James Harper (13 April 1795-27 March 1869) was the Know Nothing Mayor of New York City from 1844 to 1845, succeeding Robert H. Morris and preceding William Frederick Havemeyer.
Biography[]
James Harper was born in Elmhurst, Queens, New York in 1795, and he and his brother cofounded the J&J Harper printing company in 1817. Harper, while a staunch teetotaler, was respected by drinkers as a man who seemed to seldom be sober due to his jovial nature, and he printed the anti-Catholic Awful Disclosures in 1836, turning it into a smash hit among nativists. Harper went on to serve as the Know Nothing Mayor of New York City from 1844 to 1845, establishing the first municipal police force in 1844 and outfitted them in blue uniforms; he also established a citywide sanitation system and banned the free roaming of pigs on New York's streets. He died in 1869.