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John Seddon O’Fallon was organized as a village for 31 years before becoming a city. The decision to incorporate as a city was made through a special election held on March 14. 1905. The vote canvass recorded 175 votes in favor and 63 against—3 ballots were thrown out. An election for city officials was held on April 18. 43 year old John Seddon was elected O’Fallon’s first mayor by an overwhelming majority of 321 votes. 4 other votes cast were split among 4 other challengers. Born at Reeb Station in present day west Belleville in 1862, John Seddon was the son of Isaiah Seddon, a native of England, and Lucy Davis, a native of Wales. He married Gertrude Eisloeffel in Mascoutah in 1887 and had 3 children of which only 1 survived infancy. For about 10 years he pursued farming but then he went into coal mining. Trained as a hoisting engineer, he came to O’Fallon in 1891 to work at the Mentor Mine in present day west O’Fallon. When the mine was abandoned, he worked as night engineer at Carbon mine, also in west O’Fallon, until he retired in 1928 due to failing health. On his arrival in O’Fallon, he became very active in civic affairs. He was an early member of the Volunteer Fire Dept. and a member of the Board of Education. He was also president of the O’Fallon Building & Loan Assn. Board of Directors for 28 consecutive years until his death.
Seddon served as President of the Village Board from 1900 to 1902. He was elected first mayor in 1905 and served four 2 year terms: 1905—07, 1907—09, 1913—15 and 1919—21. He died suddenly of a stroke at his home in O’Fallon in 1930. The Progress declared at the time that he “was one of the city’s staunch supporters” and that “his pleasing personality and his exemplary habits won for him many staunch friends.”
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