(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

William Bourke Cochran

1854 - 1923

BiographyKnown as "silver tongued oracle"; rumored engagement to ISG after Roosevelt wedding 1904; U.S. Congressman.

COCKRAN, William Bourke, a Representative from New York; born in County Sligo, Ireland, February 28, 1854; was educated in France and in his native country; immigrated to the United States when seventeen years of age; teacher in a private academy and principal of a public school in Westchester County, N.Y.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1876 and commenced practice in Mount Vernon, N.Y.; two years later moved to New York City and continued the practice of law; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1884, 1892, 1904, and 1920; member of the commission to revise the judiciary article of the constitution of the State of New York in 1890; elected to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Francis B. Spinola; reelected to the Fifty-third Congress and served from November 3, 1891, to March 3, 1895; was not a candidate for renomination in 1896, because of his opposition to the free-silver platform of Bryan and Sewall and campaigned for McKinley; in 1900 returned to the Democratic Party and supported Bryan; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George B. McClellan; reelected to the Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Congresses and served from February 23, 1904, to March 3, 1909; declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1908 to the Sixty-first Congress; resumed the practice of law in New York City; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1921, until his death in Washington, D.C., March 1, 1923; had been reelected to the Sixty-eighth Congress; interment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Mount Hope, Westchester, N.Y.

Bibliography
McGurrin, James. Bourke Cockran; A Free Lance in American Politics. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000575

COCKRAN, William Bourke, a Representative from New York; born in County Sligo, Ireland, February 28, 1854; was educated in France and in his native country; immigrated to the United States when seventeen years of age; teacher in a private academy and principal of a public school in Westchester County, N.Y.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1876 and commenced practice in Mount Vernon, N.Y.; two years later moved to New York City and continued the practice of law; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1884, 1892, 1904, and 1920; member of the commission to revise the judiciary article of the constitution of the State of New York in 1890; elected to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Francis B. Spinola; reelected to the Fifty-third Congress and served from November 3, 1891, to March 3, 1895; was not a candidate for renomination in 1896, because of his opposition to the free-silver platform of Bryan and Sewall and campaigned for McKinley; in 1900 returned to the Democratic Party and supported Bryan; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George B. McClellan; reelected to the Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Congresses and served from February 23, 1904, to March 3, 1909; declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1908 to the Sixty-first Congress; resumed the practice of law in New York City; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1921, until his death in Washington, D.C., March 1, 1923; had been reelected to the Sixty-eighth Congress; interment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Mount Hope, Westchester, N.Y.
History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “COCKRAN, William Bourke,” http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/11169 (December 07, 2017)

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Last Updated8/7/24

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