Peter Clement O'Malley

OMALLEY, HENRY

Posted By: Allamakee county coordinator (email)
Date: 5/17/2004 at 07:15:09

Peter Clement O'Malley.

Peter Clement O'Malley, who was city attorney for two years, and a rising lawyer of Pocatello, is a man who in the selecton of a place of residence was very discriminating and Pocatello was his final choice only after he had visited and acquainted himself with conditions in practically every part of Oregon and of southern Idaho. He has been a hard worker all his life, prepared himself for his profession, and in his present field of labors has acquired the recognition owing to a successful man.

He was born in Allamakee county, Iowa, February 12, 1871, and lived in his native state until about thirty-two years of age. A farmer boy, he had only such school advantages as were afforded by the country schools, and saw little of the regular institutions of learning after he was seventeen years old. The farm was his home and work place until he was twenty-one, at which time he moved to Mason City, Iowa, and for three years was engaged in railroading. During all his spare time he carried on such reading as amounted to a liberal education in many subjects. In 1895, returning to the old homestead, he applied himself to its management until the death of his father in 1903, his mother having died about fifteen years before.

With the breaking up of the old home, he left Iowa for good and found his first field of business in Minnesota, where he was engaged in the real estate business for a little more than three years. During the next year he was in the same line in Adams county, North Dakota, where he also had an interest in the hardware business. After selling out to his partners in the winter of 1908, he was attracted to the state of Oregon, which he intended to make his permanent home. For two years he was a resident of Portland, where he continued in the real estate business. In previous years he had been keeping up a fairly regular study of law and at Portland he attended the Oregon Law School and completed his preparation for his profession. On May 2, 1910, he passed the bar examination of the state. In the meantime he had visited nearly every county in Oregon, and after admission to the bar made another trip into the Harney valley. Of all these localities the city of Portland alone seemed desirable, but he felt that a larger success would come in a smaller city. the resources of southern Idaho had been frequently brought to his attention, and he determined to test that field. Location at Nampa, he passed the state bar examinations on June 18, 1910, and during the next two months toured many of the towns in the south half of the state. Good opportunities were presented in several places, but the environments did not suit his disposition until finally he chose Pocatello, where he took up his permanent residence on the 13th day of August, 1910. With the opening of his office, he threw himself with characteristic energy into professional work and has enjoyed a liberal and high-class practice. Since May, 1911, he has filled the office of city attorney with credit and efficiency.

Mr. O'Malley was married at Butte, Montana, January 10, 1912, to Miss Zoe Henry, formerly a resident of North Dakota. His church is the Catholic, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is one of the active members of the Pocatello Commercial Club and a member of the Railroad Y.M.C.A. at this city. Chairman of the Democratic county central committee, Mr. O'Malley is a local leader in politics, and has already been memtioned for higher political honors. The hard work of his profession is his favorite recreation, but he is also a follower of baseball and enjoys music and literature.

-source:History of Idaho. Volumes I-III; Hiram T. French; Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing, 1914; pg. 1083-1084