. p. 7. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Funeral Service of Mr. James S. Lithgow Tomorrow Morning". The Courier-Journal. February 23, 1902. p. 3. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County (2nd ed.). Louisville, Kentucky: Filson Club, Incorporated. ISBN 0-9601072-3-1.
  • "James Smith Lithgow". The Encyclopedia of Louisville (1 ed.). 2001.
Political offices
Preceded by
Philip Tomppert		 Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
January 2, 1866–February 14, 1867		 Succeeded by
Philip Tomppert
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