Frank L. Monteverde Born: 1868 Died: 1938

When he was elected mayor of Memphis in 1918 Frank Monteverde became the first native Memphian to hold that office.  His father, a determined immigrant had scraped and worked his way across the country east of the Mississippi, settling in Memphis and 1857 and later serving in the Confederate Army.

Frank Monteverde wanted nothing more than to be a poet.  He was a good poet, but did not find poetry to be a sustaining occupation.  He became a book keeper for a local stove maker, then in 1906 entered the mortuary busisness as a partner in the firm of McDowell and Monteverde.  In this same year he was elected sheriff after having spent three years as deputy sheriff and two years in the Tennessee State Legislature.

Far from being a poet, Monteverde was now a hangman.  He performed the last hanging to be conducted in the city's jailhouse yard.  He always conducted the hangings personally during his six year tenure.

Monteverde returned to city politics in 1918.  With Crump largely out of politics temporarily, Monteverde became a city commissioner in May of 1918 and mayor in August of that year.  This would be his only term as mayor.  He lost Crump support by arguing against the current commission form of government and suggesting that Memphis adopt the "city manager" concept.  The current, commission form of government was Crump's pet project.  Monteverde never re-entered politics.

Reference: Paul R. Coppock's Midsouth, Vol. 2