In journalism, as in every other walk of life, men of Irish blood are,
and have been, leaders of those who mould public opinion. As American
newspaper men, Irish-Americans have added new laurels to the fair name
of Erin’s sons. Irish in name, their intense Americanism pervades every
cosmopolitan journal from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the
Canadian line to the Gulf of Mexico.
Irishmen were among the pioneers in the establishment of the early
American newspapers. It would, indeed, be interesting to follow one by
one, step by step, the career of the men of Irish blood who, more than a
hundred years ago, braved blind prejudice and established newspapers
which did so much for American freedom, and later labored so hard for
internal improvements, the developing and the upbuilding of the great
Republic.
Irishmen were among the first paper manufacturers in this country. Many
of them, prior to the Revolutionary War, were engaged in the printing
business. Naturally they drifted into publishing newspapers. At the
period immediately following the Revolution, it is estimated by the
census bureau that there were published in the United States two hundred
papers. Of these, it is said, twenty-five were controlled by foreigners,
and were, as a rule, the most influential papers published, and were
issued in the large towns like Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
The election of John Adams as president, and the inauguration of his
federal policy, brought into being a strong opposition press, which
arrayed itself on the side of Thomas Jefferson. The editors of that
period, not unlike the politicians of their time, did not mince matters.
Their trenchant quills smote the Federalists with such force that the
administration of Mr. Adams deemed it necessary to pass a law that would
curb the spirit of the times and muzzle the opposition press. The result
was the enactment of the Alien and Sedition act. The twenty-five papers
which were controlled by the foreigners were the special mark of the
alien and sedition laws.
Appleton’s Encyclopedia, speaking on this subject, says:
“The apology for the sedition act was the unquestionable licentiousness
of the press, which, at that time, was chiefly controlled by refugees
and adventurists from Great Britain and Ireland.”
Lossing, in his United States History, says, “that outside of New
England, the most influential papers were controlled principally by
foreigners.”
The majority of the refugees and adventurists, so called, were men of
Irish blood; all of them men of learning, enterprise and push. They
hated the Federalists for their pro-English leanings, especially
President Adams, whom they believed to be friendly to England in the
contest against France. Several of them had had a taste of British
tyranny at home, and all were imbued with the spirit of ’98.
Among the very earliest newspaper enterprises was that of Hugh Gaine in
New York city. Gaine was a native of Ireland. He began his new world
career as a book-seller. In 1752 he commenced the publication of the
_Mercury_. Hudson, in his history of journalism in the United States,
says of the paper, that it was one of the best in all the colonies in
the collection of intelligence. Hugh Gaine prospered as an editor,
book-seller and publisher.
How noble was the attitude of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, who lent
his mighty influence to launching the _Maryland Gazette_. His financial
and moral aid made possible its vigorous contest for the freedom of the
colonies.
The alien and sedition act was particularly aimed at the Irishmen, who,
almost to a man, arrayed themselves under the broad banner of Jefferson,
the leader of the Republicans. The first man to suffer under the alien
and sedition laws was an Irishman, Congressman Matthew Lyon of Vermont,
a native of Wicklow, a printer, who started the _Farmer’s Library_, and
later issued the _Fairhaven Gazette_. This “peppery, red-headed little
Irishman,” as he was called by his contemporaries, hated everything that
had the odor of Federalism about it, and for an article written by him,
published in a Vermont paper, reflecting on President John Adams, he was
indicted by the United States Court. A writer, speaking of the article
for which he was indicted, says that “the language was decidedly
Lyonesque.” He was fined $1,000 and imprisoned for three months. While
in jail he was reëlected to congress, and on his release would have been
rearrested on another charge under the same act, had he not availed
himself of his constitutional rights and declared that he was on his way
to Philadelphia to attend a sitting of Congress.
Lyon is remembered for his varied congressional life, and the episode
especially with Congressman Griswold of Connecticut. Griswold referred
to Lyon deprecatingly one day, and revived an old story of alleged
cowardice during the Revolutionary War, which his political opponents
used against him. The result was an exhibition of old-time pugilism on
the floor of congress. For this offence an attempt was made to expel him
from the house on two occasions, but each time it failed for want of a
two-thirds vote.
