Darby Field came to New Hampshire in 1631. The date is so remote that no attempt has thus far been made to denationalize him. Consequently, he remains on the records as a plain “Irish soldier for discovery.” His home was in Exeter. He is credited with being the first in the English settlements to discover the White Mountains. That he was a useful citizen is evident from the provincial papers. How many American Fields are descended from him cannot be determined, but if there are any, there isn’t much doubt that they will locate the birthplace of their ancestor in Ulster. This fad extends even to some children of the modern Irish. The illustrious “Tim” Campbell, ex-member of congress from New York, has been classified as of “Scotch-Irish” descent, and recently a young man named Quinn, of the first generation born here, said, “His father was a Scotch-Irishman from Kilkenny, in the north of Ireland.” A little rough on the city paved with marble, but such is fad.
A good, sturdy representative of the Fields to-day in New Hampshire, as Irish in blood as Darby Field was, is the Hon. John H. Field, who was a member of the state senate in 1899–1900. His home is Nashua. He is of the faith of his fathers.
Darby Kelly was the ancestor of many American Kellys. His descendants are almost innumerable. Like Darby Field, he, too, was a soldier, as well as a schoolmaster and farmer. Gen. Benjamin F. Kelly, of West Virginia, was his grandson; the latter acquired distinction in the Civil War. The name Darby Kelly appears on the muster rolls of company and regiment from 1748 to the fall of Wolfe and Montcalm.
Of the Patricks, Patrick O’Flynn possessed a military record his offspring may well take pride in. His name appears quite often in the short wars preceding the struggle for independence. He represented the town of Bedford at Bunker Hill and served through the long war which ended at Yorktown. At its close he went West, dying in Illinois. His name appears on the United States pension rolls for 1825, with his company and regiment.
Another was Patrick Cogan. He was quartermaster of the First New Hampshire regiment, serving in that capacity under Stark, Cilley and Reid. He died in the service in 1778. His regiment was in Sullivan’s brigade at Ticonderoga in 1777. He represented Sullivan’s town, Durham. Stephen Cogan, possibly a relative, was a selectman in the same town in 1780, and with him were Joseph, William and Joseph Cogan, Jr.
A namesake, if not a relative of Darby Field, was Patrick Field, a soldier in the Continental army. Patrick Guinlan was teaching school in Concord before 1770. He is given mention in Bouton’s history of that place.
A well-known town in the south of Ireland is Dungarvan, and a well-known locality in Concord is “Garvin’s Falls,” just south of the city, on the Merrimack. The falls are named for Patrick Garvin, one of the first settlers. His name appears frequently as one of the defenders of the garrison against the Indians.
New Hampshire furnished to Iowa one of her most distinguished sons, in the person of the Hon. James W. Grimes, who acquired a national reputation during the Civil War. One of the first, if not the very first, of that name in New Hampshire was Patrick Grimes.
Patrick Gault was the ancestor of some of New Hampshire’s substantial citizens. His name appears early in the provincial papers. As much can be said of Patrick Taggart and his descendants.
Patrick White was the first of his line in the old Granite state. He came to Peterborough before 1740. Gen. Daniel M. White, commander of the New Hampshire National Guard in 1894, was one of his descendants.