Francis Cornwall Sherman (September 18, 1805November 7, 1870) served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois, for three terms (1841–1842, 1862–1865) as a member of the Democratic Party. Early life Sherman was born September 18, 1805 in Newtown, Connecticut. He married Electa Towbridge of Danbury, Connecticut. Career in Chicago Sherman arrived in Chicago on April 7, 1834. He built a small boardinghouse, and used those profits to buy a stagecoach, establishing a stage line from Chicago to Galena, Joliet, Peoria, and other towns in Illinois. In 1835, he began to work in brick manufacturing and construction. In July 1835, he was elected a village trustee, serving for a year. In 1837, he opened the City Hotel, a hotel that would be later renamed the Sherman House. Also in 1837, after Chicago incorporated as a city, he was elected an alderman from the 2nd Ward on the newly created Chicago Common Council, and served for one year. First mayoralty (1841–1842) Sherman was elected mayor of Chicago in 1841, defeating Whig nominee Isaac R. Gavin. Sherman was sworn in on March 4, 1841. Sherman's first mayoralty ended on March 7, 1842 when he was succeeded by Whig Benjamin Wright Raymond. City Treasurer, State Senate and Cook County Board of Commissioners Sherman was City Treasurer of Chicago from 1842 through 1843. Sherman served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1844 through 1850. During this time, was a delegate to the 1847 Illinois constitutional convention. In 1850, Sherman retired from his brickmaking venture, in order to focus himself on public service and developing the properties he owned. He expanded his hotel, adding two floors atop its existing three, and renaming it the "Sherman House". Sherman served Chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 1851 through 1853. Sherman ran in the contentious 1856 Chicago mayoral election as an anti-Nebraska Democrat. He lost to pro-Nebraska Democrat Thomas Dyer. The Sherman House Hotel became one of the grand hotels of Chicago when it was reconstructed and reopened in 1861. Second mayoralty (1862–1865) Sherman was again elected mayor in the 1862 Chicago mayoral election, defeating Republican nominee Charles N. Holden. Sherman was sworn in as mayor on May 5, 1862. That November, Sherman unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives, losing the Illinois 1st congressional district race to Republican Isaac N. Arnold. Sherman appointed a committee that recommended a new city charter, which extended the