Elsewhere in this work there is carried an interesting and informative narrative relating to the Dwyer family in the Mohawk valley and particularly to the life and services of the late John F. Dwyer, for many years one of the foremost citizens of Amsterdam, former mayor of that city and a former representative in the state assembly from Montgomery county, and of the latter's son, Matthew Dwyer, one of the leading members of the bar of the Montgomery county court, vice president of the Amsterdam City Bar Association, former corporation counsel for the city of Amsterdam and senior member of the law firm of Dwyer & Dwyer, of which his son, Thomas J. Dwyer, the immediate subject of this biographical review, is the junior member. To that narrative the attention of the reader is respectfully directed in this connection for further details regarding the family of which the subject of this sketch is a worthy representative in his generation.
Thomas J. Dwyer was born in Amsterdam, on June 8, 1897, and is the only son of Matthew and Jane (McNally) Dwyer, who also have a daughter, Miss Ann Gertrude Dwyer. Reared in Amsterdam, Thomas J. Dwyer completed his local studies in St. Mary's Institute in that city and then entered the Albany Law School, for which he had been prepared under his father's thoughtful preceptorship. He was graduated from that institution with the class of 1922 and in September of that year was admitted to the bar and was accepted to a partnership in his father's law practice, a mutually agreeable connection which since has been maintained, father and son practicing under the firm name of Dwyer & Dwyer, with offices at No. 43 East Main street, Amsterdam. Though his father has for years been one of the leaders in the ranks of the democratic party in Montgomery county, Mr. Dwyer is a stanch republican and has come to be recognized as one of the younger leaders in the ranks of that party hereabout. He is a member of the college fraternity Delta Chi, is likewise affiliated with the local council of the Knights of Columbus, having been reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic church, and is a member of the Amsterdam Kiwanis Club and of the local post of the American Legion, in the affairs of all of which organizations he is taking an active and influential interest. During the time of this country's participation in the World war Mr. Dwyer rendered service with the army overseas and had quite an interesting experience. He enlisted for service on September 13, 1918, and after a bit of preliminary training at Fort Slocum, where he was stationed but two weeks, he was assigned to overseas service and was attached to Headquarters Company of General Headquarters, at Chaumont, France, where he continued in service until the following May (1919), when he received his honorable discharge. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Dwyer returned home and continued his studies, finishing at the Albany Law School.
On June 4, 1924, Thomas J. Dwyer was united in marriage to Miss Effie M. Hughes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Hughes of Amsterdam. Mrs. Dwyer was reared in Amsterdam, the place of her birth, and has ever taken an interested part in the general social activities of the community.