Lyon had the distinguished honor of having been elected as a
representative from three states to congress,—Vermont, Kentucky and
Arkansas. He learned the trade of a printer when a boy, ran away from
the old country and settled in Vermont. Governor Chittenden took a great
interest in the young Irish lad, and helped him in many ways. He married
a daughter of the governor’s, and engaged in the manufacture of iron and
paper. Becoming involved financially, in trying to build a flotilla of
gunboats on the Delaware for the infant American navy, he moved to
Kentucky, and there set up another printing office, the first in the
state. He was elected to Congress in 1804, serving until 1810.
He was the first delegate to Congress from Arkansas, having taken up his
residence in Little Rock, but he died before taking his seat. To Matthew
Lyon also belongs the distinguished honor of having cast the vote of
Vermont for Jefferson for president against Adams in that critical
period of American history, when the choice of president was thrown into
the house of representatives.
His son, Chittenden, was a prominent man of his day, a member of
congress, and took an active part in public affairs. In 1840 congress
refunded Matthew Lyon’s son the $1,000 fine imposed upon his father
under the alien and sedition act.
In Massachusetts, Attorney-General James Sullivan, afterward congressman
and governor, the son of Irish emigrants, wrote and published a most
able paper entitled, “A Dissertation on the Constitutional Freedom of
the Press,” severely arraigning the sedition law. After enumerating the
power of congress, Mr. Sullivan said:
“It is very clear that, considering a libel as a private injury, the
congress can have no authority to enact a law for its definition or
punishment.... It went beyond what the constitution would warrant.” In
his final summing up, Attorney-General Sullivan said, “that a
reasonable, constitutional restraint, judicially exercised, is the only
way in which the freedom of the press can be preserved as an invaluable
privilege to the nation.”
The alien and sedition laws were soon effaced from the statute books
when the Democratic party came into power under Jefferson. Inasmuch as
these laws were aimed especially at the men of Irish blood, who sought
freedom at home in vain and came here to enjoy it, it was especially
fitting that an Irishman, Senator Smilie of South Carolina, should
introduce the bill for their repeal. He was chairman of the committee on
foreign affairs on the part of the senate.
John T. Morse, in his “American Statesmen” series, characterizes the
alien and sedition laws as the “two great blunders of the Federal
party,” and adds: “No one has ever been able heartily or successfully to
defend these foolish outbursts of ill-considered legislation.”
Another Irishman, John Daly Burk of _The Time-Piece_ published in New
York city was arrested under the alien and sedition law. This John Daly
Burk had a most interesting history. He published the first daily paper
in Boston. Said to be of the same family as the great Edmund Burke, he
was expelled from Trinity College, Dublin, for patriotic articles
contributed to the _Dublin Evening Post_, a paper which advocated the
cause of the people against the rule of England. The expulsion of young
Burk from Trinity only rekindled his patriotism and he rallied around
the young band of patriots who were getting ready for the uprising of
’98. A brother patriot was being led to the gallows one day. As the
procession passed Trinity’s steps, where Burk, in company with about
thirty young men, was standing, he called out that if there was an
Irishman in the crowd, to follow him for the purpose of rescuing the
prisoner. The attempt proved unsuccessful. Burk escaped to a house where
lived a woman named Daly. She fitted him out in woman’s garb and in this
disguise he escaped from Ireland, making his way to America, landing in
Boston. Being without means and desiring to show his gratitude to his
protectress, Burk assumed her name, and ever after he signed himself
John Daly Burk.
