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Bailey Gatzert
7th Mayor of Seattle
In office
August 2, 1875 – July 31, 1876
Preceded byHenry Yesler
Succeeded byGideon A. Weed
Personal details
Born(1829-12-29)December 29, 1829[1]
Darmstadt, Hesse, German Confederation
DiedApril 19, 1893(1893-04-19) (aged 63)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Nationality American

Bailey Gatzert (December 29, 1829 – April 19, 1893) was an American politician and the eighth mayor of Seattle, Washington, serving from 1875 to 1876. He was the first Jewish mayor of Seattle, narrowly missing being the first Jewish mayor of a major American city[citation needed] (Moses Bloom became mayor of Iowa City, Iowa, in 1873). As of 2022, he has been the only Jewish mayor of Seattle.[2]

Gatzert was born in 1829 in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, and emigrated to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1849, coming west four years later.[3] In 1869 he opened a Seattle branch of Schwabacher Brothers and Company, a hardware and general store[4] he managed as partners with his brothers-in-law Abraham, Louis, and Sigmund Schwabacher.[3]

In addition to being mayor, Gatzert was charter member of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, served on the Seattle City Council 1872–1873 and 1877–1878[5] and was president of Puget Sound National Bank and Peoples Savings Bank.[3] He co-founded Washington's second synagogue (Seattle's first), Ohaveth Shalom,[3] which opened in 1892. Washington's first synagogue was built in Spokane.

The famous sternwheeler Bailey Gatzert is named for him, as is an elementary school in Seattle.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State". jgsws.org.
  2. ^ "Bailey Gatzert is elected mayor of Seattle on August 2, 1875". www.historylink.org. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Gatzert, Bailey (1829-1893)". www.historylink.org. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "Washington State Jewish Historical Society (WSJHS)". www.historylink.org. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  5. ^ Seattle City Council Members, 1869 – present Chronological Listing, Seattle City Archives. Accessed online July 19, 2008.
  6. ^ Ouchi, William G.; Segal, Lydia G. (2003). Making schools work: a revolutionary plan to get your children the education they need. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 205, ISBN 978-0-7432-4630-9.
Political offices Preceded byHenry Yesler Mayor of Seattle 1875–1876 Succeeded byGideon A. Weed


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