John Phillips is elected mayor of Boston.

Phillips (F) receives 2,456 out of the 2,650 votes cast on the second ballot, after none of the original three candidates (Harrison Gray Otis, Josiah Quincy, and Thomas Winthrop receive enough votes on the first on April 8, 1822. The first mayor of Boston, Phillips retains his office as Massachusetts senate president and spends most of his one-year term dealing with those resistant to the change in local government and reorganizing city departments. He declines to run for reelection due to poor health. Josiah Quincy later credits his administration with laying the foundation for the prosperity of our city,” and Harrison Gray Otis that “His aim was to allure, not repel, to reconcile by gentle reforms, not to revolt by startling innovations.”