7. A one-term Representative who opposed American involvement in the First World War, Michael F. Farley died suddenly in 1921 after contracting anthrax from his shaving brush
Born in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland, in 1863, at the age of eighteen Michael F. Farley emigrated to the United States. Settling in Brooklyn, Farley quickly established himself as a prominent local businessman following his acquisition of a tavern on West 22nd Street in New York City. Becoming President of the Wine and Liquor Dealers Association of New York County, in 1914 Farley was elected to the 64th United States Congress as Representative for his district. A proponent of the Gore-McLemore Resolution in 1916, intended to prevent the United States being dragged into World War I, the bill was defeated after opposition by President Woodrow Wilson.
Defeated after a single term, losing the 1916 election to Fiorello H. La Guardia, Farley returned to his profitable business ventures. However, in October 1921, Farley became exposed to anthrax contracted from his shaving brush. Seeking treatment at a hospital and receiving an anti-anthrax serum, Farley’s condition was too advanced for his physicians. Tragically succumbing to the infectious disease, Farley’s death helped publicize an ongoing effort by New York public health officials to prevent the importation of infected hides and animal hair products from certain regions after already causing eleven other deaths in the New York area.