Thomas J. Geary (January 18, 1854 – July 6, 1929) 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

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from 1890 to 1895.

Biography

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Geary moved with his parents to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, in April 1863. He attended the public schools. He studied law at St. Ignatius College. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1877 and commenced practice in

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 a ...

, moving to

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

, in 1882. He served as district attorney of

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

, in 1883 and 1884. He resumed the practice of law.

Congress

Geary 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 Fifty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. De Haven. He was reelected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and served from December 9, 1890, to March 3, 1895. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress. Representative Geary and wrote and sponsored the

Geary Act The Geary Act was a United States law that extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by adding onerous new requirements. It was written by California Representative Thomas J. Geary and was passed by Congress on . The law required all Chinese re ...

, a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

law passed by Congress on May 5, 1892, that extended the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...

of 1882. It added onerous new requirements, such as requiring every Chinese residents of the United States to carry a resident permit at all times. Failure to carry the permit was punishable by

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

or a year of hard labor. In addition, Chinese citizens were not allowed to bear witness in court, and could not receive bail in

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

proceedings.

Later career and death

After losing his bid for reelection, Geary resumed his practice of law. He moved to

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

, in 1900 in junction with the Gold Rush going on there at the time, to

, in 1902, and returned to

, in 1903, continuing the practice of law. He retired from active pursuits in 1923. He died in

, July 6, 1929. He was interred in Rural Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geary, Thomas J. 1854 births 1929 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California

Biography

Congress

Later career and death

See also

References