HISTORICAL NOTES OF INTEREST.
BY THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY.
James Bourk, “captain of the brig Neptune,” is mentioned at Newport, R. I., 1773.
William Welch, “from Ireland,” settled in Charlestown, R. I. He was born in 1700 and died in 1786.
Richard Field, “a native of Dublin, Ireland,” was long a resident of Newport, R. I., and died in 1769.
Thomas McCartee of Hartford, Conn., is mentioned in the “Lexington Alarm” list of that place, 1775.
An Irishman, John Fitton, settled in Providence, R. I., about 1750. He was a merchant. He died in 1810.
Daniel Byrn was lieutenant in a regiment (1759) raised by act of the General Assembly of Rhode Island.
The records of Nantucket, Mass., contain the following entry: “Betty ye dau. of Denis Manning was born July ye 10, 1679.”
James Dailey is mentioned in the Revolutionary records as of the corps of Sappers and Miners; was at the siege of Yorktown.
The Chevalier Theobald Dillon was “colonel en second” of the Irish-French regiment of Dillon during the American Revolution.
Stephen Brady was of Col. Obadiah Johnson’s Connecticut regiment, 1778. The regiment participated in the battle of Rhode Island.
Constant Maguire “of County Fermanagh,” Ireland, settled in Rhode Island prior to 1750, and became prominent in Warwick and East Greenwich.
In 1751–’52, Terence Donnelly was engaged by the town of Newport, R. I., as a schoolmaster. He later conducted a school of his own in that place.
The ship Sally arrived at Boston, Mass., in 1763, having been fifty-nine days on the voyage from Ireland. She was quarantined at Boston for smallpox.
A privateer captain in the Revolution was William Malone. He is believed to have been of Newport, R. I. He commanded at one period The Harbinger.
John Conley of Stratford, Conn., served in the second troop of Sheldon’s Continental Light Dragoons during the Revolution and is mentioned as a trumpeter.
John Flynn of Woodstock, Conn., is mentioned in the Woodstock “Alarm List,” 1775. He is also mentioned as a trumpeter in Major Backus’ Light Horse, 1776.
Owen Neill of New London, Conn., sustained losses aggregating £91, 14s 6d by the ravages of the British at the time of the latter’s attack on New London, 1781.
Bridget Clifford came from Ireland, 1635, in the Primrose bound for Virginia. She was accompanied by two of her brothers. She died at Suffield, Conn., in 1695.
Peter Welsh was adjutant during the Revolution of Col. Frederick Weissenfels’ New York regiment of levies. He is also mentioned as quartermaster of the regiment.
Thomas Fitzgerald was a midshipman during the Revolution on the Continental frigate Trumbull. The latter was built in Connecticut under the authority of Congress.
Patrick Canny, a soldier of the Revolution, was serving at Horseneck, Conn., in 1782–’83. He is mentioned in Stiles’ History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Conn.
Philip Mullen was fire master of Albany, N. Y., in 1755, and Philip Ryley was in charge of the town clock. (Hon. Franklin M. Danaher in Early Irish in Old Albany, N. Y.)
John McGinnis was a New York soldier of the Revolution. He served at one period in Bradt’s Rangers. Also in this corps were Edward Early, Richard Kain and Barney Kelley.
Luke Burns, a cordwainer, resided in Providence, R. I., and died in 1788. Jonathan Green, “living near the Mill-Bridge in Providence,” was appointed administrator of the estate.
Bryant O’Dougherty was in Salem, Mass., in 1683. At that period there were many Irish in Salem. (Eben Putnam in “Historical and Genealogical Notes and Queries,” Salem Observer.)
James Kasson, with his father and six brothers, came from Ireland in 1722 and landed at Boston, Mass. He later settled in Voluntown, Conn., removing to Woodbury, Conn., in 1742.
Armand O’Connor was one of the “capitaines en second” of the Irish-French regiment of Walsh during the American Revolution. He is referred to as the Chevalier Armand O’Connor.
Henry Paget, “an Irish gentleman much respected,” was admitted a freeman of Rhode Island, 1742. He wedded a daughter of Rev. John Checkley, rector of a church in Providence, R. I.
Thomas Ryan is mentioned in the Connecticut Revolutionary records as a drummer in Captain Brewster’s company, Colonel Huntington’s regiment (Seventeenth Continental), 1776.
A Rhode Island merchantman, the Abby, Capt. John Donovan, was attacked in August, 1752, by a French warship. Captain Donovan met the attack in a spirited manner but was killed.
Maj. Matthew Donovan of the Ninth Virginia regiment during the Revolution died in the service, 1777. The state of Virginia allowed his heirs 6,893 acres. (See mention in Saffell.)
Abbe Dowd, “Irlandais,” was a chaplain of the French warship Le Jason in the American Revolution. Le Jason was of the fleet of Count De Ternay, which was assisting the American cause.
In the Massachusetts force that rendezvoused on “Dedham Plain,” for the Narragansett campaign, 1675, was a soldier named Jeremiah Neal. He is mentioned as a sergeant of the sixth company.
Lieut. Hugh McManus and Lieut. John Riley served in the Sixth Regiment, Albany County, N. Y., Militia, during the Revolution. The regiment was commanded by Col. Stephen John Schuyler.
The Connecticut Revolutionary records mention Michael McGee, a soldier who served in Colonel Burrall’s regiment of that state. McGee was taken prisoner in “the affair at the Cedars,” 1776.
Over fifteen members of Capt. John Giles’ company, 1723–’24, were natives of Ireland. The company was engaged operating against the Indians in Maine, and is mentioned in the Massachusetts records.
Tench Francis, son of an Irishman, was born in Maryland, 1732; became attorney-general of the province of Pennsylvania; was captain of the Quaker Blues; subscribed £5,500 in aid of the Patriot army.
David Dowd, soldier of the Revolution, served in a Connecticut light infantry company, under Lafayette, February-November, 1781. The company was commanded by Capt. Samuel Barker of Branford, Conn.
A settler at Sudbury, Mass., Richard Burke, came from Ireland prior to 1650. He married in 1670 and left many descendants. He was one of the earliest Burkes to settle in America of whom we have record.
An early resident of Newport, R. I., was Owen Higgins. His wife was born in 1640. In 1701, his son Richard is recorded as a freeman of Newport. (See Austin’s Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island.)
Five ships arrived in Boston Harbor, Aug. 4, 1718, with Irish immigrants aboard. Many of these subsequently settled in New Hampshire. These facts are referred to in Cullen’s Story of the Irish in Boston.
Daniel Sullivan, born in Ireland, 1717, died in Providence, R. I., 1814. In an obituary notice it is stated that “He had long resided in this town where his integrity and piety secured him confidence and esteem.”
Charles McAfferty, “an Irishman,” was a soldier of the Revolution and served in Col. Jeremiah Olney’s Rhode Island Continentals. He was one of the first to enter the enemy’s redoubts at the capture of Yorktown.
Patrick McSherry was an officer in the Irish-French regiment of Dillon during the American Revolution. He is mentioned in that recent work, Les Combattants Francais De La Guerre Americaine (Paris, 1903).
James Buchanan, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, came to this country in the brig Providence, 1783. He was then in his twenty-second year. His son, James, became president of the United States.
Two members of the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard (Washington’s), in the Revolution, were James and Robert Blair, both natives of Ireland. Godfrey’s history of the guard furnishes a biographical sketch of each.
“In the discharge of his duty he has at all times proved himself an alert, brave and intelligent officer.” The foregoing tribute was paid by Gen. Henry Knox to Lieut. Florence Crowley, a soldier of the Revolution.
Jacques O’Driscoll was one of the “capitaines en second” in the Irish-French regiment of Walsh during the American Revolution. Others of the same rank in the command were Edouard Stack and Charles O’Croly.
Hon. James Sullivan was governor of Massachusetts in 1807 and 1808. He succeeded Hon. Caleb Strong and preceded Hon. Christopher Gore. Governor Sullivan was a brother of Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.
Ten ships, bringing nearly one thousand passengers, arrived at Boston, Mass., from Ireland, during the two years, 1736 and 1738. It was at this period, 1737, that the Charitable Irish Society of Boston was organized.
Thomas Quirk, “a brave and fine-looking Irishman,” served under Gen. George Rogers Clark in the latter’s western campaign. He had been a sergeant and is later mentioned as a major. He was alloted 4,312 acres.
Robert Beers, an Irishman, was slain “ye 28 March 1676,” by the Indians. The tragedy occurred at “the ring of the town,” within the limits of what is now East Providence, R. I. Beers was a brickmaker by occupation.
A distinguished officer of the Revolution, Edward Hand, was born in Kings County, Ireland. He came to America in 1767; espoused the Patriot cause, and was successively lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brigadier-general.
The first funds of Rhode Island College, now Brown University, were obtained in Ireland. The original subscription book is still carefully preserved. (Guild’s work on The First Commencement of Rhode Island College.)
