[Illustration:
HON. JOHN C. LINEHAN.
A Founder of the Society, and the first Treasurer-General of the same.
Born in Macroom, County Cork, Ireland, Feb. 9, 1840. Died in
Penacook (Concord), N. H., Sept. 19, 1905.
]
THE JOURNAL
OF THE
AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
BY
THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY,
_Secretary-General_.
VOLUME V.
BOSTON, MASS.,
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY,
1905.
[Illustration: AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY THAT THE WORLD MAY
KNOW. FOUNDED, A.D. 1897]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The present is the fifth volume of the JOURNAL of the American-Irish
Historical Society. I desire to acknowledge the many courtesies received
during its preparation, and to express my deep appreciation of the same.
This volume sets forth the work done by the organization during the
year, presents several historical papers of value and contains other
matter of interest. All the volumes of the JOURNAL thus far issued have
received a cordial welcome and have been the recipients of the most
gratifying praise. It is hoped that the present work will be equally
well received. The Society continues to enjoy a prosperous existence,
has no indebtedness, and is constantly adding new members to its roll.
T. H. MURRAY.
BOSTON, MASS.,
Dec. 15, 1905.
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY, A. D. 1905.
_President-General_,
=Hon. John D. Crimmins=,
New York City.
_Vice-President-General_,
=Hon. Joseph T. Lawless=,
Norfolk, Va.
_Secretary-General_,
=Thomas Hamilton Murray=,
36 Newbury St., Boston, Mass.
_Treasurer-General_,
=Hon. John C. Linehan=,[1]
Concord, N. H.
_Librarian and Archivist_,
=Thomas B. Lawler=,
New York City.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL,
The foregoing and
=Hon. William McAdoo=, New York City.
=Hon. Thomas J. Gargan=, Boston, Mass.
=Thomas Addis Emmet, M. D.=, New York City.
=Rev. John J. McCoy=, Chicopee, Mass.
=Patrick F. Magrath=, Binghamton, N. Y.
=Edward J. McGuire=, New York City.
=Stephen Farrelly=, New York City.
=James L. O’Neill=, Elizabeth, N. J.
=Cyrus Townsend Brady=, New York City.
=Major John Crane=, New York City.
=Thomas J. Lynch=, Augusta, Me.
=Francis C. Travers=,[2] New York City.
=M. Joseph Harson=, New York City.
=Col. John McManus=, Providence, R. I.
=Hon. Patrick Garvan=, Hartford, Conn.
=John J. Lenehan=, New York City.
=John Jerome Rooney=, New York City.
=Hon. William Gorman=, Philadelphia, Pa.
=Hon. Francis Q. O’Neill=, Charleston, S. C.
=James Connolly=, Coronado, Cal.
STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS.
Maine—=James Cunningham=, Portland.
New Hampshire—=Hon. James F. Brennan=, Peterborough.
Vermont—=John D. Hanrahan, M. D.=, Rutland.
Massachusetts—=Hon. Joseph H. O’Neil=, Boston.
Rhode Island—=Thomas A. O’Gorman=, Providence.
Connecticut—=Dennis H. Tierney=, Waterbury.
New York—=Joseph I. C. Clarke=, New York City.
New Jersey—=John F. Kehoe=, Newark.
Pennsylvania—=Hugh McCaffrey=, Philadelphia.
Delaware—=John J. Cassidy=, Wilmington.
Virginia—=James W. McCarrick=, Norfolk.
West Virginia—=John F. Healy=, Thomas, Tucker County.
South Carolina—=Henry A. Molony=, Charleston.
Georgia—=Capt. John Flannery=, Savannah.
Ohio—=John Lavelle=, Cleveland.
Illinois—=Hon. P. T. Barry=, Chicago.
Indiana—=Very Rev. Andrew Morrissey, C. S. C.=, Notre Dame.
Iowa—=Rt. Rev. Philip J. Garrigan, D. D.=, Sioux City.
Montana—=Rt. Rev. M. C. Lenihan, D. D.=, Great Falls.
Minnesota—=Hon. C. D. O’Brien=, St. Paul.
Missouri—=Julius L. Foy=, St. Louis.
Kentucky—=John J. Slattery=, Louisville.
Tennessee—=Michael Gavin=, Memphis.
Kansas—=Patrick H. Coney=, Topeka.
Utah—=Joseph Geoghegan=, Salt Lake City.
Texas—=Gen. A. G. Malloy=, El Paso.
California—=John Mulhern=, San Francisco.
OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS.
District of Columbia—=Hon. Edward A. Moseley=, Washington.
Arizona—=Col. O’Brien Moore=, Tucson.
Indian Territory—=Joseph F. Swords=, Sulphur.
Canada—=Hon. Felix Carbray=, Quebec.
Ireland—=Dr. Michael F. Cox=, Dublin.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1905.
THE ANNUAL MEETING AND DINNER.
The Society held its annual meeting and dinner on Tuesday evening, Jan.
24, 1905, at the Hotel Manhattan, 42d Street and Madison Avenue, New
York City. In the unavoidable absence of the President-General, until
late in the evening, Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien of New York presided. Thomas
Hamilton Murray of Boston, Mass., Secretary-General of the Society,
attended to the duties of the latter office. The following is a copy of
the notice for the event:
AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING AND DINNER.
DEAR SIR: The annual meeting and dinner of the American-Irish
Historical Society will take place at the Hotel Manhattan, 42d
Street and Madison Avenue, New York City, on Tuesday evening, Jan.
24, 1905.
A reception committee will be on duty at the Manhattan as early as 3
p. m., to greet members of the Society and their guests, especially
those coming from other cities and states.
At 6.30 p. m. members and guests will be received by the officers of
the Society.
