Martin Lomasney

Martin Michael Lomasney
Massachusetts State Senate
3rd Suffolk District
In office
1896–1897
Preceded by Michael B. Gilbride
Succeeded by Daniel D. Rourke
City of Boston Board of Aldermen
In office
1893–1895
City of Boston Board of Aldermen
3rd District
In office
1901–1903
Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1899–1899
Massachusetts House of Representatives
8th Suffolk District
In office
1906–1909
Massachusetts House of Representatives
5th Suffolk District
In office
1911–1917
Massachusetts House of Representatives
5th Suffolk District
In office
1921–1922
Delegate to the 1917 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention[1]
In office
June 6, 1917[2] – August 13, 1919[3]
Personal details
Born December 3, 1859
Boston, Massachusetts
Died August 12, 1933[4]
Boston, Massachusetts
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Mayhew School
Religion Roman Catholic

Martin Michael Lomasney (December 3, 1859 – August 12, 1933) was a Massachusetts politician. He served as state senator, state representative, and alderman. Lomasney, known as the "Mahatma",[5] was best remembered, however, for being the ward boss (political boss) of Boston's Ward Eight.

Early life

Lomasney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Maurice Lomasney and Mary Murray, immigrants from Ireland who had fled the potato famine.

Lomasney's parents and two of his siblings died when he was still a child. After his parents died Lomasney and his older brother, Joseph P. Lomasney, moved in with their aunt.

Lomasney left school when he was in the eighth grade; he then became the leader of a local Irish street gang, and he worked as a bootblack. Lomasney later befriended a local Democratic ward boss and he worked as a lamplighter and a health inspector.

Political career

On March 7, 1894 Lomasney received a bullet wound in the leg in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. His assailant, James A. Dunan, blamed Lomasney for a dispute he had with the Boston Board of Health.[6]

In 1916 the Massachusetts legislature and electorate approved a calling of a Constitutional Convention.[7] In May 1917 Lomasney was elected to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917, representing the 5th Suffolk District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Legacy

Lomasney created a famous saying on the importance of discretion: "Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink."

A street named Lomasney Way in Boston is named after him. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter printing co., state printers, 1919, p. 11
  2. ↑ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter printing co., state printers, 1919, pp. 7–11.
  3. ↑ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter printing co., state printers, 1919, pp. 865, 971.
  4. ↑ M. M. Lomasney, Boston Leader In Politics, Dies Pneumonia After Lingering Illness Is Cause of Death, Hartford, Conn: The Hartford Courant, August 13, 1933, p. 9.
  5. ↑ Boston Evening Transcript September 7, 1904
  6. ↑ New York Times, March 8, 1894
  7. ↑ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter printing co., state printers, 1919, pp. 7–8, 11.
  8. ↑ http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/beacon_hill/2012/06/the_life_legend_and_lessons_of.html

Bibliography

Bibliography

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