One of the victims of the Boston massacre, March 5, 1770, was Patrick Carr. On that date, British soldiers in Boston, Mass., fired on a gathering of the people, three of the latter being instantly killed and five dangerously wounded. Crispus Attucks, the leader of the gathering, was among the killed and Carr was mortally wounded. A granite monument stands on Boston Common to commemorate the victims of the British. High up on the shaft, among the others, appears the name of Patrick Carr.
The Mercury (Philadelphia) of Aug. 28, 1735, reported: “On Monday last, Capt. Blair arrived from Carick Fargus in Ireland with 168 Irish passengers and servants and on Monday evening before any of them landed one of them fell into the river and was drowned.” The next paper announced: “the body was found, the next tide carried up seven miles from the mouth of the Schuylkill.” (American Catholic Historical Researches, Philadelphia, Pa., Martin I. J. Griffin, editor.)
From the records of the selectmen, Boston, Mass., Aug. 4, 1736: “Dennis Sullivant being present Informs, That he with his Wife are lately come into this Town from South Carolina by land; That he has been in Town about Five Weeks; That he first Lodg’d at the White Horse Two nights, and a Fortnight at Mrs. Snowdens and now lodges in Long lane, That he designs to return to England or Ireland, as soon as he can Conveniently Obtain a Passage for himself and his said Wife.”
Gen. William Thompson of the Revolution was an Irishman by birth. He came to this country prior to the War for Independence; served during the French and Indian War; became captain of a troop of Light Horse; led a regiment, in 1775, to the American camp at Cambridge, Mass., and participated in the siege of Boston; had many sharpshooters in his command; was made brigadier-general in 1776; relieved General Lee in command of the American forces at New York; died in 1791.
A veteran soldier of the Revolution was Patrick Leonard, who was born in Ireland, 1740. He came to this country and enlisted in the Patriot ranks; served in Proctor’s artillery and in the First Regiment, Pennsylvania Line. He saw much service and took part in the battles of Bunker Hill, Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and Stony Point; also served, in 1791–’96, under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. He was residing, in 1817, at Cincinnati, Ohio.
A native of County Westmeath, Ireland, John Shee, came to America between 1742 and 1745; became prominent in Philadelphia, Pa.; a patriot of the Revolution; commanded the Third Pennsylvania regiment; member of the Pennsylvania State Board of War; subscribed £1,000 in aid of the army; is referred to as “a man of excellent manners and good acquirements”; after the war, became a general of Pennsylvania state troops; collector of the port of Philadelphia; city treasurer of Philadelphia.
A native of Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, John Dunlap, was born in 1747. He settled in Philadelphia, Pa.; became printer to Congress, and to the state of Pennsylvania; published the Philadelphia Packet; was cornet, lieutenant, and commander of the First City Troop; commanded the cavalry in the Whiskey Insurrection campaign. During the Revolution he subscribed £4,000 in aid of the Patriot army. He was at one time the owner of 98,000 acres in the South, in addition to real estate elsewhere.
One of the earliest Irishmen in this country of whom we have record was Francis Maguire. Hon. Hugh Hastings, state historian of New York, writes that Maguire arrived at Jamestown, Va., with Capt. Christopher Newport, about 1607, remained in the country nearly a year, and returned to England with Newport. Maguire “wrote an account of his voyage to Virginia and submitted it to the Privy Council of Spain.” In one account he is described as an Irishman and a Roman Catholic.
Teague Crehore was a resident of Milton or Dorchester, Mass., as early as 1640–’50. He is stated to have been stolen from his parents in Ireland when a child. He died in 1695, aged 55 years. This would show that he was born about 1640. He had a son Timothy, born in 1660, who died in 1739 and is buried in Milton, Mass. This Timothy had a son Timothy, grandson of Teague, who was born in 1689 and wedded Mary Driscoll of Dorchester, Mass., in 1712. He died in 1755 and is buried in Milton.
Rev. Samuel Dorrance, an Irish Presbyterian clergyman, arrived in Voluntown, Conn., 1722, and was installed as pastor of the church there. His nationality caused some dissatisfaction, and the disgruntled members of the church drew up a petition for his removal. They were informed, they said, that “He came out of Ireland” and that since his coming “The Irish do flock into town.” (Larned’s History of Windham County, Conn., quoted by Rev. James H. O’Donnell in his History of the Diocese of Hartford.)