The
Vol. VII.
No. i.
Green
BOSTON.
Bag.
January, 1895.
CHARLES O'CONOR. I. By Irving Browne. CHARLES O'CONOR was born in the city of New York, January 22, 1804The Encyclopaedia Britannica and Appleton's Dictionary of Biography state that his father emigrated from Ireland in 1801, but in Mr. Bigelow's interesting sketch in the Century Magazine (1884-1885, p. 725), he records that Mr. O'Conor resented the imputation that he was an Irishman, and told him, as Mr. Bigelow thinks, that his father and his grandfather were born in this coun try. It would seem that Mr. Bigelow must have misunderstood Mr. O'Conor on this point. Appleton's Dictionary states that Mr. O'Conor's father was born in Dublin, in 1 770. To Mr. Coudert he spoke of himself as the son of an Irish exile, as will be seen later. It has always been popularly under stood that Mr. O'Conor was proud of his de scent from the Irish kings, as nearly all the Irish are. Undoubtedly he did not intend to deny that he was of Irish descent. It is re corded that he changed the spelling of his name by dropping an;/, to conform it to the ancient style. His father's later years were passed in lit erary and editorial work. Among other things he wrote a work entitled "The In quisition examined by an Impartial Observ er," of the character of which I have no knowledge, but in which, if one may infer anything from his celebrated son's peculiar characteristics, one may reasonably suppose that he whitewashed that somewhat obnoxi ous institution. The dates and events of his life are few. He was admitted to the Bar in 1824; in 1855
he was appointed district attorney for New York; he once was a candidate for the office of lieutenant-governor of New York, and, although defeated, ran several thousands ahead of his ticket; in 1846 he was a mem ber of the State Constitutional Convention, but he was not a member of the Convention of 1867-68, as is erroneously stated in the "Britannica." He practiced law in the city of New York until 1881, when he removed to Nantucket, where he died in 1884. He was married in 1854, but had no children. It is evident from this bare record that we have to consider the career of a mere lawyer, and not that of a statesman or a jurist; but it will be disclosed that we have to deal with an intellect of the first order, and an indomit able, combative, and imperious nature. He was one of the most remarkable of selfmade men. 'He owed everything to himself. He told Mr. Bigelow that " he hardly had any education." All that he got he wrested from Fortune by the strong hand and the tireless brain. He came up to the very front of the legal profession in this country from obscurity and through poverty and dreadful discouragements. His tale of his early life to Mr. Bigelow is extremely touch ing. To Mr. Bigelow he denied that he thought he possessed any peculiar aptitude for the law, but had no doubt that he would have met the same measure of success in any walk — as blacksmith, physician, or in any other calling. He attributed all to in dustry. This alone shows that Mr. O'Conor, although a proud, opinionated and imperious man, was not unduly vain. He would not
