Thomas J. Geary

Who was Thomas J. Geary?

Thomas J. Geary was a U.S. Representative from California.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Geary moved with his parents to San Francisco, California, in April 1863. He attended the public schools. He studied law at St. Ignatius College. He was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Petaluma, California, moving to Santa Rosa, California, in 1882. He served as district attorney of Sonoma County, California, in 1883 and 1884. He resumed the practice of law.

Geary was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. De Haven. He was reelected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and served from December 9, 1890, to March 3, 1895. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress.

Geary wrote the Geary Act, a law passed in 1892, which extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and added new requirements for Chinese residents in the United States.

After losing his bid for reelection, Geary resumed his practice of law. He moved to Nome, Alaska, in 1900, to San Francisco, California, in 1902, and returned to Santa Rosa, California, in 1903, continuing the practice of law. He retired from active pursuits in 1923. He died in Santa Rosa, California, July 6, 1929. He was interred in Rural Cemetery.