Boston in those days was not a very hospitable town for an Irishman to
settle in, but Burk fought against great odds and overcame what seemed
to be insurmountable obstacles. On October 6, 1796, he issued the _Polar
Star and Daily Advertiser_. It was the first daily paper published in
the town. It was printed by Alexander Martin, at the corner of Water
Street and Quaker Lane. Copies of the paper are extant, and are well
worth perusal. It had considerable display advertising. It started out
with a well written address to the public on the advantages of a daily
paper. Speaking of the policy of the paper, the editor said: “It will
have more frequent opportunities of defending the great principles of
American Independence; encouraging the arts and chastising the enemies
of the federal constitution whatever mask they may wear or whatever
denomination they may assume.”
Further along in his address to the people, Burk apologized for calling
the residents of Boston his fellow-citizens, but, he added, he was their
fellow citizen, for the moment a stranger puts his foot on American soil
“his fetters,” to use his own language, “are rent to pieces.”
In concluding his leading editorial, Burk said: “The _Polar Star_, like
a stern and impartial tribune of criticism, shall be open to reasoning
on both sides, but it will hear only reasoning. It will curb the spirit
of faction; silence the clamor of revenge and heal the wounds of the
unfortunate.”
Burk complained of the treatment accorded him by the other Boston papers
of the period. In a paragraph, one day, he called attention to the fact
that none deigned to notice the _Polar Star_, and remarked that if its
promoters had not taken the trouble to register its birth in the temple
of freedom, the world would not have been the wiser.
In another issue, he calls attention to the fact that “a gentleman
possessing the wisdom of a Socrates,” declined to subscribe to his
paper, “because the editor was an _Irishman_.” The italics are Burk’s.
The _Polar Star and Daily Advertiser_ gave each political party an equal
showing in its news columns, but its editor early incurred the enmity of
President Adams. Of the presidential canvass preceding the election of
John Adams, who was the candidate of the Federalists, Editor Burk
observed in his paper:
“We hope the future president will be as good a Republican as
Washington. Never has the venerable patriot been known to utter a
sentiment favorable to royalty. He ought to be a friend to the
revolution of Holland and France; he ought not to be willing to divide
the people by any distinction; Americans should have but one
denomination—the people.”
It would seem that President Adams kept a sharp eye on Burk while in
Boston. It was his intention, says Burk’s son in his memoirs of his
father, to hand the Boston editor over to the captain of a British
frigate lying in Boston harbor. Great Britain at that time was claiming
all her subjects, wherever found. Many an American vessel was searched
for escaped Irish patriots, and on this right of search, the war of 1812
was waged. Had Burk ever been handed over to the British captain, there
is no doubt but that he would have been hanged at the yard arm of the
vessel. As it was, Burk was obliged to flee from Boston, fearing
surrender to the British, leaving his daily paper on the hands of the
printer, who soon afterwards abandoned it and removed to Philadelphia,
then the seat of the Federal government.
It was Aaron Burr who gave Burk the first intimation of President Adams’
intention to turn him over to the British authorities, and in more ways
than one Hamilton’s inveterate political enemy facilitated Burk’s escape
to New York, where he published _The Time-Piece_. Thus, Boston lost a
brilliant man and her first daily paper was reluctantly abandoned after
six months’ existence.
While in Boston, Burk married a widow named Curtis, formerly Christine
Borne. She bore him one son, John Junius Burk, who became a
distinguished jurist of Louisiana. Mrs. Curtis had two boys by her first
marriage. One of them married a sister of President John Tyler. John
Junius Burk left several accomplished children who were justly proud of
John Daly Burk, their grandfather, the pioneer of Boston daily
journalism. After his New York experience Burk took up his residence
among the Republicans of Virginia. Jefferson, Randolph and other
distinguished patriots were proud to have him in their company. He wrote
one of the best histories of Virginia published, and took an active part
in public matters, being in great demand for public speaking.
In the _Richmond Enquirer_ of May 27, 1808, were printed proposals for
publishing the ancient and modern music of Ireland, by John McCreery and
Skelton Jones. Burk wrote a fine essay on the subject for the work. This
book, it is said, suggested to Thomas Moore his Irish melodies. Dr.