In 1774 the Second Company, Governor’s Foot Guard, of New Haven, Conn., engaged Edward Burke as instructor “in the military exercise.” The company is one of the oldest existing military organizations in America.
Gov. Thomas Dongan of New York, an Irish Catholic, visited Milford, Conn., in 1685, to confer with Governor Treat regarding the boundary between the two colonies. Governor Treat terms Dongan “A noble gentleman.”
Stephen Decatur, a Genoese Catholic, arrived in Newport, R. I., about 1740–’46; married a woman of Irish lineage; became captain of a privateer. His son, also named Stephen, attained high rank in the United States navy.
Thomas Casey was born in Ireland about 1636. He became a resident of Newport, R. I. In 1692 he and his son Thomas witnessed a deed given by James Sweet of East Greenwich, R. I., to Thomas Weaver of Newport.
Jean Baptiste O’Meara was one of the “lieutenants en second” of the Irish-French regiment of Walsh in the American Revolution. Holding like rank in the regiment were Jacques O’Sheil, George Meighan and Eugene MacCarthy.
On the roster of the British garrison at Albany, N. Y., when the place was reconquered from the Dutch and held for a short time in 1673, appear the names Capt. John Manning, Patrick Dowdell, John Fitzgerald and Thomas Quinn.
Matthew O’Bryan was a Massachusetts soldier of the Revolution. He served in Col. John Crane’s regiment of artillery. In one return he is credited with service for 21 months and 25 days as bombardier and 12 months as matross.
Jane Brown was born in Providence, R. I., 1734. Her father, Rev. Arthur Brown, was a native of Drogheda, Ireland. She married Samuel Livermore, who became attorney-general of New Hampshire and United States senator.
Thomas Amory emigrated from Limerick, Ireland, to South Carolina. He removed from the latter place to Boston, Mass., in 1721. The late Thomas C. Amory of Boston, author of the Transfer of Erin, was one of his descendants.
Mrs. Grant in her Memoirs of an American Lady mentions “A handsome, good-natured looking Irishman in a ragged provincial uniform,” named Patrick Coonie, with his wife and children, who settled near Albany, N. Y., in 1768.
Matthew Mease, who was born in Strabane, Ireland, became purser of the Bonhomme Richard and served under John Paul Jones in the engagement with the British 44–gun ship Serapis. Mease was wounded in that engagement.
In 1768, Patrick Mackey, mentioned as from Philadelphia, Pa., opened in Providence, R. I., “a skinner’s shop near the Hay-ward, on the east side of the great bridge.” He dealt in deer leather, in wool, and in goat and sheep skins.
The New York Revolutionary records mention Thomas Quigley, first lieutenant of the privateer General Putnam, “formerly the Betsey.” She was commanded, successively, by Capt. Thomas Cregier and Capt. William Mercier.
A roll of Capt. John Givens’ company of militia, Augusta County, Va., 1777–’82, includes the names James Donohoe, Peter Carrol, John Morrison, Neil Hughes, John Craig, Andrew Mitchell and others indicative of Irish extraction.
Alexander Johnston came from near Londonderry, Ireland, about 1721, and settled in Pennsylvania. He was a magistrate, and at one time owned a farm in Pennsylvania of 900 acres. Col. Francis Johnston of the Revolution was his son.
Michael Wright, a native of Mountmellick, Queens County, Ireland, served during the Revolution in a Rhode Island regiment of the Line. He is mentioned in a return as 42 years of age and as having his residence in Seaconnet, R. I.
Gen. Stephen Moylan, of the Revolution, was a brother of the Roman Catholic bishop of Cork, Ireland. Two of his sisters became nuns. One of them was abbess of the Ursuline convent in Cork, and the other was a nun in the same convent.
Macarty de Marteigue was the commander, in 1782, of the French warship Le Magnifique, which formed part of the naval force sent over by France to aid the American Revolution. Du Fay de Carty is mentioned as an ensign on the same ship.
The Massachusetts Revolutionary records mention Patrick Burke, a soldier of Col. John Crane’s regiment of artillery. Burke enlisted for the town of Wrentham, Mass., was a sergeant, and is at one period referred to as “Orderly to the General.”
Hugh McLean, a native of Ireland, was born in 1724. He settled in Milton, Mass., and died in 1799. His son, John McLean, was a benefactor of Harvard College and of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the latter institution in Boston, Mass.
Among those serving during the Revolution, in the First Regiment, Virginia Light Dragoons, were James Casey, Thomas Hogan, John Carroll, William Hicks, John Powers and Niel McCaffry. They are mentioned in the Virginia records of that period.
Some years after the close of the Revolution, Christopher Fitzsimons, a wealthy Irishman of Charleston, S. C., passed away, leaving an estate worth $700,000. His daughter, Anne, married one of the Hamptons, receiving $100,000 as her dower.
Mention is made in the Massachusetts Revolutionary records of John McLaughlin, a marine who served aboard the Alfred, commanded by John Paul Jones. McLaughlin is referred to as entitled to prize shares in the ship Mellish and the brig Active.
Before 1800, Masters Knox and Crocker, natives of Ireland, taught school at Bowen’s Hill (Coventry, R. I.), and the neighborhood. (Cole’s History of Washington and Kent Counties, R. I.) The name Knox is found in the Coventry records as early as 1766.
David O’Killia, a son of David, “the Irishman” of old Yarmouth, Mass., married Anna Bills in 1662. He had a brother named John who wedded in 1690. Another brother, Jeremiah, died in 1728. A sister, Elizabeth, became the wife of Silas Sears in 1707.
Timothy McKlewain’s name appears in a list of subscribers at a meeting in East Windsor, Conn., April 21, 1777. The meeting was “For ye Great & important Purpose of furnishing our Proportion of men for the Continental Army.” He subscribed £1 10s.
Alexander Bryan, from Armagh in Ireland, was a settler at Milford, Conn., as far back as 1639. In 1661 he bought of the Indians the last twenty acres they owned on Milford Neck. He paid them therefor six coats, three blankets and three pairs of breeches.
Among the ancient inscriptions in the old Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass., is the following: “Here Lyeth Interred ye body of Charles Maccarty, son to Thadeus and Elizabeth Maccarty, aged 18 years, wanting 7 days. Deceased ye 25 of October, 1683.”
Patrick Cavenaugh, a soldier of the Revolution, served in the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line. On one occasion he saved General Lincoln from being captured by the British, in New Jersey. He was afterwards an express rider for General Greene.
A Massachusetts soldier of the Revolution was Daniel McCarty. He was born in Ireland, came to this country and enlisted in the Patriot ranks. He served in Greaton’s regiment and is credited in the records to Roxbury, Mass. He is reported as killed in 1777.
Charles O’Gorman was one of the “lieutenants en second” of the Irish-French regiment of Walsh during the American Revolution. His name is preserved in the French military archives and is mentioned in Les Combattants De La Guerre Americaine (Paris, 1903).
About 1735, Richard Copley with his wife, Mary (Singleton) Copley, came to America from County Clare, Ireland. His health being poor, he went to the West Indies to recuperate. John Singleton Copley, the eminent artist, a native of Boston, Mass., was their son.
Matthew Hurley was one of the soldiers serving in the war against Philip, the Indian king, 1675–’76. He was at one period of the company of Captain Wadsworth, who was killed in the battle at Sudbury, Mass., and is mentioned in Bodge’s work on King Philip’s War.
Patrick McLaughlin, a soldier of the Revolution, served in the First Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Col. John Philip De Haas; was taken prisoner by the British at Three Rivers, June 9, 1776. He is mentioned in the Revolutionary records of Pennsylvania.
Abbe Bartholomew O’Mahony was chaplain of the French warship L’Ivelly during the American Revolution. L’Ivelly was commanded by M. le Chevalier Durumain, and formed part of the fleet of Count De Grasse. (See Les Combattants Francais De La Guerre Americaine.)
In an old cemetery at Rutland, Mass., is a gravestone to the memory of Patrick Gregory, who was born in County Donegal, Ireland, about 1690. When he came to this country is unknown. He died July 5, 1756. On the gravestone just mentioned shamrocks are carved.
A native of County Armagh, Ireland, Thomas Robinson, was born in 1745 and died in Providence, R. I., 1809. He had been a resident of Providence for seventeen years; was described as “an ingenious and useful citizen” and “possessed the most enduring philanthropy.”
An influential man in Maryland, in 1647 and later, was Philip Conner. In the year named he was appointed a commissioner for Kent County. He is referred to as “The last commander of old Kent.” A descendant, James Conner, in 1705 wedded Elinor Flannagan.
Born at sea, of Irish parents, 1745, William Patterson died in 1806. He was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of New Jersey; attorney-general of the state; United States senator; governor of New Jersey; and judge of the Supreme Court of the United States.
At a military review near Trenton, N. J., in 1776, George Fullerton, a native of Ireland, was killed by the accidental discharge of a pistol. He was a merchant in Philadelphia, Pa., and a member of the First City Troop. In his will is mentioned John Fullerton, an uncle in Ireland.
