John Matthew O'Connell (August 10, 1872 – December 6, 1941) was a

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. Born in Westerly, Washington County,

, O'Connell attended the public schools. He taught in the local schools 1892-1902. He was graduated from the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Dental College (now a branch of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

) in 1905 and commenced practice in

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a popula ...

, the same year. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served for sixteen months with Headquarters Sanitary Train, Twelfth Division, and later as a major in the United States Dental Reserve. He served as member of the State house of representatives 1929-1932. O'Connell was elected as 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 ...

to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1938. He died in

, December 6, 1941. He was interred in St. Sebastian Cemetery.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, John Matthew 1872 births 1941 deaths Temple University alumni People from Westerly, Rhode Island United States Army officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island