Part 8

One of his sons, if I mistake not, was Florence McCarthy, who became one of the leading citizens of the town, a man of wealth and a successful dealer in provisions. He was one of the founders of the first Episcopal church in New England. He was here as early as 1686 and died in 1712. He left an estate valued at £2,922, including his farm, which embraced the land in Roxbury on which the Marcella Street Home stood.

Another son was Captain William McCarthy, who was the best known ship-owner in the town. Still another was Thomas McCarthy. He was chosen a constable in 1727, but was not anxious to serve in that capacity. A fourth son was Thaddeus McCarthy, who was graduated from Harvard College, was pastor of the First Church in Worcester for thirty-seven years and became the father of fifteen children.

A brother of this Thaddeus McCarthy, the minister, was Captain William McCarthy, who served as quartermaster of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment in the Revolution, and a son was Dr. Thaddeus McCarthy, who became a noted medical practitioner in Fitchburg, Mass., and Keene, N. H. A Charles Maccarty took part in the expedition against Quebec in 1690 and was badly wounded.

I will not vouch positively that I have stated accurately the relations to one another of these Maccarthys. There is a little difference in one or two statements in this matter by at least two good authorities, Bernard Cullen, author of _The Story of the Irish in Boston_, and the late Col. John C. Linehan of Concord, N. H., author of numerous articles on the early Irish residents of New England.

Now I am going to give you a few tid-bits, as it were, from the colonial records and other sources:

“Derman Mahoone is fined 20 shillings for intertaining two Irishwomen” in 1657. In other words, he simply gave them the hospitality of his home in a legitimate way. But that was against the law—for the Irish.

“Margaret Noriss, an Irishwoman is admitted to the town.” That was in 1658.

John Martin, a ship carpenter, was a resident in 1637 and was admitted an inhabitant in the following year.

John Moore was the servant of the governor in 1639.

Myles Tarne, a leather dresser, was here as early as 1642.

From the records of 1646 I quote: “John Berry is put an apprentice to Edward Keyly for seaven years.” Berry, undoubtedly, is a corruption of Barry, and Keyly of Kelly or Kiley.

I hardly need to remind you, in mentioning this, that the spelling of the keepers of the colonial records was something atrocious. William Healy, to whom I referred a moment ago, had his name spelled in at least five different ways.

James Carey was chosen town clerk of Charlestown in 1662.

A great fire occurred in Boston in 1760. Among those whose homes were destroyed were Captain Killeran and Michael Carroll. They lived in the district which we used to know as Fort Hill.

In 1659 Governor Endicott united in marriage John Morrell and Lysbell Morrell, both Irish, say the records.

James Cochran, an Irish boy, was captured by Indians in those early days. He was a brave youth and managed to kill a couple of savages and make his escape. _The Boston News-Letter_ of April 29, 1725, said of him: “James Cochran, ye youth that came into Brunswick with two scalps, came into town on Monday last and on Tuesday produced ye same scalps before ye Honorable Lieutenant-Governor and Council, for which he received a reward of two hundred pounds. And for ye farther encouragement of young men and others to perform bold and hardy actions in ye Indian war, His Honor ye Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to make him sargeant in ye forces.”

Verily, a good type of the Fighting Race!

Now to come down to the second half of the period of time which I am considering. One of the most picturesque and interesting figures in the history of Boston was John Hancock, whom, some claim, had Irish blood in his veins. He was a staunch patriot, statesman, leader in public affairs, governor of the Commonwealth, orator and the first signer of the Declaration of Independence (which, by the way, with only his signature as president of the Continental Congress and that of Charles Thomson, a native of Maghera, Ire., as secretary, was sent forth to the world, the other names being added to it later).

As a bit of evidence which may help to indicate Hancock’s ancestry, it may be worth mentioning that he presented a bell and vane to the Irish Presbyterian Church in Boston.

A copy of _The Tyrone, Ireland, Constitution_, issued some time in or prior to 1876, contained these statements: “Those who are conversant with _Reid’s History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland_ are aware that multitudes of Protestants left Ulster for the plantations of North America. John Hancock’s ancestor was among that number.”

And again: “It is stated by reliable authorities that the ancestors of John Hancock emigrated from near Downpatrick, Co. Down, Ire., and settled in Boston toward the close of the seventeenth century. The Hancocks have been for centuries actively and largely engaged in the foreign and domestic trade of Newry, and it was, doubtless, in a commercial capacity that the first of the name came to Boston. The family to which President Hancock belonged is, it is said, now (1889) represented in Ireland by John Hancock of Lurgan, and by Neilson Hancock, the founder of the Irish Statistical Society. Anthony Hancock, who came from Ireland, resided in Boston in 1681, and he was evidently the founder of the family in America.”