At 7 p. m. the annual meeting will be called to order.
At 8 p. m. the line will be formed and proceed to the annual dinner.
Tickets for the dinner will be $3.50 each, and are now ready for
delivery. A dinner committee of New York members of the Society has
been appointed and consists of Mr. John F. Doyle, 45 William Street;
Major John Crane, 10 Bridge Street; Hon. Samuel Adams, 339–355 Sixth
Avenue; Dr. J. Duncan Emmet, 103 Madison Avenue; Mr. James Curran,
512 West 36th Street; Mr. Thomas B. Lawler, 70 Fifth Avenue; Mr.
John Goodwin, 70 West 23d Street; Mr. James O’Flaherty, 22 North
William Street, and Mr. P. Tecumseh Sherman, 15 William Street.
Checks for dinner tickets should be made payable and forwarded to
Mr. Doyle of the committee, at his address here given.
During the dinner, selections will be rendered by one of the best
orchestras in New York City, and there will also be vocal numbers by
eminent soloists. The after-dinner exercises will include a number
of brief addresses along the Society’s line of work by Hon. Hugh
Hastings, State Historian of New York; Mr. Osborne Howes, Treasurer
of the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters, and by other gentlemen.
Mr. Howes, here mentioned, is a descendant of an Irishman who
settled on Cape Cod, Mass., as early as 1657—nearly 250 years ago.
Kindly state, as soon as possible, whether you intend to be present
with us on the forthcoming occasion.
Members may bring personal guests.
Fraternally,
WILLIAM MCADOO,
_President-General_.
THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY,
_Secretary-General_,
36 Newbury Street, Boston, Mass.
The attendance was one of the largest ever present at a like event under
the auspices of the Society. The business session was of more than usual
interest, the annual reports elicited the closest attention, and the
whole affair was marked by a most commendable degree of enthusiasm.
Secretary-General Murray stated in his annual report that the following
members of the Society had died during the year:
Capt. James F. Redding, Charleston, S. C.
Mr. Bernard Foley, Boston, Mass.
Mr. Patrick Farrelly, New York City.
Rev. John F. Redican, Leicester, Mass.
Mr. Patrick Brady, New York City.
Rev. Francis D. McGuire, Albany, N. Y.
John O’Flaherty, M. D., Hartford, Conn.
Mr. Joseph P. Flatley, Boston, Mass.
Mr. John H. Spellman, New York City, and
Hon. John M. Fitzsimons, New York City.
The Secretary-General paid an appropriate tribute to each of the
foregoing, and fitting action in honor of the deceased was taken by the
Society.
It was stated by the Secretary-General that during the year the
following-named gentlemen had become Life members of the organization,
each paying $50:
Mr. George J. Gillespie, New York City.
Mr. Robert A. Sasseen, New York City.
Mr. P. E. Somers, Worcester, Mass.
Mr. Stephen Farrelly, New York City.
Hon. Patrick Garvan, Hartford, Conn.
Rev. Henry A. Brann, D. D., New York City.
Hon. Jeremiah O’Rourke, Newark, N. J., and
Mr. Patrick Gallagher, New York City.
The Secretary-General stated that during the year he had opened
temporary headquarters at 509 Fifth Avenue, New York, for the purpose of
securing new members and inducing members in arrears to settle their
indebtedness. Although able to devote but a few weeks to the work, the
result was very satisfactory.
During the year the Secretary-General collected and remitted to the
Treasurer-General, $1,247. “The Society is today,” said Mr. Murray, “in
as prosperous a condition as at any period since its formation, and we
hopefully look forward to many years of continued prosperity and
usefulness.”
Hon. John C. Linehan of Concord, N. H., Treasurer-General of the
Society, in his annual report stated that the total resources of the
Society for the year were $2,341.17; and the total expenditure,
$1,248.80, leaving a balance in the treasury, Dec. 31, 1904, of
$1,092.37.
The committee appointed to audit the Treasurer-General’s accounts,
reported the same as correctly kept and that all expenditures were
accompanied by proper vouchers.
The annual reports were unanimously accepted and adopted.
Mr. Joseph Smith of Lowell, Mass., moved as the sense of the Society,
that the latter heartily approves the project to erect a monument in
Washington, D. C., to Commodore John Barry. The motion was unanimously
adopted.
The annual election of officers for the Society then took place and
resulted in the choice of the gentlemen whose names are given on pages
5, 6 and 7 of this volume.
The following were elected to membership in the Society:
Hon. Hugh Hastings, State Historian of New York, Albany, N. Y.
Rev. James J. Baxter, D. D., Boston, Mass.
Mr. T. Vincent Butler, New York City.
Mr. Michael J. Morkan, Hartford, Conn.
Mr. Edward R. Carroll, New York City.
Mr. John Jay Joyce, New York City.
Mr. D. H. McBride, New York City.
Mr. P. H. Garrity, Waterbury, Conn.
Mr. G. W. Lembeck, Jersey City, N. J.
Mr. T. F. Donnelly, New York City.
Mr. Patrick Murray, New York City.
Mr. Arthur McAleenan, New York City.
Hon. Lawrence O. Murray, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Thomas Kenney, Worcester, Mass.
Thomas F. Kenney, M. D., Vienna, Austria.
M. X. Sullivan, Ph. D., Providence, R. I.
THE ANNUAL DINNER.
Upon the adjournment of the business meeting, the Society and guests
proceeded to the banquet room for the annual dinner. One hundred and
forty-five gentlemen participated.
Among those seated at the head table with Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, the
presiding officer, were: Rev. Henry A. Brann, D. D., New York City; Hon.
Joseph F. Daly, New York City; Mr. Osborne Howes, Boston, Mass.; Hon.
John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H.; Hon. Hugh Hastings, Albany, N. Y.;
Thomas Addis Emmet, M. D., New York City; Mr. M. F. Dooley, Providence,
R. I.; Mr. John F. Doyle, New York City; Mr. Stephen Farrelly, New York
City, and Mr. Joseph I. C. Clarke, New York City.
After grace had been said the company devoted itself to the fine menu.
During the repast music was furnished by an orchestra. There was also
singing by the entire company, in chorus, and solo singing by Mr. John
W. Donovan of New York; Mr. Joseph M. Byrne of Newark, N. J., and Hon.
John C. Linehan of Concord, N. H.
At an interval during the dinner, Mr. Joseph Smith of Lowell, Mass.,
alluding to the approaching departure of James Jeffrey Roche, LL. D.,
for Genoa, Italy, as United States Consul, moved that the Society bid
him God-speed on his journey and wish him a brilliant career in his new
sphere of duty. The motion was adopted.
While the post-prandial exercises were in progress, Hon. William McAdoo
arrived and the chair was yielded him by Judge O’Brien.
The paper of the evening was by Hon. Hugh Hastings, State Historian of
New York, who took for his subject: “Thomas Dongan and the Earl of
Bellomont, Governors of New York.” The paper was one of great merit and
was frequently applauded.
Several brief addresses were made during the evening, having a bearing
on the Society’s line of work.
While the dinner was under way, a toast to President Roosevelt, “one of
our members,” was proposed by Hon. Thomas Z. Lee of Providence, R. I.,
and drank amid great enthusiasm.
The following letter written by President Roosevelt to Mr. William M.
Sweeny of Astoria, L. I., N. Y., a member of the Society, was read to
the company by Judge O’Brien:
_My Dear Mr. Sweeny_: Replying to your letter of the 14th inst., I
would say that my Irish ancestors came to Pennsylvania early in the
seventeenth century. They included John Potts and his wife,
Elizabeth McVaugh (so set down in the records; I do not know what
the real name was); John Barnhill, whose wife was Sarah Craig, and a
man named Lukens, who may have been a German from the Palatinate.
They were all of them humble people, farmers, merchants, etc.,
although Sarah Craig is put down as being descended on her mother’s
side, through the Barnwalls, from various well known Irish families,
both of the pale and outside the pale, the Butlers, the Fitzgeralds,
O’Neills and O’Briens. But about this more illustrious descent I
fear I cannot give you any specific particulars.
Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The reading of the foregoing letter was received with great applause.
Letters expressing regret at inability to attend the dinner were
received from the following:
Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York City.
Gen. M. V. Sheridan, U. S. A. (retired), Washington, D. C.
Rt. Rev. Philip J. Garrigan, D. D., Sioux City, Ia.
Rev. Christopher Hughes, Fall River, Mass.
James E. Sullivan, M. D., Providence, R. I.
Mr. P. Tecumseh Sherman, New York City.
Mr. George W. McCarthy, Portsmouth, N. H.
Rev. James Coyle, Taunton, Mass.
Daniel J. Phelan, M. D., New York City.
Hon. Edward A. Moseley, Washington, D. C.
Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, Boston, Mass.
Col. James Moran, Providence, R. I., and
John D. Hanrahan, M. D., Rutland, Vt.
PATRIOTIC PILGRIMAGE TO LEXINGTON, MASS.
INTERESTING OBSERVANCE BY THE SOCIETY OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE
OF APRIL 19, 1775.
The Society held an interesting observance, April 19, 1905, the date
being the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, Concord and Cambridge,
fought in 1775. The programme comprised a patriotic pilgrimage to
Lexington, and other features of interest.
The Boston members, and their guests, went out to Lexington in
automobiles, leaving Boston about 10.15 a. m. Each member and guest wore
a neat badge, specially designed for the occasion, and comprising the
Revolutionary colors buff and blue. Each badge bore the initials of the
Society, “A. I. H. S.,” and the inscription, “Lexington, 1775–1905.”
Reaching Cambridge, the party stopped at the City Hall there and a call
was made on Hon. Augustine J. Daly, mayor of Cambridge. All the members
of the party were introduced to the mayor, who was assisted in receiving
by City Clerk Edward J. Brandon, J. Edward Barry, president of the board
of aldermen; Mr. Edward A. Counihan, mayor’s clerk, and other officials.
After the introduction and greetings, lunch was served. Leaving
Cambridge city hall, the party started for Lexington. Many historic
points were passed, including Harvard College, the Old Elm, where
Washington took command of the American Army, and a number of memorial
tablets.
Arriving at the Lexington town hall, the party was warmly welcomed by
Mr. George W. Taylor, chairman of the board of selectmen, and by other
officials of the town. All then walked to the battle monument on the
village green, where the Society placed a laurel wreath to the memory of
the patriotic dead. This wreath measured about three feet in diameter,
and was tied with buff and blue ribbon.
Assembled around the monument at this time, in addition to the members
of the Society, was a large gathering of the people of Lexington, and
visitors from out of town. After the wreath had been put in place on the
monument, an oration was delivered by City Clerk Brandon of Cambridge,
who dwelt upon the objects of the Society and the lessons of patriotism
inculcated by the observance of the day. Mr. Brandon’s remarks were
frequently applauded and at the close he was given an ovation. The
Society was then grouped, with the monument as a background, and a large
photograph of the whole taken.
The Society and guests, escorted by Chairman Taylor of the board of
selectmen, then proceeded to the latter’s beautiful residence,
“Larchmont,” where they were hospitably entertained. The ladies of the
party were specially taken charge of by Mrs. Taylor, while the gentlemen
were waited upon by Mr. Taylor and his talented daughter, Miss Amy Ethel
Taylor. An elaborate lunch was served, and then followed congratulatory
and patriotic addresses by a dozen or more of the visitors.
Following the lunch and the speech-making there was vocal and
instrumental music, the whole affair being one of great enjoyment.
Members of the Society were present, during the day, from Boston,
Cambridge, Lowell, Lexington and Springfield, Mass.; Providence and
Pawtucket, R. I.; Hartford, Conn.; and New York City.
Among those participating in the exercises were: Hon. Patrick Garvan of
Hartford, Conn., and his daughters, the Misses Agnes and Genevieve
Garvan; Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Murphy, Springfield, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. T.
H. Murray, Boston, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Ryan, Springfield,
Mass.; Miss M. Olive Murphy, Boston, Mass.; Mr. T. Vincent Butler, New
York City; Mr. Patrick Carter, Providence, R. I.; Mr. John F. Kinsela,
Lowell, Mass.; Mr. J. J. Cassidy, Lowell, Mass.; Mr. Bernard McCaughey,
Pawtucket, R. I.; Mr. T. P. Kelly, New York City; Mr. Bernard J. Joyce,
Boston, Mass.; Mr. M. H. Cox, Mr. Joseph F. O’Connell and other Boston
people; Mr. Christopher S. Ryan, Mr. Orlando Bowman and Rev. M. H.
Owens, all of Lexington, Mass., Mr. T. F. Gorman, Boston, Mass., and a
number of others.
The following is a copy of a letter from Selectman Taylor in connection
with the foregoing event, and received previous thereto:
│ OFFICIAL │OFFICE OF SELECTMEN.
│ SEAL. │
│GEO. W. TAYLOR, │ Selectmen of
│H. A. C. WOODWARD, │ Lexington.
│FRANK D. PEIRCE, │
LEXINGTON, MASS., Mar. 24, 1905.
_Thomas Hamilton Murray, Esq.,
Sec’y of the American-Irish Historical Society,
36 Newbury St., Boston, Mass._
MY DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 22nd inst., relative to a patriotic
pilgrimage of the American-Irish Historical Society on April 19th,
is at hand.
As Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, I shall be most happy to
receive you at the Town Hall at noon, and will also be glad to
attend your exercises on the Common, after which I should be
pleased, if you find it convenient, to have you make an informal
call at “Larchmont,” my home on Bedford Street, where I had the
pleasure of meeting so many of your Society three years ago.
Very truly yours,
[Illustration:
_Chairman, Board of Selectmen,
Town of Lexington._
]
SOME INTERESTING HISTORICAL PAPERS.
GOODY GLOVER, AN IRISH VICTIM OF THE WITCH CRAZE, BOSTON, MASS., 1688.
BY HAROLD DIJON.[3]
Leonard Scot, in his _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, gives this definition
of a witch: “The sort of such as are said to be witches are women which
be commonly old, lame, bleare-eied, pale, fowle, and full of wrinkles;
poore, sullen, superstitious, and Papists; or such as know no religion.”
Ralph Hoven, an Anglican divine, concedes: “All Papists be not witches,
but commonly all witches be the spawn of the Pope.”
The Rev. Josiah Templie, in a sermon preached at Rye in 1619, says:
“Because of witchcraft we have divers mischiefs and disorders; and
witches they be so long as there be Papists, drabs of the strumpet
Pope,” and so on. Oates, in _The Witchcrafts of the Roman Jezebel_—a
folio that brought him a considerable fortune,—repeats the foregoing
statements in language not printable.
John Cunliffe of Preston complained in 1596 that witchcraft was made a
plea for “burning those of the Old Religion; in moste parte they who be
in great povertie.” How many of those burned for witchcraft in England
were Catholics, it is not impossible to ascertain. Much material
appertaining to the subject waits to be investigated.
The opinion fostered in England that a witch, a devil, and a Catholic
were different terms for the same thing, was as sedulously cared for in
New England; and we find Cotton Mather, in his _Magnalia_, and in a
sermon preached in Old North Church, Boston, using virtually Scot’s
definition of a witch to describe the subject of this sketch.
“Glover,” he says, “was a scandalous old Irishwoman, very poor, a Roman
Catholic and obstinate in idolatry.”
A Boston merchant, one Robert Calef, who knew Mrs. Glover, writes of her
in _More Wonders of the Invisible World_, printed in London in 1700. The
sympathy he expresses for her was bold for the time, prevented the
publication of the work in Boston, brought on him the vituperations of
Cotton Mather, and caused the book to be burned in Harvard College yard,
by order of Harvard’s president, Dr. Increase Mather.
Calef says: “Goody Glover was a despised, crazy, poor old woman, an
Irish Catholic, who was tried for afflicting the Goodwin children. Her
behavior at her trial was like that of one distracted. They did her
cruel. The proof against her was wholly deficient. The jury brought her
guilty. She was hung. She died a Catholic.”
Drake, in his _Annals of Witchcraft in New England_, makes the following
comment on this passage: “Glover was not a crazy person, as we now
understand the word; it was not meant that she was insane, but simply
that she was weak and infirm.” We have not lost the old meaning of the
word; and such expressions as “a crazy table,” “a crazy structure,” are
quite common.[4]
Ann Glover [commonly called Goody Glover] and her daughter had been
living in Boston for some years prior to her execution in 1688. It is
not known what part of Ireland she came from. She herself has stated
that she and her husband were sold to the Barbadoes in the time of
Cromwell. She also related that, shortly after the birth of her
daughter, her husband was “scored to death and did not give up his
religion, which same I will hold to.”
How Mrs. Glover came to be in Boston can only be conjectured. It is
possible she came in that train of servants and Indian slaves brought to
the Puritan Colony from the Barbadoes, some of whom fell to the Rev. Mr.
Parris, of Salem fame. Little is known of her life in Boston before
1682, beyond the fact that the presence of a Catholic in a community
that looked upon itself as “the only Christian people” gave great
umbrage.
In 1682 a woman who had labored in vain to convince Mrs. Glover of her
“Papistical errors,” accused her of witchcraft; and, dying shortly
after, prophesied that “Goody Glover would be hung.” The prophecy was
not forgotten.
The mother and daughter were wretchedly poor, and barely able to make a
scant living by washing the clothes of such as could be induced to
employ a “Papist.” Among those who employed them was the family of John
Goodwin. John Goodwin had come to Boston from Charlestown, and was the
father of four children—Nathaniel, Martha, John and Mercy,—all of whom
were to be in the plot which did to death two harmless women, and which
“sadly perplexed and befooled Cotton Mather.”
Cotton Mather, who was charged in 1693 with being “the chief cause,
promoter and agent, and favourer of the prosecutions for witchcraft”!
Cotton Mather, who “countenanced the executioners by his presence, and
in various ways urged the terrible work of blood in Salem”! Cotton
Mather, who, from being extolled for sanctity and learning, has come to
be scoffed at as an “ignoramus, vain and mendacious”! Such was the
pastor of Old North Church, of which the Goodwins were “pillars.”
In 1687 Martha Goodwin, who was then a child of twelve years, charged
Mrs. Glover’s daughter with having purloined some clothes. The charge
was indignantly repelled, and accusation was made that Martha wished to
get Mrs. Glover into trouble. And then the daughter cried out: “You may
have us whipped, but to the sermons we will not go.” Hereupon, Martha
fell into a fit, which the “learned physicians of Boston declared to be
diabolical.”
I think you will agree with me, when Martha’s pranks are further
displayed, that the little girl had an attack of nerves and temper. What
between tirades against witches, Catholics, Baptists and Quakers, and
long sermons and long faces, the whole community was in a highly nervous
state. Cheerfulness was sinfulness. Read of that monstrous Pharisee of
five years old lauded in the _Magnalia_. She never laughed; she prayed
her mother might be one of the elect, even as she was.
Mrs. Glover and her daughter were now in sorer straits than ever. No one
would employ them, and had it not been for some secret aid they received
from the Calefs, who were not bereft of reason and humanity, they must
have starved. Even as it was, the treatment the daughter
received—“stonings and revilings”—turned her brain, and she died a
lunatic, frightened to death.
In the meanwhile, the lost clothes were found, by a woman employed in
the Goodwin household, “stuck under a wardrobe.” This discovery led to
no good results for Mrs. Glover, for now Mercy and the two Goodwin boys
had fits “like unto those of the maid Martha”; and then Martha took it
into her head to be again “afflicted.” The children asserted that the
spirit of Goody Glover struck them with blows, cut them with knives,
strangled them and sat on their chests. At devotions they pretended they
could hear nothing of what was said. “Goody Glover stopped their ears!
Goody Glover would have them worship her idols!” was their cry.
All this was so much gospel to a people saturated with prejudice; and
the Boston and Charlestown ministers held a fast at Mr. Goodwin’s house.
“The fast did greatly relieve the children.” Which goes to prove that if
Mr. Goodwin had “whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed,” they
would have been permanently cured.
But now “the magistrates, long annoyed by the presence of an obstinate
Papist in Boston, ordered Goody Glover to be taken into custody.” A
search was made of her house, “and certain images were found in secret.”
It is not difficult to conjecture what they were. Beads or medals,
maybe; certainly a cross or crucifix was one of them.
She was “loaded with chains” and placed in a prison. As no provision was
made to feed prisoners in Massachusetts at that time, her condition must
have been one of great distress. It is said that the Calefs continued to
succor her, and there is a statement that a Dame Nourse of Salem,
visiting Boston, gave her some aid. Can this be the explanation of
Mather’s inexorable pursuit of Rebecca Nourse?
To relieve the tedium of an existence deprived of innocent amusements,
the Goodwin children renewed their deceptions, and Cotton Mather, “to
relieve the distress of the afflicted John Goodwin, took Martha to his
house to live.” Now it was that the cunning mischief-maker befooled
Cotton Mather to the top of his bent. Page after page of the ponderous
_Magnalia_ is occupied with a grave recital of the pranks played by this
child in the minister’s house. “She screamed with pain, and cried that
Glover’s chains were about her leg.... To prevent the escape of the
prisoner’s spirit, to afflict the child, they put other chains on
Glover.... They chained the Papist till she could not move and she did
spew blood.”
Martha would not allow the spirit to be confined. She said Goody Glover
brought her a horse to ride, and her pastor tells us “she would make all
the motions of a person who rides, about the room and up the stairs,
like one astraddle of a horse.”
Imagine the impish glee of the child at seeing the most important person
in the Colony following her about in her horseplay, with looks of awe!
Her terrible precocity taught her to play on his hatred of Mrs. Glover’s
creed. “While possessed of the devil and Mrs. Glover,” he says, “she
could read Popish books, but not books against Popery.” In the pastor’s
study “she would become calm, and no longer afflicted. This was
witnessed by divers persons, and many times.” When asked why she was not
afflicted in the pastor’s study, the child replied, with a thorough
reading of Mather’s greatest weakness—his vanity, “Your study is too
holy a place for the devil or Glover to enter.”
The trial of Mrs. Glover was a farce. Pounded with questions on all
sides, the poor woman was only able to answer her tormentors in Irish.
