John Loague

Born: 1829

Died: After 1888

John Loague was born in Londonderry, Ireland on April 1, 1829 and received his education there.  He apprenticed as a coach painter which was a rare honor to be paid a Roman Catholic in this period.  He immigrated to the United States in September of 1848.  In 1850 he married Anne Fisher in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  The couple lived in a number of cities before settling in Memphis in 1860.

Loague entered public life and successfully ran for school board member twice, tax collector of privileges three times and was a member and secretary of the West Tennessee delegation to the constitutional convention of 1865.  In 1865 he was appointed surveyor of customs for the port of Memphis by President Andrew Johnson.

In 1866 Loague was elected county court clerk of Shelby County and served that four year term.  In 1874 he was elected to the office of mayor of Memphis.  He served his two year term, but was badly defeated in his run for re-election by John R. Flippin, a Democrat.  Cast as a "Radical Republican" he was basically branded a traitor to the territory.  Radical Republicanism was reconstructionist in nature and contrary to the deeply held values of many Memphians.  Consequently Loague lost to Flippin by a margin of 4,345 votes to 1,564.

Loague was successful in holding down the city's debt which was his primary concern and platform.  Ultimately this was for naught as the last two yellow fever epidemics so depopulated the area that the city's debt could not be serviced.

In 1878 he entered the bar and practiced law for the remainder of his career.  He and his wife Anne had seven surviving children as of 1888.