Owen A. Galvin was an American attorney and politician who served as the

United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The first court session was held ...

from 1887 to 1890.

Early life

Galvin was born on June 21, 1852 to Patrick and Mary (Hughes) Galvin. After attending Boston public schools, he studied law in the office of Charles F. Donnelly. He graduated from

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

in 1876 and was admitted to the bar on February 29 of that year. On July 3, 1879 he married Jennie T. Sullivan. They would go on to have three sons, Stephen P. Galvin, Augustus H. Galvin, and Frederick S. Galvin.

Massachusetts General Court

Galvin was elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1881. He served on the House's committees on education and constitutional amendments. From 1882 to 1884 he was a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

. He served on the Senate's committees on liquor law, labor, education, judiciary, and election laws as well as on the special committee on penal and charitable institutions. In 1884 he was the Democratic candidate for

President of the Massachusetts Senate The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress, in which the vice president of the United States is the ''ex officio'' president of the United States Senate, in Massachusetts, the president of ...

United States Attorney

In July 1886, Galvin was appointed by George M. Stearns to serve as the Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. When Stearns resigned in September 1887, Galvin was chosen by President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

to succeed him as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He resigned in October 1889, but his resignation was not accepted until May 1890.

Later career

In 1889, Galvin was a candidate for

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

. He won the Democratic nomination, but lost to Republican incumbent Thomas N. Hart. In 1891 he was appointed by Governor William Russell to serve on the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

Improvement Commission, who named Galvin their chairman. The Commission's work led to the design initiatives of Charles Eliot,

Arthur Shurcliff Arthur Asahel Shurcliff (1870–1957) was a noted American landscape architect. Born Arthur Asahel Shurtleff, he changed his last name in 1930 in order, he said, to conform to the "ancient spelling of the family name". After over 30 years of success ...

, and

Guy Lowell Guy Lowell (August 6, 1870 – February 4, 1927), was an American architect and landscape architect. Biography Born in Boston, Lowell was the son of Mary Walcott (Goodrich) and Edward Jackson Lowell, and a member of Boston's well-known Lo ...

. This designed landscape now includes over 20 parks and natural areas along 19 miles (31 km) of shoreline, from the

New Dam The New Dam ( tr, Yeni Bent), a.k.a. Mahmud II Dam ( tr, II. Mahmut Bendi), is a historic dam located in Sarıyer district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. The New Dam was built in 1830 by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II (reigned 1808–1839). The dam is ...

at the Charlestown Bridge to the dam near

Watertown Square Watertown Square is the main square of Watertown, Massachusetts, located at the confluence of North Beacon Street and Main Street ( US-20), Mt. Auburn Street ( MA-16), Pleasant Street, Arsenal Street, and Charles River Road. The Armenian Library ...

. In 1892 he unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Nathan Matthews, Jr. for the Democratic nomination for Mayor.

Death

Galvin died on December 18, 1897 in Boston.

References