James K. O'Connor

James Keegan O'Connor (1864–1922) was an Irish-American judge and Democrat politician from Utica, New York.

James K. O'Connor
Mayor of Utica, New York
In office
1920–1922
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the Oneida's 1st district
In office
January 1, 1890  December 31, 1890
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
OccupationLawyer

O'Connor graduated from Utica Free Academy and studied law at a local law office. He served in the New York State Assembly during the 113th New York State Legislature, but was not reelected. He was elected as a Utica city judge in 1899, and reelected in 1903.[1] He was a founder of the New York State Magistrates Association[2] and served as its president in 1912.[3] He was the Mayor of Utica, New York from 1920 to 1922.[4] He died in 1922.[5]

He had a reputation as a supporter of all immigrants in Utica, who at the time accounted for around a third of its population. The shooting of Italian mill workers by city police during a 1919 textile worker's strike likely played a role in the defeat of the incumbent mayor.[6] A staunch Irish nationalist, he publicly spoke in favor of armed revolution against English rule in Ireland, and in the years before World War I called for an alliance between Ireland and Germany against England.[7]

O'Connor was known as an orator and writer.[1] His collected speeches and writings were published in 1913.[8]

References

  1. McGuire, James K., ed. (1905). The Democratic Party of the State of New York: A History of the Origin, Growth, and Achievements of the Democratic Party of the State of New York, Including a History of Tammany Hall in Its Relation to State Politics. Vol. 2. United States History Company. pp. 355–357. OCLC 1043272000.
  2. Thirteenth Annual Report of the New York State Probation Commission. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company. 1920. p. 409.
  3. "Past Presidents". New York State Magistrates Association. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  4. "Mayors of Utica". City of Utica. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  5. Journal of the Assembly of the State of New York at their One-Hundred and Forty-Fifth Session. Vol. 1. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company. 1922. p. 401.
  6. Bean, Philip A. (February 1994). "The Irish, the Italians, and Machine Politics, a Case Study: Utica, New York (1870-1960)". Journal of Urban History. 20 (2): 205–239. doi:10.1177/009614429402000203. ISSN 0096-1442. S2CID 145019677.
  7. Bean, Philip A. (1993). "The Great War and Ethnic Nationalism in Utica, New York, 1914–1920". New York History. 74 (4): 389–404. ISSN 0146-437X. JSTOR 23181919.
  8. O'Connor, James Keegan (1913). O'Connor, Margaret Mary (ed.). James K. O'Connor, His Voice and Pen: Being a Collection of Addresses, Speeches, Newspaper Articles, Etc., Emanating from the Above Source. Davis' Union Printery. OCLC 1047453484.
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