Samuel Hinks

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

American mayor (1815–1887)

title: "Samuel Hinks" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mayors-of-baltimore", "maryland-know-nothings", "1815-births", "1887-deaths"] description: "American mayor (1815–1887)" topic_path: "people/1810s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hinks" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American mayor (1815–1887) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox politician"]

Field	Value
name	Samuel Hinks
image	SamuelHinks.jpeg
caption	Samuel Hinks, Mayor of Baltimore 1854-56
order	18th
office	Mayor of Baltimore
term_start	1854
term_end	1856
predecessor	John Smith Hollins
successor	Thomas Swann
birth_date
birth_place	Ellicott City, Maryland, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
resting_place	Mount Olivet Cemetery
Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
party	Know Nothing
::

Samuel Hinks (May 1, 1815 – November 30, 1887) was Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1854 to 1856. He was a member of the Know Nothing party. He was succeeded in 1856 by fellow Know Nothing Thomas Swann.

Early life

Samuel Hinks was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland on May 1, 1815. In his early adult life he became a steam engineer. Later he moved to Baltimore where he entered the grain business, and soon established a partnership with his brother, Charles Dent Hinks.

Politics

In 1854 Samuel Hinks was elected Mayor of Baltimore, standing as a candidate for the nationalist anti-Catholic American Party. Members of the party were popularly known as "Know-Nothings" because, when asked about their secret organizations, their members were said to reply "I know nothing".

Baltimore mayoral election of 1856

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Thomas_Swann_of_Maryland_-_photo_portrait_seated.jpg" caption="Hinks's successor as Mayor of Baltimore, [[Thomas Swann]]."] ::

Main article: Know-Nothing Riot of 1856

During the mid-1850s public order in Baltimore had been threatened by the election of candidates of the American Party. As the 1856 Mayoral elections approached, Hinks was pressed by Baltimorians to order the militia of General George H. Steuart in readiness to maintain order, as widespread violence was anticipated. Hinks duly gave Steuart the order to ready the militia, but he soon rescinded it. In the event, violence broke out on polling day, with shots exchanged by competing mobs.

In the 2nd and 8th wards several citizens were killed, and many wounded. In the 6th ward artillery was used, and a pitched battle fought on Orleans St between gangs of Know Nothings and rival Democrats, raging for several hours. The result of the election, in which voter fraud was widespread, was a victory for the Know Nothing candidate, Thomas Swann, by around 9,000 votes. Swann duly succeeded Hinks as Mayor of Baltimore.

Later life

In 1860, Hinks retired from the grain business. Soon afterwards he was elected Water Registrar, a position which he continued to hold until 1863. He died on November 30, 1887, in Frederick, Maryland. He was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick.

Notes

References

Andrews, Matthew Page, History of Maryland, Doubleday Doran & Co, New York City (1929).

References

(20 May 2002). "Samuel Hinks, MSA SC 3520-12475". Maryland State Archives.
Andrews, p.475
Andrews, p.476
Andrews, p.477
(1887-12-03). "Maryland Affairs". The Democratic Advocate.
(1887-12-03). "Funeral of Samuel Hinks". The Daily News.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::