William Spickernagle

In 1841 there was a move afoot in Memphis for a "reform mayor".  Part of the reform may have been that the city was ready for a "real mayor" with a dedication to his civic duties.  This would require a salary of course.  In that year Memphis which still had a large German population elected William Spickernagle to the office of mayor.  Mayor Spickernagle would become the first mayor to earn a salary.  That salary was richly deserved.

Spickernagle not only put teeth into the wharfage laws he also formed two militias for the enforcement of these regulations.  Also the wharf-master's position graduated to a job that earned 25% of all taxes collected.  With these steps in place the flatboatmen began to pay more regularly, but to also pull into the neighboring towns of Fort Pickering and South Memphis where the rules were not so stringent.

Ultimately these reforms would provide Memphis with its largest source of income.  The back of the flatboatmen's rebellion against taxes was broken the year after Mayor Spickernagle left office.  In what later became know as the "Flatboatmen's War", a large group of flatboatmen were at wharf at once and decided to rebel.  The mayor by that time was Major Edwin Hickman who promptly called out the militia.  The militia and townspeople drew arms against the 500 or so flatboatmen.  Ultimately the leader of the mob, a man named Trester, was killed and others taken into custody.

That was the end of the city's difficulties in collecting wharfage fees.  This civic progress was due largely to Mayor Spickernagle's anticipation of the need for a militia.