Mark Aldrich
| Mark Aldrich | |
|---|---|
Mark Aldrich
|
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| Mayor of Tucson, Arizona | |
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In office 1861 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 22, 1802 Warren County, New York |
| Died | September 21, 1873 (aged 71) Tucson, Arizona |
| Resting place | Tucson, Arizona |
| Political party | Whig |
Mark Aldrich (January 22, 1802 – September 21, 1873) was a founder of Warsaw, Illinois, and a politician: Illinois state senator for the Whig Party, the first American mayor of Tucson, Arizona, and a three-term territorial senator in Arizona. He was one of five defendants tried and acquitted in Illinois of the murder in 1844 of Joseph Smith, who was founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Aldrich was born in New York and moved to Hancock County, Illinois, in 1832, where he was one of the early developers of what would later become the town of Warsaw. Aldrich was appointed as the first postmaster of Warsaw, serving between 1834 and 1838. In 1836 and 1838 he was elected to the Illinois Senate as the representative for Hancock County.
In the late 1830s, Latter Day Saints began settling in Hancock County. According to Latter Day Saint leader Joseph Smith, Aldrich spent two years trying to convince Smith and the Latter Day Saints to purchase a section of land south of Warsaw which Aldrich owned.
In 1841, Smith finally relented and some of the Latter Day Saints settled as Aldrich's tenants in what would be called Warren, Illinois. However, once the Latter Day Saints had settled there, Aldrich raised the rent and imposed a number of restrictions on the Latter Day Saints that had not been foreseen. As a result, Smith moved the Latter Day Saints settled in Warren to Nauvoo, where the majority of Latter Day Saints had settled.
Aldrich was unsuccessful in his attempts to persuade Smith to continue their arrangement. As a result, Aldrich filed for bankruptcy on March 22, 1842.
Following his disagreements with Smith, Aldrich became an opponent of the Latter Day Saint presence in Hancock County. He was a major in command of the Warsaw Independent Battalion of the Illinois State Militia.
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Wikipedia