John KELLY, Congress, NY (1822-1886)

1822-1886

KELLY, John, a Representative from New York; born in New York City April 20, 1822; attended the common schools; apprenticed to the mason’s trade and engaged in that business for himself in 1845; elected city alderman in 1854; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth and to the succeeding Congress, until his resignation December 25, 1858, (March 4, 1855-December 25, 1858); served as sheriff of the city and county of New York 1859-1862 and 1865-1867; was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City in 1868; appointed comptroller of New York in 1876 and served for three years; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1864, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880, and 1884; unsuccessful candidate as governor of New York in 1879; at the time of his death and for many years previous was head of Tammany Hall; died on June 1, 1886, in New York City; interment in Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Mott Street, New York, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present