Daniel Reintzel (November 3, 1755November 18, 1828) was an American merchant who served three terms as mayor of the town of Georgetown, both when it was part of Maryland and when it was part of the District of Columbia. Life and career Early life Daniel Reintzel was born in November 1755 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, to Johan Valentine Reintzel Sr. and Maria Sarah Reintzel ( Riegle). The family came from the Imperial Free City of Hamburg in the Holy Roman Empire (now Germany), emigrating to North America in the early 1700s. He had six brothers (Andreas, George, Johan Jacob, Conrad Jacob, Jorg David, and Valentine) and four sisters (Mariliss, Maria Margreta, Maria Magdalena, and Maria Katerina). Founding Georgetown and Maryland legislative service Almost nothing is known of Reintzel's early life and education, and it is unclear when he moved from Pennsylvania to southern Maryland. But Daniel and his brothers Johan (or John) and Valentine were well-established in Georgetown by 1780. All three brothers were heavily involved in the buying and selling of real estate in the town. Georgetown was chartered as a town by the Province of Maryland on June 8, 1751. The province appointed seven Commissioners to identify property for purchase, lay out the town, and govern it. Reintzel must have been well-established, well-known, and highly respected by 1782, for on May 22 he was appointed clerk to the Georgetown Commissioners (the previous clerk having performed his job poorly). Reintzel served as clerk probably to January 20, 1789, when the Georgetown Commissioners met for the last time. Georgetown was incorporated by the Maryland General Assembly on December 25, 1789. The town's charter provided for a mayor, recorder, several aldermen, and a "common council" of 10 people. The first recorded meeting of the common council was on November 28, 1791. Reintzel was appointed an alderman, and attended the meeting. On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who chose a portion of the states of Maryland and Virginia on January 24, 1791. Until December 1, 1800, citizens of the District of Columbia were able to vote in federal, state, and local elections in both Maryland and Virginia. Under Maryland law, a free male could vote in Maryland if he owned a minimum of of land and