Louis Will
Louis Will was an American politician who served as mayor of Syracuse, New York, from 1914 to 1916. A member of the Progressive Party, he was the last third party candidate elected mayor of Syracuse until 2017.
Biography
Early life and career
Born to German immigrants Anton and Rosina Will, he left school early after the death of his father to run the family candlemaking business, now known as Will & Baumer.Mayoralty
Will sought the mayoralty on the Progressive Party ticket. In a year with low voter turnout, Will was elected with only 9,858 votes. It was an incredibly close three-way race, with the Republican nominee receiving 9,459 votes and the Democratic nominee receiving 9,355 votes.Will urged Syracuse to adopt a flag in the wake of other cities, such as San Francisco and Providence, adopting flags. After many delays and rejected designs, a flag was adopted on December 6, 1915. The Syracuse Common Council passed a resolution praising Will for the "patriotic public spirit" with which he encouraged the flag's creation. Many were left disappointed with the flag and it was described as "objectively ugly".