WILLIAM BOURKE COCKRAN
WILLIAM BOURKE COCKRAN, orator, lawyer and legislator, is a native of Sligo county, Ireland, born February 28, 1854. His education was acquired in his native country and in France up to the age of seventeen, at which time, in 1871, he came to the United States to share its opportunities and adopt its citizenship. He began his career here as a teacher, first in a private academy, and later as principal of a public school in Westchester county, in the vicinity of New York city. Simultaneously he took up the study of law, dihgently improved his spare time in furthering his legal knowledge, presented himself for examination and was admitted to practice at the bar. He rose rapidly in his profession, and soon won for himself a position of honor among the leaders of the New York bar, as well as a high place as a forensic orator. Among the celebrated trials with which he has been identified may be cited that of Jacob Sharp, "Boodle Alderman," and that of the murderer, Kemmler, the first to be executed in the electric chair in the state of New York, whose case after conviction was appealed to the court of last resort by Mr. Cockran on the ground that the new law violated the constitutional provision forbidding the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments.
Mr. Cockran's interest in New York city politics became manifest early in his career. He was affiliated with the Democratic party, and with Tammany Hall, in whose councils he was not only a prominent member but a leader. His power as a speaker made him a force in public meetings and at party conventions. His prominence in state and national politics, however, dates from 1881; and in 1890 he was elected to congress as a Tammany Democrat from a New York city district. In the Democratic national convention of 1884, he delivered a notable speech opposing the nomination of Mr. Cleveland for the presidency. This speech, besides giving him national fame, fixed the public gaze upon his appearance in congress. Although his congressional career was a successful one, he did not find the work of federal legislation altogether to his
