Frank S. O'Neil was an American attorney who served as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.

Early life

O'Neil's father, George F. O'Neil was a prominent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and the publisher of the ''Binghamton Leader''. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1903 and was captain of the school's baseball team. O'Neil became a prominent lawyer in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. He served a president of the Broome County Jockey Club, which owned the horse track on the Broome County Agricultural Grounds in

Whitney Point, New York Whitney Point is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 964 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name comes from Thomas and William Whitney, early developers. The vil ...

. In 1912, O'Neil left Binghamton to practice law 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 ...

New York State Athletic Commission

In 1911 O'Neil was appointed to the newly created New York State Athletic Commission by Governor

John Alden Dix John Alden Dix (December 25, 1860 – April 9, 1928) was an American businessman and politician who served as 38th Governor of New York from January 1911 to January 1913. A native of Glens Falls, New York, Dix attended Cornell University befo ...

. In September 1911, O'Neil led an investigation into the Madison Square Athletic Club over allegations of overcrowding, tax irregularities, and other issues that occurred during a fight between Matt Wells and Valentine Brown. O'Neil suspended the club's license until improvements recommended by Fire Commissioner

Joseph Johnson Joseph Johnson may refer to: Entertainment *Joseph McMillan Johnson (1912–1990), American film art director *Smokey Johnson (1936–2015), New Orleans jazz musician * N.O. Joe (Joseph Johnson, born 1975), American musician, producer and songwrit ...

were made to

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. The commission eventually revoked the MSAC's license and another club, reported to be run by

Frank J. Farrell Frank J. Farrell (c. 1866 – February 10, 1926) was an American baseball executive. He and William S. Devery were the first owners of the New York Highlanders (now New York Yankees). They purchased the Baltimore Orioles on January 9, 1903 fo ...

and

Tim Hurst Timothy Carroll Hurst (June 30, 1865 – June 4, 1915) was an American sports official who worked as an umpire (baseball), umpire and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball and as a referee (boxing), boxing referee in championship f ...

with O'Neil as a partner, took over fight promotion at the Garden. Boxer Al Palzer and promoter Tom O'Rourke accused O'Neil of taking $800 in exchange for approving a fight between Palzer and Jack Johnson. O'Neil denied the allegation, stating that he would never allow Johnson to fight in New York. In 1912, Bat Masterson accused O'Neil of being biased against the National Sporting Club and referee Patsy Haley, being a silent partner of the Madison Square Garden Athletic Club, demanding an excessive of complementary tickets from promoters, and associating with known criminal Jimmy Kelly. Despite the accusations, O'Neil remained on the commission and in 1913 was elected chairman. On October 8, 1915, Governor

Charles Seymour Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868March 29, 1947) was an American lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1, 1915, to December 31, 1918. An attorney and politician, he also served as a delegate from New York to t ...

removed O'Neil from the board after the commission failed to renew the license of the Show Corporation, which caused the cancellation of a fight between

Willie Ritchie Willie Ritchie (born Gerhardt Anthony Steffen, February 13, 1891 – March 24, 1975), was the World lightweight champion from 1912 to 1914. Gerhardt Anthony Steffen was born in San Francisco, California on February 13, 1891. He began his bo ...

and Johnny Dundee at Madison Square Garden. He was replaced by sportswriter

Fred A. Wenck Frederick A. Wenck (April 15, 1879 – July 26, 1946) was an American athlete, sports administrator, and businessman who served as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. Early life Wenck was born on April 15, 1879, in Baltimore. He mov ...

Conspiracy charges

In 1918, O'Neil was charged with conspiracy to obstruct the operation of the draft law. According to the prosecution, O'Neil was the mastermind behind a scheme to collect money from men who wanted to avoid military service. O'Neil claimed to have a "pull" with Army officers and would be able to have the men discharged or transferred to the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

. O'Neil admitted to taking the money but contented that he had accepted it in exchange for presenting the appeals to the district draft board. On July 24, 1918, O'Neil and his co-defendants were found not guilty.

Later life

O'Neil spent his later years traveling through

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and

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. In 1933 he moved to Lordville, New York. He died on August 12, 1945, at City Hospital in

. He was 67 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeil, Frank S. 1945 deaths Columbia Law School alumni Columbia Lions baseball players People from Binghamton, New York People from Delaware County, New York New York (state) Democrats New York (state) lawyers New York State Athletic Commissioners