“This she was instigated to do by the devil,” says Cotton Mather. There
be no doubt that, owing to her great age, her sufferings in prison, the
confusion of the court, which was added to by the screams of pretended
pain from the Goodwin children, Mrs. Glover was temporarily deprived of
English, “for which she never had a great facility.” One question,
however, she did give answer to in English. They asked her if it was
true that she was a Papist, “and showed to her an idol which was secret
in her house. She snatched at it with a joy that was diabolical, and
said: ‘I die a Catholic!’” Considering the material of which it was
composed, it is no wonder that the jury, after this declaration of
Faith, found her guilty.
The magistrates visited her in prison that night, “and they found her
agreeable to their questions.” They asked her what would become of her
soul after she was hanged. The simple and much-tried woman had the
humility Cotton Mather lacked. “You ask me a very solemn question, and I
can not tell what to say to it. I trust in God,” she replied. Cotton
Mather also visited her in prison.... He asked her to say the Lord’s
Prayer; for the common belief was that this could not be done by a
Catholic or a witch. “She recited the _Pater Noster_ to me in Latin,” he
says, “and in Irish, and in English, but she could not end it.” Of
course she could not end it in Cotton Mather’s way.
She caused Mather to wonder that she repeated in a voice “marvellous
strong” the petition, “deliver us from evil.” He considers this to be a
sign that she “reproached the devil for deserting her to be hung.” Poor,
befogged man, whose conceit would not permit him to see that it was he
himself she petitioned to be delivered from; for he argued with her to
destroy her Faith. She refused Mather’s spiritual ministrations, and he
feels assured that her “Catholic spirits” will not permit her to accept
them, and he predicts to her, her speedy and eternal damnation.
The proffering of these several consolations increased Mather’s habitual
satisfaction with himself, and he says: “Comforted at having performed a
solemn duty” [the consigning of a soul to perdition], “I returned to my
house.” Arrived there, he found the “Maid Martha galloping about the
room on the horse, her feet not touching the ground, which was a great
wonder.”
Mrs. Glover was hanged on the following day. “There was a great
concourse of people to see if the Papist would relent.... Her one cat
was there, fearsome to see. They would to destroy the cat, but Mr. Calef
would not [permit the cat to be killed]. Before her execution she was
bold and impudent [!] making to forgive her accusers and those who put
her off.... She predicted that her death would not relieve the children,
saying it was not she afflicted them.” This was construed into a threat;
and the children continued their sport, till, “a very strict fast being
held, they were completely restored.” After recounting the details of
this “joyful restoration,” Cotton Mather becomes more than usually
prolix in a relation of the _piety_ of his protegés.
It is not denied that before and after the execution of Ann Glover there
was a vast number of arrests and executions of reputed witches and
wizards in New England, beginning in 1647, under John Winthrop, and
culminating in the Salem massacre of 1692. It is not denied that neither
age, sex, nor condition was spared. Some were children—one but four
years old,—others of eighty and beyond; one was a minister; many were
the most reputable people in the Massachusetts Colony.
What is asserted is that Ann Glover was put to death not so much because
she was reputed a witch, as for the certainty that she was a Catholic.
All we know of her is in the words of her enemies and executioners,
except what is found in the scant record of Robert Calef, who exposed
himself to utter ruin by his defence of her. The little we know,
however, confirms the truth of my assertion.
It was only when all attempts to move Mrs. Glover’s “obstinate Papacy”
had failed, that she was first accused of witchcraft in 1682. That the
Goodwins were in the league “to bring her out of the burning”—that is,
to induce her to forswear the Faith—may be inferred with safety from
what took place in 1687. When her daughter was accused of theft by
Martha Goodwin, she does not say, “You may have us whipped, but we are
innocent of stealing”: this she had asserted before. She cries out: “You
may have us whipped, but we won’t go to the sermons.” Does not this
outburst unfold a tale of antecedent persecution suffered for religion’s
sake?
A fast “had greatly relieved the Goodwin children”; the tempest they had
aroused was lulled, and what happened? “The magistrates, long annoyed by
the presence of an obstinate Papist in Boston, ordered Goody Glover to
be taken into custody,” says Drake. At her trial there was not even such
evidence to prove her a witch as would satisfy the gullible magistrates.
It was only when Goody Glover made the declaration that she would die a
Catholic that “the jury brought her guilty.”
It went hard with the magistrates and Cotton Mather that a poor old
Catholic, a “scandalous Irishwoman,” withstood the doctrine of the
self-reputed “saints”; and even now Goody Glover could have saved her
life had she “relented.” The magistrates went to her on her last night
alive, to beat down her opposition by questions of her soul. They
failed, and Cotton Mather took their place.
He was above the law in the cheerless Colony. When, in 1692, the jury
brought in poor Rebecca Nourse innocent of witchcraft, he had them sent
to reconsider the evidence: at his beck they found her guilty. Then the
governor, Sir William Phipps, pardoned her. In defiance of the pardon,
Cotton Mather had her hanged, and saw her die on Witches’ Hill at Salem;
and, “sitting on his black horse, he rebuked those who did bewail her;
for she was an excellent woman.”
In view of this exhibition of his arbitrary power, is it too much to say
that, had Goody Glover “relented,” in his vainglory over the conquest of
a broken-down old woman, Cotton Mather would have had her set free? But
the old Irishwoman conquered Cotton Mather. “She died a Catholic”; and,
imitating her Divine Master, she died forgiving her enemies,—all those
from whom she had suffered grievous wrong.
CAPT. DANIEL NEILL, AN ARTILLERY OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTION.
BY GEN. J. MADISON DRAKE[5].
It has never been generally known that the first cannon shot at the
enemy, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by
Congress, at Philadelphia, on the evening of July 4, 1776, was fired in
Elizabeth, N. J., then known as Elizabethtown, and as the present time
seems opportune for the revivication of local incidents in the war for
independence, I will narrate an exciting episode to awaken additional
interest.
