Maurice D. O'Connell

Maurice D. O'Connell (April 23, 1839 – August 26, 1922) was an Iowa attorney who served as Solicitor of the United States Treasury.

Biography

Maurice D. O'Connell was born in Constable, New York, on April 23, 1839. He was educated at Franklin Academy and taught school in upstate New York.^[1]

During the Civil War O'Connell worked in the Washington, D.C. office of the Comptroller of the Currency. O'Connell studied law at Columbian University (now George Washington University) while working for the comptroller, graduated in 1866, and attained admission to the bar.^[2][3]

After the war O'Connell resided in Texas for two years, where he was employed by the San Antonio National Bank.^[4]

In 1869 O'Connell moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he practiced law. From 1872 to 1879 he was District Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial District, an eight county area of Iowa.^[5]

A Republican, O'Connell was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa in 1881, and served until Grover Cleveland was inaugurated in 1885. When Benjamin Harrison became President in 1889, O'Connell returned to the U.S. Attorney's office, serving until 1893.^[6]

In 1897 O'Connell was named Solicitor of the Treasury, and he served until 1910.^{[7][8][9][10]}

After resigning he resided in Washington, D.C., where he continued to practice law. O'Connell died in Washington, D.C. on August 26, 1922, from injuries he sustained in a street car accident the previous April.^[11][12][13] He was buried in Fort Dodge.^[14]

References

1. Historical Sketches of Franklin County and its Several Towns, by Frederick J. Seaver, 1918, page 764
2. Who's Who in America, published by A.N. Marquis, Chicago, Volume 1, 1899, page 534
3. General Alumni Catalogue of George Washington University, published by the university, 1917, page 151
4. District of Columbia: Concise Biographies of its Prominent and Representative Contemporary Citizens, by Henry Brown Floyd Macfarland, page 351
5. History of Iowa From the Earliest Times, by Benjamin F. Gue, Volume 3, 1904, page 206
6. Annals of Iowa, by Iowa State Historical Department, 1953, page 124
7. Register of the Department of Justice, by United States Department of Justice, 1908, page 216
8. Newspaper article, O'Connell to Retire, Des Moines News, June 10, 1910
9. Newspaper article, O'Connell Gets a Good Place, San Francisco Call, June 12, 1897
10. Newspaper column, Persons and Things, Eau Claire Daily Leader, July 19, 1910
11. Obituary, Maurice D. O'Connell, New York Times, August 27, 1922
12. Obituary, Maurice D. O'Connell, New York Tribune, August 27, 1922
13. Newspaper article, Native of Malone Killed in Capital, Watertown Daily Times, August 28, 1922
14. Newspaper article, M.D. O'Connell to be buried in Iowa, Oelwein Daily Register, August 28, 1922