Eugene Casserly (November 13, 1820June 14, 1883) was an Irish-born American journalist, lawyer, and politician. He was the son of scholar Patrick S. Casserly, and he served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Biography

Eugene Casserly was born on November 13, 1820, in

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

, Ireland, and immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

with his parents in 1822, settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Casserly's father prepared him for a college education and he attended and graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

in Washington, D.C. He subsequently studied law and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in 1844 and began practicing in

. Casserly became editor of ''

Freeman's Journal The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper. Patriot journal It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with rad ...

'' and contributed to several newspapers in various cities. Before moving to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California, in 1850, Casserly served on the New York City corporation counsel from 1846 to 1847. Upon moving to California, he published the ''Public Balance'', the ''True Balance'' and the ''Standard'', and was elected State printer in 1851 before retiring from

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

and resuming his law practice. In 1854, he married Teresa, daughter of deceased merchant John Doyle. Together, they had three children, two sons and a daughter. Casserly was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1868, where he served from March 1869 until his resignation on November 29, 1873. In the U.S. Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads during the 42nd Congress and the Committee on Engrossed Bills during the 42nd Congress and

43rd Congress The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...

. After resigning from the United States Senate, Casserly resumed practicing law in San Francisco and served as a member of the

California Constitutional Convention The California Constitutional Conventions were two separate constitutional conventions that took place in California during the nineteenth century which led to the creation of the modern Constitution of California. The first, known as the 1849 ...

in 1878 and 1879. Casserly died in San Francisco on June 14, 1883, and was interred in Calvary Cemetery. He was subsequently re-interred in

Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to: United States California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) *Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) * Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California) *Holy ...

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. ...

, in 1904.

References

External links

* *
Biography
* Wikisource entry for Patrick Casserly {{DEFAULTSORT:Casserly, Eugene 1820 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Irish people Politicians from County Westmeath Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Democratic Party United States senators from California California Democrats 19th-century American politicians Burials at Calvary Cemetery (San Francisco, California)