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.