Jonathan Kearsley

Jonathan Kearsley (1786–1859) was an American military officer and politician. He fought in the War of 1812 and was a two-time mayor of Detroit.

Early life Jonathan Kearsley was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania on August 20, 1786, and graduated from Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College) in 1811. He was one of the founders of the Union Literary Society at Washington College. He joined the Army the following year as a First Lieutenant in the Second Artillery Corps, eventually reaching the rank of Major.

Life in Detroit He held the office of Collector of Revenue Taxes in Virginia from 1817 until 1819, when he moved to Detroit and was appointed Receiver of Public Monies, a title which he held for thirty years.

He served as mayor of Detroit two separate times, first appointed by the council to fill the unexpired term of Henry Jackson Hunt in 1826, and then being elected in 1829. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Michigan from 1827 to 1837, and again on its re-organized Board of Regents from 1838 until 1852. He died in 1859 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

Kearsley Creek, a tributary of the Flint River, Kearsley Community Schools, and a major street in Flint, Michigan are named after him, as was the short-lived (1839–43) Kearsley Township, Michigan.