Education
He attended the public schools. He studied law at Saint Ignatius College.
United States representative politician
He attended the public schools. He studied law at Saint Ignatius College.
He was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Petaluma, California, moving to Santa Rosa, California, in 1882. He served as district attorney of Sonoma County, California, in 1883 and 1884. He resumed the practice of law.
Geary was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Jay De Haven.
He was reelected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and served from December 9, 1890, to March 3, 1895. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress.
Geary wrote the Geary Acting, a law passed in 1892, which extended the Chinese Exclusion Acting of 1882 and added new requirements for Chinese residents in the United States. After losing his bid for reelection, Geary resumed his practice of law.
He moved to Nome, Alaska, in 1900 in junction with the Gold Rush going on there at the time, to San Francisco, California, in 1902, and returned to Santa Rosa, California, in 1903, continuing the practice of law.
He retired from active pursuits in 1923. He died in Santa Rosa, California, July 6, 1929. He was interred in Rural Cemetery.
