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See the trouble and
disgrace main page, as well as the FAQ and the Political
Graveyard privacy policy, for important explanations and
disclaimers.
in chronological order
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Michael Walsh (1810-1859) —
also known as Mike Walsh —
of New York, New York
County, N.Y.
Born in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland,
May
4, 1810.
Democrat. Convicted
about 1845 for publication of a libel; member of New York
state assembly, 1847-48, 1852 (New York County 1847, New York
County 12th District 1848, 1852); U.S.
Representative from New York 4th District, 1853-55.
Died in New York, New York
County, N.Y., March
17, 1859 (age 48 years, 317
days).
Interment at Green-Wood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Charles Edward Travis (1829-1860) —
also known as Charles E. Travis —
Born in Alabama, August
8, 1829.
Member of Texas
state house of representatives, 1853-54.
Court-martialed
and discharged
from the U.S. Cavalry, on charges of conduct
unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, based on incidents of
alleged slander, unauthorized
absence, and cheating
at cards.
Died, of consumption
(tuberculosis)
in Washington
County, Tex., 1860
(age about
30 years).
Interment at Masonic
Cemetery, Chappell Hill, Tex.
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Louis Stern (c.1856-1901) —
of St. Paul, Ramsey
County, Minn.
Born in Germany,
about 1856.
Democrat. Naturalized U.S. citizen; newspaper
reporter; U.S. Commercial Agent (Consul) in Bamberg, 1893-1901.
Jewish.
Arrested
and fined in
Kissingen, Germany, 1895, for insulting the Baron von
Thuengen; also charged
with misrepresenting
his 15-year-old son as being twelve in order to get cheaper passage
to Europe for him on a steamship; the U.S. Consul General in Berlin
asserted that Mr. Stern was "very harshly and unjustly treated".
Depressed over financial problems and perceived anti-Semitism, he
began neglecting
his work; he was recalled
as commercial agent in 1901, but remained at Bamberg; his failure
to return money he had collected on behalf of U.S. citizens led
to a judgement
against him for 2,000 marks, which he was unable to pay; he died
by self-inflicted
gunshot,
in the public gardens at Bamberg, Germany,
June
10, 1901 (age about 45
years).
Burial location unknown.
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John Looney (1865-1942) —
also known as Patrick John Looney —
of Rock Island, Rock
Island County, Ill.
Born in Ottawa, La Salle
County, Ill., October
5, 1865.
Lawyer;
newspaper
publisher; indicted
with others in 1897 over a scheme to defraud
the city of Rock Island in connection with a storm drain construction
project; convicted,
but the verdict was overturned on appeal; candidate for Illinois
state house of representatives, 1900; created and led a crime
syndicate in northwest Illinois, with interests in gambling,
prostitution,
extortion,
and eventually bootlegging
and automobile
theft; indicted
in 1907 on 37 counts of bribery,
extortion,
and libel, but acquitted; shot
and wounded by hidden snipers on two occasions in 1908; on February
22, 1909, he was shot
and wounded in a gunfight with business rival W. W. Wilmerton; on
March 22, 1912, after publishing personal attacks on Rock
Island Mayor Henry
M. Schriver, he was arrested,
brought to the police station, and severely
beaten by the mayor himself; subsequent rioting killed two men
and injured nine others; resumed control of the Rock Island rackets
in 1921; in 1922, he was indicted
for the murder
of saloon keeper William Gabel, who had provided evidence against
Looney to federal agents; arrested
in Belen, N.M., in 1924, and later convicted
of conspiracy and murder;
sentenced
to 5 years in prison
for conspiracy and 14 years for murder;
served 8 1/2 years.
Irish
ancestry.
Died, of tuberculosis,
in a sanitarium
at El Paso, El Paso
County, Tex., 1942
(age about
76 years).
Burial location unknown.
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William Berri (1848-1917) —
of Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y.
Born in Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y., September
12, 1848.
Republican. Carpet
merchant; printing
business; newspaper
publisher; officer or director of banks, electric
utilities, and the New York Telephone
Company; delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1904,
1908,
1912,
1916;
candidate for Presidential Elector for New York; delegate
to New York state constitutional convention at-large, 1915;
member, New York State Board of Regents, 1916-17.
