On July 2, 1788, Captain Chapman, and nine emigrants from Ireland, were drowned a short distance from the shore of Fisher’s Island. He had just arrived with about 20 emigrants, some of whom were ill. In attempting to land the latter at a spot where they were to be placed in quarantine, all perished. (Rev. J. H. O’Donnell in Catholic Transcript, Hartford, Conn.)
John J. Henry’s parents came from Coleraine, Ireland. John was born in Lancaster, Pa., 1758, and was with Arnold’s expedition to Quebec. He was captured by the British and kept a prisoner for nine months. On being released, he was offered a lieutenancy in the Pennsylvania line, but desired a captaincy in the Virginia line. Ill health interfered somewhat with his military career.
According to Hotten’s Lists, Brian Kelley, aged 20, embarked for Virginia in the vessel Safety, 1635. Among those to be transported to “ye Barbadoes,” 1635, were Dennis MacBrian, Teague Nacton, Dermond O’Bryan and Margaret Conway. They embarked in the Alexander. Mary Driskell, of St. James’ parish, Barbadoes, was buried 1678. Dorothy Callahan, of Barbadoes, was buried Aug. 10, 1679.
Miss Virginia Baker of Warren, R. I., author of a “History of Warren in the War of the Revolution,” writes us: “Perhaps you will be interested to know that the first Irishman known to have settled in Warren was one John O’Kelley. I think he arrived in town prior to 1770.... I have located real estate that he owned.” Miss Baker also informs us that some of his descendants are still to be found in Warren.
Cornelius Merry, an Irishman, of Northampton, Mass., had a grant of land in 1663. He married Rachel Ballard. Their children were John, who “died soon;” John (2d), born in 1665; Sarah, born 1668; Rachel, 1670; Cornelius, Leah, and perhaps others. Cornelius, the father, participated in the “Falls fight” against the Indians. After the war he removed to Long Island, N. Y. (Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary.)
John Lamb, who was captain of a brig called the Irish Gimlet is found at New London, Conn., in 1774; Lawrence Sullivan “of Connecticut” was taken prisoner by the British at the battle of Bunker Hill, and was released February 24, 1776; Captain Richard McCarthy of New London, was wrecked in a storm off Plum Island, May 27, 1779, when he and five sailors perished. (Rev. James H. O’Donnell, Norwalk, Conn.)
Capt. Philip Mortimer, who came from Ireland, was one of the selectmen of Middletown, Conn., in 1749. He was a rope maker, was very wealthy, and donated Mortimer cemetery to the town. Being childless, he sent to Ireland for his niece to come out and become his adopted daughter. The son of Capt. John Reid, Mortimer’s partner, was despatched to Boston with a coach and four and escorted her to Middletown.
Glancing through Deane’s “History of Scituate, Mass.,” the other day, we found mention of Richard Fitzgerald, “a veteran Latin schoolmaster.” He wedded Margaret Snowdon, of Scituate, in 1729. Doubtless he was one of the many Irish teachers who abounded in the American colonies at that and subsequent periods. The Society has already published the names, and something concerning the career, of about forty such.
Charles Clinton was a native of County Longford, Ireland, and was born in 1690. He and his friends, numbering about 200, chartered a vessel and sailed from Dublin in 1729 for Philadelphia, Pa. After a passage lasting 139 days the captain, inadvertently or by design, landed them on Cape Cod, Mass. Ninety-six of the ship’s company had died on the voyage. One of Clinton’s sons, George, became governor of New York.
An Irish colony, consisting of sixteen families, was settled about 1740, under the patronage of Sir William Johnson, himself an Irishman, on a tract a few miles southwest of Fort Hamilton, N. Y., in the town of Glen. The settlers erected dwellings, cleared land and planted orchards. Indian hostilities, however, prevented the success of the settlement, and the pioneers returned to Ireland. (J. R. Simms’ Frontiersmen of New York.)