Augustus E. Alden

Augustus E. Alden (1837–1886) was an American Radical Republican politician. He served as the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, from 1867 to 1868.

Early life

He was born in Augusta, Maine, in 1837.[1] His father was Col. Darius Alden and his mother, Caroline Nickerson.[1]

Career

During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Alden served as a unionist from Minnesota and Maine.[2][3]

During William Gannaway Brownlow's campaign for Governor of Tennessee in 1865, he acted as a registrar for Davidson County.[2] Alden served as the mayor of Nashville from 1867 to 1868.[4] Historians have argued Governor Brownlow staged Alden's Nashville Mayoral election of 1867.[5] Others have argued he won the election thanks to African-American voters.[2] When Mayor William Matt Brown (1865-1867) accused him of stealing the election, Governor Brownlow sent General Joseph Alexander Cooper to calm the situation down and let Alden move into his new office.[2]

Personal life and death

He married Amanda Sparling on October 19, 1871.[1] They had no children.[1] He died on April 23, 1886, in Seattle, Washington.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County, TN". Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Kent Dollar (ed.), Larry Whiteaker (ed.), W. Calvin Dickinson (ed.), Sister States, Enemy States: The Civil War in Kentucky and Tennessee, University Press of Kentucky, 2011 [1]
  3. ^ Bobby L. Lovett, The African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780-1930: Elites and Dilemmas, University of Arkansas Press, 1999, p. 211 [2]
  4. ^ Nashville Public Library: Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee
  5. ^ Don H. Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South: Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston, Mobile, 1860-1910, UNC Press Books, 1990, p. 31 [3]
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee
1867–1868 		Succeeded by