Part 9

But they went to work with a laugh and an “Irish hurrah.” Whether they knew it or not, they had arrived when they were most needed. The era of railroads and steamships had begun. Great cities were being built and being rebuilt. The factory system was being established in New England. The iron and steel trade had secured a solid foothold. And so, while the Irish had nothing to offer at first but labor, labor was what the United States was most urgently in need of at that stage of its development.

When the Civil War put American manhood to the test the Irish were everywhere—in the thickets of the Wilderness, at the Bloody Angle of Gettysburg, on the crimson field of Chancellorsville. Standing for state rights—the rights of which John C. Calhoun had been the great exponent—were Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, Senator Regan, the Texan, and others. Standing for the Union were Sheridan, Meade and Meagher, whose dashing valor is one of our national boasts. Unquestionably “Little Phil” Sheridan deserves a high place, not only among American generals, but among the foremost military commanders of the world. Today, among the retired veterans of the United States Army there are three brigadier-generals of Irish birth—Richard Comba, John J. Coppinger and William Quinton.[10] There is also one rear-admiral—Joseph Trilley.

Footnote 10:

To these three should be added: Brig. Gen. Bernard J. D. Irwin, Brig. Gen. Michael Cooney, Brig. Gen. James W. Scully, Brig. Gen. Charles P. Eagan, Brig. Gen. William E. Dougherty, Brig. Gen. John R. McGinness and Brig. Gen. John J. O’Connell, all natives of Ireland.

For more than two hundred years the sons of Ireland have been among the pathfinders who prepared the way for the American nation in its mighty sweep from the Atlantic to the Pacific. No region has ever been too remote or perilous to daunt the Irish pioneer. Whoever discovers the North Pole will no doubt find a Kelly or an O’Brien already on the spot. It was Capt. John J. Healy, for instance, who was the commercial discoverer of Alaska; and when the United States first took possession of that frozen country, four of the sixteen white men in its largest settlement were found to be subscribers to the _Irish World_. Gen. Patrick E. Connor was a trail-maker in Utah, as Philip Nolan and Sam Houston were in Texas. Henry W. Oliver, the late steel king of Pittsburg, who had the most dramatic career of ups and downs that western Pennsylvania has ever known, was the first Pittsburgher to realize fully the value of the Lake Superior iron ore. In consequence, he piled up a forty-million fortune. Missouri had Brian Mullanphy, who left a fortune for the assistance of poor immigrants. In fact, when the history of any western state is written, it will be found that among the army that cleared the way there was always an Irish brigade.

The plain, straight truth about the Western Irish is more wonderful than any fanciful tale woven in the loom of Arabian imagination. Talk about _Monte Cristo_ or _Sinbad the Sailor_! They are paltry adventurers compared with men like John W. Mackay or Marcus Daly. With his three partners, also Irish—James C. Flood, James G. Fair and William S. O’Brien—John W. Mackay changed the silver markets of the world. Within a comparatively few years these four men took a treasure of $150,000,000 from one hole in the side of a Nevada mountain—the famous Comstock lode. Always ready for big enterprises, Mackay put his millions behind James Gordon Bennett’s dream to link America and Europe together by an Atlantic cable, and drove the scheme ahead to complete success. What Marcus Daly did in Montana was different only in detail. He, too, “grasped the skirts of happy chance” with a grip that landed him and his friends among the most powerful money kings of his generation.

All five of these Irishmen began at the lowest rung of the ladder. They made themselves the leaders in a country of strong and daring men, by being the strongest and most daring of all. And today their children have linked their fathers’ names by marriage with some of the proudest families in the older states—the Oelrichses, Vanderbilts, Duers and Girards, as well as to the princely Colonnas of Italy.

Whether it is the versatile genius of the Emmets of New York; or the fighting pluck of “Bucky” O’Neil, who was killed with the Rough Riders at Santiago; or the sagacity of John Mitchell, who is the leader of 150,000 miners—whether it is the sheer brain force and inventiveness of a Fulton, a Morse or a McCormick, or the quaint and witty wisdom of “Mr. Dooley,” there have always been qualities of the Irish head and the Irish heart that brought honor to the little home-land of the Celt.

“There is nothing negative about the Irish,” said Patrick Ford—which is exactly what anyone who knows the rugged old journalist would have expected him to say. They may be on the wrong side of the quarrel, but one thing is always certain—they are never on the fence. They care little or nothing for obstacles and adverse circumstances. They are the best of friends and the best of enemies—the quickest with either the open hand or the fist—the most loyal to a cause and the most rebellious against a tyranny. They live closest to hope and farthest from despair.

“Why,” said Maurice Healy, an Alaskan fur trader, “I’m only 700 miles from a bank!”

You can bend and twist an Irishman, but you can seldom break him—the records of insanity and suicide prove this. He “works hard in time of peace and fights hard in time of war,” as President Roosevelt has said. Impulsive, daring, constructive, indomitable, the Irishman has done indispensable work in this land of his choice.

“May his shadow never grow less!”—so say we all.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR.

LEADING EVENTS IN THE CAREER OF THE SOCIETY, FOR 1906, OR OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE MEMBERS.

Jan. 4. Death of P. J. Kenedy, New York, senior member of the firm of P. J. Kenedy & Sons, publishers. Mr. Kenedy was a member of the Society.

Jan. 6. The U. S. gunboat _Hist_ arrived at the Charlestown (Mass.) navy yard today from Newport, R. I. Chief Boatswain Hugh Sweeney, who was in command, immediately turned the vessel over to Boatswain Patrick Shanahan and returned to Newport.

Jan. 10. Thirtieth meeting of the council of the Society is held this evening at Providence, R. I. Hon. Thomas Z. Lee of Providence presides.

Jan. 10. Following the council meeting just mentioned the members and friends partook of dinner at the Narragansett Hotel, Providence.

Jan. 18. Annual meeting and dinner of the Society. The event took place at the Hotel Manhattan, 42d Street and Madison Avenue, New York.

Jan. 18. A dinner to James McMahon was given at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, tonight, by the officers of the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, that city. Mr. McMahon retires from the presidency of the bank after fourteen years’ service. He is a member of the Society.

Jan. 29. Death of Ambrose F. Travers, New York, a member of the Society.

Feb. 1. Governor Swanson of Virginia is inaugurated. He has appointed Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, of Norfolk, a member of the Society, to be a colonel on his staff.

Feb. 4. Capt. James Connolly of Coronado, Cal., a member of the Society, writes to Secretary Murray that he has contracted with a Boston publisher to bring out a volume of verse entitled “The Jewels of King Art,” in commemoration of a famous Irish monarch.

Feb. 18. John A. McCall, a life member of the Society, dies at Lakewood, N. J.

Feb. 21. Rev. John F. Leary, rector of St. Michael’s Church, Chapman, Kan., and chaplain of the Grand Army of the Republic, died on this date. He was a native of Ogdensburg, N. Y. During the Civil War he served as a member of the Fifteenth New York Engineers. That was before he became a priest. He was in the engagements at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Appomatox. Though he was wounded at Bermuda Hundred, he was able to get back to his regiment in time to be in at the finish at Appomatox Courthouse. Father Leary was elected chaplain-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic at the national encampment held last September.

Feb. 28. George T. Little, librarian of Bowdoin College, requests a copy of Volume II of the Journal of the Society for that institution. He states that the college is already in possession of the other volumes of the series.

March. Rev. Cyrus Townsend Brady, LL. D., of the Society, is the author of a volume brought out this month entitled, _The True Andrew Jackson_. It is illustrated, comprises 503 pages, and is dedicated as follows: “To that most useful and eminent citizen, John D. Crimmins, and our fellow-members of the American-Irish Historical Society, I dedicate this appreciation of the greatest among the many of Irish lineage who have contributed to the upbuilding of the republic.”

