William Emmett Dever (March 13, 1862 – September 3, 1929) was the mayor of Chicago from 1923 to 1927. He had previously served as a judge and before that an alderman. As an alderman and judge he would work to become the Democratic candidate for mayor for over two decades. Born in Massachusetts but moving to Chicago in young adulthood, William Dever became an alderman and prominently supported municipal ownership of mass transit. He was a member of the Dunne wing of the local Democratic party. As mayor, he focused on reform and infrastructure during his tenure. Later he would turn his attention to the enforcement of Prohibition despite his personal opposition to it. Such enforcement was initially effective, but indifference from government at other levels limited its efficacy and the lower amount of alcohol increased violence among bootleggers, souring Chicagoans' view on it. Losing to William Hale Thompson in 1927 over the issue, he is the last Democratic nominee in a partisan Chicago mayoral election to lose. Never in particularly good health, he retired from politics after the election and would die of pancreatic cancer two years later. Early life Dever was born in Woburn, Massachusetts and entered his family's leather tanning business when he was fifteen. He left Woburn in 1882 and moved to Boston, where he was based while he traveled on tannery business for two years. During this time Dever met Katherine E. Conway and they married in 1885. The two would go on to adopt two sons during their marriage. When Kate noticed an ad stating that leather tanners could make good money in Chicago, the couple moved west. Upon arriving in Chicago in 1887, Dever got a job working at a leather tannery on Goose Island and he also began taking law courses at night at the Chicago College of Law. Upon his graduation in 1890, Dever opened his own law practice. Aldermanic career Dever ran for alderman in 1900, but was defeated. He was encouraged by Graham Taylor to run again for alderman, and, in 1902, was elected alderman of the 17th Ward. Dever was elected as a steadfast supporter of municipal ownership of the city's streetcar services amid the Chicago Traction Wars. He would maintain this position throughout his aldermanic tenure, and continue it into his later mayoralty. Dever was regarded as an "honest" alderman. He had a clean voting record and