Introduction
David Olmsted (May 5, 1822 – February 2, 1861) was the first mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Career
He was born in Fairfax, Vermont and spent many years as a trader with the Winnebago Indians near Fort Atkinson, Iowa and at Long Prairie, Minnesota in 1848 before settling in St. Paul in 1853. Olmsted served in the first Iowa Constitutional Convention of 1846; he then served in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in the Minnesota Territorial Council in 1849 and 1851. He also edited the Minnesota Democrat, a frontier newspaper. After the city's charter was written in 1854, he was elected the city's first mayor and served one term. He was replaced by Alexander Ramsey. His wife was named Stevens, they had two children. He left Minnesota because of failing health, dying at his mother's house in Vermont.
Legacy
Olmsted County, Minnesota, is named in his honor.