The Life of MAYOR JONAS R MCCLINTOCK

Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1836 to 1839. He was the first Medical Doctor to serve as mayor of Pittsburgh.

Early life

James Roup McClintock was born in Pennsylvania in 1808. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. He attended the University of Maryland Medical School earning an M.D. in 1830. He rose to local fame heroically treating his fellow Pittsburghers during the cholera epidemics in the early 1830's. In 1832 he organized Pittsburgh's very first board of health, he also was a member of the local viligance committee and the volunteer fire company.

Pittsburgh politics

At the very youthful age of 28 he became mayor, much on his fame and legend making the city safe from cholera and fire earlier in the decade. He was known affectionally as the "Boy Mayor". His mayoral administration had to deal with hard financial times in the late 1830's however he succeeded in major infrastructure improvements in the city including the original "cut" of Grant's Hill, a steep bluff boxing the city in on the east. The "cut" allowed for settlement of an area of the city previously uninhabitable because of the grade of the land.

Later life

Upon leaving the mayor's office, McClintock ran successfully for state Senator in 1853. His stay in Harrisburg was highlighted by his championing of commonwealth legislation promoting free secondary education. When the U.S. Civil War divided the nation, Dr. McClintock help organize a troop company for battle, it numbered over 3,500 men. In 1879 he died from a strangulated hernia.