St. Louis Mayors

Henry Ziegenhein

Term:

1897 - 1901

Party:

Republican

Born:

1845

St. Louis County, Missouri

Died:

March 17, 1910

St. Louis, Missouri

Background
Administration
Post-Administration

Henry Ziegenhein (Mayor 1897-1901)-Background

Mayor (1897-1901). Henry Ziegenhein was born on a farm in St. Louis County in 1845. His parents were among the earliest German immigrants to settle in this area. Ziegenhein attended a rural school until he was 13 years of age. Then he came to St. Louis City to start his apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. At the start of the Civil War Ziegenhein was 17 years old. After serving in the Union Army, he returned to St. Louis and started a contracting and building business. In 1869 Ziegenhein married Miss Catherine Henkle. They had a family of nine children.

Henry Ziegenhein became one of the leaders in the Republican Party of the City. He was a member of the City Council from 1881 to 1885. Then he became a member of the Missouri State Legislature. In 1889 Ziegenhein was elected to the office of City Collector and in 1893 was re-elected for a second term. It was during the close of this term as Collector that he was elected Mayor in the Spring of 1897.

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Henry Ziegenhein (Mayor 1897-1901)-Administration

In 1897 Henry Ziegenhein became the thirty-third Mayor of St. Louis.

As Mayor he took an active part in bringing to partial completion the present City Hall. Some offices of the new building were occupied in 1898, though the building was not finally completed until 1904. An Ordinance of 1900 authorized the Mayor to appoint a Factory Inspector to look for violations of State Laws regulating hours of work, sanitary conditions and restrictions on the special election on July 12, 1898. In 1900 the Mayor approved an Ordinance authorizing the start of construction on the City Hospital, which had been damaged extensively in the Tornado of 1896.

Laws passed by the Missouri Legislature have always affected the Mayor's administration of the City's government. A Missouri law of 1899 required the City to appropriate the sum certified by the Board of Police Commissioners as necessary to run the Police Department each year. At the election of 1900 the people of Missouri approved a $5,000,000 bond issue to finance the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. The population of St. Louis had increased from 451,770 in 1890 to 575,238 in 1900 and it remained the fourth city in size in the United States.

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Henry Ziegenhein (Mayor 1897-1901)-Post-Administration

In later years Henry Ziegenhein took an active part in directing the financial affairs of the Lafayette Bank, an institution in which he was one of the largest stockholders.

Henry Ziegenhein died March 17, 1910. Interment was at New St. Marcus Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

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