Robinson, who wrote the preface to McCreery’s work, was a classmate of
Moore at Trinity College, Dublin. Burk’s ending was dramatic. He was
killed in a duel by a Frenchman in Virginia in 1808. Although Burk was
the publisher of the first daily paper in Boston, the impartial
historians of the Hub dismiss him by a mere mention of his name when
they condescend to refer to his paper at all, but an honored son has
preserved the important facts of his distinguished and interesting
career.
A most interesting character in pioneer journalism in America was Andrew
Brown, an Irishman who published the _Federal Gazette_ in Philadelphia.
He, too, was a graduate of Trinity college. He came to America when a
young man, settled in Massachusetts, and fought on the patriots’ side at
Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. He took an active part in the
campaigns of Generals Gates and Greene.
Brown’s paper was the first to publish reports of the doings of
Congress. He upheld the constitution when it was assailed, and earned
the gratitude of men no less distinguished than Washington.
Another of the early Irish-American publishers was John Dunlap of the
_Pennsylvania Packet_, the first daily published in America. He was born
in Strabane, Ireland, in 1747. He died in Philadelphia in November,
1812. He was the first congressional printer, and acted as such to the
Continental Congress. His paper was first to print the Declaration of
Independence. He was an officer in the First Philadelphia cavalry which
acted as Washington’s body-guard at Trenton and Princeton. Dunlap was an
intense patriot, and during the Revolutionary War contributed more than
£4,000 to the support of the Revolutionary army. He was a member of that
noble band, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, of Philadelphia, which
furnished more field officers to the Revolutionary army and rendered
more material aid to the colonists in the struggle for independence than
any other single society.
Another prominent Philadelphia journalist of Irish birth was Mathew
Carey, a native of Dublin. He landed in Philadelphia November 15, 1784.
He had just been released from an English prison for political offenses.
Two months later he issued the _Philadelphia Herald_. The _Herald_ was
the first paper to give correct legislative reports of Congress, Carey
acting as his own reporter. For his vigorous opposition to English
tyranny in his native land, he found himself one day a prisoner behind
the bars at Newgate. Previous to this he was obliged to flee, for a
vigorous use of his able pen in behalf of Irish freedom. He went to
Paris and there made the acquaintance of the American minister, Benjamin
Franklin, who gave him employment as clerk in the American embassy.
After a year’s absence he returned to Dublin. He and Franklin were
life-long friends, and it was he, I believe, who remarked to Franklin
one day, that he agreed with the great philosopher in everything except
religion.
He remained at his post editing his paper during the yellow fever
epidemic in Philadelphia, when all other editors felt obliged to desert
their posts. He wrote and published much on economic and political
subjects. His articles on protection were translated into different
languages, and had a large sale. He fought a duel with Colonel Oswald,
editor of a rival journal, and was confined to his bed for sixteen
months, the result of wounds received from his antagonist. Mathew Carey
was the first publisher of an American history. It was written by an
Irish Presbyterian, Dr. Ramsay.
Perhaps the most interesting character among the Philadelphia editors of
Irish blood was William Duane. He was the editor of the _Aurora_. Born
in New York of Irish parents, he was sent to Ireland to be educated,
graduating at Trinity College with honors. In 1794 we find him in India
where he started a paper called the _World_ and accumulated quite a
fortune. With his inherent love of freedom, Duane championed the cause
of the colonists against the East India Company. He was invited to
breakfast one day with the governor of the colony, was arrested and sent
to London in irons without any explanation. After petitioning for
redress he awaited the outcome. Meanwhile he was employed editing the
_General Advertiser_, which was subsequently merged into the _London
Times_.
In 1795 Duane gave up his hope of redress from the Company and left
London in disgust, coming to Philadelphia, where he became the editor of
the _Aurora_, the leading organ of the Democratic party. It was to him
that Jefferson attributed his election, owing to the vigorous advocacy
of his candidacy through the _Aurora_ columns which at that time was
regarded as the most influential paper in America. President Jefferson
made him a lieutenant-colonel in 1805, and during the war of 1812 he was
adjutant-general of the army, which afforded the editor of the _Aurora_
an opportunity to retaliate on his old enemy, England. The change of the
seat of government from Philadelphia to Washington, diminished the
influence of his paper, and later he retired from its editorship. He
traveled much after retirement from his editorial labors, and on his
return from abroad devoted himself to literary pursuits. He published a
great many works on military subjects.
