{{Short description|American military officer and politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jonathan Kearsley | image = JohnathanKearsley.jpg | caption = | order = 5th Mayor of Detroit | term_start = 1829 | term_end = 1829 | predecessor = John Biddle | successor = John R. Williams | order2 = 3rd Mayor of Detroit | term_start2 = 1826 | term_end2 = 1826 | predecessor2 = Henry Jackson Hunt | successor2 = John Biddle | birth_date = 1786 | birth_place = Middletown, Pennsylvania | death_date = 1859 | death_place = Detroit, Michigan | constituency = | party = | alma_mater = Washington College | spouse = | profession = | signature = | footnotes = }}
'''Jonathan Kearsley''' (1786–1859) was an American military officer and politician. He fought in the War of 1812 and was a two-time mayor of Detroit.
==Early life== Jonathan Kearsley was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania on August 20, 1786,<ref name = "descend">{{citation|pages = 51–52|title = The descendants of Jonathan Kearsley, 1718–1782, and his wife Jane Kearsley, 1720–1801, (from Scotland)| author=Elmer L. White |year = 1900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPPhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51}}</ref> and graduated from Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College) in 1811.<ref name = "bio">{{Citation| title = Biographical and Historical Catalogue of Washington and Jefferson College| publisher=Elm Street Printing Company| year = 1889| location = Cincinnati, Ohio | pages = 272| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-ahBAAAAIAAJ| author1 = (washington, Washington and Jefferson College| author2 = ), Pa| author3 = Eaton, Samuel John Mills}}</ref> He was one of the founders of the Union Literary Society at Washington College.<ref name = "mac">{{Citation| last = McClelland| first = W.C.|chapter= A History of Literary Societies at Washington & Jefferson College|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1QyAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA111 | publisher=George H. Buchanan and Company|title=The Centennial Celebration of the Chartering of Jefferson College in 1802| year= 1903 | location = Philadelphia| pages = 111–132| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t1QyAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> He joined the Army the following year as a First Lieutenant in the Second Artillery Corps, eventually reaching the rank of Major.<ref name = "descend"/> He fought in several battles during the War of 1812, including the Battle of Stoney Creek, Battle of Crysler's Farm, and the Battle of Chippawa (following the Capture of Fort Erie).<ref name = "chron"/> In the latter battle, he was wounded, and one of his legs was amputated. The operation was performed incorrectly and he suffered pain for the rest of his life from it.<ref name = "descend"/>
In 1815, Kearsley married Margaret Hetich.<ref name = "descend"/> The couple had three children: Edmund Roberts (1816), Rebekah H (1817), and Martha I. (1819); Margaret died in 1821.<ref name = "descend"/> He later married Rachel Valentine.<ref name = "farm">{{citation|title = THE HISTORY OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN |author=Silas Farmer| year = 1889 |page = 1033|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yl06VbZ-RfwC&pg=1033}}</ref>
==Life in Detroit== He held the office of Collector of Revenue Taxes in Virginia from 1817 until 1819, when he moved to Detroit and was appointed Receiver of Public Monies, a title which he held for thirty years.<ref name= "descend"/> He lived on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street in Detroit.<ref name = "chron">{{Citation | editor-last = Carlisle | editor-first = Fred | year = 1890 | title = Chronography of Notable Events in the History of the Northwest Territory and Wayne County | publisher=O.S. Gulley, Bornman | location = Detroit | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bR4yB_oZTSYC | oclc = 13694600|pages = 236–237}}</ref>
He served as mayor of Detroit two separate times, first appointed by the council to fill the unexpired term of Henry Jackson Hunt in 1826, and then being elected in 1829.<ref name = "gov">{{citation|title = The government of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan: 1701 to 1907, historical and biographical| year = 1907 |page = 28| publisher = Books on Demand | isbn = 9780598455529 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6vhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA28}}</ref> He also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Michigan from 1827 to 1837, and again on its re-organized Board of Regents from 1838 until 1852.<ref name = "descend"/><ref name="Barnard1878_88">{{Citation | last = Barnard | first = F. A. | year = 1878 | title = American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men: Michigan Volume | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U-IBAAAAMAAJ | publisher=Western Biographical | location = Cincinnati | oclc = 2988468| page = 88}}</ref> He died in 1859 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.<ref name="Franck1996_156">{{Citation | last = Franck | first = Michael S. | title = Elmwood Endures: History of a Detroit Cemetery | year = 1996 | publisher=Wayne State University | location = Detroit | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0KBYj8v_ZMC | isbn = 0-8143-2591-2| page = 156}}</ref>
Kearsley Creek, a tributary of the Flint River, Kearsley Community Schools,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://kearsleyeclipse.com/12975/news/kearsley-celebrates-its-75th-anniversary/|title=Kearsley celebrates its 75th anniversary|last=McKay|first=Ave'r|work=The Eclipse|access-date=2018-08-24}}</ref> and a major street in Flint, Michigan are named after him, as was the short-lived (1839–43) Kearsley Township, Michigan.
== Further reading ==
* John C. Fredriksen, ed., [https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/IHSPub/id/573/rec/13 “The Memoirs of Jonathan Kearsley: A Michigan Hero From the War of 1812.”] ''Indiana Military History Journal'' 10:2 (May 1985)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before=Henry Jackson Hunt}} {{s-ttl | title=Mayor of Detroit | years = 1826}} {{s-aft | after=John Biddle}} {{s-bef | before=John Biddle}} {{s-ttl | title=Mayor of Detroit | years = 1829}} {{s-aft | after=John R. Williams}} {{end}} {{DetroitMayors}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearsley, Jonathan}} Category:19th-century mayors of places in Michigan Category:United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Category:Washington & Jefferson College alumni Category:Regents of the University of Michigan Category:1786 births Category:1859 deaths Category:Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit) Category:Mayors of Detroit Category:People from Middletown, Pennsylvania Category:United States Army officers Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania