E. Mark Sullivan

Edward Mark Sullivan (October 12, 1878 – May 25, 1947) was an American attorney who was corporation counsel of Boston, chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, and the grand exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Early life

Sullivan was born on October 12, 1878, in Ipswich, Massachusetts.[1] His parents, Jeremiah and Julia Sullivan, were immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland and his father worked a gardener.[1][2] He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Boston College in 1900 and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1903.[1] He paid for his education by working as a newspaper reporter for the Beverly Times.[2]

Career

In 1902, Sullivan entered the law office of Alden P. White in Salem, Massachusetts.[2] He was admitted to the Essex County, Massachusetts bar on September 14, 1903.[1] At the encouragement of Beverly Times publisher Albert Vittum, Sullivan opened a law office in Beverly, Massachusetts.[2]

When the Ipswich District Court was formed in 1906, Sullivan was appointed by Governor Curtis Guild Jr. to be one of its first associate justices.[3] In 1907, at the recommendation of U.S. Representative Augustus P. Gardner, Sullivan was appointed an assistant United States Attorney for the Boston office.[4] In 1910, Gardner encouraged Sullivan to run against Essex County district attorney W. Scott Peters. Sullivan believed he was too inexperienced and another candidate, Henry Converse Atwill, was found to challenge Peters.[2] He resigned from the U.S. attorney's office in November 1913.[2]

Sullivan was a member of the Republican Party and a friend and supporter of Augustus P. Gardner and Henry Cabot Lodge. However, in the nonpartisan 1921 Boston mayoral election he backed James Michael Curley, a member of the Democratic Party. After John Andrew Sullivan declined the position, Curley appointed Sullivan corporation counsel of Boston.[2] He resigned shortly before Curley's term ended in 1925.[5]

Sullivan was a wet (anti-prohibition) candidate in the 1932 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[6] He finished third in the four candidate Republican primary with 4% of the vote.[7]

In 1935, Curley, now Governor of Massachusetts, appointed Sullivan to chair the Boston Finance Commission.[8] He was replaced in 1937 by Curley's successor, Charles F. Hurley, but remained on the commission as an unpaid member.[9]

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

Sullivan joined the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in 1903.[10] In 1918, he was elected exalted ruler of the Boston Lodge.[11] He became a district deputy in 1919 and a member of the Grand Lodge Convention Corporation in 1923.[10] In 1942, he was elected to the organization's highest position, Grand Exalted Ruler.[10]

Personal life and death

In 1909, The Boston Globe announced Sullivan's engagement to Catherine M. Sullivan of Newton Upper Falls.[12] The marriage never took place. In 1912, he married Catherine Hayes at St. Patrick's Church in Syracuse, New York. On the day of the ceremony, the Syracuse Police Department guarded the church to prevent one of Sullivan's former clients, Annie Mahoney, from interrupting the ceremony. According to The Boston Globe, Mahoney had traveled from Boston and attempted to stop the wedding by making criminal accusations against both Sullivan and Hayes, but "the police believed her insane". She did not show up to the church on the day of the wedding.[13]

Sullivan died on May 25, 1947, at his home in Brighton, after a long illness. He was survived by his wife and four children.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Warren, Charles (1908). History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 305. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Offers Post to E. Mark Sullivan: Mayor Selects Him For Corporation Counsel". The Boston Globe. February 9, 1922.
  3. ^ "New District Court". The Boston Globe. July 3, 1906.
  4. ^ "Asst Dist Atty W. H. Lewis Resigns". The Boston Globe. May 18, 1907.
  5. ^ "Appointment Is Left To Nichols". The Boston Globe. December 10, 1925.
  6. ^ "E. Mark Sullivan Out For Governor". The Boston Globe. July 7, 1932.
  7. ^ Frederic W. Cook, Secretary of the Commonwealth (1932). Election Statistics, 1931–32. Boston, MA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ "Fin Com Ouster Will Be Fought". The Boston Globe. January 10, 1935.
  9. ^ "Council Praises Kelly On Award". The Boston Globe. April 15, 1937.
  10. ^ a b c d "Deaths and Funerals: E. Mark Sullivan Ex-Corporation Counsel, Fin Com Head, Clubman". The Boston Globe. May 26, 1957.
  11. ^ "E. Mark Sullivan Chosen Exalted Ruler Of Elks". The Boston Globe. March 4, 1918.
  12. ^ "Interesting Engagement Out.: Asst U S Dist Atty E.Mark Sullivan to Be Married To Newton Upper Falls Girl". The Boston Globe. January 3, 1909.
  13. ^ "Police Guard Church Door". The Boston Globe. June 20, 1912.
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