John Harris Kinzie (July 7, 1803 – June 19, 1865) was a prominent figure in Chicago politics during the 19th century. He served as the president of the Board of Trustees of Chicago when it was still a town and thrice unsuccessfully ran for Chicago's mayoralty once it was incorporated as a city.
Early life
Kinzie was born in Sandwich, Ontario, the eldest son of John Kinzie, one of Chicago's first permanent settlers.[3] Kinzie arrived in Chicago with his parents when he was one year old.[3]
In 1833, Kinzie signed the 1833 Treaty of Chicago as a witness.[7] It became a controversy how much the Kinzie family financially benefited from the terms treaty, given their connection to George Bryan Porter, who had been one of the treaty's government-appointed negotiators.[8]
On August 11, 1834, Kinzie became the second president of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Chicago.
On May 2, 1837 Kinzie ran against William Butler Ogden for mayor when Chicago became a city and lost.[9] He subsequently made two more unsuccessful runs for mayor in 1845 and 1847.
Kinzie himself was married to historian and author Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie. Together they had seven children. Three of their children died in either their infancy or youth, these being Alexander Wolcott (1833–1839), Julian Magill (born 1843, died at age six weeks), and Francis William (1844–1850, died of cholera). Four of their children survived into adulthood, these being Eleanor Lytle (1835–1917), John Harris Jr. (1838–1862), Capt. Arthur Magill (1841–1902), and George Herbert (1846–1890)
One of Kinzie's sons died fighting for the Union in the Civil War, two others were taken prisoner by Confederate forces but survived. His son-in-law William Washington Gordon II was an officer in the Confederate Army, fighting first under J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry before becoming a captain in Mercer's Brigade and eventually falling wounded during the Battle of Lovejoy's Station.
^Fergus, Robert (1896). "Kane, Patrick - Kroger, Arnold". Directory of the City of Chicago Illinois for 1843. Fergus Printing Company. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
