Representative George Francis O’Shaunessy

George Francis O’Shaunessy (May 1, 1868 – November 28, 1934) was an American politician and lawyer who represented Rhode Island in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919. He was born in Galway, Ireland, on May 1, 1868, and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1872, settling in New York. Growing up in New York City, he was educated in the public schools, an experience that introduced him to the civic and legal institutions of his adopted country and laid the foundation for his later legal and political career.

O’Shaunessy pursued legal studies at Columbia College Law School in New York City. After completing his legal education, he was admitted to the bar of New York in 1889 and commenced the practice of law in New York City. Over the next several years he built a professional reputation that led to appointments in public legal service. In 1904 and 1905 he served as deputy attorney general of New York, a position in which he assisted in representing the state in legal matters and enforcing state laws. In 1906 he became assistant corporation counsel of New York City, working on the city’s legal affairs during a period of rapid urban growth and municipal reform.

In 1907 O’Shaunessy moved from New York to Rhode Island, where he continued the practice of law and became active in Democratic Party politics. His legal background and prior governmental experience in New York helped establish him as a prominent figure in his new state. Within a few years of his arrival, he emerged as a leading Democratic candidate for federal office, reflecting both his professional standing and the growing strength of the Democratic Party in Rhode Island in the early twentieth century.

O’Shaunessy was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1910, representing Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, and he took his seat in the Sixty-second Congress on March 4, 1911. He was subsequently reelected to three additional terms, serving continuously through the Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-fifth Congresses until March 3, 1919. His eight years in the House coincided with a significant period in American history, encompassing the Progressive Era and World War I. As a member of the House of Representatives, George Francis O’Shaunessy participated in the legislative process, contributed to debates on national policy, and represented the interests of his Rhode Island constituents during a time of major economic, social, and international change.

In 1918 O’Shaunessy declined to seek reelection to the House in order to pursue higher office. He was a candidate for the United States Senate from Rhode Island, running as a Democrat, but was unsuccessful in that bid. Following his departure from Congress in March 1919, his service and party loyalty were recognized by the Democratic administration of President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson appointed him collector of internal revenue for the district of Rhode Island, placing him in charge of the federal government’s internal revenue operations in the state during the closing months of World War I and the immediate postwar period.

O’Shaunessy served as collector of internal revenue for Rhode Island until 1921, when President Wilson left office and the administration changed. At that point he resigned the post and returned to private legal practice in Rhode Island. In his later years he continued to reside in the Providence area, remaining identified with the legal profession and with the Democratic Party, though he did not again hold major public office. He died in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 28, 1934. George Francis O’Shaunessy was buried in St. Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, closing a life that had taken him from immigrant beginnings in Ireland and New York to a substantial career in law and national politics.