List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River Government Center

This is a list of mayors of the City of Fall River, Massachusetts from 1854 to present. Fall River was led by a three-member Board of Selectmen from 1803 until its re-incorporation as a city in 1854.

From 1854 until 1902, mayoral elections were held every year and mayors served one-year terms. In 1902, the mayoral term was increased to two years, which lasted until the city charter was changed in 1965. That year, the mayoral term was again increased, this time to a four-year term. This change would be overturned by voters in 1973 and a two-year term was reinstated.

The mayor's office is located at Fall River Government Center.

#	Mayor	Picture	Term	Notes
1st	James Buffington		1854–1855	Previously a Selectman from 1851 until establishment of the city.
2nd	Edward P. Buffinton		1856–1857
3rd	Nathaniel B. Borden		1857–1858	Previously a Selectman from 1840–1841.
4th	Josiah C. Blaisdell		1858–1860
5th	Edward P. Buffinton		1860–1867
6th	George O. Fairbanks		1867–1869	Previously a Selectman[1] from 1852 until 1854.
7th	Samuel M. Brown		1869–1873
8th	Robert T. Davis		1873–1874
9th	James F. Davenport		1874–1877
10th	Crawford E. Lindsey		1878–1879
11th	William S. Greene		1880 – March 28, 1881	Resigned.
Acting	Robert Henry		1881–1881	Elected by the city council
12th	Henry K. Braley		1882–1883
13th	Milton Reed		1884–1884
14th	John W. Cummings		1885–1885
15th	William S. Greene		1886–1886
16th	John W. Cummings		1887–1888
17th	James Frederick Jackson		1889–1890
18th	John W. Coughlin		1891–1894
19th	William S. Greene		1895–1897
20th	Amos M. Jackson		1898–1899
21st	John H. Abbott		1900–1901
22nd	George Grime		1902–1904	Sitting in 1902.
23rd	John T. Coughlin		1905–1910
24th	Thomas F. Higgins		1911–1913
25th	James H. Kay		January 5, 1913 – 1923
26th	Edmond P. Talbot		1923–1926	Sitting in 1923.[2] First Mayor of French-Canadian descent.
27th	W. Harry Monks		1927–1928
28th	Edmond P. Talbot		1929–1930
29th	Daniel F. Sullivan		1931–1932
30th	Joseph Leo Hurley		1933–1934
31st	Alexander C. Murray		1935–1945
32nd	William P. Grant		1946–1951
33rd	John F. Kane		1952–1957
34th	John M. Arruda		1958–1963	First Mayor of Portuguese descent.
35th	Roland G. Desmarais		1964–1967
36th	Nicholas W. Mitchell		1968–1971
37th	Wilfred C. Driscoll		1972–1978
38th	Carlton M. Viveiros		1978 – December 23, 1990	Resigned to become clerk-magistrate of the Southeastern District Housing Court.[3]
Acting	Daniel Bogan		December 23, 1990 – June 25, 1991	Acting mayor.[3]
39th	John R. Mitchell		June 25, 1991-January 1996	[3]
40th	Edward M. Lambert, Jr.		January 1996 – October 26, 2007	Resigned to accept a position at the University of Massachusetts.[4]
Acting	William F. Whitty		October 26, 2007 – January 7, 2008	Acting mayor.[4]
41st	Robert Correia		January 7, 2008 – January 4, 2010
42nd	William A. Flanagan		January 4, 2010– December 29, 2014	Recalled
43rd	C. Samuel Sutter		December 29, 2014 - January 4, 2016	Won recall election to succeed William Flanagan. Lost election to a full term Nov. 2015.
44th	Jasiel F. Correia II		January 4, 2016	Youngest Mayor elected at 23 years old. First Mayor of Cape Verdean descent.

Number of Mayors of Fall River by party affiliation

Party	Mayors
American	1
Democratic	24
Independent	1
Republican	20
Whig	1

See also

• List of selectmen of Fall River, Massachusetts
• History of Fall River, Massachusetts

References

All information from 1803–1877 taken from A Centennial History of Fall River, Mass. by Henry H. Earl, 1877.
http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20151103/NEWS/151108456

1. New England historic Genealogical Society (1905), Memorial biographies of the New England historic genealogical society v. 6, Boston, MA: The New England Historic Genealogical Society, p. 95.
2. A History of the Town of Freetown, Massachusetts: "Old Home Festival". Assonet Village Improvement Society: 1902
3. Holtzman, Michael. "Dual roles await Witty". Fall River Herald News. October 12, 2007
4. Holtzman, Michael. "Mayor seeks election help". Fall River Herald News. October 12, 2007