James Cooney (Missouri)
James Cooney was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Marshall, Missouri. He represented Missouri's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House from 1897 until 1903.Biography
Cooney was born in County Limerick, Ireland on July 28, 1848. His parents moved their family to the United States in 1852, and settled in Troy, New York.
Cooney was educated in Troy, and at age 18 moved to Missouri, where he attended the public schools and the University of Missouri at Columbia. He then became a school teacher and principal, and worked in Illinois and Missouri for several years, including serving as principal of the high school in Sturgeon, Missouri.
In 1875 Cooney settled in Marshall, Missouri. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and established a practice. He was elected Saline County probate judge in 1880. In 1882 and 1884 he won election as the county's prosecuting attorney.
Cooney was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1902.
After leaving Congress, Cooney resumed the practice of law in Marshall. He died there on November 16, 1904, and was interred at Ridge Park Cemetery.