His son, who was born in Ireland, was originally a printer and paper
dealer in Philadelphia. He studied law, was admitted to practice and
represented Philadelphia in the state legislature for many years. He,
like his father, took a deep interest in public matters, especially the
building up of the great common school system of Philadelphia. He was
his father’s right hand man in his editorial labors and secretary of the
treasury in 1833 under President Jackson. He was removed from his
position by the president after a controversy, for his refusal to remove
the deposits from the United States bank during the exciting bank
troubles. He was an author of note and wrote much on political and
economic subjects.
The Binns family who settled in Philadelphia at the close of the
eighteenth century were natives of Dublin. John and Benjamin were
printers. John was tried in England for “treason,” but escaped
punishment. Soon after his acquittal he was rearrested on a similar
charge and served three years in jail. He came to America in 1801. In
1802 he commenced the publication of the _Republican Argus_ at
Northumberland, Penn., and in 1807 issued the _Democratic Press_ at
Philadelphia. For many years it was a most influential paper. For twenty
years John Binn was an alderman of the city of Philadelphia, and was
always active in matters affecting his native land. He was the first man
to print an absolutely correct copy of the Declaration of Independence.
For this public service he received the thanks of John Quincy Adams and
General Lafayette. Appended to the copy of the document was a fac simile
of the signatures of the signers of the immortal Declaration.
The proprietor of the _New Jersey State Gazette_ which was established
in 1792, the first daily paper published in that state, was William B.
Kenny, the son of Irish parents. Under President Fillmore he was
American minister to Sardinia.
Dr. James Hagan, the fighting editor of the _Vicksburg_ (Miss.)
_Sentinel_, was one of the earliest daily newspaper men in the South. He
was killed in the prime of life while on his way to his office one day
in 1842, by the editor of the _Vicksburg Whig_, with whom he had had a
controversy. Dr. Hagan’s associate in the enterprise was James Ryan.
In the early life of the nineteenth century we find Henry O’Reilly
editing the _New York Columbian_. At seventeen he was editor of the
_Patriot_, ably advocating, in 1842, the election of DeWitt Clinton, an
Irish immigrant’s son, as governor of the Empire state. In 1826 the
_Rochester Daily Advertiser_ was issued and was the first daily between
the Hudson river and the Pacific Ocean. O’Reilly was then only
twenty-one years old, but was considered one of the ablest men in his
profession at that time. He was a great advocate of the canal system of
New York and was always ready to defend it from the attacks of designing
politicians. He was one of the foremost champions of the great common
school system of his state. To him belongs the credit of the
establishment of the State Agricultural college. Almost every state in
the Union has followed New York’s lead in this matter. As a promoter of
the infant telegraph business, Mr. O’Reilly is acknowledged to have been
the foremost man in the matter, assisting Morse with his pen and money.
No man had more influence than O’Reilly throughout the state, and at the
breaking out of the Rebellion he did yeoman service for the Union cause.
He died in 1867, loved and respected by all.
William Cassidy, the son of Irish parents, was born in Albany, N. Y., in
1815. His father was a great friend of DeWitt Clinton, the governor of
New York. Cassidy was the editor of the _Albany Atlas_ and _Argus_ which
were united in 1856, taking the name of the _Argus_. From that date the
_Albany Argus_ has been one of the leading papers of New York state.
Cassidy was a fine classical scholar, and for many years secretary of
the Democratic state committee. He was a noted platform builder and
often helped his party out of trying positions.
James McCarroll was a noted journalist of his day. He was born in the
county Longford, Ireland, came to this country when a young man, and in
1845 was a proprietor of the _Peterboro Chronicle_. Later in life he was
engaged as a musical and dramatic critic on New York daily papers. His
father fell, fighting bravely for the Union, at Antietam.
Who is there that does not recall Fitz James O’Brien and his heroism on
Union battlefields, that won him the official praise of two great
generals? He lived a newspaper man, a poet, and a writer of preëminent
ability. He died a Union soldier. He gave his life to his adopted
country freely and without price. A record of heroic deeds on the
battlefields survives him. Of him, suffice it to say, that during his
ten years’ residence in America, this adopted citizen brought out some
of the most brilliant writings of their class published. He died in
Virginia, an aide in the staff of General Landers, from the effects of a
wound received in a charge he led, and lies buried in Greenwood
cemetery, New York, in an honored grave.
The mention of poor O’Brien recalls to mind Charles Dawson Shanley,
another Irishman, who died in 1875. For eighteen years Mr. Shanley
occupied a prominent place in American journalism, having been connected
with several New York newspapers as editor and contributor. His poems
and novels still delight the lover of realistic beauty. His old friend,
William Winter, paid this tribute to him in the columns of the _New York
Tribune_, April 19, 1875: “There is no one of the busy workers in
journalism who will not be benefited by reflection upon a character so
pure and simple, a life so industrious, useful and blameless, and an end
so tranquil.”
Col. James Mulligan once edited a Chicago paper. General Thomas Francis
Meagher, of ’48 fame, was editing the _Irish News_ in New York at the
breaking out of the Rebellion of ’61.
Robert S. McKenzie, a native of Limerick, Ireland, a graduate of Fermoy,
was noted for his literary work, and was engaged in general newspaper
correspondence for many years.
One of the most successful journalists of Irish blood was Thomas
Kinsella, editor of the _Brooklyn Eagle_. Mr. Kinsella was born in
Ireland in 1832, learned his trade as a printer and in 1861 was editing
the _Brooklyn Eagle_. He was postmaster at Brooklyn, member of Congress,
one of the original Brooklyn bridge trustees, and at one time president
of the St. Patrick club of Brooklyn.
In Indiana, no two newspaper men of their time were better known than
Thomas and John Dowling in the early part of the nineteenth century.
A son of Judge John D. Phelan of Tennessee, who graduated with high
honor at Nashville University, started a Democratic paper in
Huntersville, conducting it with success. Editor Phelan was a leading
figure in politics and at his death was a judge of the supreme court of
Tennessee.
Michael Burnham was the name of the man, who, when the century was
young, issued the _New York Post_ and _Herald_.
Although the founder of the _New York Herald_, James Gordon Bennett, was
of Scotch birth, his mother was an Irishwoman, being the descendant of
an old and honorable Dublin family. Mr. Bennett studied for the
priesthood in the old country, but soon abandoned the idea, came to
Boston where he read proof for a while, and after a varied experience in
newspaper life settled in New York and in 1835 started the _New York
Herald_.
James Gordon Bennett’s great competitor, Horace Greeley, of the _New
York Tribune_, was a New Hampshire boy, born of Irish parents in the
town of Amherst. No man carried more influence than Greeley, and in the
days of the war and the decade following it the _Tribune_ was a great
power in national politics.
One of the foremost newspaper men of the South was the late United
States Senator Patrick Walsh of Georgia. He was a native of Limerick. He
came to America with his parents when a child. He was a hard worker in
his youth and earned enough money sticking type to pay his way at
Georgetown college. He was at college when his adopted state seceded and
he went home to join the Meagher Guard, an Irish company attached to the
first regiment of South Carolina. He had filled every position on the
paper, and in 1873 became one of the owners of the _Augusta Chronicle_.
Few journalists in America occupy the high position in their profession
that Col. Alexander Kelly McClure, who, with the McLaughlin brothers,
started the _Philadelphia Times_, one of the leading papers in the
country to-day. Mr. McClure comes from the Pennsylvania Irish which has
furnished so many remarkable men in American history. He has been an
important factor in journalism for nearly half a century now and counts
among his nearest friends the leading men of the nation. He was
particularly prominent in the War of the Rebellion and was on the most
intimate terms with President Lincoln.
As a war correspondent Joseph B. McCullagh, late editor of the _St.
Louis Globe-Democrat_, had few equals. He was a native of Dublin, which
he early left, coming to America when a boy. He had a varied and
successful newspaper career. He was in the Wilderness with Grant and
with Sherman on his march to the sea. In his campaign with Grant a
friendship was formed which lasted until the death of the hero of the
Rebellion.
One of the leading newspaper men of Pittsburg to-day is Thomas J.
Keenan, the son of an Irish-American soldier distinguished for his
bravery. Mr. Keenan recently gave a $30,000 home to the newsboys of
Pittsburg.
Thomas Fitzgerald, for many years connected with the New York
_Commercial Advertiser_, and the _Item_, of Philadelphia, which he
founded, was in his day one of the leaders in American journalism. He
died in 1891, after turning his paper over to his son. He was a noted
dramatist, and during the War of the Rebellion was an intense patriot.
He was a noted public speaker. Charles Sumner said of a speech of his
delivered in Boston, that it was one of the best extemporaneous
addresses he had ever listened to.
At the head of the _Scranton_ (Pa.) _Truth_ is James Joseph Jordan, born
of Irish parents, while the Farrells of Albany, N. Y., are also
well-known and influential in the newspaper world.
The late Joseph Medill, of Chicago, the son of Irish parents, made the
_Chicago Tribune_ a great newspaper. He ranked with Charles A. Dana of
the _N. Y. Sun_.
Thomas O’Conor, the father of New York’s greatest jurist, Charles
O’Conor, was among the best known and gifted newspaper men in the early
’40’s.
Theodore O’Hara, the gifted poet of the South, was a newspaper man of
wide experience. Himself a Kentucky soldier, he wrote the beautiful poem
entitled “The Bivouac of the Dead,” when the remains of the Kentucky
soldiers who fell at Buena Vista in the Mexican War were brought home to
their native state. Lines from his poems are inscribed over the
entrances of several of the national cemeteries. By a resolution of the
Kentucky legislature, his remains were conveyed from Georgia, where he
died, to his native state and they now lie beside those whom he had
commemorated in his beautiful lines, and beside whom he had fought the
battles of his country.
Daniel Kane O’Donnell as an all round newspaper man and a war
correspondent, had few equals. He represented the _Philadelphia Press_
on Sherman’s march to the sea. After the war he became connected with
the _New York Tribune_, and was made correspondent of the paper in
Mexico, and later in Cuba, his interesting letters attracting world-wide
attention. Subsequently, he returned to the home office and was given
charge of the foreign affairs of the paper.
At the head of the war correspondents of the Orient and Europe stands
Januarius Aloysius McGahan, an Irish-American journalist. His first
notable newspaper connection was as the Paris correspondent of the _New
York Herald_. McGahan was about to return from Europe after a course in
international law, when he was retained by Mr. Bennett as the _Herald_
correspondent.
He overtook the retreating Frenchmen at Bordeaux and accompanied them to
Lyons, sending graphic dispatches to his paper in the form of interviews
with the leaders of all parties. This surprised the European newspapers,
as it was the introduction of newspaper interviewing in the old world.
He was the only correspondent who remained in Paris during the commune,
and kept the readers of the _Herald_ thoroughly informed as to what was
going on in the turbulent French capital. He was arrested by the French
government for intimacy with the rebels, but through the intercession of
the American minister was released.
After this he was made correspondent at St. Petersburg by the _Herald_,
and was on the most intimate terms with the czar. He was at the
bombardment of Khiva, and in 1874 reported the Carlist war, living in
the saddle and being frequently under fire. To follow McGahan would
require a whole evening. He continued to be the most renowned
correspondent of his day, and died of fever at his post of duty during
the Bulgarian war in 1875.
