1st Montreal Mayor. He served in that position from 1833 to 1836. Born in Montreal, Lower Canada, to the prominent Viger family of political and military figures he studied at the Sulpician College of Montreal (aka Collège Saint-Raphaël). In November 1808, he married Marie Marguerite La Corne, the daughter of explorer and fur trader Luc de la Corne, and widow of Major the Hon. John Lennox. Together they had three children, but they all died in infancy. After the completion of his studies, he moved to Quebec City and accepted the job as the editor for the "Le Canadien" newspaper from 1808 to 1809. While at the newspaper he began to write his most famous work, "Ma saberdache", in which he noted his observations, transcribed documents, and correspondence of historical importance. The work which also included portraits, maps, plans, and valuable notes, were adapted into 28 Volumes and is still widely used today by both French and American historians. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he returned to Montreal to enlist in the militia with the Voltigeurs Canadiens first as a Lieutenant and then he was promoted to the rank of Captain. After the war, he became a surveyor and helped map out bridges, lanes, highways, and streets, for Montreal, which at the time was not yet an actual city. He also conducted a city-wide census in 1825, took part in the redistribution of the electoral map in 1828, and ensured that the poll tax was sufficiently low to increase the number of voters among small owners, mainly French Canadians. On June 3, 1833, he was elected the first Mayor of Montreal. As Mayor, his first job was to figure out how to clean up the slums and other surrounding neighborhoods after the outbreak of cholera that had killed numerous people and devastated Montreal. He put together an ideal drainage solution and continued to help build the city. He was seen as a true visionary. He continued as the Mayor of Montreal until his term ended in 1836. In 1843, he was one of the founders of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Montréal, and the Société d’Histoire de Montréal in 1857, both of which he chaired. For his services to urban development and archaeology, Pope Pius IX honored him with the knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1855. The Viger Square and Jacques Viger Building in Montreal are named in his memory. He died in Montreal at the age of 71.