John Samuel Bransford (August 26, 1856 – May 21, 1944) was the 15th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah from 1907 to 1911.

As a child, Bransford had traveled the Mormon Trail with his family on their journey to California in 1864, stopping temporarily in Salt Lake City.

[citation needed] Bransford moved to Salt Lake City in 1899 and remained there permanently.

[citation needed] Bransford became the mayor on August 13, 1907, 11 days after Ezra Thompson resigned due to ill health and accusations of corruption.

[citation needed] As leader of the American Party, Bransford was considerably less vocal in his anti-Mormonism than his predecessor had been, and the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were much relieved to have Bransford rather than Thompson leading the city where their church was headquartered.