Equal to Hancock in patriotism and brilliant qualities was James Sullivan, who spent the last part of his life in Boston. He was a governor of Massachusetts, patriot, jurist, orator and author and shone conspicuously in his various roles. He was a brother of General John Sullivan, New Hampshire’s most distinguished Kelt, patriot, the soldier who struck the first blow for the freedom of his country, delegate to the Continental Congress, jurist and chief magistrate of the Granite State.

These two great men were the sons of Owen Sullivan or O’Sullivan, who came from Ardea, Co. Kerry, while their mother was from Cork.

The year 1737 was notable in the annals of Boston as marking the birth of a lad who was destined, up to the present time, to become her greatest artist, “the American Vandyke,” as he was fittingly called. He was a painter of portraits and historical subjects, and doubtless many of you have seen some of the splendid works from his brush which enrich the Museum of Fine Arts. I refer to John Singleton Copley. He was the son of Irish parents (they were from County Clare), who settled in Boston in 1736.

Copley began his career under great disadvantages—without teacher or instruction, without model, without materials to practise. He even had to make his own palette and arrange what colors he used. Furthermore, he never saw a good picture until he left his native land. But notwithstanding all this, his genius triumphed.

When twenty-three years old, Copley sent, without name or address, an exquisite portrait of his half-brother, entitled “The Boy and the Flying Squirrel,” to Benjamin West, the famous English painter, requesting that it be placed in the exhibition rooms of the Royal Academy in London. Though it was contrary to the rules of that institution to give such an honor to the work of unknown artists, this product of the young American Kelt was placed there because of its merits and through West’s influence. West himself made this comment on the painting: “What delicious coloring! It is worthy of Titian himself!”

Copley spent the latter part of his life in London, and after achieving the most brilliant success and receiving high honors, died in 1815.

Some of his biographers assert that Copley left America because of royalist tendencies, but this is untrue. He did so simply to perfect himself in his art. As a matter of fact, his sympathies and judgment were enlisted with his countrymen in their struggle for independence, as passages in his own and friends’ correspondence conclusively prove.

Among the Massachusetts men who signed the Declaration of Independence was Robert Treat Paine of Boston. Paine, according to what is believed to be good authorities, had Irish blood in his veins. He was the grandson of Robert Paine, who came here about the year 1698. This Robert Paine was a brother of Henry O’Neill of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, a descendant of Shane the Proud, Prince of Ulster, and cousin of Sir Neal O’Neill, who perished in the Battle of the Boyne. Henry O’Neill changed his name to Paine, which had been borne by a parental ancestor, in order to preserve part of his estates. So says O’Hart, compiler of _Irish Pedigrees_.

Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Boston in 1731. He became a lawyer and conducted the prosecution of the English soldiers who perpetrated the “Boston Massacre,” as it is called. He served in the legislature and was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1778. When the State Constitution of Massachusetts was adopted in 1780 he was made attorney-general and served as such for six years, then becoming a judge of the Supreme Court.

Two of his descendants and namesakes are today prominent citizens of Boston, one a successful business man, while the other, his son, a few years ago was the candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket.

The first indication of the Irish in Boston giving any evidence of national spirit occurred in 1737, on St. Patrick’s Day, when twenty-six Protestant Kelts—they all belonged to the Irish Presbyterian Church—organized the Charitable Irish Society to aid unfortunate fellow countrymen and to cultivate a spirit of unity and harmony among all Irishmen in the Massachusetts colony and their descendants and to advance their interests socially and morally. It has held meetings and celebrations from that day down to the present, except during the Revolution, in which a number of members took part. It has the distinction of being the oldest Irish society in America. Some of the charter members were the founders of distinguished families.

One of the founders was Peter Pelham, stepfather of Copley, the artist. He was an engraver, painter and father of fine arts. The same year the society was founded the selectmen granted him permission to open a school for the education of children in reading, writing, needle-work, dancing and the art of painting on glass, etc.

Major-General Henry Knox, that brilliant and dashing soldier of the Revolution, and secretary of war, was also a member, as were his father and two uncles. General Knox was born in Boston in 1760.

The membership roll also contained the names of Capt. Robert Gardner, a wealthy and prominent citizen; Rev. John Moorehead, pastor of the Irish Presbyterian Church; William Hall, who was the first president of the Society and was a constable in 1730; John McLean, a slater, and who made repairs on Faneuil Hall; Captain James McGee, who had command of a vessel in the service of the commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay and which was wrecked during a great storm in 1778, when seventy-two of the crew perished; and William Moroney. The diary of Lieutenant Burton, published in the Revolutionary rolls of New Hampshire, mentions the appointment by Washington of Mr. Moroney as provost marshal of the army.