Three Irish Rhode Islanders in the Revolution were James Bishop, William Parker and John Wilson. Bishop was born in Dublin; Parker in County Waterford, and Wilson in County Kilkenny. They served in Captain Topham’s company of Col. Thomas Church’s regiment.
Ensign Patrick Cronin was of Colonel Malcom’s New York regiment of levies in the Revolution. Also on the regimental rolls appear the names Cleary, Conner, Crane, Daley, Griffin, Jackson, McCarty, McCoy, McGee, McWilliams, Mead, Moore, Morrison, Murphy and the like.
Hon. Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of Congress, was a founder, an incorporator, and the first president of the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia, Pa. His parents were both natives of Ireland. (Campbell’s History of the Hibernian Society.)
Michael Connolly was captain and paymaster, during the Revolution, in the Second New York Regiment of the Line. Philip Van Cortland was colonel of the regiment. There were many Irish in the command, as reference to New York in the Revolution, by James A. Roberts, will show.
An Irish trader at Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) before the Revolution was John Ormsby. He suffered depredations during Pontiac’s war, and was later granted a large tract of land at Fort Pitt. He was an active patriot during the Revolution and took a prominent part in the struggle for liberty.
Capt. Daniel Malcom, an Irishman, died in Boston, Mass., 1769. He “was a true son of Liberty, a friend to the Publick, an enemy to oppression and one of the foremost in opposing the Revenue Acts on America.” His remains rest in a brick tomb in the old Copp’s Hill graveyard, Boston.
Capt. Edward Connor was of Col. Marinus Willett’s New York regiment in the Revolution. Also in the regiment appear such names as Burk, Crowley, Downing, Garvey, Hicks, Kelly, Kenny, Lane, Lyons, McCoy, McGee, McGill, McVey, Molloy, Moore, Quin, Ryan and Welsh.
A Connecticut soldier of the Revolution, George McCarty, served in Bigelow’s artillery company, the first company of artillery raised in Connecticut during the war. It marched to the northern department and was stationed during the summer and fall of 1776 at Ticonderoga and vicinity.
Born in Tipperary, Ireland, Edward Fitzgerald came to this country and became a soldier of the Revolution. He was a resident of Newport, R. I. He is mentioned as of the Rhode Island Continental Line when he was but 19 years of age. He saw much service at Ticonderoga and elsewhere.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, John Read was born in 1688. He came to this country, purchased an estate in Maryland, and was one of the founders of Charlestown on the headwaters of Chesapeake Bay. He was appointed by the Colonial Legislature a commissioner to lay out and govern the town.
Paul Cox, an Irishman, was of Philadelphia, Pa., as early as 1773. He became a member of the Pennsylvania State Navy Board, 1777, and was otherwise prominent. The inscription on his tombstone in Philadelphia states that he was “Thrice an elector of the president of the United States.”
Christopher Marshall, a native of Dublin, Ireland, was born in 1709. He settled in Philadelphia, Pa., and was a druggist. During the Revolution his firm furnished drugs and medicines to the Continental army. He was a member of the Committee of Safety throughout the whole period of the war.
Maj. John Gillespy is mentioned as serving during the Revolution in the Fourth Regiment, Ulster County (N. Y.) Militia, commanded by Colonel Hardenburgh. Also of the same regiment was Lieut. Samuel Gillespy. (Vide New York in the Revolution, by Comptroller James A. Roberts, Albany, 1898.)
In the old graveyard attached to the stone church built on the site of Fort Herkimer in the Mohawk valley, N. Y., is buried John Ring “of the Kingdom of Ireland, captain of one of His Majesty’s companies of this Province, who departed this life 20th day of Sept., 1755, in the 30th year of his age.”
Thomas McCarthy, a soldier of the Revolution, enlisted from Newtown, Pa., Jan. 14, 1776, for three years, in Capt. George Lewis’ troop, Third Regiment, Continental Dragoons, commanded by Col. George Baylor. On May 1, 1777, he was assigned to the cavalry of the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard.
John M. O’Brien is mentioned in the Rhode Island records as a soldier of the Revolution. He served in Captain Dexter’s company, of the “Late Col. Greene’s regiment,” and died in 1781. He is believed to have been the soldier elsewhere mentioned in the Rhode Island records as John Morris O’Brien.
Andrew Caldwell, born in Ireland, became a prominent merchant in Philadelphia, Pa. He was a patriot of the Revolution; member of the Council of Safety; member of the First City Troop, Philadelphia; member of the Navy Board; port warden of Philadelphia; a director of the Bank of North America.
George Bryan, an Irishman, became a resident of Philadelphia, Pa.; was a member of the Assembly; a delegate, in 1765, to the Stamp Act Congress; a patriot of the Revolution; vice-president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania: president of the same; a judge of the Supreme Court of the state.
In Mason’s Reminiscences of Newport (R. I.) is an interesting reference to Henry Goldsmith, a native of Westmeath, Ireland. He settled in Newport when he was 24 years of age, married there in 1779, and had 14 children. At the close of the Revolution, Mr. and Mrs. Goldsmith removed from Newport.
James Calhoun, grandfather of John C. Calhoun, came from Donegal, Ireland, in 1733, with his family, and settled in Pennsylvania, later removing to western Virginia, and at a later period, further south. In 1765 they established the “Calhoun settlement” in South Carolina, near the Cherokee Indian frontier.
James Blaine came from Ireland with his family prior to 1745. He settled in Toboyne township, Cumberland County, Pa., where he died in 1792. He left a widow and nine children. Col. Ephraim Blaine of the Revolution was one of these children. The late Hon. James G. Blaine of Maine was a descendant.
One of the officers in the Irish-French regiment of Dillon, during the American Revolution, was Patrick Murphy. His name is preserved in the military archives of France, and by its publication in Les Combattants Francais De La Guerre Americaine, is recalled and forever made known to the American people.
Mary Peisley was a native of Kildare, Ireland, and was born in 1717. She entered the Quaker ministry about 1744, came to America with Ann Payton, and perhaps other Quakers, about 1753, labored in New York, the Carolinas, Maryland and Rhode Island; returned to Ireland and married Samuel Neale of Dublin.
James Moore, who was chosen governor of South Carolina, was born in Ireland about 1640. He came to this country in 1655, settled in Charleston, S. C., wedded a daughter of Sir John Yeamans and had 10 children. One of his sons, also named James Moore, was likewise chosen governor of South Carolina.
Born in Ireland in 1705, Jeremiah Smith came to Boston, Mass., with his wife, in 1726, and finally settled in Milton, Mass., 1737. He was an intimate friend of Governor Hutchinson, Governor Hancock and other leading men. He engaged in the manufacture of paper, and carried on the business until 1775 when he retired.
The Virginia records show that Symon Tuchin was in that colony in 1625. He was master of the Due Return, and “having been banished out of Ireland was reported as strongly affected to popery.” Accordingly, “The Governor and Council of Virginia sent him as a prisoner, in January, 1625, to the Company in England.”
Mary Mallins, “from Bandon in Ireland,” was among those arrested in Boston, Mass., at the time of the prosecution of the Quakers, she being one of the latter. She and twenty-seven other Quakers were finally liberated by Endicott and were ordered to leave the jurisdiction at once, nor to return at their peril.
Morison’s Life of Judge Jeremiah Smith, who was a native of Peterborough, N. H., states that “He began to study Latin when about twelve years old, with Rudolphus Greene, an Irishman employed by the town to keep school a quarter of the year in each of the four quarters of the town.” Judge Smith was born about 1771.
John Mitchell, a native of Ireland, was muster-master-general of the Pennsylvania State navy, 1775–’76; acting commissary, 1776–’77; lieutenant on the Chatham, 1775; captain of the Ranger, 1776; a merchant in France after the Revolution; United States consul at Santiago de Cuba; admiralty surveyor of Philadelphia, Pa.
A Rhode Island soldier, 1756–’59, was named William Sheehan. He is mentioned in the former year as a lieutenant and quartermaster for the expedition against Crown Point. In 1758, he appears as first lieutenant in the major’s company of his regiment, and is also referred to the same year as captain and quartermaster.
A Virginia trooper who rendered service against the French and Indians was Thomas Doyle. The Assembly of Virginia passed an act in 1756 for the payment of men engaged in said service. Doyle was voted 1,860 pounds of tobacco, and other troopers were to be paid like amounts. (Boogher’s Gleanings of Virginia History.)
Daniel Magennis is a name frequently met in King Philip’s War, 1675–’76. Daniel became a corporal and was at one time company clerk. He served at various times under Captain Henchman, Captain Wheeler and other commanders. His name also appears in the records as Maginnis. (See Bodge’s History of King Philip’s War.)
Col. Charles Stewart was born in County Donegal, Ireland, 1729. He came to America, 1750; was deputy surveyor-general of Pennsylvania; patriot of the Revolution; colonel of a New Jersey regiment of Minute Men; colonel of a New Jersey regiment of the Line; served on Washington’s staff; member of the Continental Congress.
