James Stephens Speed

James Stephens Speed
James Stephens Speed
Personal details
Born	February 14, 1811; Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Died	August 8, 1860 (aged 49); Chicago, Illinois, United States

James Stephens Speed (1811–1860) was the ninth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky.[1] His father, John Speed, moved to Jefferson County in about 1795 and established a farm on Salt River Rd. (which became Dixie Highway), about 9 miles south of Louisville. James Speed moved to Louisville in his late teens and within a few years became a partner in a building and railroad contracting firm, Pickett and Speed.

He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1843, and appointed a United States marshal by president Zachary Taylor in 1849. He was served as mayor of Louisville from April 26, 1852 until April 1855. The rules governing the office were confusing, and Speed was actually re-elected by popular vote each year of his term, yet never awarded an election certificate. Speed argued that his original election meant his term lasted until 1856, but a resolution in 1855 called for a new election that year. The election was won by Know-Nothing candidate John Barbee. Speed did not run in the election, believing he would remain mayor anyway, but Barbee was recognized as mayor by the city council, overriding Speed's veto. Speed appealed but ultimately lost at the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The Know-Nothings were inspired by editorials of the Louisville Daily Courier, which opposed Speed for his Catholicism (he was a Catholic convert), a major local controversy of the time (Speed was the first Catholic mayor).[2] In 1856 Speed moved to Chicago, where he spent the remainder of his life. As mayor, he was chiefly concerned with public works projects, such as the water works and street improvement.

Notes

Bio data
Ford, Bridget (2016). Bonds of Union: Religion, Race, and Politics in a Civil War Borderland. UNC Press Books. p. 26. ISBN 9781469626239.

gollark: I mean that they insist I need cotton shirts (because natural → good somehow?!) and also have to wear ironed clothes?

gollark: Well, they seem to think that I should wear excessively fancy clothes (beyond the somewhat-fancy-clothes requirement of my school dress code) or people will judge me for it somehow?

gollark: I care somewhat about appearance, but your comment reminds me very much of the whole thing my parents have with looking "smart".

gollark: Surely nobody is going around licking windows *now*.

gollark: · · ·

References

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.
"Speed, James Stephens". The Encyclopedia of Louisville (1 ed.). 2001.

Political offices
Preceded by John M. Delph	Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky 1852–1855	Succeeded by John Barbee

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[1] Bio data

[2] Ford, Bridget (2016). Bonds of Union: Religion, Race, and Politics in a Civil War Borderland. UNC Press Books. p. 26. ISBN 9781469626239.