Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 3 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 32

Thomas P. Finnegan, assistant secretary of the company operating under the name of Hackett, Hoff & Thiermann, Incorporated, was born in Milwaukee, April 25, 1852. His father, Thomas Finnegan, was a native of Cavan, Ireland, while the mother was born in Kells, Westmeath, Ireland. They came to the United States in October, 1849, settling in what was then the third ward of Milwaukee, at the comer of Oneida street and Juneau place. The father was a landscape gardener and devoted his life to that business. He was permitted to enjoy his new home, however, for only a brief period, as he passed away on the 25th of August, 1862. His widow long survived and died on the 16th of August, 1895. In their family were four sons and four daughters.

Thomas P. Finnegan, who was the fifth in order of birth, pursued his education in the public schools of Milwaukee to the age of eleven years, when in 1863 he secured work as a cash boy in the retail dry goods house owned by J. L. Davis. He was not long in recognizing the fact that industry and perseverance constitute the highway to success. He worked through the succeeding sixteen years in various positions and with various firms, each change in his business connections marking a forward step as the result of his faithfulness, his thoroughness and his diligence. On the 1st of March, 1879, he was appointed assistant clerk in the municipal court, a position which he filled until January 1, 1882, when he became deputy clerk under Julius Meiwinkel, who was then clerk of the court. Mr. Finnegan continued to occupy the position until 1890, and when Frank E. Wohler was elected clerk he was continued in the position of deputy, serving for four years under Mr. Wohler. On the 1st of May, 1894, he became associated with the firm of Hackett & HofE as manager of their safety deposit department and in charge of their books. He has been with this firm continuously since and upon the incorporation of the business in September, 1917, under the style of Hackett, Hoff & Thiermann, Incorporated, Mr. Finnegan was made assistant secretary, an office which he has since filled.

On the 1st of May, 1879, Mr. Finnegan was married in Milwaukee to Miss Margaret T. Hackett, who passed away April 24, 1908. Their children are: Margaret Theresa; Gertrude, who since 1903 has been a Sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Mary Agnes, who is a graduate registered nurse of St. Mary's Hospital of the class of 1910 and is now with the city board of health in connection with the school department; Agnes, who died at the age of twenty-two months; Thomas A., a member of the Jesuit Order, who is pursuing his theological course in the St. Louis University at St. Louis, Missouri, and will be ordained to the priesthood in 1923; Bellina A., who is a clerk of the board of public works; Francis Anthony, who was ordained a secular priest in May, 1921, and is now assistant to Father Charles Olsen in St. Mary's church at Janesville, Wisconsin; Theresa; and Genevieve, who is a director of the kindergarten at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

In politics Mr. Finnegan has always maintained an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment rather than of party ties. He has been very prominent in the upbuilding of the Catholic church and was one of the organizers and for three years secretary of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, formerly known as the Catholic Knights of America. He was secretary of St. John's Cathedral congregation from 1883 until 1886, when he became a member of Holy Rosary parish and was elected secretary thereof, while subsequently he was chosen treasurer and so served until 1920. He was likewise a member of St. John's Cathedral choir for nine years and has been a member of the Holy Rosary choir for twenty-one years. He is very fond of music and of reading, turning to these for rest and recreation, and in years past has devoted much time to church work, his labors and influence in this connection being marked and vital.