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The post of Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, was begun in 1834 and was originally referred to as "President of Selectmen" before being changed to "Mayor". Harvey Johnson Jr. elected in 1997 became the city's first black mayor. All of the mayors since have also been African American. The following individuals have held the office:

President of Selectmen

Elections in Mississippi
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Ballot measures 2001 Flag referendum 2004 Amendment 1 2020 Initiative 65 Measure 3
City of Jackson Mayoral elections 2005 2009 2013 2014 2017 2021 2025
Gulfport Mayoral elections 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Southaven Mayoral elections 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Biloxi Mayoral elections 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Hattiesburg Mayoral elections 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Meridian Mayoral elections 2025
Madison Mayoral elections 2025
Philadelphia Mayoral elections 2025
v t e

Mayors

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes/Citation
	John P. Oldham	1839
	H.R. McDonald	1840
	John P. Oldham (2nd term)	1840–1841
	James H. Boyd	1842–1843
	John P. Oldham (3rd term)	1844–1849
	James H. Boyd	1850
	J.P. Jones	1851
	William H. Taylor	1852–1853
	Richard Fletcher	1854
	William H. Taylor	1855–1857
	James H. Boyd (2nd term)	1858
	W.A. Purdom	1859
	Richard C. Kerr	1860–1861
	Charles Henry Manship	1862–1863
	D.N. Barrows	1864–1867
	Maj. Thomas H. Norton	1868	Union officer appointed as mayor
	Bvt. Lt. Col. James Biddle	1868	Union officer appointed as mayor
	Col. James P. Sessions (J. P. Sessions)	1868–1869	Native of Natchez, Mississippi, former Confederate officer, died April 3, 1886
	Rhesa Hatcher	1869
	Bvt. Lt. Col. Joseph G. Crane	1869	Union officer appointed as mayor; stabbed to death by Edward M. Yerger, a former Confederate officer
	Captain F.A. Field	1869	Union officer appointed as mayor
	A. Way Kelly	1869
	E. W. Cabaniss	1869–1870
	Oliver Clifton	1870–1871
	Rhesa Hatcher (2nd term)	1871–1872
	Marion Smith	1872–1874
	John McGill	1874–1888
	William Henry	1888–1893
	L.F. Chiles	1893–1895	He served as Assistant Secretary of the Mississippi Senate He was also a deputy sheriff, alderman, and secretary of the Mississippi Fair Association. Testimony was given he proposed taking Charlie Morgan down to the swamp and tying him to a tree with someone posted to watch him until after an election because he was a leader of "negroes"
	Oliver Clifton (2nd term)	1895–1897
	Ramsey Wharton	1897–1899
	H.M. Taylor	1899
	W.W. Morrison	1899	Mayor Pro Tem
	John W. Todd	1899–1901
	William Hemingway	1901–1905
	Oliver Clifton (3rd term)	1905	died before taking office
	Ramsey Wharton (2nd term)	1905–1909
	A.C. Crowder	1909–1913
	S.J. Taylor	1913–1917
	Walter A. Scott	1917–1945
	Leland L. Speed	1945–1949
	Allen C. Thompson	1949–1969
	Russell C. Davis	1969–1977
	Dale Danks	1977–1989
	J. Kane Ditto	1989–1997
	Harvey Johnson, Jr.	1997–2005	first African American Mayor of Jackson
	Frank Melton	2005–2009	died in office
	Leslie B. McLemore	2009	interim mayor
	Harvey Johnson Jr. (2nd term)	2009–2013
	Chokwe Lumumba	2013–2014	died in office
	Charles Tillman	2014
	Tony Yarber	2014–2017
	Chokwe Antar Lumumba	2017–present

See also

• Timeline of Jackson, Mississippi

References

1. "history comes to life". Wheeling News-Register. September 18, 2015. Five characters date from the Civil War era. Glenn Elliott will portray Maj. Thomas H. Norton, decorated Union soldier and later the military mayor of Jackson, Miss., during Reconstruction.
2. "Death of Col. Jas. P. Sessions". The Clarion-Ledger. April 7, 1886 – via Newspapers.com.
3. J. Bomar Harris, ed. (1890). Charter of the City of Jackson, and Revised Ordinances of 1890: Together with Certain Miscellaneous Matters Pertaining to the City. Jackson, Mississippi: Clarion-Ledger Printing Establishment.
4. J. Bomar Harris, ed. (1890). Charter of the City of Jackson, and Revised Ordinances of 1890: Together with Certain Miscellaneous Matters Pertaining to the City. Jackson, Mississippi: Clarion-Ledger Printing Establishment.
5. Senate, Mississippi. Legislature (1902). "Journal".
6. "Digest of Contested-election Cases in the Fifty-first Congress". 1891.
7. "Chokwe Antar Lumumba sworn in as Jackson mayor". 3 July 2017.

Additional sources

• Brinson, Carroll. Jackson/A Special Kind of Place. Jackson, MS: City of Jackson, 1977. LCCN 77-081145.

External links

• Jackson, MS Mayor's Office - official website

• Mayors of Jackson, Mississippi
• Lists of mayors of places in Mississippi