Among the soldiers serving in the Revolution was the son of Mr. Greaton, who kept the Greyhound Tavern in Roxbury. That boy became known to fame as General John Greaton. He belonged to the first company of minute men raised in America in 1775, and was chosen major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of Heath’s regiment. After the battle of Lexington he was engaged in the skirmishes about Boston until he joined that memorable excursion to Quebec. He served throughout our struggle for independence and was one of Washington’s most trusted officers.

William Connolly was another Boston Kelt who fought in the Revolution. And so was Michael Cassady. Cassady was one of the patriots at Valley Forge.

Among the residents of Milton in colonial days was Anthony Gulliver, who was born in Ireland in 1619. He was the ancestor of a large number of able and influential men and women who have been prominent in public and religious affairs of Milton, Mass., for nearly two centuries.

_The Story of the Irish in Boston_ contains the following interesting paragraph about a member of the Gulliver family:

“Capt. Lemuel Gulliver, who once lived at Algerine Corner, returned to Ireland in 1723 and gave a glowing description of the American country to his neighbor, Jonathan Swift. Lemuel’s imagination was vivid and fanciful and he turned it to a quaint account in this instance.

“He declared to Swift that ‘the frogs were as tall as his knees and had musical voices that were guitar-like in their tones; the mosquitoes’ bills were as long as darning needles’; and from these exaggerated and fabulous accounts of the country the great Swift conceived and wrote the famous _Gulliver’s Travels_, which was published in 1726, displaying a unique union of misanthropy, satire, irony, ingenuity and humor.”

CONCERNING “AN IRISH MAN-OF-WAR.”

Further information is wanted regarding the following incident mentioned in _Winthrop’s History of New England_: “A ship from the Colonies, carrying fourteen guns * * * on a voyage to the Canaries about the close of the year 1644, fought nearly all day at close quarters, and finally beat off an Irish man-of-war of superior force.” Additional details on this subject would be of great interest.

THEY FIRED THREE VOLLEYS.

In connection with a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in Baltimore, Md., in 1798, it is noted that “at eleven o’clock Captain Stewart’s Irish brigade and Keating’s Irish grenadiers, accompanied by a detachment of Captain Weaver’s artillery, with two pieces of cannon, marched to Federal Hill and fired three volleys in honor of the day.”

AN EARLY DOUGHERTY MENTIONED.

The Boston _Evening Transcript_ recently had the following: “Dougherty. Lieutenant Charles Dougherty removed to Framingham from Brookfield about 1765. When was he born and who were his parents? Was he son of Jane Dougherty, widow, whose will of 1763 mentions sons: Charles and Micah, and daughters: Elenor Patterson, Rebecca Getchell and Elizabeth Kendall? Any facts concerning early Massachusetts Doughertys will be appreciated.”

LIEUT. JOHN MICHAEL O’CONOR, U. S. A.

Hon. John D. Crimmins of New York City, in one of his books speaks of John Michael O’Conor. The latter was a native of New York; lieutenant in the Third U. S. Artillery, 1812; later, regimental quartermaster; was made captain in the spring of 1813; June 20, 1814, he was appointed assistant adjutant-general under Gardner, on Gen. Brown’s staff, and held the rank at the time of the battle of Chippewa, in which he

## participated. He left the army in 1821. He translated, in 1824, for the

U. S. Military Academy at West Point, Guy de Vernon’s _Science of War and Fortifications_.

A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION.

The society some time ago received an interesting letter of inquiry from Mrs. M. A. Mulcahy, residing at Jack’s Reef, Onondaga County, New York. She wrote concerning a granduncle, who served in the Revolution. His name was Flynn, and he came from the County Galway in Ireland. Dying, he left a will depositing certain money in the United States treasury. The heirs never received any of it. Mrs. Mulcahy wished to ascertain the proper steps to take to recover the same.

[Illustration:

JAMES A. O’GORMAN.

New York City.

A JUSTICE OF THE NEW YORK SUPREME COURT. ]

THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.

BY HON. A. L. MORRISON, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO.

As Monday will be the anniversary of New Orleans, I thought I would send you the inclosed letter from General Jackson [who was of Irish parentage], which will help you to celebrate the great event. The introduction is somewhat mutilated, but you can get enough from it to serve as an introduction to the letter. A number of years ago I visited New Orleans, and I need not tell you that one of my most pleasant recollections of the visit was inspecting the field where 1,500 Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen killed or wounded 2,117 of England’s choicest troops, including their commander, General Pakenham, who was brother-in-law of the Iron Duke.

