List of postmasters of Chicago

A a post office was first established in Chicago on March 8, 1831, with Johnathan N. Baily, a fur trader, being appointed Chicago's first postmaster.^[1][2]

Chicago was long the hub of the Railway Mail Service of the United States. Chicago saw particularly large volumes of mail in the peak era of mail-order business by Chicago-based retailers Montgomery Ward and Sears.^[1]

Postmasters appointed before 1971

Until the establishment of the United States Postal Service in 1971, the president of the United States appointed local postmasters.

In the 19th century, many appointees of postal positions in the United States were patronage positions, with newspaper editors with close ties to the president's party often receiving postmastership positions.^[1]

Name		Tenure	President appointed by	Notes	Citation(s)
	Johnathan N. Baily	March 31, 1831–Nov. 2, 1832	Andrew Jackson (Democrat)	First postmaster	[2][3]
	John S.C. Hogan	Nov. 2, 1832–1837			[2]
	Sidney Abell	Mar. 3, 1837–1841	Martin Van Buren (Democrat)		[3][4]
	William Stuart	Jul. 10 1841–1845	John Tyler (Whig)		[3][4]
	Hart L. Stuart	Apr. 25, 1845–1849	James K. Polk (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Richard L. Wilson	Apr. 23, 1849–1850	Zachary Taylor (Whig)		[3][4]
	George W. Dole	Sep. 25, 1850–1853	Millard Fillmore (Whig)		[3][4]
	Isaac Cook	Mar. 22, 1853–1857	Franklin Pierce (Democrat)		[3][4]
	William Price	Mar. 18, 1857–1858	James Buchanan (Democratic)		[3][4]
	Isaac Cook	Mar. 9, 1858–1861			[3][4]
	John Locke Scripps	March 28, 1861–Mar. 9, 1865	Abraham Lincoln (Republican)		[3][4]
	Samuel Hoard	Mar. 9, 1865–1866	Abraham Lincoln (Republican)		[3][4]
	Robert A. Gilmore	Nov. 16, 1866–1867	Andrew Johnson (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Francis Trowbridge Sherman	Aug. 27, 1867–1869			[3][4]
	Francis A. Eastman	Apr. 5, 1869–1873	Ulysses S. Grant (Republican)		[3][4]
	John McArthur	Dec. 20, 1873–1877			[3][4]
	Francis Wayland Palmer	Feb. 26, 1877–1885	Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican)		[3][4]
	S. Corning Judd	May 5, 1885–1888	Grover Cleveland (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Walter C. Newberry	Nov. 19, 1888–1889			[3][4]
	James A. Sexton	Apr. 16, 1889–1893	Benjamin Harrison (Republican)		[3][4]
	Washington Hesing	Nov. 25, 1893–1897	Grover Cleveland (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Charles Ulysses Gordon	Mar. 19, 1897–1901	William McKinley (Republican)		[3][4]
	Frederick E. Coyne	Mar. 19, 1901–1905			[3][4]
	Fred A. Busse	Dec. 16, 1905–1907	Theodore Roosevelt (Republican)		[3][4]
	Daniel A. Campbell	Apr. 6, 1907–1917			[3][4]
	William B. Carlile	Mar. 16, 1917–1921	Woodrow Wilson (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Arthur C. Lueder	Aug. 24, 1921–1923	Warren G. Harding (Republican)	Resigned in 1923 to unsuccessfully run for mayor of Chicago in that year's election as a Republican.	[3][4]
	Grant B. Miller	1923	Warren G. Harding		(Republican) [5]
	Arthur C. Lueder	1923–1933	Warren G. Harding (Republican)	Reappointed postmaster after losing mayoral election.	[3][4]
	Ernest J. Kruetgen	Aug. 31, 1933–1948 (acting postmaster Aug. 31, 1933–Jan. 31, 1934)	Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)		[3][4]
	John Haderlein	Aug. 31, 1949–1952 (acting postmaster Aug. 31, 1948–Sep. 23, 1949)	Harry S. Truman (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Vincent F. Werner (acting postmaster)	Aug. 31, 1952–Jul. 6, 1953			[3][4]
	Carl A. Shroeder	Jul. 6, 1953–1961 (acting postmaster Jul. 6, 1953–Aug. 12, 1954)	Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)		[3][4]
	Ralph G. Donegan (unofficial acting postmaster)	Sep. 15, 1961–Nov. 2, 1961	—		[3][4][6]
	Harry H. Semrow	November 2, 1861–Mar. 1966 (acting postmaster Nov 2, 1961–Oct. 5, 1962)	John F. Kennedy (Democrat)		[3][4][7][8]
	William Boschelli (acting postmaster)	Mar. 18, 1966–Sep. 1966	Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)		[3][4]
	Henry W. McGee Jr.	Nov. 5, 1966 and 1966–Mar. 1972 (acting postmaster Sep 23, 1966–Nov. 5, 1966)		First African American to hold the position	[3][1][4]

Postmasters appointed after 1971

Name	Tenure	Notes	Citation(s)
Emmett E. Cooper Jr.	June 2, 1973–April 28, 1977	Left post after being assigned regional postmaster general for the Eastern Region	[3][9][10][11]
Frank C. Goldie	Jul 16, 1977–1987		[3] [11][12]
Janet Norfleet	April 4, 1987–December 1990	First female postmaster of Chicago	[3][13]
Norman L. Miller	Jan. 26, 1991–Jan. 1992		[3]
Ormer Rogers Jr.	Apr. 18, 1992–Jan. 1993		[3]
Jimmie Mason	Jan. 9, 1993–Jul. 1994		[3]
Rufus Porter	Jul. 16, 1994–Apr. 2001		[3]
Earl D. Flowers	Apr. 7, 2001–Aug. 2002		[3]
Eric D. Chavez	Aug. 10, 2002–Aug. 2004		[3]
Kelvin Mack	Aug. 7, 2004–Sep. 2006		[3]
Gloria E. Tyson	May 26, 2009–Mar. 3, 2011		[3][14]
Anthony B. Vaughan	Nov. 16, 2013–2016		[3]
Tangela L. Bush	Oct. 29, 2016–Jan. 2018		[3]
Wanda Prater	Sep. 1, 2018–June 12, 2021	Was "officer in charge" prior to becoming postmaster	[3][15][16]

Officers in charge

The following individuals served as "officer in charge of the Chicago Post Office" during periods in which there was a vacancy in the position of postmaster of Chicago:

Name	Tenure	Notes	Citation(s)
Wanda Prater	Jan. 20, 2018–Sep. 1, 2018	Became postmaster	[3]
William G. Booras	1972–1973		[17][9]
William G. Booras	Apr. 18, 1972–Jun. 2, 1973		[3]
Charles K. Kernan	Apr. 27 1977–Jul. 16, 1977		[3]
Forest D. Anderson	Jan. 30, 1987–Apr. 4, 1987		[3]
Ormer Rogers Jr.	Nov. 30, 1990–Jan. 26, 1991		[3]
Dean Buchanan	Jan. 3, 1992–Apr. 18, 1992		[3]
Kelvin Mack	May. 1, 2004–Aug. 7, 2006		[3]
Gloria E. Tyson	Sep. 30, 2006–May 26, 2009		[3][14]
Nancy Rettinhouse	Feb. 26, 2011–May 31, 2011		[3][14]
Eddie Morgan	June 2021–Jan. 2022		[18][19]
Loretta Wilkins	May 9, 2023–present		[3]

See also

• Old Chicago Main Post Office