Four Mayors in One Day
February 22, 1916

In 1915 under pressure from the state legislature, E. H. Crump resigned the office of mayor.  Ouster proceedings were underway with formal charges being brought that Crump did not uphold prohibition laws in Memphis.  Commissioner George C. Love became mayor by succession on November 5, 1915 and remained mayor throughout the winter.  On February 12, 1916 Love resigned the office of mayor and returned to his job as city commissioner.  The office of mayor was then taken over by Tyler McLain.

This set the stage for Memphis to have four mayors in one day.  Crump, who had just been re-elected knew he would not be able to hold office long if sworn in.  The state legislature had ouster procedures standing by and Crump had not convincingly refuted their charges.  To insure that his political allies remained in office however Crump did take the oath, then resigned the same morning.  This got around any knotty problems with new elections and also satisfied the state legislators.  His resignation led to vice mayor R. A. Utley becoming mayor.  Utley promptly resigned and the commissioners elected Crump's hand-picked successor, commissioner Thomas C. Ashcroft, mayor.

So, if you're counting, Mayor Crump resigned once in 1915.  George C. Love was mayor for just over three months.  Tyler McLain was mayor for ten days.  Then on the morning of February 22, 1916 Tyler McLain wakened as outgoing mayor, swore in his successor E. H. Crump, Mr. Crump resigned causing R. A. Utley to be sworn in.  Mr. Utley resigned allowing the job to fall to Thomas C. Ashcroft who filled the mayoral office until his resignation in 1917.

There are a lot of "lists of mayors of Memphis" on the internet.  Or, actually, there is one and it is everywhere duplicated.  MemphisHistory.com is attempting to straighten out some of the confusion and fill in a few blanks as we go along.  Our list contains both the names of Utley and McLain although Utley only commited one act as mayor, his resignation.