“In the Mayflower ... were one hundred and one men, women, boys and girls as passengers, besides captain and crew. These were of English, Dutch, French and Irish ancestry, and thus typical of our national stock.” (Rev. William Elliot Griffis in Brave Little Holland and What She Taught Us. New York, 1894. Page 208.)
Bernard O’Neill was a captain in the Irish-French regiment of Dillon in the American Revolution. He was probably the “Captain Commandant O’Neill” who participated in the expedition against Savannah, where he was wounded in the breast, and may have been identical with “Le Baron Bernard O’Neill,” who became a Chevalier of St. Louis.
Thomas DeCourcy was a native of Newport, R. I. His father came from Ireland and settled in Newport about 1720. The father’s brother, also named Thomas, was Baron Kinsale. Upon the latter’s death, Thomas, the native of Newport, succeeded to the title and estates. Mention of these facts may be found in Peterson’s History of Rhode Island.
Eleanor Ledlie was of Irish parentage. She became the wife of Capt. Samuel Bowman, an officer of the Revolution, who as commander of the guard walked arm in arm with Major Andre, the British spy, to the place of the latter’s execution. (Hon. Edward A. Moseley of Washington, D. C., in an address to the American-Irish Historical Society.)
Matthias Alexis de Roche Fermoy, of Irish extraction, was an officer in the French forces that came to America during our Revolution and assisted in establishing the independence of the United States. He became a brigadier and is mentioned in the work entitled Generals of the Continental Line in the Revolutionary War (Philadelphia, 1903).
Brian Murphy was a soldier in King Philip’s War, 1675–’76. He is mentioned in Bodge’s history of that war and is credited with garrison duty at Mendon, Mass. Thomas Tally, Patrick Morren, Timothy Larkin, Joseph Griffin, Jeremiah Toy, Philip Butler, John Hand and Thomas Welch are also mentioned by Bodge as participating in that struggle.
During the Revolution, Capt. William Burke of the armed schooner Warren was captured by the British frigate Liverpool and carried into Halifax, from whence he was sent to New York and confined on board a prison ship. He was later exchanged for Capt. Richard Jones, “a British officer of equal rank.” Captain Burke is mentioned as of Marblehead, Mass.
Susannah Lightfoot, a native of Ireland, was born in 1720. She was a Quaker, and with Ruth Courtney came from Ireland to America on a visit to Friends here. On her return to the Old Land, she landed at Cork. In 1760, she paid a second visit to these shores, and four years later removed with her husband from Ireland and permanently settled here.
Among those serving under Esek Hopkins, during the Revolution, was Patrick Kaine. He is mentioned as a marine and served aboard the Cabot. In an engagement with the British ship Glasgow, April 6, 1776, he was killed. Anthony Dwyer, Richard Sweeney, John Connor, Thomas Dowd and Andrew Magee also served aboard the Cabot under Hopkins.
Jeremiah Driskel, William Henussey and John Leary all served in the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard (Washington’s) during the Revolution. Driskel had previously served in a Maryland regiment; Henussey, in a Pennsylvania command, and Leary, in a regiment commanded by John Stark. (See Godfrey’s work on The Commander-in-Chief’s Guard.)
In 1776, John O’Kelley was a member of a military company in the town of Warren, R. I. The company was commanded by Capt. Ezra Ormsbee. Also in the company were Daniel Kelley and Joseph Kelley. The General Assembly of Rhode Island, in 1782, gave “Mrs. Elizabeth O’Kelley, widow of John O’Kelley,” of Warren, permission to sell certain real estate.
Thomas Jones, “from Strabane, Ireland,” came to Rhode Island prior to 1699; later he removed to Long Island, N. Y. He married Freelove Townsend, whose father gave them land at Massapequa, where they settled. They are mentioned in Bunker’s Long Island Genealogies. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had a son David, born in 1699. Thomas, the immigrant, died in 1713.
Andrew Meade, a Kerry Irishman, and a Catholic, emigrated to New York, married Mary Latham, a Quakeress of Flushing, went to Nansemond County, Va., and died there in 1745. His son was Col. Richard Kidder Meade, an aide-de-camp of General Washington. (Quoted by Martin I. J. Griffin of Philadelphia, Pa., in American Catholic Historical Researches.)
Thomas, John and Walter Dongan, kinsmen of Governor Dongan of New York, are believed to have been residing in New York in 1715. In 1723 a private act was passed by the Assembly of the province “to enable Thomas Dongan and Walter Dongan, two surviving kinsmen of Thomas, late Earl of Limerick,” to sell part of their estate. A similar act was passed in 1726.
Hotten’s Original Lists (London, 1874) contain the names of many Irish who were conveyed to Virginia, Barbadoes and other parts. The work comprises the period from 1600 to 1700 and mentions “Persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed” and other wayfarers of the time.
Charles Carroll, grandfather of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, came to this country about 1689 and settled in Maryland. In 1691 he was made judge and register of the land office, and agent and receiver for Lord Baltimore’s rents. His son, also named Charles Carroll, was born in 1702 and died in 1782. Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a son of this second Charles Carroll.
Michael Ryan, a soldier of the Revolution, was acting-adjutant of the Fourth Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Col. Anthony Wayne, from Feb. 17, 1776; was appointed adjutant March 15 that year; became a captain in the Fifth Pennsylvania, and was inspector of General Wayne’s division; was promoted brigade-major, Nov. 18, 1777; also served as major of the Tenth Pennsylvania.
The Massachusetts records mention Patrick McMullen as serving during the Revolution aboard the Providence, under John Paul Jones. He is referred to as entitled to a prize share in the ship Alexander, captured in 1777, and is also mentioned as a marine aboard the Alfred, commanded by Jones. In this latter capacity he was entitled to prize shares in the ship Mellish and the brig Active,
Andrew Brown, born in Ireland, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, came to this country and eventually settled in Massachusetts. He was a patriot of the Revolution, fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill; served as major under Gates and Greene. After the war, he established the Federal Gazette at Philadelphia, Pa., the publication being later known as the Philadelphia Gazette.
An Irish schoolmaster in Brunswick, Me., was Thomas Crowell. He settled there shortly after the close of the Revolution, and taught school there for over twenty years. Many of his pupils became leading business men, and some of them famous shipmasters. Sumner L. Holbrook read a paper, a few years ago, before the Pejepscot Historical Society, of Brunswick, devoted to Master Crowell.
John Donnaldson, “son of Hugh Donnaldson of Dungannon, Ireland,” was a shipping merchant in Philadelphia, Pa.; a patriot of the Revolution; member of the First City Troop; took part in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown; subscribed £2,000, in 1780, in aid of the army; became register-general of Pennsylvania; and comptroller-general of the state.
David McCarty, Albany, N. Y., was a member of the Committee of Safety there during the Revolution. He was a valiant soldier and at the time of his death was a general of state troops. In May, 1771, he married Charlotta, granddaughter of Pieter Coeymans, the founder of a wealthy Dutch family. By this marriage McCarty came into the possession of much land in the Coeymans Patent.
Well-nigh forgotten now is Christopher Stuart, an Irishman and soldier of the Revolution. He was born in the Old Land, 1748, and settled in Montgomery County, Pa. He served successively as captain, major and lieutenant-colonel of Pennsylvania troops, including the Line; took part in the battle of Long Island, the storming of Stony Point, and in other actions of the war; died, 1799.
Patrick Googins, “a young Irish weaver,” came to this country about 1722 and settled at Old Orchard, Me. He married Hester Rogers. Her father gave Patrick as her marriage portion 200 acres there. In years long after, the place became known as “the old Googins farm.” The farm remained in the Googins family for four generations. (See an article in the Old Orchard Mirror, 1902.)
One of the founders of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston, Mass., 1737, was Joseph St. Lawrence. In the records of the Boston selectmen, that year, appears the following: “Mr. Joseph St. Lawrence from Ireland, Merchant, having imported upwards of Fifty Pounds Sterling, Prays he may be Allow’d to Carry on his Business in this Town.” It is presumed the desired permission was granted.
Charles Thomson, who for nearly fifteen years was secretary of the Continental Congress, being sometimes referred to as its “Perpetual secretary,” was born in Ireland, 1729. He participated in various treaty proceedings with the Indians, and was styled by the latter “The man of truth.” He married Hannah Harrison whose nephew, William Henry Harrison, became president of the United States.
Robert Temple arrived at Boston, Mass., from Ireland, in 1717, with a party of Irish Protestants. He settled on Noddle’s Island, now East Boston, and had a house there that “contained elegant rooms suitable for the reception of persons of the first condition.” He commanded a company in operations against the Indians. He became a member of the Boston Charitable Irish Society in 1740.
George Taylor, a native of Ireland, died in Providence, R. I., in 1778. He taught school there for over 40 years, was for a number of years president of the Town Council and held other positions of trust and honor. He was a man of public spirit and witnessed events of the earlier part of the Revolution. The Providence Gazette states that “He was an honor to the country that gave him birth.”
Col. Israel Angell of the Second Rhode Island regiment in the Continental Line, has this entry in his diary under date of March 17, 1781: “Good weather. A great parade this day with the Irish, it being St. Patrick’s. I spent the day on the Point [West Point], and tarried with the officers.” This diary has been reproduced in printed form by Edward Field, secretary of the Providence, R. I., Record Commission.
Alexander Black, an Irishman, was a resident of Providence, R. I., as early as 1762. He was a merchant and was associated in business with James Black, and later with Alexander Stewart. Alexander Black died in Providence, 1767. In a notice of his death, which appears in the Providence Gazette, he is declared to have been “A fast friend to the liberties of America, and studied to promote the public weal.”
James Kavanagh, a native of County Wexford, Ireland, came to Boston, Mass., in 1780, during the Revolution, but settled at Damariscotta Mills, Me., and engaged in the lumber business. His son, Edward, became president of the State Senate of Maine, a member of Congress, United States charge d’affaires in Portugal, a commissioner to settle the northeastern boundary of Maine, and acting governor of Maine.
Edmund Fanning, an Irishman, was a victim of the Cromwellian confiscation, and fled at the time of the surrender of Limerick, 1651, and settled in Groton, Conn. His uncle, Dominick Fanning of Limerick, was one of the 21 persons exempted from pardon by Ireton and was beheaded at that time. D. H. Fanning and Walter F. Brooks, Worcester, Mass., are descendants of Edmund Fanning, the Groton settler.
Morgan Connor, a Pennsylvania soldier of the Revolution, was successively lieutenant, captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel commandant. He served in Col. Samuel Miles’ Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment; was wounded in the right wrist at Princeton; was called from camp by Congress in March, 1776, and sent South as brigade major for General Armstrong; was afterwards lieutenant-colonel of Hartley’s regiment.
John Brown, a native of Ireland, came to this country about 1760. He settled in Virginia, in the Warm Spring Valley, and had a tract of 400 acres. About 1778 he married Mary Donnelly. He commanded a company in the Revolution, and after the war was a justice for Bath County, Va., sheriff and treasurer of the county, major of the Second Battalion of militia, and a member of the General Assembly of Virginia.
Daniel Dulany, a native of Queens County, Ireland, was born in 1686. He was a cousin of Rev. Patrick Dulany, dean of Down. Daniel came to this country when quite young and settled in Maryland. He was admitted to the bar in 1710, became attorney-general of the province, judge of admiralty, commissary-general, agent and receiver-general, and councillor. He was in the public service of Maryland for nearly 40 years.
Edward Fox was born in Dublin, Ireland, 1752; came to this country, studied law and eventually settled in Philadelphia, Pa. He held various positions of prominence there; became secretary of the Bank of the United States, secretary of the American Fire Insurance Co., recorder of deeds for the county of Philadelphia, and treasurer of the University of Pennsylvania. One of his sons married a daughter of Gen. Stephen Moylan.
Cortlandt Schuyler of Albany, N. Y., was captain in “a marching regiment” of the British Army. He married a handsome Irishwoman in Ireland, while stationed there, and brought her to Albany about 1763. Upon his death, she returned to Ireland with her children, “where it is said their desendants bearing the name Schuyler still live.” (Mrs. Grant’s Memoirs of an American Lady, quoted by Hon. Franklin M. Danaher of Albany.)
In 1769–’70, Rev. Hezekiah Smith made a tour of South Carolina and Georgia in aid of Rhode Island College, now Brown University. He says in his diary of the tour: “Thursday, March 1, 1770, went to Malachi Murfee’s.” The list of those who subscribed in aid of the college, on this Southern trip, includes Edward Dempsey, Charles Reilly, Patrick Hinds, James Welsh, Hugh Dillon, John Boyd, Matthew Roach and Capt. John Canty.
An officer who came with our French allies during the Revolution was Isidore de Lynch. He was at one period an aide-de-camp to the Chevalier de Chastellux. Referring to the return of the French to Boston after the surrender of the British at Yorktown, Count Segur speaks of “Isidore de Lynch, an intrepid Irishman, afterwards a General.” Lynch became commander of the Irish-French regiment of Walsh, and was decorated with the Cross of St. Louis.
The Dutch records of Albany, N. Y., mention Jan Fyne, “van Waterfort in Irlandt.” His name likewise appears as Johannes Fine, which in English would probably be John Finn. He is believed to have been a soldier who was sent to Albany in 1690. He settled there and is later mentioned as a cooper. In 1696 he wedded Jopje Classe Van Slyck. His second wife, whom he married in 1699, was Alida, daughter of Jacob Janse Gardiner of Kinderhook.
Watson H. Harwood, M. D., of Chasm Falls, N. Y., in a paper contributed to the Register of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society, January, 1898, treats of the Clogstons of New Hampshire. He states that “The Clogston family is of Irish origin,” and that it came to New Hampshire sometime after 1718. Paul Clogston, a descendant of the immigrants, died of wounds received at Bunker Hill, 1775. The name is sometimes written Clogstone.
Blair McClenachan, an Irishman by birth, settled in Philadelphia, Pa., at an early age, and became the “largest importer in the city except Robert Morris”; was a patriot of the Revolution; subscribed, in 1780, £10,000 in aid of the army; was one of the original members of the First City Troop; a member of Congress, 1797–’99; was made commissioner of loans by President Jefferson. One of McClenachan’s daughters married Gen. Walter Stewart.
One of the early settlers of Peterborough, N. H., was William McNee. He was born in Ireland, 1711, and before coming to this country married Mary E. Brownley. In an address delivered at Peterborough, some years ago, Hon. James F. Brennan of that town said that McNee’s “descendants have now reached the eighth generation, but unfortunately the name is entirely lost. The first and second generations retained the name, but the third changed it to Nay.”
Michael Morgan O’Brien, a native of Ireland, became a West India merchant in Philadelphia, Pa., and was located there as early as 1780. He was a member of the First City Troop of Philadelphia, of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Hibernia Fire Company, and the Hibernian Society. He died in France, 1804. He bequeathed his books to the “Rt. Reverend Father in God, John Carroll, R. C., Bishop of Baltimore, as a testimony of the great respect and esteem I bear him.”
A prominent man in his day was John Patton. He was born in Sligo, Ireland, 1745, settled in Philadelphia, Pa., and became a merchant there. A patriot of the Revolution, he was successively major and colonel of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania regiment, and rendered gallant service during the war. In 1780 he subscribed £1,000 in aid of the army. After the war he was an iron manufacturer, and at the time of his death, 1804, was major-general of Pennsylvania state troops.
Christopher Colles, a native of Ireland, was born in 1737. He came to this country and lectured on pneumatics, inland navigation, water supply for cities and similar topics. In 1775, he became an instructor in gunnery and was so employed in the American Continental Army until 1777. He memorialized the New York Legislature, in 1784, in favor of a canal from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario. He constructed and operated a telegraph, in 1812, at Fort Clinton.
One of the victims of the Boston massacre, March 5, 1770, was Patrick Carr. On that date, British soldiers in Boston, Mass., fired on a gathering of the people, three of the latter being instantly killed and five dangerously wounded. Crispus Attucks, the leader of the gathering, was among the killed and Carr was mortally wounded. A granite monument stands on Boston Common to commemorate the victims of the British. High up on the shaft, among the others, appears the name of Patrick Carr.
The Mercury (Philadelphia) of Aug. 28, 1735, reported: “On Monday last, Capt. Blair arrived from Carick Fargus in Ireland with 168 Irish passengers and servants and on Monday evening before any of them landed one of them fell into the river and was drowned.” The next paper announced: “the body was found, the next tide carried up seven miles from the mouth of the Schuylkill.” (American Catholic Historical Researches, Philadelphia, Pa., Martin I. J. Griffin, editor.)
From the records of the selectmen, Boston, Mass., Aug. 4, 1736: “Dennis Sullivant being present Informs, That he with his Wife are lately come into this Town from South Carolina by land; That he has been in Town about Five Weeks; That he first Lodg’d at the White Horse Two nights, and a Fortnight at Mrs. Snowdens and now lodges in Long lane, That he designs to return to England or Ireland, as soon as he can Conveniently Obtain a Passage for himself and his said Wife.”
Gen. William Thompson of the Revolution was an Irishman by birth. He came to this country prior to the War for Independence; served during the French and Indian War; became captain of a troop of Light Horse; led a regiment, in 1775, to the American camp at Cambridge, Mass., and participated in the siege of Boston; had many sharpshooters in his command; was made brigadier-general in 1776; relieved General Lee in command of the American forces at New York; died in 1791.
A veteran soldier of the Revolution was Patrick Leonard, who was born in Ireland, 1740. He came to this country and enlisted in the Patriot ranks; served in Proctor’s artillery and in the First Regiment, Pennsylvania Line. He saw much service and took part in the battles of Bunker Hill, Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and Stony Point; also served, in 1791–’96, under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. He was residing, in 1817, at Cincinnati, Ohio.
A native of County Westmeath, Ireland, John Shee, came to America between 1742 and 1745; became prominent in Philadelphia, Pa.; a patriot of the Revolution; commanded the Third Pennsylvania regiment; member of the Pennsylvania State Board of War; subscribed £1,000 in aid of the army; is referred to as “a man of excellent manners and good acquirements”; after the war, became a general of Pennsylvania state troops; collector of the port of Philadelphia; city treasurer of Philadelphia.
A native of Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, John Dunlap, was born in 1747. He settled in Philadelphia, Pa.; became printer to Congress, and to the state of Pennsylvania; published the Philadelphia Packet; was cornet, lieutenant, and commander of the First City Troop; commanded the cavalry in the Whiskey Insurrection campaign. During the Revolution he subscribed £4,000 in aid of the Patriot army. He was at one time the owner of 98,000 acres in the South, in addition to real estate elsewhere.
One of the earliest Irishmen in this country of whom we have record was Francis Maguire. Hon. Hugh Hastings, state historian of New York, writes that Maguire arrived at Jamestown, Va., with Capt. Christopher Newport, about 1607, remained in the country nearly a year, and returned to England with Newport. Maguire “wrote an account of his voyage to Virginia and submitted it to the Privy Council of Spain.” In one account he is described as an Irishman and a Roman Catholic.
Teague Crehore was a resident of Milton or Dorchester, Mass., as early as 1640–’50. He is stated to have been stolen from his parents in Ireland when a child. He died in 1695, aged 55 years. This would show that he was born about 1640. He had a son Timothy, born in 1660, who died in 1739 and is buried in Milton, Mass. This Timothy had a son Timothy, grandson of Teague, who was born in 1689 and wedded Mary Driscoll of Dorchester, Mass., in 1712. He died in 1755 and is buried in Milton.
Rev. Samuel Dorrance, an Irish Presbyterian clergyman, arrived in Voluntown, Conn., 1722, and was installed as pastor of the church there. His nationality caused some dissatisfaction, and the disgruntled members of the church drew up a petition for his removal. They were informed, they said, that “He came out of Ireland” and that since his coming “The Irish do flock into town.” (Larned’s History of Windham County, Conn., quoted by Rev. James H. O’Donnell in his History of the Diocese of Hartford.)
The “poll list for the election of burgesses for the County of Prince William,” Virginia, 1731, contains many Irish names, including Darby Callahan, Edward Barry, John Mead, Thomas Conway, Samuel Conner, Michael Regan, James Curry, Owen Gilmore, John Murphey, William Hogan, Thomas Hicks, Michael Scanlon, John Madden, Dennis McCarty, Thomas Jordan, Richard Higgins, Thomas Welsh, etc. These and other names, constituting the entire list, are set forth in Boogher’s Gleanings of Virginia History.
A gallant soldier of the Revolution, who has almost been forgotten, was John Haslett. He was born in Ireland, came to this country and located in Delaware; was for several terms a member of the State Assembly; participated in the battles of Long Island and White Plains. On one occasion, he surprised a British picket, took 36 prisoners, 60 muskets, and two pairs of colors; became colonel of a Delaware regiment and was killed at the battle of Princeton, 1777. His son, Joseph, became governor of Delaware.
Among the many Irish names on the roster of the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard, during the Revolution, is that of Hugh Hagerty. He served in a Pennsylvania regiment of the Line, and was transferred at Valley Forge, March 19, 1778, to the Guard just mentioned. This organization is sometimes referred to as Washington’s “Life Guard,” and was composed of picked men. Hagerty participated in the battle of Monmouth and other engagements of the war. (Godfrey’s recent work on The Commander-in-Chief’s Guard.)
The Dutch records of New York mention Jan Andriessen, “the Irishman.” Jan was at Beverwyck, now Albany, N. Y., as early as 1645. He is also referred to as “De Iersman van Dublingh.” His name in English was probably John Anderson. In 1649 he leased a “bouwerie” or farm. It is also known that he bought a farm and homestead of Peter Bronck at Coxsackie, N. Y. In one document his signature is thus attested: “This is the mark of Jan Andriessen, the Irishman, with his own hand set.” He died in 1664.
William Hogen, also written Hogan, is heard from in Albany, N. Y., as early as 1692. The Dutch records state that he was from “Yrland in de Kings county.” At a mayor’s court held in Albany, May 14, 1700, he was deemed “convenient and fitt to be one of the fyre masters for ye Citty.” June 25, 1700, he was on a petit jury to try an action between two Dutchmen. He also served on a jury in 1703. In 1700 and 1704 he was elected an assessor. (Hon. Franklin M. Danaher in Early Irish in Old Albany, N. Y.)
James Butler came from Ireland, and is heard from at Lancaster, Mass., 1653. He became the largest landowner in what is now Worcester County, Mass. He also owned land in Dunstable, Woburn and Billerica, Mass. He died in 1681. His son, Deacon John Butler, was the first child of Irish parentage born in Woburn, and settled in Pelham, N. H., and lies buried there. (From a letter written to the American-Irish Historical Society by Henry A. May of Roslindale, Mass., a descendant of James Butler the immigrant.)
A resident of Yarmouth, Mass., as early as 1645, was Teague Jones, who is stated to have been an Irishman. He was one of the men sent from the town, in the year just mentioned, against the Narragansett Indians. His period of service at the time was thirteen or fourteen days. In 1667, the selectmen of “the towne of Yarmouth returne the name of Teague Jones for not coming to meeting.” In a “rate” made in 1676 to defray the expenses of King Philip’s War, Teague was assessed £2 4s, as his share. He had a son, Jeremiah.
A prominent resident of Albany, N. Y., during the Revolution, was Hugh Denniston, “a true Irishman.” For many years he conducted the only first-class hotel and tavern there. It was the first stone house erected in the place. Denniston was a sturdy patriot and his hotel was a meeting place for the liberty-loving citizens of Albany. Washington was a guest at the hotel on his visits to Albany in 1782 and 1783, and was there presented the freedom of the city.
Charles MacCarthy was a founder of the town of East Greenwich, R. I., 1677. Like many surnames at that period, his is variously spelled in the records. Thus, it appears as Macarta, Macarte, Macarty, Mecarty, Mackarte, etc. In the year mentioned, he was one of a party of forty-eight settlers to whom a grant of 5,000 acres, to be called East Greenwich, was made by the General Assembly of Rhode Island. Later, the area of the town was enlarged by the addition of 35,000 acres on the western border. Charles’ will is dated Feb. 18, 1682.
The twenty-six original members of the Charitable Irish Society, Boston, Mass., which organization was founded in 1737, were: Robert Duncan, Andrew Knox, Nathaniel Walsh, Joseph St. Lawrence, Daniel McFall, Edward Allen, William Drummond, William Freeland, Daniel Gibbs, John Noble, Adam Boyd, William Stewart, Daniel Neal, James Mayes, Samuel Moor, Philip Mortimer, James Egart, George Glen, Peter Pelham, John Little, Archibald Thomas, Edward Alderchurch, James Clark, John Clark, Thomas Bennett and Patrick Walker.
Jasper Moylan was a native of the city of Cork, Ireland, and half brother of Gen. Stephen Moylan. He was educated in France, studied law, came to this country and attained eminence in his profession in Philadelphia, Pa. In addition to English, he had a splendid knowledge of the French and Spanish languages. He was a member of the First City Troop of Philadelphia. He and his brother John, and their half brother Stephen, were known in that city as “the three polite Irishmen,” owing to their elegant manners. Jasper died in 1812.
Among Virginia officers in the Revolution were Maj. William Croghan, Capt. Ferdinand O’Neal, Capt. Patrick Carnes, Capt. John Fitzgerald, Capt. Andrew Nixon, Capt. William Barrett, Capt. John Jordan, Capt. Lawrence Butler, Capt. James Curry, Lieut. Joseph Conway, Lieut. Luke Cannon, Lieut. Peter Higgins, Lieut. William McGuire, Lieut. Lawrence Manning, Lieut. John Rooney, Lieut. Matthew Rhea, Ensign William Connor and others bearing Irish names. Some of these subsequently attained higher rank than that here given.
Sharp Delany, born in County Monaghan, Ireland, established himself as a druggist in Philadelphia, Pa., about 1764. He was a patriot of the Revolution. In 1777, he was a commissioner “to seize the personal effects of traitors,” and in 1778, was an agent to look after “forfeited estates.” In 1779, he was colonel of the Second Pennsylvania regiment. He subscribed £1,000 in aid of the army in 1780; was collector of the port of Philadelphia; a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and occupied other honorable positions in life.
John Hamilton, “an Irish servant-man,” was a Redemptioner or indentured servant who, in 1752, was held by Henry Caldwell of Chester County, Pa. Hamilton ran away that year and Caldwell advertised to recover him. Hamilton was then about twenty-two years of age. Caldwell offered a reward to “whoever takes up said servant, so that his master may have him again.” Mention of the incident is found in Karl Frederick Geiser’s recent work on Redemptioners and Indentured Servants in the Colony and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
George Taylor, one of the Irish signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in the Old Land, in 1716. He came to this country when twenty years of age. Having a good education, he advanced from the occupation of laborer in an iron foundry to the position of clerk; married his employer’s widow, and accumulated a generous fortune. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly for five consecutive years. In 1770, he was made a judge of the Northumberland County Court, Pa., and was elected to Congress in 1776.
One of the first settlers of Waterford, Conn., was Thomas Butler. He and John Butler were there about 1681. Rev. James H. O’Donnell, now of Norwalk, Conn., says that the “name of Waterford was, no doubt, given to their new home in honor of the old, the beautiful city on the banks of the Suir,” in Ireland. He thinks it not unreasonable to infer that the founders of the Connecticut Waterford were Irish Catholics. Thomas Butler died in 1701, aged 59 years. John Butler died in 1733, aged 80 years. Thomas was, therefore, born about 1642, and John about 1653.
William Hibbins came from Ireland to Boston, Mass., on the Mary and John, about 1634. He married Mrs. Anne Moore, a widow, whose brother, Richard Bellingham, was governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Hibbins died in 1654. His wife fell a victim to the witch-hunting fanatics of the period and was hanged by order of the Massachusetts authorities, in 1656. No jury could be found to convict her and she suffered death at the hands of the General Court. She bequeathed her property to her two sons, in County Cork, Ireland, John and Joseph Moore. (See Cullen’s Story of the Irish in Boston.)
Molly Pitcher, “a young Irishwoman” having “a handsome, piercing eye,” was the wife of a cannoneer in the Patriot army during the Revolution. At the battle of Monmouth her husband was killed at his post, whereupon Molly, who was engaged bringing water from a spring, dropped her bucket, seized the rammer of the cannon and taking her husband’s place continued to serve the piece of artillery. The next morning she was presented by General Greene to Washington, who praised her heroism and made her a sergeant. She was placed upon the list of half-pay officers for life.
Anthony Gulliver, a native of Ireland, was born in 1619. He died at Milton, Mass., 1706. His children were: Lydia, born 1651; Samuel, born 1653; Jonathan, born 1659; Stephen, born 1663; John, born 1669; Elizabeth, born 1671; Nathaniel, born 1675. There were also two other children, Hannah and Mary. The children were all born in this country, Cullen’s Story of the Irish in Boston states that “Anthony Gulliver was the ancestor of a large number of able and influential men and women, who have been prominent in the history of church and town affairs of Milton for nearly two hundred years.”
From the Calendar of Colonial State Papers: “April 1st, 1653. Order of the Council of State. For a license to Sir John Clotworthy to transport to America 500 natural Irishmen.” On Oct. 3, 1655, it was ordered that “1000 Irish girls and the like number of boys of 14 years or under,” be sent to Jamaica, “the allowance to each one not to exceed 20 shillings.” May 22, 1656, an order was adopted “for the transportation of 1200 men from Knockfergus in Ireland and Port Patrick in Scotland to Jamaica.” (Quoted by Rev. James H. O’Donnell in his History of the Diocese of Hartford, Conn.)
A Rhode Island soldier, Patrick Tracy, participated with Montgomery in the assault on Quebec. He was of the company of Capt. Simeon Thayer of Providence, R. I., and was killed in the assault just mentioned. Cornelius Hagerty and Corporal James Hayden of the company were wounded. In a work on this invasion of Canada, reference is made to John M. Taylor, “keen as an Irish greyhound,” who was Arnold’s purveyor and commissary in the wilderness. Mention is also made of Lieut. William Cross, “a handsome little Irishman, always neatly dressed,” who commanded, on the Isle of Orleans, a detachment of some twenty men.
Among the land patents granted in New York under the English colonial government, was one to David Mooney, 1765. The tract was located in Washington County and comprised 2,000 acres. It was known as the Mooney patent. The Otsego patent, 100,000 acres, was granted to George Croghan and ninety-nine others, in 1769. Croghan is also mentioned in connection with other patents. Michael Byrne and others were granted the Stony Hill Tract, 18,000 acres, in 1768. It was located in Schoharie County. The Adaquataugie patent, 26,000 acres, in Otsego County, was granted in 1770 to Sir William Johnson, an Irishman, and others.
The rolls of the Third New York Regiment of the Line, during the Revolution, contain a large number of Irish names. They include Brady, Brannon, Burke, Burns, Butler, Condon, Connolly, Dempsey, Doherty, Dunn, Flynn, Garvey, Geraghty, Gillaspy, Hickey, Hogan, Kelly, Lyon, McCarty, McConnelly, McCord, McCormick, McCoy, McDermot, McGinnis, McGown, McGuire, Mackey, McLaughlin, McNeal, McQuin, Madden, Mahan, Moloy, Moore, Morris, Morrison, Mulholand, Murray, O’Connoley, Quigley, Riley, Ryan, Sullivan, Sweeny, Tobin, Wall, Welch and others. (Vide New York in the Revolution, by Comptroller James A. Roberts, Albany, 1898.)
Among Irish names found in Connecticut at early periods may be mentioned Brian Rosseter, Windsor, 1639; Thomas Dunn, New Haven, 1647; Lawrence Ward, Branford, 1654; Thomas Welch, Milford, 1654; John Mead, Stamford, 1656; Richard Hughes, New Haven, 1659; Edward Fanning, Mystic, 1662; Thomas Ford, Windsor, 1669; Richard Butler, Stratford, 1669; Hugh Griffin, Stratford, 1669; William Meade, New London, 1669; Thomas Sha (Shea), Sr., Stonington, 1669; Thomas Tracy, Norwich, 1669; Timothy Ford, New Haven, 1669; Jeremiah Blake, New London, 1681; James Kelly, New London, 1682; Owen McCarty, New London, 1693.
Gen. Walter Stewart, a Pennsylvania officer of the Revolution, was born in Ireland, about 1756. He settled in Philadelphia, Pa., espoused the cause of the Patriots, and in 1776 was commissioned captain. He was made an aide-de-camp to General Gates the same year. In 1777, Stewart was commissioned colonel of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot, took part in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and retired in 1786 with the rank of brevet brigadier-general. In 1794, he was major-general of Pennsylvania state troops. General Washington was godfather to his eldest son. (Campbell’s History of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Philadelphia.)
The Marquis de Chastellux in a tour through Connecticut, 1780, stopped at Litchfield. His host there was a Mr. Philips. The latter was, the Marquis tells us, “an Irishman transplanted to America, where he has already made a fortune; he appears to be a man skillful and adroit; he speaks with caution to strangers, and fears to compromise himself; for the rest he is of a gayer mood than the Americans, even a little of a joker, a kind but little known in America.” (From Voyages de M. Le Marquis de Chastellux dans L’Amerique, Septentrionale les annees 1780, 1781 and 1782; quoted by Rev. James H. O’Donnell in his History of the Diocese of Hartford.)
A prominent merchant in Philadelphia, Pa., at one period, was James Caldwell. He was a native of Ireland. He was a patriot of the Revolution, a member of the First City Troop, Philadelphia, and took part with it in the campaign of 1776–’77. Campbell’s History of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Philadelphia, says that he was “one of the six volunteers of the Troop who accompanied Colonel Reed on December 30, 1776, from Trenton to reconnoitre the advanced posts of the enemy, and who captured twelve British soldiers during that expedition.” In 1780, Caldwell subscribed £2,000 to the bank that was organized to supply the Continental army with provisions.
Rev. Mr. Lyons, an Irish clergyman of the Church of England, who was located in Derby, Conn., was subjected to great abuse there because of his nationality. Writing to London, May 8, 1744, he says: “As soon as they had advice of my appointment, and from what country I came, and, indeed, before I arrived among them, they abused me, calling me ‘an Irish Teague and Foreigner,’ with many other reflections of an uncivilized and unchristian kind. It would be too tedious to record all the abuse and insults I have received in Derby.” (Church Documents of the Protestant Episcopal Church, quoted by Rev. James H. O’Donnell in his History of the Diocese of Hartford.)
Patrick Ward, a lieutenant, was one of the defenders of Fort Griswold, Conn., during the Revolution. The fort was attacked by the British during the raid conducted by Arnold, the traitor, and after a gallant resistance was captured by the enemy. The atrocities committed upon the surrendered and helpless garrison, by the British, constitutes one of the blackest chapters in the history of warfare. The event has ever since been known as the “Massacre of Fort Griswold.” Ward was one of the victims. On a stone over his grave was placed this inscription: “In memory of Mr. Patrick Ward who fell a victim to British cruelty in Fort Griswold, Sept. 6th, 1781, in the 25th year of his age.”
Felt’s Ecclesiastical History of New England mentions William Collins who, about 1640, accompanied a party of refugees from the West Indies to what is now New Haven, Conn. After a time these wayfarers dispersed “and some returned to Ireland.” Collins afterwards taught school at Hartford, Conn., and subsequently wedded a daughter of Anne Hutchinson who with her family had been banished from Boston, Mass., by the intolerant Boston church, because of her religious views. She took up her residence on the island of Rhode Island. Later, the family removed to territory under Dutch jurisdiction, where Mrs. Hutchinson, her son and her son-in-law (Collins) were killed by the Indians.
An interesting tradition is told concerning George Berkeley, “the Kilkenny scholar,” Anglican dean of Derry, and later bishop of Cloyne. The tradition relates to his arrival at Newport, R. I., in 1729, and is thus narrated: “The captain of the ship in which he and his party sailed could not find the island of Bermuda, and having given up the search for it, steered northward until they discovered land unknown to them and supposed to be inhabited by savages. On making a signal, however, two men came on board from Block Island, in the character of pilots, who on inquiry informed them that the harbor of Newport was near.” The tradition may be founded on fact, but opinions vary concerning it.
John Mease, born in County Tyrone, Ireland, became a shipping merchant in Philadelphia, Pa., and was a patriot of the Revolution. He was with the force that crossed the Delaware with Washington on the night of Dec. 25, 1776, and surprised the Hessians at Trenton. On another occasion he was of a detail told-off to keep the fires along the American front burning while the patriots secretly moved in another direction to fall upon the British at Princeton. On one occasion during the war Mease subscribed £4,000 in aid of the Patriot cause. He was affectionately spoken of in his old age as “The last of the cocked hats,” on account of his continuing to wear the three-cornered hat of the Revolution.
Count Arthur Dillon, commander of the Irish-French regiment of Dillon during the American Revolution, perished by the guillotine in Paris, a victim to the Terror. The regiment of Dillon formed part of the Irish brigade in the service of France, and was a most historic corps. It dated its organization back to the previous century. Count Dillon, above mentioned, came with his regiment to America with our French allies and rendered valiant service. He took part in the capture from the British of St. Eustache, Tobago and St. Christopher, participated in the attack on Savannah and in the siege and capture of Yorktown. He became a brigadier and marechal-de-camp, and, in 1792, was in command of a division in the French army.
In 1743 there was born in Dublin, Ireland, a boy who was destined to take a prominent part in the American Revolution. He was Richard Butler. He came to this country, espoused the Patriot cause, and attained distinction as a soldier. His ability was early recognized by Congress and, 1776, he was appointed major. In 1777 he was commissioned colonel of the Fifth Pennsylvania; was an officer of Morgan’s Rifle Corps, and took part in the battles of Bemis’ Heights and Stillwater; was made colonel of the Ninth Pennsylvania; commanded the Americans at the storming of Stony Point; participated in the siege and capture of Yorktown. He attained the rank of major-general and was second in command of St. Clair’s army for operations against the Indians. He was killed in battle by an Indian, 1791.
“Thomas the Irishman” is mentioned in the Dutch records of New York. Thus, Hon. Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, writing to Capt. Martin Cregier, 1663, says: “Your letter by Thomas the Irishman has just been received.” ... On Aug. 5, 1663, Captain Cregier writes in his journal: “Thomas the Irishman arrived here at the Redoubt from the Manhatans.” On Sept. 1, 1663, Captain Cregier writes: “Thomas the Irishman and Claesje Hoorn arrived with their yachts at the Kill from the Manhatans,” and on the 17th of the same month the captain writes: “Thomas the Irishman arrived today.” The foregoing references may be found in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, edited by Fernow, Vol. XIII, Albany, 1881.
The first president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, New York City, 1784, was Daniel McCormick, a native of Ireland. He came to this country prior to the Revolution, and amassed a large fortune, was one of the first directors of the Bank of New York, and was associated with William Constable and Alexander Macomb, two Irishmen, in extensive land enterprises. Barrett’s Old Merchants of New York states that “Mr. McCormick was a glorious example of the old New Yorker,” and “stuck to short breeches and white stockings and buckles to the last.” He was a great entertainer, “gave good dinner parties, and had choice old wines upon the table.” He is also mentioned “as one of the most polished gentlemen of the city.” He “was the last occupant of a first-class dwelling on Wall Street, since devoted wholly to business.”
From the records of the selectmen, Boston, Mass., May 4, 1723: “Whereas great numbers of Persons haue [have] very lately bin Transported from Ireland into this Province, many of which by Reason of the Present Indian war and the Accedents befalling them, Are now Resident in this Town whose Circomstances and Condition are not known, Some of which if due care be not taken may become a Town Charge or be otherwise prejuditial to the wellfair & Prosperity of the Place, for Remady whereof Ordered That Every Person now Resident here, that hath within the Space of three years last past bin brought from Ireland, or for the future Shal come from thence hither, Shal come and enter his name and Occupation with the Town Clerk, and if marryed the number and Age of his Children and Servants, within the Space of fiue [five] dayes, on pain of forfeiting and paying the Sum of twenty Shillings for Each offence***.”
Matthew Lyon, “the Hampden of Congress,” was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, 1750. He came to this country in 1765; located in Connecticut, and later in Vermont; participated with Ethan Allen in the capture of Ticonderoga from the British; became adjutant of Col. Seth Warner’s regiment; served under General Montgomery in the campaign against Canada, 1775; became paymaster, with the rank of captain, in Warner’s regiment; took part in the battles of Bennington and Saratoga; became commissary-general of militia, with the rank of colonel; was a member of the State Legislature and judge of Rutland County, Vt.; member of Congress from Vermont from 1797 to 1801; cast the vote that made Thomas Jefferson president of the United States; removed to Kentucky and represented that state in Congress from 1803 to 1811.
Sarah W. Alexander, who wedded Christopher R. Perry of Rhode Island, became the mother of Oliver H. Perry—best known as Commodore Perry—who defeated the British in the naval battle on Lake Erie. She was a native of Newry, Ireland, and was born in 1768. Mackenzie, in his Life of Commodore Perry, just mentioned, says that her friends in Ireland “Had been involved in the Irish rebellion. She herself, had felt a lively interest in the cause of liberty, and had listened with deep interest to every account she had heard of battles and skirmishes in the neighborhood. She took a pleasure in recounting ... the achievements of her countrymen and always insisted that they were the bravest people in the world. These narratives fired the mind of Oliver and created a desire in him to pursue the profession of arms.” Oliver received much of his early education from “Old Master” Kelly, an Irish school teacher at Tower Hill, R. I.
From the records of the selectmen, Boston, Mass., Aug. 16, 1736: “mr. James Wimble Informs That Capt. Benedict Arnold who just arrived from Cork with Passengers, came to his House yesterday, being Lord’s day in the afternoon, bringing with him the following Persons, Vizt. Mr. Benja. Ellard, Gent, and his Wife and Three Children, and a Maid Servant, Joseph Atkins, John Clark, John Seley, Thomas Morgan, James Ellard, John Ellard, Benjamin Gillam, Elizabeth Ellard and William Neal. Accordingly the Master Capt. Arnold was sent for Who appear’d and gave Information, That he came from Ireland about Twelve Weeks ago, and that he is Bound to Philadelphia with his Passengers, Who in all, are one Hundred and Twenty, Hopes to Sail in a few days, as soon as he can Recruit with Water and Provisions, and Promises That the Passengers which came ashore Yesterdy shall repair aboard again to day, The Ships name is the Prudent Hannah.”
Gen. William Irvine of the Revolution was born near Enniskellen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, 1741. He came to America in 1764, and settled at Carlisle, Pa. He espoused the patriot cause, raised and commanded the Sixth Pennsylvania regiment; commanded a brigade at the battle of Monmouth, and when Lee’s troops were retreating, they so impeded the advance of this gallant Irishman’s brigade that he threatened to charge through them before he could make his way to take an advanced position. Irvine was made a brigadier-general in May, 1779, and was assigned to the command of the Second brigade of the Pennsylvania Line; later he became a member of the State Council of Censors; member of the Continental Congress; senior major-general of Pennsylvania State troops; a presidential elector; in charge of United States military stores at Philadelphia. He was a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Philadelphia. (Vide Campbell’s History of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.)
William Constable was born in Dublin, Ireland, 1752; a patriot of the Revolution; joined the Continental army as an aide to Lafayette; prominent as a merchant in Philadelphia, Pa.; married Ann White, a schoolmate of the wife of General Washington; removed to New York City in 1784; also very prominent there; associated in business with Robert Morris and Governeur Morris, the firm being known as Constable & Co.; engaged in huge land speculations, purchasing large tracts in New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and Georgia; bought in 1787, with Alexander Macomb, a tract of 640,000 acres in New York, Constable’s share being 192,000 acres; in 1791, he and Alexander Macomb and Daniel McCormick purchased a tract, in New York, of some 4,000,000 acres, or about a tenth part of the whole state. This purchase comprised the “whole of the present counties of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin, with parts of Oswego and Herkimer.” On one occasion, about 1797, Constable lent $1,000 to the fugitive Duke of Orleans in this country, which loan was afterwards repaid by Louis Philippe. Constable was a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Philadelphia, and of the Hibernian Society of that city. He was president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, New York City, in 1789–’90 and in 1795.