Thomas J. Carran

Thomas Jefferson "Laughing Tom" Carran (1841–1894) was an American attorney and politician. Elected as city attorney of Cleveland in 1867 at the age of just 26, Carran is best remembered for having been elected to the

Ohio State Senate

.

Biography

Early years

Thomas Jefferson Carran was born February 1, 1841, in

Cleveland, Ohio, teaching school for a short time after completion of his university studies.^[1]

Following the outbreak of the

Chickamauga Campaign and at the battle of Mission Ridge and did not muster out of the army until the end of the war.^[1]

He married C. Louisa Proudfoot (1846-1904) of Cleveland in 1864, with whom he had two children.[1]

After the war Carran moved to Cleveland and began studying law at a prominent firm in the city.^[1] Carran was subsequently admitted to the Ohio state bar in 1866^[2] and went into private practice, quickly establishing a successful firm.^[1]

Political career

Carran's first venture into politics came in 1867, when he ran for and was elected as City Attorney of Cleveland — becoming at age 26 the youngest individual ever elected to that position.^[1]

Carran won election to the

Secretary of State James G. Blaine.^[1]

As a member of the Ohio Senate, Carran was regarded as of extremely sunny disposition and given the nickname "Laughing Tom," owing to the fact that, as one contemporary put it, "he simply laughs because he can't help it."[3]

In 1887 Carran moved to

Freemason.^[1]

Death and legacy

In June 1894, Carran was tapped to nominate

Sacramento.^[4] He retired to his room in the evening of June 20 in good spirits, but did not appear on schedule in the morning of June 21.^[4] Around noon his friends sought him out at the hotel in which he was staying, but found him laying on his side, dead for a number of hours.^[4] A subsequent autopsy determined that Carran had died of heart disease.^[4]

Carran was 53 years old at the time of his death.

Carran's body was interred at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.^[2]

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Carran's Death: How the Sad News Was Received in Los Angeles," Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1894, pg. 10.
^ ^a ^b Mamaquilts, "Thomas Jefferson Carran," Find-a-Grave, www.findagrave.com/ July 24, 2011.
^ W.S.M. "Correspondence, Gallipolis Journal, Columbus, O., Jan'y 17, 1880," Gallipolis [OH] Journal, Jan. 29, 1880, pg. 4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d W.G.T., "Ex-Senator Thomas J. Carran: Sudden Death of the Man Who Was to Nominate Millard," Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1894, pg. 2.

[LATimesObit-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Carran's Death: How the Sad News Was Received in Los Angeles," Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1894, pg. 10.

[Find-2] Mamaquilts, "Thomas Jefferson Carran," Find-a-Grave, www.findagrave.com/ July 24, 2011.

[3] W.S.M. "Correspondence, Gallipolis Journal, Columbus, O., Jan'y 17, 1880," Gallipolis [OH] Journal, Jan. 29, 1880, pg. 4.

[WGT-4] W.G.T., "Ex-Senator Thomas J. Carran: Sudden Death of the Man Who Was to Nominate Millard," Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1894, pg. 2.

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