US Congressman, Educator, Entrepreneur. He was a United States Representative from the State of Connecticut. He was born as Thomas Lawrence Reilly to John Reilly (1285-1901), and his wife Catherine Fagan Reilly (1833-1907), in New Britain, Connecticut, on September 20, 1858. He was educated locally and attended the local common schools before attending and graduating from the prestigious Connecticut State Normal School in 1876. He then served as an Assistant Town Clerk of New Britain, Connecticut in 1876, before moving and settling with his parents in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1877. He then studied law for a year, and engaged in employment as a bookkeeper, and also as a newspaper correspondent, beginning in 1886. He was also one of the founders of the Meriden Journal of Meriden, Connecticut in 1886, becoming the City Editor shortly thereafter. He also took an interest in local politics and other political interests during this time. He then served a term as a Member of the Meriden, Connecticut, Board of Education from 1896 to 1903, and as Chairman of the Meriden, Connecticut, Town Committee in 1900. He also served as the Mayor of Meriden, Connecticut, from 1906 to 1912. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative Nehemiah Day Sperry (1827-1911), on March 4, 1911. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Connecticut's 2nd District (Sixty-Second Congress and Sixty-Third Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1913. His 2nd District was then redistricted to the 3rd District. Following his first term in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Bryan Francis Mahan (1856-1923), on March 4, 1913. He then ran and was elected to another term in the United State Congress succeeding the outgoing United States Representative Edwin Werter Higgins (1874-1954), on March 4, 1913. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Connecticut's 3rd District (Sixty-Third Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. While representing the State of Connecticut in the Sixty-Second Congress, he authored Section 5 of the appropriations bill that limited postal workers' 8-hour shifts to be spread out over no more than 10-hour spans. This became known as the Reilly Eight in Ten Law. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for reelection to represent the Sixty-Fourth Congress in 1914. Following his second and final term in the United States Congress, he was succeeded by the incoming United States Representative John Quillin Tilson (1866-1958), on March 4, 1915. In total, he was elected in 1910, redistricted from the 2nd District to the 3rd District, elected in 1912, and lost reelection in 1914). After leaving the United States Congress, he served as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from the State of Connecticut in 1916, and was employed in the Internal Revenue Service from 1916 to 1917. He finally was elected and served a term as the Sheriff of New Haven County, Connecticut, in 1918, and was in office in that post until his death on July 6, 1924, at the age of 65. A Member of the Catholic faith, he was a lifelong member of several prominent organizations and clubs including the Elks, Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Royal Arcanum. He passed away from complications of several strokes and heart-related issues at his home in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 6, 1924. Following his death, his funeral services were held with a procession down the main streets in New Haven, Connecticut, which was led by motorcycle police officers with a service at St. Brendan's Church in New Haven, Connecticut, where the Right Reverend Monsignor Patrick James McGivney (1867-1928), officiated, and in attendance were crowds or people, friends, family members, and many colleagues. Following his funeral services in New Haven, Connecticut, he was buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Meridan, Connecticut. On his death, he was remembered as, "Tom Reilly was one of those warm-hearted, whole-souled, generous men who made steadfast friends and always held that friendship. "Self-made, he was three times elected to the highest position in this city. He performed the duties in a manner that won for him the highest praise and support and reflected signal honor upon himself as a wise, progressive, and essentially human chief executive. "Elected twice representative in the Congress of the United States and later twice high sheriff of this county, he displayed his great ability to advantage and reflected great credit upon his home city and himself. "Talented. broad-minded. extremely popular, with the power to stir the people by his eloquence, foremost in public questions whether relating to peace or, war, this genial, open-hearted, famed son of Meriden, has now passed into eternal peace. "The people of Meriden unite in sincere mourning at the death of Thomas L. Reilly and his loss will be keenly felt." He was married twice, first to Marie Elizabeth Rowen Reilly (1859-1906), in Blackstone, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1884, and the couple had seven children together including, Robert Rowen Reilly (1885-1926), Katharine Margaret Reilly (1886-1920 ), Mary Frances Reilly (1888-1954), Louis James Reilly (1889-1938), Arthur Edward Joseph Reilly (1891-1968), Rose Acquina Reilly (1892-1975), and Agnes Monica Reilly (1894-1983). His first wife Marie passed away on November 30, 1906, at the age of 47, and she is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Meriden, Connecticut. He was married second, to Mary Emily Seely Downs Reilly (1872-1959), in Meriden, Connecticut, on February 23, 1909, and they had one child together, a daughter named Molly Reilly (1889-1954). His second wife Mary survived him and passed away in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 9, 1959, at the age of 87, and she is buried in Long Hill Burial Ground in Trumbull, Connecticut.