List of mayors of Poplar Bluff, Missouri

The city of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, is the sixth-most populous city in Missouri's 8th congressional district and southeastern Missouri.

The town was started in 1850. The city was incorporated on February 9, 1870.[1]

List of mayors

Mayor Took office Left office Additional information
Joseph T. Davison
  • (1846-1915)
 1883 Ohio-born Civil war veteran who served in the 68th Illinois Infantry and the 3rd Illinois Cavalry before moving to Poplar Bluff in 1874.[2] He had been a member of the Missouri House of Representatives.[3]
Thomas Hugh Moore 1887 1887 In 1896, this general mercantile store operator was appointed Butler County collector by Governor William Stone.[5]
James Robert Hogg
  • (1863-1934)
 1897 1897 Farmer, meat merchant, sheriff, and distillery owner originally from Indiana.[6]
Dr. Alex W. Davidson
  • (1853-1934)
 c.1901[7] Alex W. Davidson was born 1853 in Hickman County, Tennessee, the eldest of eleven children. He studied medicine under his father and entered the American Medical College of St. Louis, graduating in 1876.[8]
Ed L. Abington
  • (1867-1955)
 c. 1902[7] He was born in St. Charles County, Missouri. He was president of the Bank of Poplar Bluff around 1949.[9]
John W. Berryman[10] c. 1909 c. 1911
Robert G. Felts[12]
  • (1861-1918)
 c. 1914
John W. Berryman c. 1917 c. 1919[13] (He previously served as mayor.)
Edgar G. Hammons[14] c. 1926
John W. Berryman[16] c. 1927 (He previously served as mayor.)
Bayles Kennedy Flannery
  • (1889-1957)
 c. 1929[17] He was born near Golconda, Illinois.[18]
Dr. Zera Lee Stokely
  • (1895-1974)
 c. 1931[19] Dentist and postmaster.[20]
Clyde E. Richardson 1945 A banker who previously resigned as mayor to join the Army Finance Corps during World War II.[22]
Arch W. Bartlett[23]
  • (1901-1985)
 1945 1946
Clyde E. Richardson
  • (1906-1977)
 1947 1949 (He previously served as mayor.)
E. W. Robinson
  • (c.1901-1956)
 He died following surgery for a lung tumor.[24]
Arch W. Bartlett[23]
  • (1901-1985)
 1953 1953 (He previously served as mayor.)
E. W. Robinson
  • (c.1901-1956)
 1954 1956[25] (He previously served as mayor.)
John S. West
  • (1923-2015)
 1957[26] 1963 Former First Sergeant in US Army who served in the Pacific during World War II. Former co-owner of Bluff City Motors.[27]
Walter F. Thies
  • (1921-2011)
 He served as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II.[28]
Robert L. Odell U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean War[29]
J. C. Allen 1963 1967
Earl C. Porter 1967 1970
Louie N. Snider
  • (1923-2013)
 1970 1972 The first mayor of the present form of city government. Snider served in the Battle of the Bulge under General Patton.[31]
Harold Jackson 1972 1973
Bernard R. Wheetley
  • (1919-2003)
 1973 1975 Delegate to Republican National Convention from Missouri, 1964.[32]
Paul Henry Hillis 1975 1975 Hillis joined the Seabees during World War II. Dean of Three Rivers Community College.[34]
Bill I. Foster
  • (born 1946)
 1979 1980 Missouri state senator, 2001-2005; Missouri state representative, 1993-2001. Foster also served in the National Guard.[35]
Gerald Lynn Rains 1980 1981[37] Former Butler County Clerk, 1982-1986.[38] He died at his home in Piedmont, Missouri.
Bill Sparks 1981 1982 Sparks served on the planning commission for Russellville, Arkansas, for 17 years.[39]
Thomas F. Allen
  • (1931-2012)
 1983 1984 Assistant Superintendent of Poplar Bluff public schools.[40]
Bruce E. Holloway
Bill Sparks 1985 1986 (He previously served as mayor.)
Robert P. MacDonald 1987 1988
Calvin M. Rutledge 1988 1989 Rutledge resigned during a later term to become director of the Black River Coliseum.[42][43]
Thomas J. Lawson
  • (born 1932)
 Lawson has also served as Poplar Bluff city manager and as chairman of the Highway 67 Corporation Board and the Highway 67 Coalition.[44]
Betty Absheer Betty Absheer was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Poplar Bluff. She was appointed to the City Council in 1989 and subsequently elected to a full term. She retired from the City Council in 2016.[45]
Ron Black 1996
Chris Rustin 1998
Reid Forrester[46]
  • (born c. 1960)
 2000 Poplar Bluff City Council, 1996-2002. In 2005, he was appointed to the Board of Probation and Parole.[47] Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Peter D. Kinder since 2015.[48]
Calvin Rutledge 2000 2000 (He previously served as mayor, 1988-1989.)
Johnny Brannum 2000[42]
Scott Faughn
  • (born 1980)
 2002 2005 Faughn was elected the city's youngest mayor at age 22.[49]
Loyd Lee Matthews
  • (1934-2014)
 Matthews served 3 years as mayor and 12 years on the city council. He served 4 years in the U.S. Navy around the time of the Korean War.
Susan Williams-McVey[50] c. 2007
Ed DeGaris[44] 2011 2014 Retired police lieutenant who was elected to the City Council in 2009.[51]
Angela Pearson 2014 2015 The city's youngest female mayor.[53][54]
Betty Absheer 2015 2016 With Councilwoman Angela Pearson absent for health reasons, the city council was deadlocked and unable to elect a mayor. All council members' names were put in a cup, and Ms. Absheer's name was drawn out of the cup by city attorney Robert L. Smith. Thus, she became the mayor for the 2015-2016 term.[55]
Ed DeGaris
  • (1954-2022)
 2016 (He previously served as mayor, 2011-2014.)
Robert Smith[56] 2019 First African-American mayor.

