Iowa History Project
Harlan, Edgar Rubey.
A Narrative History of the People of Iowa.
Vol III. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1931
p. 279.
REV. JEREMIAH O'SULLIVAN has been an able leader of the
Catholic Church in Iowa for eighteen years, and several communities have
expressed their regard for him not only as a priest but as a man and citizen.
Father O'Sullivan is now a pastor of the Catholic Church at Guthrie Center.
He was born near Killarney, Ireland, October 13, 1879, son of
Patrick and Julia O'Sullivan. The O'Sullivan family are direct descendants of
the houses of O'Sullivan Beare and McCarty Mor-Earls of Munster. Father
O'Sullivan was educated in St. Brendan's Seminary, Killarney, and in St.
Patrick's College at Carlow, and was ordained to the priesthood in June, 1905.
For several years he was engaged in missionary work as assistant pastor, in
England, and in addition to regular parish duties he was chaplain to the
regiments stationed in Bradford and Pontefract, Yorks. In 1909 he invented and
patented a vibration and wrench proof bolt burr and axle cap for high speed
engines and machines. While in Pontefract, Yorks, he took an active part in the
British general election of 1910, which was conducted on the Irish Home Rule
question; he supported the Liberal candidate, Mr. Handel Booth, who, with the
aid of a unanimous Irish vote, was elected member of parliament for that
borough, thus increasing the strength of the supporters of the Irish Home Rule
bill, which was subsequently passed.
Father O'Sullivan came to the United States in April, 1911,
being assigned duty in the diocese of Davenport, under Bishop Davis. For a few
months he was chaplain pro tem at St. Joseph's Academy at Des Moines, and was
then given the Sacred Heart Parish at Woodbine, Harrison County. Later he was
made pastor of the congregation of the Sacred Heart at Chariton, Iowa, and form
there was transferred in August, 1923, to the church at Guthrie Center.
Father O'Sullivan is a scholar, possesses a wide knowledge of
men and affairs, and since coming to this country has informed himself
thoroughly on political and social conditions. Under the auspices of the
International Lyceum and Chautauqua Association he has lectured in several
states in America. Some of his subjects were: "Relations of Labor and
Capital," "Conditions of the Laboring Classes and a Living Wage."
He has also frequently written for the press. People of all classes have
entertained for him a high regard, and what the Chariton Leader said of him when
he left Chariton as "being a man of attainments, a scholar, student and
thinker, with a personal following here who will regret to see him leave,"
is typical of the esteem paid him in other communities.
Father O'Sullivan since coming to Guthrie Center has built a
fine new parish rectory at a cost of approximately $12,000. He has been an
active member of the International Lyceum and Chautauqua Association since
1913, and was a member of the Van Ward Club of Chariton form 1917 to 1922, and
is a member of the Guthrie Center Rotary Club.
p. 379
HON. FRANK. A. O'CONNOR, one of Iowa's ablest
lawyers, is a partner in the prominent Dubuque firm of Hurd, Lenehan, Smith and
O'Connor. In addition to the splendid work that has made his reputation as a
lawyer, Mr. O'Connor has contributed in notable measure to the increasing
vitality and usefulness in the life of the state of the Democratic party
organization. The party has on several occasions paid him honors that are given
only to an outstanding leader.
Mr. O'Connor is a native of northeastern Iowa, and was born
at Independence, Buchanan County, August 2, 1875. His parents, Timothy and Ellen
(Curran) O'Connor, were born in County Kerry, Ireland. His father came to this
country when fourteen years old and his mother was brought before she was two
years old. Timothy O'Connor lived at Galena, Illinois, just before the civil
war. While there he came to know the quiet ex-army officer who was a clerk in
his father's leather store, Ulysses S. Grant. Afterwards, in 1864, Timothy
O'Connor moved to Dubuque and for many years conducted a farm in Dubuque County.
In 1865 he drove a freighting wagon drawn by mules across the western country
carrying supplied to the scattered settlements of mining communities. Two years
after arriving in Dubuque, Timothy O'Connor married, and he and his wife had a
large family of thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters. Timothy
O'Connor died December 8, 1913, and his wife on September 16, 1890.
After the death of his mother, Frank A. O'Connor grew
up in the home of his grandfather, Patrick Curran, at Lawler, and lived there
with his aunt and uncle, James and Hannah Curran. He has never been able to
exhaust his gratitude to these splendid people form whom he derived constant
encouragement in his efforts to make good use of his talents. His education in
the meantime had been derived from the public and parochial schools.
Subsequently he enrolled in the University of Iowa, taking special work in the
Liberal Art School for two years, and for two years was a student in the law
department. He was graduate with the LL. B. degree in 1898. Mr. O'Connor first
practiced at New Hampton, Chickasaw County. He lived there twenty years, and
during that time made a name for himself in county politics, serving for four
years as county attorney.
Mr. O'Connor was a member of the Thirty-third and
Thirty-fourth General Assemblies of Iowa. The work of these notable legislatures
in fully reviewed in the general history volumes. The Thirty-fourth General
Assembly, it will be recalled, was deadlocked during most of the session over
the election of a successor to United States Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver. Gov.
B.F. Carroll has appointed Lafe Young to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Mr. Dolliver. This struggle in the Legislature marked the climax of the internal
dissensions that had almost wrecked the Republican party of the state. In this
General Assembly the Democrats had thirty-eight members in the House and sixteen
member in the Senate. Mr. O'Connor was the accepted leader of the Democratic
forces, and it was in recognition of that leadership that hte full party
strength in both Houses was given to him as the Democratic candidate for the
United States Senate during several days of the deadlock.
Mr. O'Connor went to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1912, as
delegate at large from Iowa. While some of the Iowa Democrats were pledged to
the nomination of Champ Clark, Mr. O'Connor early recognized the statesmanship
and political availability of Woodrow Wilson, and aided materially in bringing
about the nomination of the New Jersey governor. President Wilson appointed Mr.
O'Connor United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. He held that
office from January, 1914, until January, 1922. He was district attorney during
the World war period, handling with remarkable efficiency and tact the
many complicated cases that arose as result of the war. In addition to his
duties as a federal official he was by appointment of Governor Harding a member
of the State Council of Defense.
Mr. O'Connor removed from New Hampton on July 1, 1918,
to Dubuque, and has since been affiliated with the distinguished law firm of
Hurd, Lenehan, Smith & O'Connor, with offices in the Bank and Insurance
Building. With his ripened powers and long experience in public life he has
continued to be one of the most influential citizens in the state of Iowa in all
matters of public interest and welfare.
Mr. O' Connor is a member and former president of the
Dubuque Chamber of Commerce. He has given his influence and assistance in the
promotion of worthy civic movements. He is a member of the Dubuque County, Iowa
State and American Bar Associations and member of the Alumni Board of the State
University.
He married November 24, 1904, Miss Mary Agnes McNevin.
She was born at Cresco, Iowa, and for a number of years taught school in
Minnesota. They were married at Indianapolis. The three sons of their marriage
are: Gerald F., born September 4, 1905; Charles E. O'Connor, born March 30,
1908; and Francis John O'Connor, born March 29, 1916. Gerald graduated A. B. from
the University of Iowa in 1928, and Charles E. graduated with the A. B. degree in
the class of 1929 from the State University and is now a law student there.