First Mayor of Cincinnati Lays Rest In Dayton

Courtesy of Misti Spillman, Manager, Preservation and Community Outreach Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum. Living here in Warren County, we are fortunate to be between the two larger cities of Dayton and Cincinnati. This allows us to not only share in both of these city's accomplishments, but in their residents. And, believe it or not, one way of learning about these people can often be found in historical cemeteries. Dayton, Ohio's Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, which is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States, is filled with history. And, this February the WarrenCountyPost.com has been given the privilege to publish a piece from Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum about Major David Ziegler.

Image of David Zeigler courtesy of Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum.

Born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1748, David Ziegler (or ‘Zeigler’) immigrated to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania shortly before the Revolutionary War began.

A career soldier, Ziegler had served in the Russian army during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), and saw a need for his professional skills in his new home. With the Continental Army, Ziegler assumed the duties of lieutenant & adjutant under Col. William Thompson in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. Though severely wounded at the Battle of Long Island in August of 1776, Ziegler recovered in time to rejoin General George Washington's army for the Philadelphia campaign.

After victory was declared, Ziegler remained with the Army. In 1784 he was commissioned a captain and sent to the Ohio Valley frontier under LTC. Josiah Harmar. In 1789, President George Washington promoted Captain Ziegler to the rank of Major.

Maj. Ziegler eventually settled near Cincinnati, trying his hand at farming before opening a general store in the town. When Cincinnati was incorporated as a village in 1802, Ziegler was elected as its mayor (or, ‘President of the Council’, as the position was then called). He was unanimously reelected in 1803, but declined to run for a third term.

At the time of his death, aged 63, Maj. Ziegler was a wealthy man. He was buried in Cincinnati, then transferred to another cemetery in 1844. In 1848, his remains were moved for a final time to be interred with his wife, Lucy, at Woodland Cemetery.

Looking for more? 

Major David Ziegler: Biography of the First Mayor of Cincinnati by George A. Katzenberger is available online.

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