I saw while on the field an unfinished monument in honor of the brave men who won the battle. I made all the inquiries possible about the monument (which I regarded as a monument of ingratitude), but could find no one who could give me any information concerning it. I even wrote to the _Picayune_ suggesting that as the exposition to celebrate the Louisiana Purchase was about to be held, the event would be a good opportunity to raise the funds necessary to finish the monument, but nothing was done and it still remains as a reproach to the last generation as well as to this.

Of course you know that the treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Day, 1814, so it was three weeks after that that the battle was fought; but it came in time to redeem the series of blunders that characterized the so-called campaign on the Canadian frontier. In this connection permit me to say that the house we live in was bought from a gentleman whose two grandfathers were present at the battle. I knew a man when I was a boy who fought on the British side, and also fought on the fatal field of Waterloo, in the Twenty-seventh Inniskillen Foot.

* * * * *

Following are the excerpts from General Jackson’s letter to which Mr. Morrison alludes above:

“The battle (says General Jackson) commenced at a very little before 7 a. m., January 8, 1815, and as far as the infantry was concerned it was over by 9 a. m. My force was very much mixed. I had portions of the 7th and 44th regular infantry regiments, Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen, Creoles, United States marines and sailors, Baratarian men—one of them, Captain Dominique You, commanded part of my artillery (and a famous gunner he was)—and two battalions of free negroes. I had in the action about 6,000 men. The British strength was almost the same as mine, but vastly superior in drill and discipline. Of their force my riflemen killed and wounded 2,117 in less than an hour, including two general officers (both died on the field, each a division commander), seven full colonels, with seventy-five line and staff officers. I lost six killed and seven wounded.

“As to tactics, there were very little in use on either side. We had some works of earth fronting the river, but the Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen, who sustained the main attack, had protected themselves by a work about two feet and a half high, made of logs placed two feet apart, and the space between filled in with earth. This work began at the Mississippi River, and ended in the swamp, being at a right angle with the river.

“Thinking this the weakest portion of our line, and seeing ununiformed men behind the trifling defenses, General Pakenham thought it the best thing to begin his attack by carrying this part of my line with the bayonet. On the 3d of January I had ordered that each rifleman’s powder-horn be filled, and enough lead for 100 bullets issued, besides good material for bullet-patching be furnished. This order required every soldier to thoroughly clean his rifle and put a new flint into the hammer; so we were ready as we could be for the attack.

“There was a very heavy fog on the river that morning, and the British had formed and were moving before I knew it. The disposition of the riflemen was very simple. They were told off in numbers one and two. Number one was to fire first, then step back and let number two shoot while he reloaded. About six hundred yards from the riflemen there was a great drainage canal running back from the Mississippi River to the swamp in the rear of the tilled land on which we were operating. Along this canal the British formed under the fire of the few artillery pieces I had, near enough to them to get their range. But the instant I saw them I said to Coffee, whom I directed to hurry to his line, which was to be first attacked: ‘By ——, we have got them; they are ours!’ Coffee dashed forward, and riding along his line, called out, ‘Don’t shoot till you can see their belt-buckles.’ The British were formed in mass, well closed up, and about two companies front.

“The British, thus formed, moved on at a quick step, without firing a shot, to within one hundred yards of the kneeling riflemen, who were holding their fire till they could see the belt-buckles of their enemies. The British advance was executed as though they had been on parade. They marched shoulder to shoulder, with the step of veterans, as they were. At one hundred yards’ distance from our line the order was given, ‘Extend column front. Double quick, march! Charge!’ With bayonets at the charge, they came on us at a run. I own it was an anxious moment; I well knew the charging column was made up of the picked troops of the British army. They had been trained by the duke himself, were commanded by his brother-in-law, and had successfully held off the ablest of Napoleon’s marshals in the Spanish campaign. My riflemen had never seen such an attack, nor had they ever before fought white men. The morning, too, was damp; their powder might not burn well. ‘God help us!’ I muttered, watching the rapidly advancing line. Seventy, sixty, fifty, finally forty yards were they from the silent kneeling riflemen.

“All of my men I could see was their long rifles rested on the logs before them. They obeyed their orders well; not a shot was fired until the redcoats were within forty yards. I heard Coffee’s voice as he roared out: ‘Now, men, aim for the center of the cross-belts! Fire!’ A second after the order a crackling, blazing flash ran all along our line. The smoke hung so heavily in the misty morning air that I could not see what had happened. I called Tom Overton and Abner Duncan, of my staff, and we galloped towards Coffee’s line. In a few seconds after the first fire there came another sharp, ringing volley. As I came within one hundred and fifty yards of Coffee, the smoke lifted enough for me to make out what was happening. The British were falling back in a confused, disorderly mass, and the entire first ranks of their column were blown away. For two hundred yards in our front the ground was covered with a mass of writhing wounded, dead and dying redcoats.