Richard "Slippery Dick" Connolly (1810

Dunmanway Dunmanway (, official Irish name: ) is a market town in County Cork, in the southwest of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant repub ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland – May 30, 1880

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France) was an American politician from New York.

Life

He came to New York City in 1826 and worked first for auctioneers John Haggerty & Sons, and later for merchant Simeon Draper, Haggerty's son-in-law. In 1837, Connolly married Maria S. Townsend (1816–1879), and the two had four children. In 1845, Collector of the Port Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence appointed Connolly as a clerk in the customs house. In 1849, he became the

Bank of North America The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first ''de facto'' central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

discount clerk. As a

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

Democrat, he was Clerk of New York County from 1853 to 1858; and a member of 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 ...

(7th D.) from 1860 to 1863, sitting in the 83rd, 84th, 85th and 86th New York State Legislatures. Afterward, he became a discount clerk at the Central National Bank. He was elected

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

in 1867, and became a member of the infamous " Tweed Ring." Some newspaper writers referred to him at that time as "Slippery Dick". He was re-appointed by Mayor A. Oakey Hall as City Comptroller under the " Tweed Charter" and remained in office until his resignation on November 18, 1871. A week later, Connolly was arrested and later indicted on 15 counts of misdemeanors. On New Year's Day, 1872, he was released on bail by Judge George G. Barnard, and went abroad, never to return to the United States. He died from

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...

in Marseille, France, while being a fugitive from justice.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; pg. 442 and 535)
''Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York''
by William D. Murphy (1861; pg. 45ff)
''Appointment of Richard B. Connolly as Controller''
in NYT on April 28, 1870
''AT THREE SCORE AND TEN; RICHARD B. CONNOLLY'S DEATH AT MARSEILLES''
in NYT on June 1, 1880

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Richard B 1810 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Irish people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Leaders of Tammany Hall Politicians from County Cork New York City comptrollers Deaths from kidney disease 19th-century American businesspeople People from Dunmanway Irish emigrants to the United States 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature