08/27/2026
Recently, the City of O'Fallon has been considering the possibility of asking the voters, perhaps next year, to eliminate the elected positions of City Clerk and Treasurer and transfer their duties to the City's professional staff. The two positions date back to 1905, when O'Fallon converted from a village to a city form of government. We thought it would be interesting to look back at what the City Clerk and Treasurer did back then. Here are pages from O'Fallon's 1905 code of ordinances listing the duties of each.
Back then, unlike today, the City Clerk and Treasurer, as well as the Mayor, ran for 2-year terms. What were they paid? The City Clerk made $100 per year plus 25 cents for each license issued or transferred. The Treasurer made $50 per year. Both were required to post bonds. The Clerk's bond was $1500. The Treasurer's was "fixed at a sum not less than double the amount of the estimated tax receipts and special assessments for the current year and the estimated annual receipts of the city from licenses and other sources."
The first City Clerk was William R. Lawrence. He had been the Village Clerk from 1903 to 1905. He served as City Clerk from 1905 to 1907, when he was defeated by Rudolph Kampmeyer for a second term. He died on May 24, 1907, not long after the election, at the age of 28.
The first City Treasurer was Joseph Taylor. He was elected unopposed in 1905 and served until 1907, when he decided not to run for re-election. He later served as City Mayor from 1909 to 1911.
