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Capturing O'Neill: Dedication pages of books on Irish traditional music, signed by Capt. Francis O'Neill

Mayor Harrison

This page is referenced by:

Mayor Carter H. Harrison To the Honorable
Carter H. Harrison
Mayor of Chicago,
As a Slight Tribute
from the Author.
December 1st
1913

Biography:
Mayor Harrison of Chicago (Carter Henry Harrison IV)
Born: April 23, 1860
Died: December 25, 1953

Carter Henry Harrison served five terms as the mayor of Chicago from 1897-1905 and 1911-1915, and was the first Chicago-native mayor of the city. He received his bachelor's degree from Loyola University in 1881, and received his law degree from Yale. He was the son of Carter Harrison III, who also served five terms as mayor of Chicago, but who was assassinated before completing his fifth term. Before taking office, Mayor Harrison served as a newspaper publisher, having operated The Chicago Times with his brother from 1891 to 1895. He was a member of the Democratic party, and appointed O’Neill as Chief of the Police Department in 1901 at the start of his third term as mayor. (Christopher Richardson)

Harrison wrote in his biography that O'Neill was “a conscientious, industrious, if not brilliant chief.” It’s also very interesting that O'Neill really did owe his appointment in significant part to a woman named Kate Doyle. Kate and her husband Johnny Doyle, a fireman, used to host Irish music gatherings, but more significantly Doyle was a Nanny/Governess for the Harrison family, and also a very significant political operative for the Harrisons. O’Neill pasted a clipping about how she asked Harrison to appoint him in his scrapbook and he was a pallbearer at her funeral.
[Michael O'Malley] For more on Doyle and her influence, see the companion site to Michael O'Malley's book, Beat Cop.

Provenance: Chicago Public Library. Thanks to Michelle McCoy, Senior Archival Specialist, Special Collections & Preservation Division, Chicago Public Library, who notes that this copy of O'Neill's Irish Minstrels and Musicians was given to the Chicago Public Library on October 1, 1914.