Martin Henry Glynn (September 27, 1871December 14, 1924) was an American politician. He was the 40th Governor of New York from 1913 to 1914, the first

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

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head of government of what was then the most populated state of the United States. A Democrat, he signed a number of important reforms, including the direct primary and labor laws.

Life

Glynn was born in

Kinderhook, New York Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in Columbia County. The name of the town means "Children's Corner" in the ...

and grew up in Valatie, one of Kinderhook's villages. He was the son of Martin Glynn (son of Martin Glynn and Catherine de Burke) and Ann Scanlon, who were both born in Ireland. He graduated from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...

in 1894, then studied at

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

of Union University, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1897. From 1896 on, he wrote for the ''

Albany Times-Union The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sa ...

'' daily newspaper, becoming eventually its editor, publisher and owner. In 1898, Fordham awarded Glynn the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

. Over the course of his career, Glynn received honorary LL.D. degrees from Fordham,

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, Georgetown, and Union Universities. Governor Martin H

Glynn was elected as a Democrat to the

56th United States Congress The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1899, ...

, and served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. When he took his seat at age 26, Glynn was the youngest member of the House. He was

New York State Comptroller The New York State Comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the government of New York (state), New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. The New York State C ...

from 1907 to 1908, elected in 1906, but defeated for re-election in 1908 by Republican Charles H. Gaus. At the New York state election of 1912, Glynn was the running mate of the successful Democratic candidate for Governor, William Sulzer. Glynn was sworn in as

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket w ...

on January 1. Following friction with the dominant

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

faction, Sulzer was impeached and in August 1913, Glynn was appointed Acting Governor. On October 17, following Sulzer's formal removal from office, Glynn was sworn in as Governor. He was the first Catholic Governor of New York and showed an interest in Irish-American affairs. However, Glynn was forced to manage conflict in his own party between Tammany Hall and reformers/progressives led by Sulzer, who became a critic of Glynn's administration. After a year in office Glynn was defeated at the 1914 election, by the Republican candidate, Charles S. Whitman. Sulzer was later active in the Progressive Party. Glynn was active in the progressive movement. David Sarasohn calls him "an able and progressive governor" who signed numerous reforms. Glynn was a delegate to the

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

and

1924 Democratic National Convention The 1924 Democratic National Convention, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, 1924, was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history. It took a record 103 ballots to nomin ...

s. As the keynote speaker at the 1916 National Democratic Convention, Glynn delivered one of his most famous speeches, praising the accomplishments of President Woodrow Wilson and the platform of the Democratic Party. He committed suicide by gunshot in 1924, after having suffered throughout his adult life from chronic back pain caused by a spinal injury. Though the cause of death was listed on his death certificate, the local media reported that Glynn died of heart trouble. The true story of his death was publicized in Dominick Lizzi's 1994 biography. He was buried at the St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, New York.

"The Crucifixion of Jews Must Stop!"

Glynn's article "The Crucifixion of Jews Must Stop!" was published in the October 31, 1919, issue of ''

The American Hebrew ''The American Hebrew'' was a weekly Jewish magazine published in New York City. History It began publication on November 21, 1879, in New York City. It was founded by Frederick de Sola Mendes and its publisher was Philip Cowen. The weekly's p ...

''; in it he lamented the poor conditions for European Jews after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Glynn referred to these conditions as a potential "

holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

" and asserted that "six million Jewish men and women are starving across the seas". Robert N. Proctor says that " hisoddity has been exploited by Holocaust deniers but is simply a remarkable coincidence and nothing more." Proctor, Robert N. (2000). ''The Nazi War on Cancer''.

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. p. 11.

Notes

Sources

*
Glynn Ill in Germany, May Decline Office; Comptroller-elect Suffering from Injury to His Spine
', New York Times, November 9, 1906

at Valatie, New York Library

at Political Graveyard (gives as birthplace Kinderhook, the town which includes the Village of Valatie)
Martin Henry Glynn Papers, 1913-1924
at the

New York State Library The New York State Library is a research library in Albany, New York, United States. It was established in 1818 to serve the state government of New York and is part of the New York State Education Department. The library is one of the largest ...

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Glynn, Martin Henry 1871 births 1924 suicides Albany Law School alumni American newspaper editors American people of Irish descent American politicians who committed suicide Burials at St. Agnes Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Democratic Party governors of New York (state) Fordham University alumni Journalists from New York (state) Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) New York (state) lawyers New York State Comptrollers Politicians from Albany, New York People from Columbia County, New York Progressive Era in the United States Suicides in New York (state) Lawyers from Albany, New York Catholics from New York (state) 19th-century American lawyers 1924 deaths