Another famous _New York Herald_ war correspondent was James O’Kelly,
who made a world-wide reputation in his dispatches from Cuba in the
early ’70’s. Born in Ireland, a French soldier in Mexico, he came to
America and engaged in the newspaper business, becoming an attache of
the _New York Herald_. He was condemned to death for his part in the
Cuban insurrection, but was saved that fate by the state department.
After his release he returned to Ireland, and was elected to parliament
on entering politics.
It was Daniel O’Neil, a native of Wexford, who started the _Pittsburg
Dispatch_, one of the leading papers of the West to-day. His brother,
Eugene O’Neil, is now the editor.
Ex-Mayor Hugh O’Brien, of Boston, scored a signal success as a
journalist.
James McConnell, who died recently, was one of the best known newspaper
men of Philadelphia. He learned to set type at the case adjoining that
of the late John Russell Young. Later, he became proofreader on the
_Philadelphia Press_, then owned by John Forney. He became night editor,
and during the Civil War war correspondent of that paper. When John
Russell Young became managing editor of the _New York Tribune_ under
Horace Greeley, Mr. McConnell came to New York and while with the
_Tribune_ was successively day editor, Albany correspondent, traveling
political correspondent, night editor and political editor in the
office. After serving the _Tribune_ he went to Philadelphia and
associated himself with the _Evening Star_, and at the time of his death
was managing editor of the _Star_.
Add to this already remarkable list, a Grady in the South, a Blaine in
the North. Nothing that I might say regarding these distinguished men of
Irish origin would add to the already large stock of knowledge possessed
by the public concerning them. Their names are household words. They
lived but as yesterday. Their influence is still felt.
In treating a subject of this character one could hardly forget the debt
of gratitude the Irish people in America owe to Patrick Donahoe, the
venerable founder of the _Boston Pilot_, and his brilliant and scholarly
successor as editor of that paper, the lamented John Boyle O’Reilly.
Coming down to the present time, we would not be doing justice to
ourselves did we not pause in admiration of the present gifted editor of
the _Pilot_, James Jeffrey Roche, and also of Stephen O’Meara, the
manager of the _Boston Journal_. Time permits only a passing notice of
these brilliant lights in American journalism. In this hasty review of
the men of Irish blood who have taken such an active part in American
newspaper work, I doubt not that many worthy men have escaped notice. It
is inevitable in such an undertaking. Experience teaches that if one
were to put the works on the Irish in America together, something and
somebody would be missing.
Enough has been shown to establish the fact that Irishmen by birth or
blood may justly claim a large share of putting the American newspaper
on its feet, so to speak. This is not said in any boastful vein. The
only desire is to show that in the building up of this great industry
Irishmen did their share of the work. Effort has been made to keep
within the bounds of actual facts, most of them being obtained from
unwilling witnesses, men who, when they are forced to include in their
chronicles men of our race, endeavor oftentimes to make them out
“Scotch-Irish.”
Men like Burk, Carey, Dunlap, Brown and Duane may have been
“adventurists and refugees.” God grant us more such “adventurists and
refugees,” for they lived useful lives here. They left their imprint on
the land. The historian who would apply the term “adventurists and
refugees” to such men should reflect that, had the American cause
failed, Washington, Adams, Jefferson and many other patriots would have
come within their term of “adventurists and refugees,” and probably
would have been seeking liberty elsewhere, as were these men, far from
the land of their nativity.
These pioneers in American journalism came here,
“Where no caste barrier stays the poor man’s son,
Till step by step the topmost height is won;
Where every hand subscribes to every rule,
And free as air are voice, and vote, and school.”
“They may sleep in their silent tomb,” to quote the words of Thomas
D’Arcy Magee, another brilliant Irish-American journalist, “but the
remembrance of their virtue will be cherished while liberty is dear to
the American heart.”
A distinguished man, Gen. Patrick A. Collins, once observed that of all
the brilliant Irishmen he ever knew—and he has known many—John Boyle
O’Reilly and D’Arcy Magee could do more things and do them better than
any of their contemporaries.