William Bourke Cockran
William Bourke Cockran | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district | |
In office March 4, 1921 – March 1, 1923 | |
Preceded by | Thomas F. Smith |
Succeeded by | John J. O'Connor |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th congressional district | |
In office February 23, 1904 – March 3, 1909 | |
Preceded by | George B. McClellan Jr. |
Succeeded by | Michael F. Conry |
In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895 | |
Preceded by | Joseph J. Little |
Succeeded by | George B. McClellan Jr. |
In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889 | |
Preceded by | Abraham Dowdney |
Succeeded by | Roswell P. Flower |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district | |
In office November 3, 1891 – March 3, 1893 | |
Preceded by | Francis B. Spinola |
Succeeded by | Daniel E. Sickles |
Personal details | |
Born | February 28, 1854 County Sligo, Ireland |
Died | March 1, 1923 (aged 69) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Political party | Democratic[1] |
William Bourke Cockran (February 28, 1854 – March 1, 1923), commonly known as Bourke Cockran, was an Irish-American politician. His name sometimes appears as Burke Cochran in contemporary newspaper reports. He served as a United States Representative from New York. A member of the Democratic Party, he advocated the repeal of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forbade states from preventing U.S. citizens from voting on account of "race" or "color".[1]
Early life and education
Born in Carrowkeel, County Sligo, Ireland, he was educated in France and in his native country, and emigrated to the United States when seventeen years of age. He was a teacher in a private academy and principal of a public school in Westchester County, New York. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1876, and practiced in Mount Vernon, New York; two years later, he moved to New York City and continued the practice of law.
Career
Beginning in 1886, Cockran, a Democrat, was a frequent candidate for the US House of Representatives and won several times; he served a number of non-consecutive terms. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1884, 1892, 1904, and 1920. At the 1920 convention, he delivered the nominating speech for Al Smith.
Between terms, he concentrated on his New York law practice. In 1889, he was paid by George Westinghouse to represent William Kemmler, the first criminal sentenced to be killed by the electric chair.[2]
Cockran was a member of the commission to revise the judiciary article of the New York Constitution in 1890. Cockran publicly broke with his party in 1896, opposing the Free Silver platform of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Cockran campaigned instead for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley, which was considered a major factor in McKinley's victory.
In 1900, Cockran returned to the Democratic Party, supporting Bryan's second presidential campaign. Cockran returned to Congress in 1904 after he won a special election to fill the seat of George B. McClellan Jr., who had resigned to become mayor of New York City.
He served his final years, 1921–1923, as a congressman, dying in Washington, D.C.. He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York.
In 1895, Cockran, a friend of Britain's Churchill family and reputed one-time lover of Jennie Churchill, introduced her 20-year-old son, Winston Churchill, to American high society during Churchill's first trip to New York. Years later, as British prime minister, Churchill credited Cockran as his first political mentor and the chief role model for his own success as an orator.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Clarke, Thomas H.R.; McKay, Barney (1901). A Republican Text-Book for Colored Voters. Washington, D.C.: T.H.R. Clarke and B. McKay. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
W. Bourke Cocharn, of New York, a leading Northern Democrat, has emphasized the above expression of Senator Tillman by advocating a repeal of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Thus the Democratic party North and South is joining hands to disfranchise the negro.
- ^ McNichol, Tom, AC/DC, p. 121.
Further reading
- United States Congress. "William Bourke Cockran (id: C000575)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- William Bourke Cockran at Find a Grave
- Mrs. Bourke Cockran on woman suffrage From a scrapbook in the Carrie Chapman Catt Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the Library of Congress
- 1854 births
- 1923 deaths
- Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery
- Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
- Politicians from New York City
- People from County Sligo
- Politicians from County Sligo
- Laetare Medal recipients
- New York (state) Democrats
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives