John R. Williams’ Grave

Somebody had to be first, and in 1824 it was John R. Williams — Detroit’s first elected mayor. A War of 1812 general and nephew of one of the city’s wealthiest early citizens, Williams helped steer Detroit from frontier outpost toward real city, serving several mayoral terms across the decades that followed.

He rests at Elmwood, the very first name in a line of mayors that now stretches nearly two centuries. On our list.