March 2. The State Historical Society of Missouri, by its secretary, expresses a desire to secure copies of the publications of our Society.

March 8. Cyril Crimmins, a son of Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York, becomes a life member of the Society.

March 9. Frederick H. Hild, librarian of the Chicago Public Library, writes that the library is desirous of having a complete set of the Journal of the Society, and also copies of such other publications as may be issued.

March 12. The Rhode Island state house commissioners granted this afternoon, permission to the Society to erect a tablet in the edifice to Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.

March 13. The Providence (R. I.) _Evening Tribune_ contains an interesting article on the memorial tablet which the Society purposes erecting in the state capitol, Providence, to Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.

March 14. An article on Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan is published in the Providence (R. I.) _Evening Tribune_ today, accompanied by his portrait.

March 15. Most Rev. Robert Seton, titular archbishop of Heliopolis, lectured at the Irish College, Rome, today, on The Irish in America. Among those present was Cardinal Michael Logue, archbishop of Armagh, and primate of all Ireland.

March 24. A despatch from Montreal, this date, states that the Oakhall restaurant, corner of St. Peter and Notre Dame streets, that city, was burned out last night. Special interest centres in the fact that the building was occupied in 1775 as the headquarters of Gen. Richard Montgomery and staff of the American army in Montreal.

March 28. Melvin G. Dodge, librarian of Leland Stanford Junior University, California, wishes copies of Volumes I and III of the Journal of the Society for that institution. He writes us to that effect.

March 31. Gaelic Notes in this week’s New York _Irish World_ has the following: “Now that the question of teaching Irish history in the schools has again come to the front, we would repeat the suggestion made by us a couple of years ago to the American-Irish Historical Society, that in no possible way could it so promote the objects for which it is organized as by the preparation of a popular text-book of the history of the race in America, suitable for the use of schools. The Society has the material for doing this; it could do it without loss to itself, and with great profit to the race, which it would thus have put under a debt of gratitude.”

April. Death of Gen. M. T. McMahon at his home in New York City. He was a judge of the New York Court of General Sessions at the time of his death. He had practised law in New York for many years and was a fine speaker, but he was known chiefly as a soldier. He was educated at St. John’s College, Fordham, from which he graduated in 1855, and then went to Buffalo, where he studied law in the office of Eli Cook, then mayor of the city, in company with Grover Cleveland, since president of the United States. Although able to pass the examination, he was too young to be admitted to the bar, and he became a correspondence clerk in the general post-office at Washington. In President Buchanan’s administration he was appointed special post-office agent to the Pacific coast. He was admitted to the bar at Sacramento in 1861. At the first call for troops at the breaking out of the Civil War he raised the first company of cavalry on the Pacific. He was elected captain of the company, but when it was decided that the company should not go to the front he resigned and went to Washington. He was made a captain in the regular army and an aide-de-camp to Gen. George B. McClellan, whose bosom friend he remained until “Little Mac’s” death. He served in every engagement in which the Army of the Potomac took part. When the Sixth Corps was disbanded he was adjutant-general and chief of staff. He also served under Generals Franklin, Sedgwick (who was killed at the Wilderness), Baldy Smith and Wright. He received the congressional medal of honor for bravery at the battle of White Oak Swamp. Congress also presented him with a jeweled sword for conspicuous bravery at Spottsylvania and other battles. At the close of the war he was assigned as adjutant-general under General Dix, to the Department of the East. He resigned in 1866 and became corporation attorney of New York City. President Johnson made him minister to Paraguay. In 1879 he ran for Congress against Robert B. Roosevelt and was defeated. Two years later he was appointed receiver of taxes by Andrew H. Green, then comptroller. He was United States marshal for the Southern District of New York under President Cleveland. After that he was an assemblyman and a state senator. For years he had been one of the managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In 1896 he was elected judge of the Court of General Sessions. General McMahon was a Fenian and was ready for service in Ireland. He was also a member of the Clan-na-Gael in its earlier days. His brother, John E. McMahon, who was attorney-general and adjutant-general of New York state under Governor Seymour, was colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York Volunteers, which he raised in Buffalo at the outbreak of the war. The regiment was later consolidated with the Phœnix Zouaves, a Fenian regiment, and McMahon became colonel. It was part of the Corcoran Legion. Col. John E. McMahon was killed at the siege of Suffolk, Va., in 1863. The other brother, James P. McMahon, was a captain in the Sixty-ninth with Thomas Francis Meagher, later became lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth New York, and was promoted to be colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York, in place of his brother, Martin. He remained in command of the latter regiment until he was killed in a charge at the battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864.

