Election
1851 Boston mayoral election
Candidate
Benjamin Seaver
John H. Wilkins
Party
Whig
Whig
First vote
Did not contest
4,423 45.13%
Second vote
3,970 47.31%
Did not contest
Third vote
3,990 50.05%
Did not contest
Candidate
Jerome V. C. Smith
Adam W. Thaxter Jr.
Party
Know Nothing
Democratic
First vote
2,672 27.26%
1,250 21.95%
Second vote
2,680 31.94%
1,290 15.37%
Third vote
2,736 34.32%
1,024 12.84%
Ward 12 Democratic Party ticket from the 1851 election
The 1851 Boston mayoral election saw the election of Benjamin Seaver , a former president of the Boston Common Council , as mayor of Boston . The election took three votes, as no candidate secured the needed majority in the first two attempts. In the third attempt, Seaver won the required majority by the margin of a single vote. Incumbent Whig mayor John P. Bigelow was not a nominee for reelection.
First vote (December 8, 1851)
Candidates
Result
Second vote (December 17, 1851)
Candidates
Result
Third vote (December 24, 1851)
Candidates
Result
Summary table of all votes
See also
References
^ a b c d "Boston Municipal Election" . Newspapers.com . Daily Free Democrat. December 17, 1851. Retrieved April 17, 2023 .
^ a b c O'Brien, Megan (February 23, 2021). "Luxury Home of the Week: For $7.35m, a 22-room Beacon Hill home" . www.boston.com . Retrieved April 9, 2023 .
^ a b c A Catalogue of the City Councils of Boston, 1822-1908, Roxbury, 1846-1867, Charlestown, 1847-1873 and of the Selectmen of Boston, 1634-1822: Also of Various Other Town and Municipal Officers . City of Boston Printing Department. 1909. p. 52. Retrieved April 7, 2023 .
^ a b "Municipal Election" . Boston Evening Transcript. December 18, 1851. Retrieved April 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.