On January 1, 1869, he was inaugurated, and his first official duty as Mayor was to formally receive on behalf of the city authorities General Grant as President-elect. The reception took place in Independence Hall, in the presence of Councils and a large number of prominent citizens, and was conducted on the part of the new Mayor with ease, grace, and elegance. His municipal administration was marked by many reformatory and sanitary measures, especially in those portions of the city where the impurity of the denizens hazarded the health of more respectable neighborhoods. It was during his official term that the Volunteer Fire Department ceased to exist. It had been his practice during its closing days to attend all conflagrations for the double purpose of holding a moral check on the lawless and to stimulate the police in their duties of keeping the streets clear for the free exercise of those whose business it was to extinguish the flames. The passage by Councils of the ordinance establishing a Paid Fire Department created a profound sensation in the city, arousing the bitter feelings of many of the volunteer firemen, and kindling an intense anxiety on the part of the people generally as to the fate of the bill when it reached the hands of the Mayor. He retained it for a fortnight, unsigned, evidently desiring to soften the feeling engendered by its passage, and also to perfect such arrangements as would be necessary to meet any emergency in carrying the act into effect. The latter being accomplished, he formally approved the ordinance and it became a law. This course was very unpalatable to the riotous element of the volunteers, who manifested their feelings in various ways, such as suspending the effigy of the Mayor in several engine houses, but no other violent demonstrations of any moment occurred, as the steps taken by his officers proved effective and rigorous; these, coupled with the co-operation of many of the discreet firemen, enabled the new “Paid Department” to go into operation without any disturbance whatever, and the city has ever since rejoiced in an efficient system without any of the former accompaniments of noise, riot, and public disturbance.