James KERRIGAN, Congress, NY (1828-1899)

KERRIGAN James , a Representative from New York; born in New York City December 25, 1828; completed preparatory studies and attended Fordham College; served in Company D, First Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, during the Mexican War, after which he accompanied the Walker filibustering expedition to Nicaragua as a captain and served for a brief period as alcalde of the Nicaraguan capital; returned to New York City and was elected alderman of the sixth ward; also served as clerk of the Tombs police court; upon the outbreak of the Civil War organized and was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, in the Union Army and served from May 19, 1861, until February 21, 1862; elected as an Independent Democrat to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1863); became an enthusiastic Irish Nationalist and when the invasion of Canada was planned in 1866 led a company across the border; in 1867 commanded the vessel which landed arms and ammunition on the Irish coast; accompanied an expedition to Alaska in 1899; returned in bad health and died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on November 1, 1899; interment in St. Raymond's Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present