References

Missouri Secretary of State official manuals

  1. ^ "History of Poplar Bluff". Archived from the original on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  2. ^ "Butler county Missouri,"A View of A Growing Town"". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  3. ^ "Journal of the House of Representatives of the 48th General Assembly of the State of Missouri". 1915. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  4. ^ Howard L. Conard (1901). Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri: A Compendium of History ..., Volume 4. New York: Indiana University Press.
  5. ^ "The Historic and Architectural Resources of Poplar Bluff, Missouri" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  6. ^ "Index to Politicians: Hogg". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  7. ^ a b "PoliticalGraveyard.com: Mayors and Postmasters of Poplar Bluff, Missouri". Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  8. ^ "Butler County Biographies From Goodspeed's History". Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  9. ^ "Bank of Poplar Bluff v. Casey". Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  10. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1911" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  11. ^ a b c "John W. Berryman, Former Bluff Mayor, Dies of Paralysis". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. December 31, 1940.
  12. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1914" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  13. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1919" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  14. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1926" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  15. ^ "Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1963" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  16. ^ "Southeast Missouri News". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. July 7, 1927.
  17. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1929" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  18. ^ "Bayles Flannery". Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  19. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1931" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  20. ^ "Invasions of Privacy: Government Agencies. Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress". 1965. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  21. ^ "City Directory of Poplar Bluff, Missouri 1945" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  22. ^ "Clyde Richardson". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  23. ^ a b "Index to Politicians: Bartlett". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  24. ^ "Mrs. Elmer J Quick death 1956". The Kansas City Times. 30 August 1956. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  25. ^ "Index to Politicians: Robinson, E to F". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  26. ^ "Index to Politicians: West to Westby". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  27. ^ "John S. West Sr. obituary". Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  28. ^ "Tributes.com: Walter F. Thies". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  29. ^ "House Resolution No. 52" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  30. ^ "Earl C Porter (1913-1988)". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  31. ^ "Tributes: Louie Snider". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  32. ^ "Index to Politicians: Wheeler-smith to Whipper". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  33. ^ "Paul Henry Hillis obituary". Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  34. ^ "Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution: Patriot of the Month, September 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  35. ^ "Legislator Papers Bill I. Foster, 1993-2005" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  36. ^ "Gerald Lynn Rains obituary". Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  37. ^ "New Bluff Mayor". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. April 21, 1981.
  38. ^ "At a Glance Missouri: Former Mayor Sentenced". The Nevada Daily Mail. Nevada, Missouri. April 27, 1987.
  39. ^ "Sparks to fill Ginsberg's place on ballot". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  40. ^ "Thomas F. Allen". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  41. ^ "Former Mayor Sentenced to 25 Years For Cocaine Trafficking". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  42. ^ a b "Brannum Elected Mayor by Poplar Bluff Board". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. September 7, 2000.
  43. ^ "Tommy Dorsey Orchestra swings into Poplar Bluff". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. October 9, 2001.
  44. ^ a b "Hwy. 67 Celebration Friday City to Honor Lawson". 2011-08-21. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  45. ^ "City manager panel named". 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  46. ^ Julius Johnson (ed.). Official Manual State of Missouri 1999-2000. p. 820.
  47. ^ "Blunt names area man to parole board". 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  48. ^ "Lt. Governor's Office Staff | Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder Official Web Site". Archived from the original on 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  49. ^ "Former Region 8 Mayor Faces Four Felony Charges". 2005-02-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  50. ^ "Susan McVey". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  51. ^ "New Poplar Bluff Mayor may Still Sue City". 2011-04-21. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  52. ^ "Rockethub: Angela Pearson". Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  53. ^ "Poplar Bluff's youngest female mayor named". 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  54. ^ "Tables turn as political novice becomes mayor of Poplar Bluff". 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  55. ^ Farley, Donna (April 27, 2015). "Random drawing selects new Poplar Bluff mayor". Southeast Missourian. Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Retrieved July 7, 2017. Closed access icon
  56. ^ "Smith selected as new Poplar Bluff mayor". Daily American Republic. Poplar Bluff, Missouri. April 15, 2019.

Key

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials
Alaskan Independence (AKIP)
Know Nothing (KN)
American Labor (AL)
Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J)
National Republican (NR)
Anti-Administration (AA)
Anti-Masonic (Anti-M)
Conservative (Con)
Covenant (Cov)
Democratic (D)
Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL)
Democratic–NPL (D-NPL)
Dixiecrat (Dix),
States' Rights (SR)
Democratic-Republican (DR)
Farmer–Labor (FL)
Federalist (F)
Pro-Administration (PA)
Free Soil (FS)
Fusion (Fus)
Greenback (GB)
Independence (IPM)
Independent Democrat (ID)
Independent Republican (IR)
Jacksonian (J)
Liberal (Lib)
Libertarian (L)
National Union (NU)
Nonpartisan League (NPL)
Nullifier (N)
Opposition Northern (O)
Opposition Southern (O)
Populist (Pop)
Progressive (Prog)
Prohibition (Proh)
Readjuster (Rea)
Republican (R)
Silver (Sv)
Silver Republican (SvR)
Socialist (Soc)
Union (U)
Unconditional Union (UU)
Vermont Progressive (VP)
Whig (W)
Independent (I)
Nonpartisan (NP)