Appendix.
The naming of Toledo
The City Flag and Seal
The Population of Toledo
Mayors
Vice-Mayors
City Managers
Congressional Representatives
Holy Toledo
| The Naming of Toledo |
No one knows who suggested that the new town resulting from the merger of Port Lawrence and Vistula be named Toledo. The only certainty and the only point on which all the historians agree is that the name was taken from the ancient city of Toledo, Spain. |
According to Clark Waggoner, author of History of the City of Toledo, published in 1888, James Irvine Browne suggested the name. However, evidence shows that Browne did not come to Toledo until May 1834, probably several months after the name was chosen. |
Judge John Killits, who published Toledo and Lucas County Ohio in 1923; H.S. Knapp, author of History of the Maumee Valley, published in 1877; and Charles S. Van Tassel, whose Story of the Maumee Valley appeared in 1929, all credit Willard J Daniels. Daniels, a merchant in Vistula who had just purchased property in Port Lawrence, had been reading Spanish history and offered the name of the Spanish capital. He argued that it was easy to pronounce, had a pleasant sound, and no other city in the United States was named Toledo. |
Historians give little credence to the notion that Two Stickney persuaded his father to submit the name. According to the story, Two found the name on a map of Spain during a geography lesson. However, since Stickney was twenty-three years old, he probably was not in school at that time. |
Yet another version of the naming of Toledo remains in question. Ebenezer Irving happened to be in the area looking into his land investments at the time Port Lawrence and Vistula merged. He wrote to his brother, Washington, asking what to name the new town. Washington Irving, who was in Toledo, Spain, writing The Alhambra suggested the name Toledo. |
| Toledo officially adopted the design for the city flag on January 11, 1909, during the administration of Mayor Brand Whitlock. City council's resolution explained the meaning of the flag's design. |
| "The significance of the design is as follows: the block house representing old Fort Industry, which was the first settlement of Toledo, represents security and industry and that advancement which came of the pioneer spirit. The circle surrounding it denotes unity, completeness and eternity, and giving the sense of location, represents the state of Ohio. The colors of the flag are the national colors and stand not only for the nation, but the blue for constancy, the white for purity and the red for labor, courage and brotherhood. |
| "Be it further resolved that the device of the block house within the circle stand as the emblem of the City of Toledo and be the basis of all seals and devices representing the sovereignty of the city; with this addition, however, that where possible the date of the organization of the city, 1837, be added and the motto of the city, Laborare est Orare. |
| "Be it further resolved that the thanks of the city be extended to Robert M. Corl for the design which he has furnished." |
| Toledo's incorporation as a city in 1837 included the right to use a corporate seal. The city's first seal was a scroll with the letters L.S., the abbreviation for the Latin Locus Sigilli, meaning "the place of the seal." Officials probably used this seal until 1852, when the municipal corporation act made Toledo a second class city. No record shows what seal the city adopted in 1852. The circle and the inscription "The Seal of the City of Toledo" originated with a state law passed in 1868. The old Fort Industry, the date of the incorporation of the city, and the city's motto appeared on a seal designed in 1873. The Latin motto, "Laborare est Orare," freely translated, means "To work is to pray." The present seal, designed by Robert M. CorI, incorporates all these elements. Toledo adopted the seal along with the city flag on January 11, 1909. |