April. About this time is issued from the Blanchard Press, Worcester, Mass., a volume entitled: “A Study in the Etymology of the Indian Place Name Missisquoi.” The author of the work is George McAleer, M. D., of Worcester, a member of our Society.

April. The _Munsey Magazine_ (New York) for this month has a paper on the Irish in America by Herbert N. Casson.

April 7. Death today of Capt. Patrick S. Curry, Lynn, Mass., a member of the Society. He passed away at Nashua, N. H., where he had been superintending the construction of a new post-office building.

April 9. Daniel Walsh, a member of the crew of the _Monitor_ when she fought the _Merrimac_, during the Civil War, died in Lawrence, Mass. He was a native of Ireland.

April 18. Hon. James D. Phelan, ex-mayor of San Francisco, who is a member of the Society, is appointed a member of the Committee of Safety by Mayor Schmitz of that city, which committee is rendered necessary by the great earthquake and fire disaster.

April 18. E. Festus Kelly, of Northerwood House, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, expresses his interest in a paper on “The New Hampshire Kellys,” which appeared in Volume V of the Journal of the Society, and desires a copy of the same.

April 20. Patrick J. Meehan, of Jersey City, N. J., editor of the _Irish-American_ of New York, the oldest Irish newspaper in the United States with the exception of _The Pilot_, and who may be styled the Nestor of the Irish-American and Catholic journalistic fraternity, died on this date.

April 20. A despatch from Lowell, Mass., today states that the O’Sullivan Rubber Co., of that city, has wired $500 to the mayor of San Francisco to aid the earthquake sufferers. The check was signed by Treasurer Humphrey O’Sullivan, who is a member of our Society, as is James O’Sullivan, president of the company.

April 25. At Phalerum, Greece, today, Martin J. Sheridan of the Irish-American A. C., New York, won the contest at discus throwing. Giorgantas, a Greek, was second.

April 25. President Roosevelt, in a proclamation today, urges the American people to now send their contributions for the alleviation of the distress in San Francisco, directly to ex-Mayor James D. Phelan, chairman of the finance committee in San Francisco, instead of to the American Red Cross. The proclamation goes on to say: “The need of employing the Red Cross, save as an auxiliary, has passed, and I urge that hereafter all contributions from any source be sent direct to James D. Phelan, chairman finance committee, San Francisco. Mr. Devine of the Red Cross will disburse any contributions sent to him through ex-Mayor Phelan and will work in accord with him in all ways.”

April 26. Reception this evening to Rear-Admiral John McGowan, U. S. N., the new president-general of the Society. The event took place at the residence of Hon. John D. Crimmins, 40 East 68th Street, New York.

April 28. An editorial in the _New Century_, Washington, D. C., this date, says: “As an individual contributor to the San Francisco relief fund, one notices an Irish name leading all the rest—far and above in amount, the generosity of the Rockefellers, the Astors and the Vanderbilts. The name is that of James D. Phelan, who subscribed $1,000,000. And this, notwithstanding that he himself lost $15,000,000 by the fire. These great catastrophes always evoke large-hearted acts and assure us that neither magnanimity, public spirit nor courage have yet vanished from the face of the earth. Mr. Phelan’s conduct proclaims him a man worthy of his wealth. We learn, further, that he is a Catholic, a graduate of a Jesuit college and that he was mayor of San Francisco from 1896 to 1902. As he is only forty-five years of age, we shall hope to hear more of him hereafter.”

