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.