US Congressman, Boston Mayor. A Democratic with the power of the Boston Irish community, he was a force in Massachusetts politics for almost forty years. Born near Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, he was four years old when his parents immigrated to the United States, and settled near Boston, Massachusetts. He started a successful upholstery trade, and he became in involved in trade unions, and the Fenian Movement, whose goal was to free Ireland of British rule. This led him to enter politics for the first time with his election to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1868. After terms in that House and the Massachusetts State Senate, he graduated from the Harvard University Law School, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association in 1871. By 1875 he was serving as Massachusetts Judge Advocate. In 1882 he was elected as a Democrat to represent Massachusetts 4th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first Irish Catholic to do so. He served three terms from 1883 to 1889, and declined to run for a fourth term. He returned to Boston to practice law, the was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to be United States Consul General in London, England. He served in that diplomatic role from 1893 to 1897. He returned once more to Boston, and was elected Mayor of the city in 1901. He would go on to serve from 1902 until his death in office in 1905. A monument stands to him in Boston on Commonwealth Avenue between Clarendon and Dartmouth Streets.
US Congressman, Boston Mayor. A Democratic with the power of the Boston Irish community, he was a force in Massachusetts politics for almost forty years. Born near Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, he was four years old when his parents immigrated to the United States, and settled near Boston, Massachusetts. He started a successful upholstery trade, and he became in involved in trade unions, and the Fenian Movement, whose goal was to free Ireland of British rule. This led him to enter politics for the first time with his election to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1868. After terms in that House and the Massachusetts State Senate, he graduated from the Harvard University Law School, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association in 1871. By 1875 he was serving as Massachusetts Judge Advocate. In 1882 he was elected as a Democrat to represent Massachusetts 4th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first Irish Catholic to do so. He served three terms from 1883 to 1889, and declined to run for a fourth term. He returned to Boston to practice law, the was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to be United States Consul General in London, England. He served in that diplomatic role from 1893 to 1897. He returned once more to Boston, and was elected Mayor of the city in 1901. He would go on to serve from 1902 until his death in office in 1905. A monument stands to him in Boston on Commonwealth Avenue between Clarendon and Dartmouth Streets.
Bio by: RPD2
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