April-May. A committee organized by Archbishop Farley, of New York, for the relief of the San Francisco sufferers, has been very successful. Among the members of the Society who have contributed to the fund, together with the amount given by each, are the following: Archbishop Farley, $1,000; Hon. John D. Crimmins, $1,000; Hon. W. Bourke Cochran, $1,000; Eugene Kelly, $1,000; James S. Coleman, $300; Francis J. Quinlan, M. D., $250; Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, $250; Edmond J. Curry, $100; J. Henry Haggerty, $100; all of New York. Mr. Crimmins is treasurer of the fund.

May 3. Warren Upham, secretary and librarian of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn., writes that the organization is desirous of possessing a complete set of the Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society.

May 5. The New York _Irish-American_ for this week has the following relative to our San Francisco member, ex-Mayor James D. Phelan: “In San Francisco the man of the hour in whose hands is the management of the great relief fund, and under whose executive direction the important movements that are to lift the stricken city up from the depths and rebuild her shattered fortunes have already been begun, is that well-known Irish-American, James D. Phelan, former mayor of the city. Although his personal and business losses must reach millions, it is reported that he has devoted the sum of $1,000,000 out of his private fortune to employ the afflicted laboring people of his native city. Mr. Phelan, whose father was one of the men who made San Francisco rich and famous, was born in 1861, and was educated at St. Ignatius College, in that city, where he graduated with honor, after a four years’ course of study. He then entered as a student at the law department of the University of California, of which he is also a graduate. He was selected mayor of the city, as a Democrat, in 1896, and served until 1902. His régime was marked by zeal and ability in the public service. The Democrats of the state Legislature complimented him with their nomination for United States senator a few years ago. He is one of the leading capitalists of the United States, and has numerous commercial and mining interests. He is president of the Mutual Savings Bank and the finest business block in San Francisco, situated on Market Street, bore his name. It withstood the shock of earthquake, but the resulting fire reduced it to a mass of smoking ruins. Mr. Phelan has been for years a generous supporter of the Irish cause and has stood by both Parnell and Redmond with his influence and his money. His father aided in receiving Terence Bellew McManus, John Mitchel and Thomas Francis Meagher when those patriots escaped from the British penal settlements in Australia and sought liberty and new careers in America. No city has been more generous in aid of Ireland than San Francisco and its people, of all races, are renowned for their hospitality and liberality, and foremost among those who offered that hospitality has always been James D. Phelan. In the new city that is to rise triumphant from the ashes of the present disaster his grateful fellow-citizens will no doubt give him every honor in their bestowal.”

May 12. The funeral took place, at Boston today, of Patrick E. Flood. He was a member of the crew of the U. S. S. _Kearsarge_ when she fought the _Alabama_.

May 29. John F. Sweeney, Buffalo, N. Y., becomes a life member of the Society.

May 30. In the old Granary burying ground, Boston, this morning, was unveiled a slab marking the burial place of those who fell in the Boston massacre of March 5, 1770, and of a boy who was killed on the previous February 22. The modest slab of slate is in keeping with the other memorials in this historic burying ground. It was erected by Boston Chapter, S. A. R., and is the first permanent marker that has been placed over these graves. Dr. Samuel Crowell, president of the Boston Chapter, unveiled the slab with a brief introductory speech, presenting Dr. Moses Greeley Parker of Lowell, president of the Massachusetts Society, who congratulated Boston Chapter on the work it has done and is doing. Edward W. McGlenen, city registrar, of the committee, gave a brief historical sketch of the events leading up to the massacre, including the shooting of the boy, Christopher Snider, by the British soldiers, who fired into his father’s house. Little attention has been paid in history to the killing of this boy, called on the slab “the innocent first victim of the struggles between the colonists and the crown.” The slab stands close to the grave of Samuel Adams and is in plain view from the street. The inscription reads: