1. William Flinn was a powerful political boss and construction magnate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
18 Facts About William Flinn
1. 2.
William Flinn was born in Manchester, England, on May 26,1851, to John Flinn, an Irish immigrant, and Mary Hamilton Flinn, an Englishwoman by birth.
3.
William Flinn became politically active in the Republican Party as a ward boss collecting stray votes.
4.
William Flinn soon attained office in 1877 as a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners.
5.
William Flinn quickly partnered with Christopher Magee, the city's Republican Party political boss.
6.
In 1882, William Flinn was appointed chairman of the executive committee of the Pittsburgh Republican party, a position he held for the next 20 years, and in 1890 he was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he sponsored the Good Roads Act, which became law in 1895.
7.
William Flinn was elected chairman of the State Republican Party at its May 1912 convention.
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Boies Penrose 8.
William Flinn's election was seen as a victory for the progressive wing of the party, which essentially took control of the party away from the more conservative Boies Penrose.
9.
William Flinn resigned the chairmanship after less than two months in office.
10.
William Flinn therefore followed Roosevelt out of the Republican Party, and would later become active in the state's Progressive Party.
11.
Magee spent his wealth for more power, and William Flinn spent his power for more wealth.
12.
William Flinn was useful to Magee, Magee was indispensable to him.
13.
William Flinn was president of the Duquesne Lumber Company and the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining Company.
14.
William Flinn sat on the board of directors of the Arkansas Fuel Oil Company, the Arkansas Natural Gas Company, the Gulf Oil Corporation, and the Pittsburgh Coal Company.
15.
William Flinn married Nancy Galbraith in 1874 and the couple had seven children: five boys, two girls.
16.
William Flinn withdrew from local politics, as a result, and retired to a country estate north of the city called Beechwood Farm.
17.
William Flinn became a gentleman farmer of Guernsey cattle, German police dogs, and Belgian hares.
18.
William Flinn's country estate is a nature reserve, Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, operated by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.