William B. Magruder

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William Beans Magruder
17th Mayor of the City of Washington, D.C.
In office
June 9, 1856 – June 14, 1858
Preceded byJohn T. Towers
Succeeded byJames G. Berret
Personal details
Born(1810-02-11)February 11, 1810
Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 1869(1869-05-30) (aged 59)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyAnti-Know-Nothing Party
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Hutchinson, Sarah Van Wyck
ChildrenMilicent Magruder
Alma materUniversity of Maryland Medical School at Baltimore
OccupationPhysician

William Beans Magruder (1810–1869) was a prominent physician and the seventeenth

District of Columbia
, from 1856 to 1858.

Magruder was born in

Cincinnati to assist that city with its own cholera epidemic.[1]

Dr. Magruder was the subject of a famous anecdote that wound its way into

Harper's magazine. He was attempting to talk a small boy into taking a dose of castor oil, promising him that the medicine was very sweet, when the boy replied, "Well, then, if it's so good, why don't you take some yourself?"[1]

Magruder entered public office in 1835, when he became a member of the Washington Board of Health. Two years later he was elected to the city's Common Council, then to the Board of Aldermen in 1843, where he served until 1856.

In 1856, incumbent mayor

Whigs
banded together as the "Anti-Know-Nothing Party" and nominated Magruder. After one of the fiercest campaigns in the history of Washington, Magruder won the mayoral election by a mere 13 votes.

Magruder's term as mayor was mostly marked by improvements to the city's infrastructure, in particular building an archway over a stream that then ran near L Street and frequently overflowed, damaging the city streets. He did, however, deal with the crisis of the June 1857 Election Riots, in which the Know-Nothings recruited a street gang from

Navy Marines arrived and dispersed the rioters.[2]

Magruder did not receive the Anti-Know-Nothing nomination for mayor in the 1858 election, and the coalition's new candidate, James G. Berret, acceded to the office. Magruder ran again as an independent candidate in 1860 but lost to Berret. After leaving office, Magruder continued to practice medicine until dying from a stomach infection in May, 1869.[citation needed] He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[3]

In 1887, the William Beans Magruder School was opened on the 1700 block of M Street NW.[4] It was closed after the 1979-1980 school year, rehabilitated and reopened as the Magruder building, part of the Seward Square office complex.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Robert H. Harkness (1913). "Dr. William B. Magruder". Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 16.
  2. ^ MVSNA: In The News
  3. ^ "Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Chapel Valley) - Lot 443" (PDF). oakhillcemeterydc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  4. ISBN 978-1421402703
    . Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. ^ Stevens, Joann (17 January 1980). "Board Hears Plan to Save Sumner School". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ^ White, Ronald D. (21 October 1982). "Complex approved in NW". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Washington, D.C.
1856–1858 		Succeeded by
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