- Johnston Lykins
Johnston Lykins (April 15, 1800-August 15, 1876) was the first legal
Kansas City, Missouri Mayor .Lykins was born in
Franklin County, Virginia .In 1828 he married Delilah daughter of one of Kansas City's earliest settlers
Isaac McCoy in 1828 working with Indians in Michigan and Indiana. Following theIndian Removal Act which moved Indians west of Kansas City he moved to the Kansas City to continue his missionary work.In 1831 he bought 16 acres in what would become the initial plat for Kansas City (his property extended south from the
Missouri River to Fifth and Broadway. He would also expand his holdings to 12th and Pennsylvania onQuality Hill . He was president of Mechanics Bank and a self taught doctor.He married again in 1851.
Kansas City after being incorporated in 1853 first elected
William Samuel Gregory . Gregory served only 10 months when it was discovered that he was not eligible to be mayor because he did not live within the city limits. Lykins who was first president of the city council became mayor. After completing two months of Gregory's term he was elected to another one-year term. [A CONDENSED HISTORY OF THE KANSAS CITY AREA. ITS MAYORS AND SOME V.I.P.S - Author: Green, George Fuller Publisher: The Lowell Press. 1968, Kansas City, MO]During the
American Civil War he maintained loyal Union ties while his new wife had to move toClay County, Missouri as a result ofGeneral Order No. 11 which required loyalty oaths for those living near the Kansas border south of the Missouri River.He is buried in
Union Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri .References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.