Salem - John F. Hurley Blog 1894 John F. Hurley, Member of Salem Water Board Before Being Elected Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, When on the Salem Water Board, New England Water Works Association, Construction of Pipe Line from Lake Wenham, Longham Basin

1894 - 1895 John F. Hurley, before being elected Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts,  When on the Salem Water Board,  New England Water Works Association, Construction of pipe line from Lake Wenham, Longham Basin

John Hurley was a member of the New England Water Works Association Water Board Salem Division. I have no idea when he was elected to the board, but he is in all the group photos.  They ran large pipes from Lake Wenham to Salem by way of Longham Basin to bring water to the growing town.  I think from him being on this board motivated him to seek higher office.  Six year later at the turn of the century he was elected as mayor of Salem. This is the beginning of John Hurley's political life and that is why I am listing it. 

All the photos have been cropped and are partial until  a latter date when I will post the entire photo.
These are very large cabinet cards photographs that shows different phases of the construction of the Water Works.  There are a series of eight  9.5" x 7"  photos on 10.25"  x 9" cabinet cards. 

The first photo is a group photo of the New England Water Works Association, Salem Board.  It is separate from the series of eight photos of the construction of the Water Works.

Below is a photo of what is left of the caption on the first of nine photos that shows the construction and completion of the Salem Water Work project of 1894(or maybe earlier) to 1895.

 (Partial). NEW ENGLAND WATER WORKS A......I believe the rest is ssociation. Photographed by O. W. Leighton, Salem, Mass
and underneath this a chip that has printed:   M  WATER BOARD. In all probability the letter M is for Salem.

This is John Hurley in the middle of the group photo of the Salem Water Board.  I believe the lady to his right is is wife, for she is wearing a similar badge in their lapel, except hers is smaller.  He is wearing his trademark Top Hat and mutton sideburns.

Salem - John F. Hurley Blog - Mayor John F. Hurley, Salem, Massachusetts; 1909 Old Home Week Celebration; Mayor John F. Hurley Presentation of Silver Service, Clock and Columbia Phonograph to USS Salem; Parade Route; Fireworks; Presdential Yacht;

Official Programme of the Celebration in Salem, Mass. Old Home Week July 26 - 31 1909; Presentation of Gifts to U.S.S. Salem; Illumination of the Shore, Military and Civic Parade, Reception of Officers and Crew, Banquet at the Armory

I have decided to captioned each page of this program. The reason I have listed everyone that was on these committee's is so that families that are doing a search of ancestors will find them. Without listing them, the families of these individual would never know something about their ancestors involvement in this period of history and an occasion they had something to do with. It is time consuming, but the nice emails I get from family members for their appreciation of my other postings, motivate me. It also keeps my mind sharp and my fingers nibble (smile.)

Many of the individuals listed I have recognized from prior searches on historical items I have.  I have an archive of a Salem shop keeper and many of these individuals ancestors are mentioned. I am also familiar with Daniel Low the silversmith, for I collected souvenir spoons for awhile and I have  some of the ones he made.

I will be listing John Hurley's papers in groups to make it easy for searches. So enjoy!  This program measures 6 x 9 inches and consist of eight pages with a decorative cover of embossed and engraved quality printing on textured paper

At the end of this blog there is some biographical information on Honorable John F. Hurley

This is the front cover of the program with an embossed knotted rope around an engraved seal of the City of Salem in gold.

Salem - John F. Hurley Blog - Mayor John F. Hurley, Salem, Massachusetts 1901-1902-1908-1909-1913-1914; 1855 City of Salem Annual Report of Several Departments and Committees; Photo Archive; New England Water Works and Sewer Project at Wenham Lake, Longham Basin

Salem, Massachusetts Mayor John F. Hurley, 1901-1902-1908-1909-1913-1914; 1855 - City of Salem Annual Report of Several Departments and Committees; Photo Archive; New England Water Works and Sewer Project at Wenham Lake, Longham Basin


We used to have these Inaugural Address to understand the essence of the politician, but once they relied on speechwriters to make sure all bases were touched (beginning of political correctness) there was no intellectual scale to judge them on, not like the politicians of old.  The politicians like Hurley relied on their intellect to write, for citizen in his era demanded higher of their leaders. Today its the sound bite of a professional speechwriter or an unguarded moment to define the politician; this is what makes these addresses so informative for me when I find them, it gives an insight to that politician view.

This is Hurley's first address that he gave. He sat down and wrote what his vision for the City of Salem he hoped he could make a reality with his speech the foundation to built upon and a blueprint the citizen could follow.  I do not expect anyone to read everything, so I will caption the interesting comment or observation on each page and then you decide if you want to read that page.

This will be a work in progress, for I have many documents and photos, including the 1855 Annual Report that is over 75 pages showing the cost of running government then . 

I will start with these photo and document first.

I have added some information on Mayor Hurley at the end of this blog.

This is the Honorable John F. Hurley official city photograph; He is wearing a classy top hat and in his lapel button hole he is wear the membership pin of GAR, the Civil War Fraternal Organization that was at its height of their influence due to the large number of dedicated members

Here is a metal door sign, hand painted for the Mayor office which was one of the old Alderman's office.

Honorable John F, Hurley First Inaugural Address .  He had just won the mayors seat in the election held December 11, 1900 and what we have here is a 32 page booklet addressing his hope and aspiration in how he was going to govern and he lays this out in this, his first Mayor's Address given on January 7, 1901

This is an insert in the booklet of his first Mayor Address attesting to his making these booklet available  with his compliments.

This is how he looked at taking office on January of 1901. As you see from the Official City Photograph that I listed first, he had by 1914 gone completely gray

Here is the title page showing the seal of the City of Salem and the year it given

He starts off with giving a summary of what he just went through

Here is some information on John F. Hurley:

From 1838 when the city was incorporated, until 1917, John Hurley was the most elected of all prior mayors at that time. He was elected a total of six time mayor of Salem. Mayor Hurley was one of Salem's most colorful political figure ever elected. He was know for his great mutton chop sideburns. These so named sideburns were made famous by Civil War General Ambrose Burnside and they were known at first as Burnside's and some how by the end of the century it evolved into the name sideburns.

Hurley had worn his Burnside's from after the civil war until his death. Another distinct attribute was that he wore a stovepipe top had, even when it became unfashionable he wore one. You could always pick him out of a crowd for that top hat and mutton chops sideburns. Mayor Hurley was a member of G.A.R., the civil war veteran association and was a member of Post 34 of Salem.

Mayor Hurley was mayor at the time of the Great Salem Fire of June 25, 1914. The fire destroyed approximately 1300 building, with 20,000 people losing their homes and 10,000 jobs. This great tragedy weighted so heavily on Mayor Hurley, that he never again sought public office.

When he died in 1935 he had a requiem high mass at Immaculate Conception Church that was filled to capacity and then interred at St. Mary's Cemetery. His funeral was attended by many politicians of the day,. Present in 1935 was Mayor George J. Bates and ex-mayor Denis J. Sullivan of Salem, G.A.R. Veterans comrades James Carney and Edward I. P. Benson, Legionnaires and throng of citizens.

As I find more information I will add it,