US Congressman. He was a United States Representative from the State of Rhode Island. He was born one of nine children as John Matthew O'Connell to Michael B. O'Connell (1840-1895), and his wife Ellen B. Hurley O'Connell (1835-1928), on August 10, 1872. He was educated locally and attended the local common public schools before teaching in the local schools from 1892 to 1902. He then attended and graduated from the Philadelphia Dental School, now a branch of Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1905. Following his graduation, he set up his dental practice in Westerly, Rhode Island, also in 1905. During World War II, he served his country in the United States Army for sixteen months with the Headquarters Sanitary Train, Twelfth Division, and later with the rank of Major in the United States Dental Reserve. Following his military service, he took an interest in politics and was elected and served as a Member of the Rhode Island State House of Representatives from 1929 to 1932. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative Richard Steere Aldrich (1884-1941), on March 4, 1933. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Rhode Island's 2nd District (the Seventy-Third Congress, the Seventy-Forth Congress, and the Seventy-Fifth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1939. He was not a Candidate for renomination in 1938. In total, he was elected in 1932, reelected in 1934, reelected in 1936, and retired in 1938. Following his time in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Harry Sandager (1887-1955), on January 3, 1939. During his time in the United States Congress, he also served as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from the State of Rhode Island in 1936. While serving in the United States Congress, he was also considered one of the staunchest supporters of the then-President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). A Member of the Catholic faith, he was also involved in several prominent organizations and clubs during his lifetime including the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the American Legion. He passed away in Westerly, Rhode Island, on December 6, 1941, at the age of 69, and he was buried in Saint Sebastian Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island. He was married to Marie Galli O'Connell (1876-1965), with whom he had one child, a son named John Matthew O'Connell Jr. His wife Marie passed away in Westerly, Rhode Island, on August 15, 1965, and she is also buried in Saint Sebastian Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island.