James Henry O'Brien (July 15, 1860 – September 2, 1924 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

) was an American politician from

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

. A

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 ...

, he served terms in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1911 to 1912, and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for one term from 1913 to 1915.

Early life and education

O'Brien was born in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Queens County, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

on July 15, 1860. He attended the public schools in Queens, and graduated from Browne's Business College in Brooklyn.

Business career

He became a resident of the town of

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

, which was later incorporated into the city of Brooklyn. O'Brien worked as a machinist and mechanical engineer, and later owned and operated the J. H. O'Brien Scale & Supply Company, a business that manufactured commercial scales and equipment used in constructing overhead tramways.

Political career

State Senate

O'Brien became active in politics as a Democrat. He was a member of the

(10th D.) in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

and

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

. While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Agriculture Committee, and was chairman of the state's Food Investigating Commission.

Congress

O'Brien was elected as a

to the

63rd United States Congress The 63rd 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, 1913, to ...

, and served from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914.

Later career and death

After leaving Congress, O'Brien resumed management of his business interests. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in

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. * ...

. He died in Brooklyn on September 2, 1924, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Family

O'Brien was married to Catherine "Kate" Lyons. They were the parents of four sons and three daughters; William, James, Thomas, Edward, Geraldine, Anna, and Estelle.

References

Sources

Newspapers

* *

External sources

People from East New York, Brooklyn 1860 births 1924 deaths Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) {{NewYork-Representative-stub