William Kaye was the fourteenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 from April 4, 1863 to April 1, 1865. He was born in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, 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...

 to a clothing manufacturer, trained as a machinist, and came to Louisville in 1836. In 1841 he founded Kaye & Co., which was well known for its brass and bell works, including the bell in the Cathedral of the Assumption

Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville

The Cathedral of the Assumption is the cathedral mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph Kurtz, D.D., the fourth and current Archbishop of Louisville, is in residence at the Cathedral. The Very Reverend Jeffery...

.

In 1862 he was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the City Council, and on April 4, 1863 he was elected mayor over former mayor Thomas H. Crawford

Thomas H. Crawford

Thomas Howell Crawford was the thirteenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from April 2, 1859 to April 4, 1861. He was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia...

, who ran on the Unionist

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 platform. Kaye was not an open supporter of the Confederacy, but he was backed by some secessionists.

After his term as mayor, he served again on the City Council, and also as Chief of Police for a year. He died of heart failure and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.