LEADING EVENTS IN THE CAREER OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEARS 1901, 1902, 1903, AND 1904, OR OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE MEMBERS.

1901. Jan. 2. Death of Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, a member of the Society, at Minneapolis, Minn. He was twice elected lieutenant-governor of Minnesota, and was a member of the 38th, 39th, and 40th Congresses. 1901. Jan. 9. Death of Rev. John F. Mundy, of Cambridge, Mass., a member of the Society. 1901. Jan. 24. A meeting of the executive council of the Society is held this afternoon at the Murray Hill hotel, New York City, President-General Gargan in the chair. 1901. Jan. 24. Annual meeting of the Society at Sherry’s, Forty-fourth St., and Fifth Ave., New York City. Hon. John D. Crimmins is elected president-general of the organization. 1901. Jan. 24. Annual dinner of the Society, this evening, at Sherry’s, New York City. Letters expressive of regret at inability to attend were received from Hon. John Lee Carroll, president of the Sons of the Revolution; President Warren of Boston University, President Hall of Clark University, President Harper of the University of Chicago, Rt. Rev. Dr. Conaty of the Catholic University, Washington, D. C.; President Capen of Tufts College, and from many others. 1901. Jan. 24. At the annual gathering of the Society to-night Rev. A. P. Doyle, C. S. P., read a paper on “Hon. Thomas Dongan, Governor of New York, 1683–1688.” 1901. February. The Cosmopolitan magazine for this month publishes a story, “The Requiem of the Drums.” The author was Capt. “Bucky” O’Neill, and the story was written shortly before the breaking out of the war with Spain, while he was still acting as sheriff of Prescott, Ariz. O’Neill became a captain in the “Rough Riders” regiment, and fell at the head of his company before the Spanish trenches of Las Guasimas. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, of our Society, termed him “one of the best captains in the regiment.” 1901. Feb. 5. A delegation from the United Irish-American societies of New York City waited on Mayor VanWyck to-day, and presented a resolution which praised him for refusing to lower the flags to half staff on the death of the British queen, Victoria. The delegation was headed by Daniel F. Cohalan, a prominent New York lawyer. Mayor VanWyck in reply thanked the committee and said that he was glad Americans viewed his action with favor. 1901. Feb. 21. Francis C. O’Reilly, Orange, N. J., of the Society, passes away. He was the head of the Watchung Coal Company of Orange, a director of the Orange National Bank, and a member of several organizations, including the Orange Riding and Driving Club. 1901. March. Dennis H. Mulligan passes away in Kentucky. A news paragraph dated Lexington, Ky., March 15, and published in the Louisville Times states that Mr. Mulligan “was one of the few surviving types of the old-fashioned Kentucky gentleman, and his death caused profound sorrow among all who knew him. Mr. Mulligan was the father of the Hon. James H. Mulligan, formerly consul to Samoa. The old gentleman was in his eighty-seventh year when he died and had long been active in public matters. He owned a whole town in the very suburbs of Lexington. The place is known as ‘Grannon,’ and was incorporated as a town with Dennis Mulligan as mayor, by an act of the Kentucky legislature, while James H. Mulligan was in the state senate. ‘Grannon’ now falls to James H. Mulligan.” 1901. March 19. Hon. John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H., of the Society, speaks at a hearing, in the New Hampshire State Capitol, in favor of erecting a monument to Hon. Franklin Pierce, a former president of the United States. 1901. April 4. A meeting of the executive council held at the residence of Hon. John. D. Crimmins, 40 East 68th St., New York City. Mr. Crimmins, president-general, presided. 1901. April 13. Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York City, president-general of the Society, delivers an address at the laying of the corner-stone of the new Hall of Records, New York.

PAPERS BY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.

EARLY IRISH SETTLERS IN VIRGINIA.

BY HON. JOHN C. LINEHAN,[[1]] CONCORD, N. H.

Virginia was first settled by white men in 1607. On the authority of a work published recently, Francis Maguire, an Irishman and a Roman Catholic, visited the colony a year later. “He wrote an account of his voyage to Virginia and submitted it to the privy council of Spain.” From this it is evident that he was not in the interest of England and did not remain in the colony.

Virginia, even in its early days, was not friendly to those of the faith of Maguire. In 1625 the same writer mentioned that “Symon Tuchin master of the Due Return having been banished out of Ireland was reported as strongly affected to popery, and the Governor and Council of Virginia sent him as a prisoner, in January, 1625, to the Company in England.” This ended the career of Symon in the Old Dominion, and no further mention is made of him.

Who the first actual settlers in Virginia from Ireland were, and the period of their arrival, can be determined only from the names printed in the early colonial records and in the calendar of state papers following.

The population of the colony from 1609 to 1624, as given in the work mentioned, namely, The First Republic in America, was as follows:

In 1609 one authority gives it as being, in July, not over one hundred and nine persons.