James S. Lithgow

James Smith Lithgow (November 29, 1812 — February 21, 1902) was an American politician, and the seventeenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, from January 2, 1866, to February 14, 1867.

Early life James S. Lithgow was born on November 29, 1812, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a plane maker, and he died before he turned one. He apprenticed as a coppersmith there.

Career Lithgow moved to Louisville in December 1832. initially one of the largest and most expensive buildings in Downtown Louisville. This building was designed by Henry Whitestone, a prominent Louisville architect whose firm exists today as Luckett & Farley, who also still possess the original drawings. Lithgow lost both the building and his business in the Panic of 1873, but he regained his fortune with a new firm, Lithgow Manufacturing Co.

A Democrat, Lithgow was elected to the City Council in 1849, and was a member of the convention to draft a new city charter in 1866. After Philip Tomppert was impeached by the City Council in 1866, that same body elected Lithgow mayor.