Lou’s View – Nov. 19, 2015
A Long Line of Williams
by Lou Bernard
Congratulations to William Baney, Lock Haven’s new mayor. And I’m not just saying that so he’ll increase funding to the Ross Library! (Though, Mayor Baney, if you should feel the urge….) I’m truly happy for Mayor Baney, who joins a long line of good men to serve the city.
William Baney is the thirty-fourth person to serve as mayor since the city was incorporated in 1870. He is also, weirdly, the eighth mayor named William. I have no idea why that should be the case; Lock Haven voters seem to have an overwhelming urge to elect guys named William. I don’t know what the odds of that are and I’m not good enough at math to figure it out, so if any math teachers happen to be reading this, feel free to let me know. We’ve had three Roberts, two Johns, a Levi, and a Torrence, but about a quarter of our mayors have been named William.
Our first one (William, I mean, not mayor) became mayor in 1893; he was appointed to fill in the unfinished term of John Wynn and then re-elected. We began this William streak about ten mayors into our history. William Mayer was a Civil War veteran who lived on Main Street, and was responsible for paving Lock Haven’s streets and getting our water supply from McElhattan.
Once we’d begun, we just couldn’t stop. We had to have a streak of Williams, which at least made it easier to memorize the mayor’s name for a while. William Elliot served for half a term as a Democratic mayor who had a soft spot for local business and industry. He resigned due to health reasons and passed away soon after in 1901, and William F. Sperring came into office.
Sperring was a Democrat who served a term from 1902 to 1903, and then took twenty-six years off. He ran in 1928 as an Independent, and won—The only Independent mayor Lock Haven has ever had.
After Sperring, the string of Williams was broken by John Cupper, an ex-sheriff who was tough on crime. Cupper served from 1904 to 1907, and was elected again later from 1916 to 1919. He was a good man. But I’m not concerned with him right now, because his name wasn’t William, the weirdo. In 1908 we got back to the Williams with William H. Stevenson.
Stevenson was a Democratic mayor who was known as a generous, kind man. He served from 1908 to 1909, and then to fill his unexpired term, city council chose….Who else? William Bentley.
Bentley was a businessman who took an interest in the economy of the city. He served from 1909 to 1911, and then moved to Boston and was replaced by George Kreamer. Who was also a good mayor, but his name wasn’t William, so for purposes of this article, I’m not bothering with him.
The people of Lock Haven brought William Sperring back from 1928 to 1931. He ran on an Independent ticket against incumbent Allen Sterner, who should have known better than to run against a guy named William. Sperring served until 1931, after which the citizens of Lock Haven apparently decided to take a break from the Williams for a while.
We went through Edward Shoemaker, George Stevenson, I. Torrence Parsons, Charles Herr (twice), Harry Swope, Douglas Peddie, and Jay Young. And then, Lock Haven collectively decided, it was time to get back to electing Williams again.
William Johns was elected in 1972 at age 23, the youngest mayor Lock Haven has ever had. Ironically, he took over the office from a man named Young, who was not the youngest mayor. Johns served until 1975, and then William Eisamann took over from 1976 to 1983. Eismann was responsible for presiding over Lock Haven’s 150th anniversary celebration in 1983, when the city held a 150-day event.
And now, William Baney. Thirty-fourth mayor of Lock Haven. I’m looking forward to his term, and I wouldn’t mind having his job one day. Maybe eventually, I’ll run for mayor myself. Probably after I change my name to William.
