Thomas J. Carran

Thomas Jefferson "Laughing Tom" Carran (1841–1894) was an American attorney and politician. Elected as city attorney of Cleveland in 1867 at the age of just 26, Carran is best remembered for having been elected to the Ohio State Senate.

Biography Early years

Thomas Jefferson Carran was born February 1, 1841, in Warrensville, Ohio, the son of Robert A. Carran, and the former Mary Neal. He attended and graduated from Western Reserve College in Cleveland, Ohio, teaching school for a short time after completion of his university studies.

In 1887 Carran moved to Los Angeles, California, establishing a new legal practice there. He retired to his room in the evening of June 20 in good spirits, but did not appear on schedule in the morning of June 21. Around noon his friends sought him out at the hotel in which he was staying, but found him laying on his side, dead for a number of hours. A subsequent autopsy determined that Carran had died of heart disease. Carran was 53 years old at the time of his death.

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