| 1840 | 1,222 |
| 1850 | 3,829 |
| 1860 | 13,768 |
| 1870 | 31,584 |
| 1880 | 50,137 |
| 1890 | 81,434 |
| 1900 | 131,822 |
| 1910 | 168,497 |
| 1920 | 243,164 |
| 1930 | 290,718 |
| 1940 | 282,349 |
| 1950 | 303,616 |
| 1960 | 318,003 |
| 1970 | 383,105 |
| 1980 | 354,635 |
Term |
Name |
Political Party |
1837-1838 |
John Berdan |
Whig |
1839 |
Hezekiah D. Mason |
Whig |
1840-1843 |
Myron H. Tilden |
Whig |
1843 |
James Myers |
Democrat |
1844 |
George B. Way |
Whig |
1845-1846 |
Richard Mott |
|
1846-1848 |
Emery D. Potter |
Democrat |
1849 |
Daniel 0. Morton |
Democrat |
1850 |
Caleb F. Abbott |
Whig |
1851 |
Charles M. Dorr |
Whig |
1852 |
Daniel McBain |
Whig |
1852 |
Egbert B. Brown |
|
1852 |
Ira L. Clark |
|
1853 |
Mavor Brigham |
|
1853-1856 |
Charles M. Dorr |
Whig |
1857-1860 |
Alexander M. Brownlee |
|
1860-1861 |
Alexander H. Newcomb |
Whig-Republican |
1861-1863 |
John B. Manor |
|
1863-1866 |
Charles M. Dorr |
Democrat |
1867-1868 |
Charles A. King |
Republican |
1869-1870 |
William Kraus |
Republican |
1871-1874 |
William W. Jones |
Democrat |
1875-1876 |
Guido Marx |
Republican |
1877-1878 |
William W. Jones |
Democrat |
1879-1885 |
Jacob Romeis |
Republican |
1885 |
George Scheets |
Republican |
1885-1886 |
Samuel F. Forbes |
Republican |
1887-1890 |
James K. Hamilton |
Republican |
1891-1892 |
Vincent J. Emmick |
Republican |
1893-1896 |
Guy G. Major |
Republican |
1897-1904 |
Samuel M. Jones |
Republican-Independent |
1904-1905 |
Robert H. Finch |
Republican |
1906-1913 |
Brand Whitlock |
Democrat-Independent |
1914-1915 |
Carl H. Keller |
Republican |
1916-1917 |
Charles Milroy |
Republican |
1918-1921 |
Cornell Schreiber |
Democrat |
1922-1925 |
Bernard F. Brough |
Republican |
1926-1927 |
Fred J. Mery |
Republican |
1928-1931 |
William T. Jackson |
Republican |
| 1932-1933 | Addison Q. Thacher | Republican |
| 1934-1935 | Solon T. Klotz | Socialist-Independent |
| 1936-1939 | Roy C. Start | Republican |
| 1940-1942 | John Q. Carey | Democrat-Independent |
| 1943-1947 | Lloyd E. Roulet | Republican |
| 1948-1950 | Michael V. DiSalle | Democrat |
| 1950-1951 | Ollie Czelusta | Republican |
| 1952-1953 | Lloyd E. Roulet | Republican |
| 1954-1957 | Ollie Czelusta | Republican |
| 1957-1959 | John W. Yager | Democrat |
| 1959-1961 | Michael J. Damas | Democrat |
| 1961-1967 | John W. Potter | Republican |
| 1967-1971 | William J. Ensign | Democrat |
| 1971-1976 | Harry W. Kessler | Democrat |
| 1977-1982 | Douglas DeGood | Democrat |
| 1983- | Donna Owens | Republican |
Return to Top
| Term | Name |
| 1914-1917 | Philip Hassenzahl |
| 1918-1921 | C.C. Kilbury |
| 1922-1923 | Ed Cullen |
| 1924-1925 | Fred J. Mery |
| 1926-1927 | Grant Northrup |
| 1928-1935 | Charles D. Hoover |
| 1936-1939 | John Q. Carey |
| 1940-1941 | Ollie Czelusta |
| 1942 | Lloyd Roulet |
| 1943 | Ollie Czelusta |
| 1944-1947 | Michael V. DiSalle |
| 1948 | Thomas H. Burke |
| 1948-1949 | Jerome Jesionowski |
| 1950-1951 | Lloyd E. Roulet |
| 1952-1953 | Howard C. Cook |
| 1954-1956 | Ned Skeldon |
| 1957-1958 | Ollie Czelusta |
| 1959-1960 | James B. Simmons, Jr. |
| 1961-1966 | Thaddeus Walinski |
| 1967-1968 | Robert C. Savage |
| 1969-1970 | Harry W. Kessler |
| 1971 | Gene Cook |
| 1971-1974 | Carol Pietrykowski |
