John David Kerfoot
15th Mayor of Dallas
In office
1876–1877
Preceded byWilliam L. Cabell
Succeeded byWilliam L. Cabell
Personal details
Born(1835-07-01)July 1, 1835
Clark County, Virginia
DiedMarch 31, 1903(1903-03-31) (aged 67)
Mullins Crossing, Tom Green County, Texas
Resting placeOak Cliff Cemetery, Dallas, Texas
Nationality USA
SpouseMary Eliza Carr
ChildrenFranklin Kerfoot, May Kerfoot, Katherine Kerfoot, Randolph T. Kerfoot, Virginia Kerfoot, Helen Kerfoot, Ruth Kerfoot, Emily Kerfoot
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
OccupationLawyer, Justice of the Peace, Insurance
Military service
AllegianceCSA
Branch/serviceCo. D, 6th Virginia Cavalry
RankPrivate

John David Kerfoot (July 1, 1835 – March 31, 1903), attorney and businessman, was mayor of Dallas (1876–1877).

Biography

John D. Kerfoot was born July 1, 1835, in Clarke County, Virginia, to Franklin James Kerfoot and Harriet E. Webb. He married Harriet E. Carr on April 30, 1867, in Fauquier County, Virginia.[1] The couple had eight children who were called May, Katherine, Randolf, Virginia, Ruth and Helen (twins), and Emily.

Kerfoot attended both Columbian College and the University of Virginia in the mid-1850s.[2] At Columbian (now George Washington University), Kerfoot was a member of the Enosinian Society, a debate and literary society founded in 1822, where he held the offices of both recording secretary and vice president.[3] By 1860, the US census lists him as a lawyer in Dallas, Texas, and as having a law practice with T. M. Waller.[4] When the Civil War began, he returned to Virginia and enlisted in the Confederate Army on August 24, 1861, at Camp Fairfax. He served as a private in Company D of the 6th Regiment of the Virginia Cavalry. At the end of the war, he was paroled at Winchester, Virginia, on April 21, 1865.[5]

He remained in Virginia after the war’s end, and on April 30, 1867, he married his cousin Mary Eliza Carr, daughter of John and Emily Carr.[6] Privately published by members of the family., 1948.</ref> The couple then moved to Dallas where Kerfoot opened a law practice with John M. Crockett. Kerfoot was elected Judge of the Dallas county court in 1870 by a vote of 172 to 125 against John C. Seydel. He was re-elected in 1873.[7] In 1875, Kerfoot was elected mayor of Dallas.[8] During his administration, two significant changes in Dallas government occurred via a new city charter. First, the term of the mayor was extended from one to two years. Second, the offices of treasurer, engineer, and city attorney were no longer be elected by popular vote; they would be appointed.[9]

After his time as mayor, Kerfoot turned to insurance and was one of the first to do so in Dallas. In 1874, his business partner was W. R. Ault; in 1876, the company name was J. D. Kerfoot and Company, general insurance agents, and had its offices in the San Jacinto Hotel. The 1883 Dallas City Directory lists Kerfoot as the head of the firm of Kerfoot, Hereford, and McGrain (John B. Hereford, William McGrain; it was located on Elm Street and one of the first fire insurance companies in Dallas). By 1890, he was a partner in Kerfoot & Spears, and the 1894 Dallas City Directory shows a renewal of the J. D. Kerfoot and Company, both fire insurance companies. J. D. Kerfoot and Company was located at 109 North Poydras in downtown Dallas.

The Kerfoot family moved from Dallas to a ranch in Mullen, Texas, near San Angelo. Harriett died in 1891, and Kerfoot himself had a stroke in 1895 and never fully recovered from the resulting paralysis. He died on March 31, 1903. The couple is buried in Oak Cliff Cemetery in Dallas.

References

  1. ↑ Dee Ann Buck (compiler). Fauquier County, Virginia marriages Vol. 1854–1880. Fairfax, Va. : D.A. Buck
  2. ↑ University of Virginia. Catalogue of the University of Virginia Session of 1853–54. Richmond: H. K. Ellyson, 1855.
  3. ↑ Bezanson, Deborah. Correspondence to author about the Minutes of the Enosinian Society. December 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ The Dallas Herald. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 49, Ed. 1. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth294126/
  5. ↑ Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia. NARA Publication No. M324. Surname K.
  6. ↑ Kearfott, Robert R. Kerfoot, Kearfott, And Allied Families In America. ref>Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785–1940. Ancestry. December 2019. www.ancestry.com
  7. ↑ Sloat, Shirley Remnant. The Dallas Journal. "Historical List of Justices of the Peace, Dallas County, Texas 1846-2000." June 2000: 65-102.
  8. ↑ City of Dallas, City Secretary's Office. History of Mayors and City Councils 1866-Present. Dallas, Texas: City of Dallas, n.d.
  9. ↑ Cochran, John H. Dallas County: A Record of its Progress. Dallas: Arthur S. Mathis Service Publishing Company, 1928.
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