Bernard Nicholas "Barney" McFeely (April 7, 1882 – August 8, 1949) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 27th mayor of

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, from 1930 to 1947.

Early life

McFeely was born in

, the son of Irish immigrants, Bernard McFeely Sr. and Mary Curley. His father was a butcher, and his mother started a horse-drawn garbage-trucking business. The business won the garbage removal contract for the city of Hoboken, and the lucrative contract remained with the family when McFeely served as mayor.

Political career

In 1915, when Hoboken adopted a commission form of government under the

Walsh Act The Walsh Act is a piece of legislation in the U.S. state of New Jersey that permits municipalities to adopt a non-partisan commission form of government. The legislation was signed by Governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson on April 25, 1911. The ...

, McFeely was elected to the original commission, serving as Commissioner of Public Safety. He succeeded Mayor Patrick R. Griffin as the Democratic leader of the city in 1926, allying himself with the powerful mayor of

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

and

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

political boss,

Frank Hague Francis Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956), known as Frank Hague, was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1917 to 1947, and vice-chairman of the Democratic National Comm ...

. In 1930, he was named mayor by his fellow commissioners, filling the vacancy left by Gustav Bach, who had been appointed Hudson County clerk. McFeely's tenure as mayor was noted for rampant

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

. He appointed his brother, Edward J. McFeely, to be chief of police. His nephew, Thomas F. McFeely, served as superintendent of the Hoboken school system. By the end of his time in office, dozens of other relatives were said to be on the city payroll, appointed to various positions. The family trash business maintained the city's garbage removal contract, continuing to use horse-drawn carts into the 1940s. In 1946, McFeely was indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring with ten other city and police officials to oppress a group of Hoboken police officers who had sued for overtime pay due to them for working seven days a week during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The defendants included his brother Edward, the chief of police, as well as two nephews, who served as deputy police chief and a police captain. McFeeley's attacks on the "rebel" police officers led to the formation of a Fusion ticket to oppose the mayor's Democratic organization in the 1947 election for city commission. McFeely and his Democratic machine were defeated by the Fusion ticket in May 1947, and Fred M. De Sapio succeeded him as mayor. McFeely's unexpected defeat contributed to Frank Hague's decision to announce his retirement from politics shortly thereafter. McFeely was scheduled to go on trial in the police case shortly after the 1947 election. However, trial was postponed several times due to illness. He was still under indictment when he died on August 8, 1949, at the age of 67. He never married.

References

External links

Bernard N. McFeely
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFeely, Bernard 1882 births 1949 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey American people of Irish descent Mayors of Hoboken, New Jersey New Jersey Democrats