Up to February, 1776, the state of New Jersey, or province as it then
was, had no artillery organization, and the importance of that arm of
the service being acutely felt, the Provincial Congress, in session at
Burlington, on the 13th of that month, adopted the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That two complete artillery companies be raised in this
colony.
The ordinance provided that the term of enlistment should be for one
year, and that one company should be stationed in the eastern part of
the province, the other in the western. Each company was to consist of a
captain, one captain-lieutenant, two second lieutenants, four sergeants,
four corporals, and one hundred and fifty matrosses. (The last term was
at that time used to denote gunners’ mates, or soldiers in a train of
artillery, who assisted in loading, firing and sponging the guns.) The
day following the passage of the ordinance the first or eastern company
was organized in Newark by the election of the following officers:
Captain—Frederick Frelinghuysen.
Captain-Lieutenant—Daniel Neill.
Second Lieutenants—Thomas Clark and James Heard.
Captain Frelinghuysen served but one month and resigned—Lieutenant Neill
succeeding him.
Shepard Kollock, born in Delaware in 1750, after learning the “art
preservative of all arts” in Philadelphia, came to Elizabethtown after
the war had commenced, and joined Captain Neill’s battery. He was with
it when it attacked and destroyed a British gunboat off this city, and
by his distinguished gallantry on that occasion was promoted to the
first lieutenancy.
At the close of the campaign in 1778, General Knox, commanding the
American artillery, advised Lieutenant Kollock to establish a newspaper
in Elizabethtown, as he would thereby be able to render great service to
the patriot cause. Lieutenant Kollock liked a soldier’s life, and did
not want to leave the army, but General Knox finally prevailed upon him
to engage in the newspaper enterprise, so he resigned, and securing a
rude outfit located in Chatham, a much safer place than Elizabeth was at
that period, and for some years afterwards Lieutenant Kollock continued
the publication of the New Jersey _Journal and Political Intelligencer_
at Chatham, until peace was declared, when he removed his plant to
Elizabeth, where it has since remained.
Captain Neill, a young man born in Ireland, by untiring energy and
devotion to duty, quickly got his command in good trim for the active
service it was soon to engage in. In the latter part of June Captain
Neill, who had been stationed in Newark, N. J., being ordered to
Elizabeth, took possession of the earthworks at what is now the foot of
Elizabeth Avenue, where he made a comfortable camp. To relieve his men
from ennui when not engaged in drilling, Captain Neill caused them to
throw up more earth, thus adding to the strength of the redoubt. He
placed his four guns so they would command the sound, narrow at that
point, as well as the entrance to the Elizabeth River, then known as
“Mill Creek.”
William Livingston, a resident of Elizabeth, who resigned his seat in
the Provincial Congress at Burlington, to be made commander-in-chief of
the New Jersey militia, overjoyed at the presence of Captain Neill’s
battery, on the morning of July 4, 1776, wrote General Washington as
follows:
... We now have two field pieces, 18 pounders, with a part of
Captain Neill’s company of artillery in this province.
Shortly after the mounted courier had set out with the dispatch for
Washington’s headquarters in New York, American piquets posted on the
ground now occupied by the buildings of the Singer Company, were
surprised to see a large British gunboat lying off the southern end of
Shooters’ Island. They at once sent word to General Livingston, whose
home on Morris Avenue is now occupied by the family of Senator Kean.
Early in the evening General Livingston mounted his horse, ever saddled,
and rode to the lower part of the town, where he had a conference with
Captain Neill, who had already taken steps to repel an attack, in case
the vessel meditated mischief.
The sudden appearance of the gunboat in our waters was a great surprise
to our soldiers, as no British vessel had been hereabouts since
Washington occupied New York City and Long Island. The gunboat was a
part of Admiral Lord Howe’s fleet, just arrived from England, and that
day anchored off Cliffton, Staten Island. The British army at once
landed on the eastern shore of the island, gladly welcomed by the
supporters of British oppression.
Along towards the middle of the night the gunboat was seen coming slowly
through the Achter Koll, opposite the Singer factory. In the soft
moonlit night the craft was plainly distinguishable to our argus-eyed
soldiers keeping watch and ward along the shore. As any effort they
could make against the ship with their smooth-bore muskets would be
innocent, they maintained a painful silence, feeling assured that when
it reached the battery our guns would give a good account of themselves.
The commander of the vessel, in blissful ignorance of the possession of
artillery by the Americans, sailed unconcernedly and tranquilly over the
placid waters. Like most British officers at that period of the war, he
had profound contempt for American militiamen, whom he did not consider
foemen worthy of his steel.
Captain Neill, who had been on the _qui vive_ for some time, on learning
of the vessel’s approach, impatiently awaited a closer proximity in
order that his shots might be fully effective and his welcome to the
stranger more hearty, if less hospitable. His guns, ready shotted, were
admirably posted close to the water, and matches already lighted by the
fire-workers.
It was only when the vessel, but slowly making its way through the
silver-rippled water, owing to the lightness of the breeze, reached a
point directly opposite the redoubt occupied by Captain Neill, that his
dogs of war were loosened, and from their brazen throats belched forth
sheets of bright red flame, preceded by iron missiles, which swept the
deck of the craft, carrying death, destruction and dismay to the
hitherto confident and unsuspecting crew.
The salvo, like a clap of thunder from a serene sky, awoke echoes, which
were followed by a rain of merciless iron, utterly demoralizing the
officers and crew, and creating scenes of indescribable confusion and
terror. A state of chaos ensued; discipline was thrown to the winds—it
was every man for himself. The distracted sailors, finding themselves in
a trap and seeing no way of escape save by surrender, deserted the
vessel by jumping overboard, at least those who had not been killed or
maimed by the well-directed fire of our artillerymen.
