Jonathan Chapman is elected mayor of Boston.

Chapman (W) defeats Bradford Sumner by a margin of 4,352 to 3,047 to win the first of three consecutive terms as mayor. A lawyer, writer, and temperance advocate, he is the second youngest person elected mayor of Boston (32 years, 10 months, 16 days) and is inaugurated on January 6, 1840. His major accomplishment is to reduce the city’s debt, and he retires to devote more time to his family in 1843.