Daniel Murdock O’Neil

May 5, 1889 - December 19, 1959

the

The Boston Police Strike of 1919, as described in the article above in the Harvard Magazine.
Boston Mounted Policeman 1918
A bachelor until age forty, Dan spent many a day, footloose and fancy free, at Revere Beach, north of Boston. (Dan, sitting, fourth from left)
One of Dan’s early jobs was as a motorman on the East Boston trolly line.
Travel to Canada with friends, above. Below, a postcard from Joe Kennedy, a friend and school mate from East Boston.
Postcard from his childhood friend,Joe Kennedy “This is some town, Dan. The cops are blind when they want to be.” Cordially, Joe K.”
One of the proudest moments of Dan’s life was when he was a member of the Boston Police Force, mounted division.

HarvardMagCover89

HarvardMagStrikecover

This dream job tp which Dan aspired to his whole life, was cut short with the bitter strike of the Boston Police Force. Dad often told us the harsh conditions under which they were working. Low pay, long hours, the cost of buying their own uniforms  and amunition.


They work hard to get support of other uniions with similar poor pay and conditions, but in the end lost the support of the groups they were counting on

 
Daniel Murdock O’Neil was born in East Boston on May 5, 1889, shortly after his family emigrated from Sydney, Nova Scotia where his father was a fisherman. He hoped for better work and pay, but that was not always possible. The following letter was sent from his father who returned to Canada for a fishing season, leaving his young family in East Boston. Lawrence died tragically in an accident on the docks of Boston a few years later.