Those who thus sought safety by springing into the water, endeavored to
reach either shore; most of them, however, struck out for the Jersey
side on account of its nearness. Some succeeded in gaining the Staten
Island shore, but many failed to reach either.
Meanwhile the gunboat, totally disabled, drifted with the outgoing tide,
no attempt being made by any one on board to work any of the fourteen
guns with which she was armed.
When Captain Neill, true-hearted soldier that he was, saw the desperate
helplessness of the British sailors, and their attempts to save
themselves, he ceased firing and sent men to rescue them from watery
graves. The gunboat was carried by the tide beyond the mouth of the
Elizabeth River, and, being in flames, went down to Davy Jones’
capacious locker just after passing the spot now occupied by the Dry
Dock Company.
Some thirty years ago, oystermen raked up a large number of British
coins and many other articles from this spot, and many believed the
treasure was at one time possessed by the sailors of the ill-fated
gunboat.
General Livingston, who had remained with Captain Neill and witnessed
the attack and destruction of the vessel, at once wrote the following
dispatch to General Washington, sending it off post-haste:
ELIZABETHTOWN, July 4, 1776.
Midnight.
One of the enemy’s sloops of war, mounting fourteen guns, having
this evening run up to this point, was attacked from the shore by
the twelve-pounders, a great number of her men killed, she set on
fire and entirely destroyed.
As Captain Neill’s attack on the British gunboat occurred about
midnight, July 4, 1776, there can be no shadow of doubt that his guns
were the first ones fired after the immortal Declaration of Independence
was adopted, the Congress in session at Philadelphia having formally
performed this act between nine and ten o’clock that evening. It was the
first exploit of the new-born nation, and a gallant young Irish patriot,
a citizen of this province, carried it to success.
Captain Neill and his battery was shortly after assigned to Col. Thomas
Proctor’s[6] regiment of artillery, and subsequently to the brigade of
artillery commanded by General Knox.[7] The battery participated in the
battles of Trenton, Assinpink Creek, Princeton and Monmouth.
But it was at Princeton that the heroic Neill sealed his devotion to the
cause of American liberty and independence with his life’s blood. He was
instantly killed by a British sharpshooter just after Hugh Mercer, a
Scotsman, was mortally wounded.
In view of the important services rendered by this patriotic son of the
Emerald Isle to the cause of American freedom, it would seem especially
fitting at this time that a proper recognition of Captain Neill’s
devotion to the interests of this community in a dark hour of its
history should be made by our citizens.
Daniel Neill nobly gave all he possessed for the benefit and enrichment
of posterity, and it behooves us to recognize the value of his splendid
services in our behalf by erecting a suitable monument, marking the spot
in our town where he struck a deadly and brilliant blow at the ruthless
enemies of our blessed land.
Shall it be done?
RICHARD DEXTER, ONE OF BOSTON’S IRISH PIONEERS.
BY THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY.
Richard Dexter was admitted a “townsman” of Boston, Mass., in 1641. He
was an Irishman and came to this country with his wife Bridget. Less
worthy people have been adequately chronicled. Of Richard Dexter,
however, but little has been said. He may be ranked as a forgotten
pioneer.
In the New York _Genealogical and Biographical Record_, January, 1891,
is a brief paper on “The Dexter Family.” In that it is stated that
“Richard Dexter, the pioneer, with his wife, Bridget, came from Ireland,
where his fathers had lived for upwards of 400 years.”
The descendants of Richard and Bridget have been very numerous, many of
them attaining prominence in civil, military and educational life. F.
Gordon Dexter, a wealthy Boston man, is mentioned as one of these
descendants, as is also the late George Dexter of Albany, N. Y. Mention
of others will hereinafter be found.
In Vol. III, page 181, of a work published by Munsell on _American
Ancestry_ (Albany, N. Y., 1899), it is stated that John Dexter, the only
son of Richard, the immigrant, was born in 1639 and probably in Ireland.
He was doubtless brought to this country by his parents while still an
infant.
The Irish Dexters derive their descent from Anglo-Norman sources and are
first heard of in Ireland about A. D. 1169, or more than seven centuries
ago. The name has variously appeared in Ireland as De Exeter, D’Exeter,
Dexeter, Dexetra, Dexter, etc.
Some of the family, especially those settling in Mayo, in the kingdom of
Connaught, assumed the surname Mac Jordan (descendant of Jordan), after
an ancestor—Jordan Teutonicus, or Jordan De Courcy, a brother of John De
Courcy, Earl of Ulster. These Dexters were commonly known as Dexter-Mac
Jordans, and sometimes as Mac Jordan-Dexters. Much of the history of the
Dexters must be sought under the names Jordan and Mac Jordan.
The pioneer Dexters in Ireland soon fell in with the people and though,
at first, conflicts ensued between them and the old native clans, their
descendants eventually became “as Irish as the Irish themselves.” The
fact that they were of the same religious faith greatly assisted, of
course, in bringing this about.
Richard Dexter, son of Stephen Dexter, wedded, in 1272, Lady Penelope
O’Connor, a daughter of the ruler of the Irish kingdom of Connaught. The
Dexter-Mac Jordans became lords of Athleathan, in Mayo, Connaught, and
built one of their strongest castles there. Stephen Dexter, son of one
of the lords of Athleathan, was a Dominican monk, and wrote the _Annals
of Multifernan_.
The Dexter-Mac Jordans also had possessions in the Irish principality of
Meath, where they built Castle Jordan. About 1274 they founded an abbey
in Mayo. In De Burgo’s time the Dexter family had reached its thirteenth
generation in Ireland.