Congregationalist.
Member, Union
League.
In 1911, he was arraigned
on a charge
of criminal libel over an article he published in his
newspaper, brought by three candidates for Supreme Court, Herbert
T. Ketcham, Patrick
E. Callahan, and William
Willett, Jr.; the case was withdrawn a few days later when the
other two candidates discovered that Willett had indeed (as Berri
charged) paid bribes for his nomination.
Died in Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y., April
19, 1917 (age 68 years, 219
days).
Interment at Green-Wood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Relatives: Son
of William Berri ; married 1869 to
Frances Williams Morris. |
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Thomas Lindsay Blanton (1872-1957) —
also known as Thomas L. Blanton —
of Abilene, Taylor
County, Tex.
Born in Houston, Harris
County, Tex., October
25, 1872.
Democrat. Lawyer;
district judge in Texas 42nd District, 1908-16; U.S.
Representative from Texas, 1917-29, 1930-37 (16th District
1917-19, 17th District 1919-29, 1930-37).
Presbyterian.
Member, Knights
of Pythias; Freemasons;
Knights
Templar; Shriners;
Odd
Fellows; Woodmen.
Censured
in 1921 for inserting a letter into the Congressional Record
which contained words said to be "unspeakable, vile, foul, filthy,
profane, blasphemous and obscene."
A motion to expel
him from the House of Representatives failed by eight votes. Indicted
in 1923 for criminal libel over his claim that former U.S.
Rep. Oscar
Callaway had urged his frends not to buy Liberty bonds during
World War I.
Died in Albany, Shackelford
County, Tex., August
11, 1957 (age 84 years, 290
days).
Interment at Albany
Cemetery, Albany, Tex.
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George Edward Powers (b. 1892) —
also known as George E. Powers —
of Watertown, Middlesex
County, Mass.; Astoria, Queens, Queens
County, N.Y.; Detroit, Wayne
County, Mich.
Born in Boston, Suffolk
County, Mass., February
15, 1892.
Sheet metal
worker; candidate for borough
president of Queens, New York, 1929 (Workers), 1933 (Communist);
Workers candidate for U.S.
Senator from Michigan, 1930; in April 1932, he was arrested
at City Hall Park, during a demonstration
which was characaterized as "riot"; convicted
of unlawful assembly, but the sentence was suspended; also in 1932,
he was publicly accused
of taking part in an alleged Communist
conspiracy to cause bank failures in Chicago by spreading
rumors (in a "whispering campaign" of "anti-bank propaganda"); he
denied this; Communist candidate for chief
judge of New York Court of Appeals, 1932; vice-president,
International Workers Order; Communist candidate for Justice of
New York Supreme Court 2nd District, 1934; Communist candidate
for New York
state assembly from New York County 10th District, 1936;
following the Hitler-Stalin pact in 1939, he resigned from the
Communist Party, took part in anti-Communist organizations; at Earl
Browder's trial for passport fraud in 1940, he testified for the
prosecution; Liberal candidate for New York
state senate 7th District, 1948, 1950.
Burial location unknown.
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Relatives: Son
of George E. Powers and Sarah Powers. |
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Frederick Waldron Phelps (1929-2014) —
also known as Fred Phelps —
of Topeka, Shawnee
County, Kan.
Born in Meridian, Lauderdale
County, Miss., November
13, 1929.
Democrat. Lawyer; disbarred
by the state of Kansas in 1979 over harassment
of a court reporter and perjury
during the proceedings; in 1985, nine Federal judges filed a
disciplinary complaint against him over alleged false
accusations, which led to an agreement that he cease law
practice in Federal court; pastor of
the Westboro Baptist Church, which is widely
reviled for its extreme hatred
of homosexuals, and its tactics, such as picketing at military
funerals; candidate for Governor of
Kansas, 1990, 1994, 1998; candidate for U.S.
Senator from Kansas, 1992; candidate for mayor of
Topeka, Kan., 1993, 1997.
Baptist.
Died in Topeka, Shawnee
County, Kan., March
19, 2014 (age 84 years, 126
days).
Cremated.
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