| 1975-1983 | Gene Cook |
| 1983-1985 | Bill Copeland |
| 1985- | Gene Cook |
| Term | Name |
| 1936-1939 | John N. Edy |
| 1939-1948 | George Schoonmaker |
| 1949-1954 | Arnold Finch |
| 1954-1957 | John McCarthy |
| 1957 | Charles Lawton (acting) |
| 1957-1960 | Russell Rink |
| 1960-1961 | John Alspach |
| 1961-1962 | Louis Young (acting) |
| 1962-1967 | Frank Backstrom |
| 1967-1968 | Louis Young (acting) |
| 1968-1971 | William Gross |
| 1971 | Louis Young (acting) |
| 1971-1976 | James Daken |
| 1976-1977 | Frank Pizza (acting) |
| 1977-1978 | Walter Kane |
| 1978-1979 | Frank Pizza (acting) |
| 1979-1981 | J. Michael Porter |
| 1981-1985 | David Boston |
| 1985-1986 | C.E. Riser |
| 1986- | Philip A. Hawkey |
| Term | Name | Polictical Party | District Number |
| 1835-1837 | Joseph H. Crane | Whig | Three |
| 1837-1843 | Patrick G. Goode | Whig | Three |
| 1843-1845 | Emery D. Potter | Democrat | Five |
| 1845-1849 | William Sawyer | Democrat | Five |
| 1849-1851 | Emery D. Potter | Democrat | Five |
| 1851-1855 | Alfred P. Edgerton | Democrat | Five |
| 1855-1859 | Richard Mott | Republican | Five |
| 1859-1863 | James M. Ashley | Republican | Five |
| 1863-1869 | James M. Ashley | Republican | Ten |
| 1869-1871 | Truman H. Hoag | Democrat | Ten |
| 1871-1873 | Erasmus D. Peck | Republican | Ten |
| 1873-1875 | Isaac R. Sherwood | Republican | Six |
| 1875-1877 | Frank H. Hurd | Democrat | Six |
| 1877-1879 | Jacob D. Cox | Republican | Six |
| 1879-1881 | Frank H. Hurd | Democrat | Seven |
| 1881-1883 | James M. Ritchie | Republican | Six |
| 1883-1885 | Frank H. Hurd | Democrat | Ten |
| 1885-1889 | Jacob Romeis | Republican | Ten |
| 1889-1893 | William E. Haynes | Democrat | Ten |
| 1893-1895 | Byron F. Ritchie | Democrat | Nine |
| 1895-1907 | James H. Southard | Republican | Nine |
| 1907-1921 | Isaac R. Sherwood | Democrat | Nine |
| 1921-1923 | William W. Chalmers | Republican | Nine |
| 1923-1925 | Isaac R. Sherwood | Democrat | Nine |
| 1925-1931 | William W. Chalmers | Republican | Nine |
| 1931-1933 | Wilbur H. White | Republican | Nine |
| 1933-1937 | Warren J. Duffey | Democrat | Nine |
| 1937-1943 | John F. Hunter | Democrat | Nine |
| 1943-1949 | Homer A. Ramey | Republican | Nine |
| 1949-1951 | Thomas H. Burke | Democrat | Nine |
| 1951-1955 | Frazier Reams | Independent | Nine |
| 1955-1981 | Thomas L. Ashley | Democrat | Nine |
| 1981-1983 | Edward F. Weber | Republican | Nine |
| 1983- | Marcy Kaptur | Democrat | Nine |
| No one knows the origin of the expression "Holy Toledo." |
| "Holy Toledo" may have been a sarcastic term used to criticize Toledo's many saloons, which outnumbered the churches. |
| The expression may have originally referred to the Holy City of Toledo, Spain, which was the center for Catholic and Moorish religious councils between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. |
| Gangsters may have originated the expression during the 1920s and 1930s. The Toledo police department had assured safecrackers and rum runners of a refuge in Toledo as long as they refrained from criminal activity in the city. Detroit's Purple Gang often "holed up" in Toledo. |
| Vaudeville performers may have first used the expression to describe the poor attendance at shows in Toledo. They expected small theater audiences during Holy Week, but they complained that every week was like Holy Week in Toledo. |
| Toledo's many churches of all faiths, particularly those along Collingwood Boulevard, may have inspired the expression. |
| Billy Sunday reportedly called the city "Holy Toledo" during a revival service here in |
| 1908. |