Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Greevy, Thomas H. April 4, 1850 - ???? ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Banja http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00004.html#0000757 January 10, 2025, 9:51 am Source: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair Co, PA: Philadelphia, 1892. Author: Samuel T. Wiley THOMAS H. GREEVY of Altoona, one of the prominent and leading lawyers of central Pennsylvania, and now a contestant for the seat of Edward Scull in the fifty-second Congress of the United States, is a son of Luke and Mary (King) Greevy, and was born in the city of Birmingham, England, April 4, 1850. His parents were natives of County Roscommon, Ireland, and after marriage removed to Birmingham, where Mr. Greevy sought for more profitable employment in that great manufacturing centre of England than he could obtain in his own native island. After several years' residence in Birmingham, Luke Greevy, in 1856, came to Pennsylvania, where he settled in Williamsport, and resided there until his death, in 1869, at fifty years of age. His employment was that of a clerk in mercantile houses, and was said to have been very accurate and efficient in his special line of work. He was a member of the Catholic church, and a strong democrat in politics, and held several borough offices in the city of Williamsport. His widow was born in 1822, and still resides in Williamsport, where she is a member of the Catholic church of that place. Thomas H. Greevy was brought, at six years of age, by his parents from Birmingham, England, to Williamsport, this State, where he received his education in the public and commercial schools of that city. Leaving school he was engaged for a short time in the field of journalism, and published and edited the Labor Reform Journal, of Williamsport, which was a weekly sheet, and advocated the views suggested by its name. In 1871 he left the editorial desk to enter upon the study of law. He commenced reading with Samuel G. Morrison, of Williamsport, but completed his course with Frank P. Tierney, of Altoona, and was admitted to the Blair county bar on January 29, 1874. After admission to the bar he commenced the practice of his profession in Altoona, where he has remained ever since. He has built up a very fine law practice in this and adjoining counties, and has earned quite a reputation for the skillful and successful manner in which he handles difficult and intricate cases. He is a Jacksonian democrat, and a member of the Catholic church. On November 3, 1874, he married Kate G., daughter of Peter McNally, formerly of Hollidaysburg, and they have two children: Helen and Walter. The political career of Thomas H. Greevy commenced in 1877, when he was elected as city recorder of Altoona, which office he held until 1882. In the meantime he had served as a delegate to several democratic State conventions, and in 1888 was a delegate to the Democratic National convention which nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency of the United States. In 1888 Mr. Greevy was the democratic nominee for Congress in the Twentieth Congressional district, and was defeated by Edward Scull, who only received 4,200 majority, while the average republican majority in the district at the same election was 4,700. In 1890 he was renominated by the democrats for Congress in the Twentieth district, composed of the counties of Cambria, Blair, Somerset, and Bedford. The certificate of election was given to Hon. Edward Scull, the republican candidate, and Mr. Greevy took immediate steps to contest his opponent's seat in the fifty-second Congress. The testimony which he has taken in the case is comprised in three volumes of two thousand six hundred pages of fine print. This is the greatest contested case that has appeared before Congress since the famous case of Curtin and Yokum, in 1877. Thomas H. Greevy has always been active in the political field, and is an efficient and persistent worker for the success of the Democratic party in city, State, and National affairs. Additional Comments: Originally submitted 2001. Transcribed by Bonnie Millican, Akron, Ohio. This file has been created by a form at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pafiles/ File size: 4.4 Kb