Ashland Memories: Mayor race highly contested in city's first election in 1911

Although Ashland was chosen as the county seat when the county was formed in 1846, it remained a village until 1911.

Morgan Minamyer was elected the last village mayor in 1909, and five men served on council. Edgar Koehl was just 21 and voting in his first election when he won a position as village clerk. Nelt Barr as village treasurer and William Conrad as marshal rounded out the village government.

With the 1910 census, Ashland’s population reached 5,000, and Ohio statute defined this as a city. The Secretary of State issued a proclamation, and once village council formally received it Feb. 6, 1911, Ashland became a city.

In the 1911 general election, Ashland was required to assume the “federal plan” of government. This meant the city needed to elect a mayor, auditor, treasurer, solicitor, three at-large council members and four ward council members. In addition, the mayor had to appoint a service director, a safety director and a board of health.

Winbigler wins Ashland's first mayoral election

In November 1911, Democrat Clemens P. Winbigler was elected the first mayor of the city of Ashland out of a crowded field of five candidates.

In that same election, Edgar Koehl was elected auditor, Nelt Barr remained treasurer and Maurice Semple became the city solicitor. City council included three at-large seats and four ward seats.

Captain J.B. Brinton was selected as the Republican candidate for mayor, but for some reason changed his mind. He requested the board of elections withdraw his name, and when they refused, he published a note in the newspaper asking his “friends” not to vote for him. Despite the notice, he still received 45 votes.

Two candidates appeared on the ballot as Independents after having lost their respective primaries. C.W. McCool had lost to Winbigler on the Democratic ticket and Dr. J.H. Willard came second to Brinton on the Republican side.

A Socialist was on the ballot, getting 141 votes

The final candidate for mayor was S.D. Seymour, who ran as a Socialist and received 141 votes. I would guess this was possibly the only time a Socialist candidate received more votes than the Republican candidate in an Ashland election!

One voter was overheard announcing, “Oh, I’m voting the Sociable ticket.”

I don’t know much about Silas D. Seymour other than what was recorded in the census the year before the election. He was 55 years old and lived with his wife and seven children on West Erie Street. Silas worked as a molder in a pump factory. His wife spoke German, as did a good number of his neighbors, many of whom were immigrants from the then Austro-Hungarian empire.

Several years earlier, a speaker came to Ashland to talk on Socialism and the topic “shall the people rule?” The newspaper noted, “At the close of the meeting a local was organized.”

According to the 1911 city directory, the Socialist hall was located at 9 W. Main.

For a couple of years the Socialist party was on the rise in Ohio and represented a viable alternative for those unhappy with the status quo. Socialists were part of a progressive coalition that brought about a state constitutional convention in 1912 that resulted in 33 amendments, including one that would change Ashland’s form of government yet again.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Memories: In 1911, Winbigler elected first mayor of Ashland