[1] His family moved to a farm in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1864, but quickly left for Boston's Charlestown neighborhood.

[6] On January 1, 1896, a syndicate led by W. D. Sohler purchased 80% of the paper and O'Meara returned as editor-in-chief, publisher, and part owner.

[4] On September 7, 1904, O'Meara declared his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives seat in Massachusetts's 11th congressional district.

On July 20 he and his family left the city for a year long vacation in Europe, where his children were to attend school.

On May 23, 1906, Governor Curtis Guild Jr. cabled O'Meara, who staying in Dresden, informing him that he had been nominated for the position of police commissioner and asking him to return to the city at once.

During his first year, O'Meara barred officers from accepting rewards for routine action, replaced the disciplinary action of fining police officers with extra work assignments, forbid city hall officials from interfering with police business, eliminated bathhouse details, opposed veteran's preference for appointment to the police department, and issued new orders regarding his officers' use of firearms, arrest of juveniles, physical appearance.

[14] In 1915 he ordered that police officers no longer regulate dancing at hotels and other places that sold liquor.

His reappointment was opposed by a group of 150 Boston ministers, led by Willard Francis Mallalieu, as well as a group of South End women, who wanted public education activist Florence Page appointed to the position over the "weak and inefficient" O'Meara.