William Ketchum was born on March 2, 1798, in
Bloomfield, New York. He moved to Buffalo in 1819, and became a partner at a merchant house that handled furs and hats. He was one of the founders of the original Bank of Buffalo along with
Major Andre Andrews and
Hiram Pratt. Ketchum served as a Buffalo Village Trustee prior to the city's incorporation, and later served on the
Erie County Board of Supervisors. On March 5, 1844, he ran successfully as the
Whig candidate for mayor. He did not run for re-election in 1845. He was later a
Republican and a Hindoo, a splinter group of the Republican Party. In 1847, he patented the first practical
lawn mower in the US. In 1851 he was appointed
Collector of the Port of Buffalo by President
Millard Fillmore. He retired from the fur and hat business in 1857. In 1861, he patented the
Ketchum Grenade, which was used by the Union Army during the
American Civil War. Later in life, he developed an interest in the
History of Buffalo, New York, and wrote a two-volume history of early Buffalo. ==Personal life==