Richard Barrett Connolly (1810

Dunmanway Dunmanway (, official Irish name: ) is a market town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, Ireland – May 30, 1880

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, France) was an American politician from New York.

Life

He came to New York City in 1826, and worked first for auctioneers John Haggerty & Sons, and later for merchant

Simeon Draper Simeon Draper (January 19, 1806 - November 6, 1866) was a prominent merchant and politician in New York City. During the American Civil War, he was the federal government's agent for receiving captured cotton from the Confederate States of Americ ...

, Haggerty's son-in-law. In 1837, Connolly married Maria S. Townsend (1816–1879), and they had four children. In 1845, Collector of the Port

Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence (February 28, 1791 – February 20, 1861) was a politician from New York. He became the first popularly elected mayor of New York City after the law was changed in 1834. Early life Lawrence was born in Flushing, New Y ...

appointed Connolly as a clerk in the customs house. In 1849, he became a discount clerk of the

Bank of North America The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first ''de facto'' central bank. Chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 17 ...

. As a

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

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 was Clerk of New York County from 1853 to 1858; and a member of the New York State Senate (7th D.) from 1860 to 1863, sitting in the 83rd, 84th, 85th and

86th New York State Legislature The 86th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 25, 1863, during the first year of Horatio Seymour's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany. ...

s. Afterwards he became a discount clerk of the Central National Bank. He was elected

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

in 1867, and became a member of the infamous "

Tweed Ring William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany H ...

."Some newspaper writers referred to him at that time as "Slippery Dick". He was re-appointed by Mayor

A. Oakey Hall Abraham Oakey Hall (July 26, 1826 – October 7, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and writer. He served as Mayor of New York from 1869 to 1872 as a Democrat. Hall, known as "Elegant Oakey", was a model of serenity and respectability. ...

as City Comptroller under the " Tweed Charter" and remained in office until his resignation on November 18, 1871. A week later, Connolly was arrested and later indicted on 15 counts of misdemeanors. On New Year's Day, 1872, he was released on bail by Judge George G. Barnard, and went abroad, never to return to the United States. He died from

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...

in Marseille, France, while being a fugitive from justice.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; pg. 442 and 535)
''Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York''
by William D. Murphy (1861; pg. 45ff)
''Appointment of Richard B. Connolly as Controller''
in NYT on April 28, 1870
''AT THREE SCORE AND TEN; RICHARD B. CONNOLLY'S DEATH AT MARSEILLES''
in NYT on June 1, 1880

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Richard B 1810 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Irish people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Leaders of Tammany Hall Politicians from County Cork New York City Comptrollers Deaths from kidney disease 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople