Bryan Mullanphy was the tenth Mayor of St. Louis, serving from 1847 to 1848.

Bryan Mullanphy was the son of John Mullanphy

John Mullanphy

John Mullanphy was an Irish immigrant who became a wealthy merchant in St. Louis and in Baltimore.Mullanphy was an important philanthropist in the fledgeling St. Louis community, and his son Bryan Mullanphy became mayor of St. Louis....

, an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 immigrant who became a wealthy merchant in St. Louis and in Baltimore. Bryan Mullanphy was born in Baltimore in 1809 and the family moved to St. Louis in 1819. His early education took place in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. After returning to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, he became a lawyer and practiced in St. Louis.

Mullanphy was a member of the St. Louis Board of Alderman from 1835 to 1836 and served as Judge of the St. Louis Circuit Court from 1840 to 1844. In 1847, running as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

, he was elected to a one-year term as Mayor.

A wealthy man and a philanthropist

Philanthropy

Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...

, Mullanphy is remembered more for his charitable work than his political service. His will provided that one-third of his holdings were to go to the City via a trust fund for the relief of emigrants and travelers coming to St. Louis on their way to settle in the western part of the United States.

Mullanphy died in St. Louis on June 15, 1851 at the age of 42. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery.

Sources

• Much of the original content for this article was based on the brief biographies of St. Louis Mayors found at the St. Louis Public Library's website, http://exhibits.slpl.lib.mo.us/mayors/