James O'Brien (March 13, 1841 – March 5, 1907) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

from 1879 to 1881.

Biography

O'Brien was born in Ireland in King's County (now County Offaly). He attended the common schools, then

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1861. O'Brien served as alderman of New York City in 1864 and 1866, then became Sheriff of New York County, New York in 1867. O'Brien directly contributed to the downfall of the Tweed ring of Tammany Hall by providing city financial accounts to the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

in 1871. James Watson, who was a county auditor in Comptroller Dick Connolly's office and who also held and recorded the ring's books, died a week after his head was smashed by a horse in a sleigh accident on January 21, 1871. Although Tweed guarded Watson's estate in the week prior to Watson's death, and although another ring member attempted to destroy Watson's records, a replacement auditor, Matthew O'Rourke, associated with the former sheriff James O'Brien, provided city financial accounts to O'Brien, who then forwarded the accounts to the ''

''. The New York Times, at that time the only Republican associated paper in the city, was then able to reinforce stories they had previously published against the ring. O'Brien served in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

in 1872 and 1873, during which time he founded the Apollo Hall Democracy. He was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City in 1873 and an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress.

Richard Croker Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker", was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of R ...

was charged with the murder of John McKenna, a lieutenant of James O'Brien during a fight on election day of 1874 with O'Brien's rival political group. O'Brien was running for Congress against the Tammany-backed Abram S. Hewitt. John Kelly, the new Tammany Hall boss, attended the trial and Croker was freed after the jury was undecided. O'Brien was then elected as an

Independent Democrat In U.S. politics, an independent Democrat is an individual who loosely identifies with the ideals of the Democratic Party but chooses not to be a formal member of the party (chooses to be an independent) or is denied the Democratic nomination in ...

to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879 - March 3, 1881), but was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1880. He then worked as a stock broker until his death. He died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on March 5, 1907 at the age of 65. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, James 19th-century Irish people 1841 births 1907 deaths Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Irish emigrants to the United States Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) New York (state) state senators Politicians from New York City Politicians from County Offaly New York (state) Democrats New York (state) independents Independent Democrat members of the United States House of Representatives Sheriffs of New York County, New York Police officers from County Offaly 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives