Editing Samuel O'Reilly (section)

== Biography ==
O’Reilly was born in [[Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut]], to Irish immigrants Thomas O’Reilly and Mary Ann Hurley in May 1854.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Nyssen |first=Carmen |title=Samuel F. O'Reilly |url=https://buzzworthytattoo.com/tattoo-artists-tattooed-people/samuel-f-oreilly/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722033539/http://www.buzzworthytattoo.com/tattoo-artists-tattooed-people/samuel-f-oreilly/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 22, 2017 |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Buzzworthy Tattoo History |language=en-US}}</ref>

He began tattooing in [[New York City|New York]] around the mid-1880s, probably mentored by [[Martin Hildebrandt]].<ref name=":1" /> O'Reilly's machine was based on the rotary technology of [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Electric pen|autographic printing pen]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2007 |title=Samuel O'Reilly |url=http://www.starlighttattoo.com/tattoo_history_info.php?id=75 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112001931/http://starlighttattoo.com/tattoo_history_info.php?id=75 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2007-11-12 |access-date=2007-09-17 |website=Starlight Tattoo: Tattoo History}}</ref> Although O'Reilly held the first patent for an electric tattoo machine, tattoo artists had been experimenting with and modifying a variety of different machines prior to the issuance of the patent. O'Reilly's first pre-patent tattoo machine was a modified dental plugger, which he used to tattoo several dime museum attractions for exhibition between the years 1889 and 1891.<ref name=":0" /> From the late 1880s on, tattoo machines continually evolved into the modern tattoo machine.<ref name=":0" /> 

O'Reilly first owned a shop at #5 Chatham Square on the New York Bowery. In 1904, he moved to #11 Chatham Square when the previous tenant, tattoo artist Elmer Getchell, left the city.<ref name=":0" /> Charles Wagner was allegedly apprenticed to O'Reilly and later assumed ownership of his #11 Chatham Square shop.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tattoos in the USA |url=http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/united_states_tattoos.html |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=The Vanishing Tattoo}}</ref>

On April 29, 1909, Samuel O'Reilly fell while painting his house and died.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Samuel O'Reilly |url=https://www.tattooarchive.com/history/oreilly_samuel.php |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Tattoo Archive}}</ref> He is buried in [[Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn|Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY.]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cavanaugh |first=Ray |date=2016-03-25 |title=O'Reilly's Tattoo Machine: Fine Art for the Masses |url=https://www.irishamerica.com/2016/03/oreillys-tattoo-machine-fine-art-for-the-masses-2/ |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Irish America |language=en-US}}</ref>