Irish people were among the pioneers in this country from almost the
first settlement on the Atlantic coast, and continued until the line of
immigration had crossed the continent to the Pacific.
The Colonial records bear testimony that Irish people were here at an
early period, and so many hamlets on the frontier were designated by
distinctive Irish names that had we no other proof than these facts, we
could not honestly divest ourselves of the conviction that Ireland
contributed more in numbers for the development of this country than
came from any other one source.
Great injustice has been done the Irish people by depriving them of
credit so justly due them. This has resulted partially from ignorance,
but to a greater extent it is due to an influence exerted prior to the
first settlement in this country. The purpose which prompts this
injustice has been maintained through English influence, and has always
been wanting so much in charity to the Irish people, that we can hope to
accomplish little in any effort to establish the truth so long as
individuals in this country are willing to have their judgment
influenced by the policy of a foreign power.
The same influence has been as actively engaged in claiming that we are
English; that this country is consequently “a worthy daughter of a more
worthy mother!” Yet my investigations have impressed me with the belief
that of the seventy-five millions forming our present population, there
are a far greater number of individuals who could be more certain of
their African origin, than there are those who could prove a direct
English descent.
It is not sufficient to show proof of an ancestor sailing from an
English port, as all such were rated during the seventeenth century as
English, without reference to their nationality. Moreover the bearing of
an English name would be no more conclusive, as we shall show that a
large proportion of the “Wild Irish” were compelled by law to assume
English surnames, which their descendants bear at the present time.
I have no precise data bearing directly upon the earliest immigration of
the Irish to this country, for none exists. On the other hand, the
assertion that they were among the first settlers, and the most numerous
afterwards, cannot be rejected or disproved. I will now very clearly
show, as circumstantial evidence, that throughout the greater portion of
the seventeenth century a dire provocation existed, and that the
Catholics were driven out of Ireland by a persecution which has never
been equaled. The world to-day is in ignorance of the fact, since a
complete history of Ireland, and of the suffering borne by a majority of
the people, has yet to be written.
Whenever an advantage was to be gained by falsifying an historical event
in connection with Ireland, the English government has never hesitated,
in the past, to exercise its influence for that purpose. Yet with a
strange inconsistency every record in the keeping of the government
bearing upon its own immediate history, is zealously preserved,
notwithstanding the most damning testimony is thus furnished of
corruption, double dealing and crime.
As an American I would gladly have laid aside all religious appellations
if it had been possible otherwise to have done justice to my subject,
but unfortunately, as a consequence of the prejudices of centuries, not
a few people regard the “Protestant Irishman,” the “Presbyterian
Irishman,” and the “Catholic Irishman” as so many distinct species of
the human family. The necessity, therefore, exists in doing justice to
Ireland, that all at least in relation to the Catholic portion should be
made prominent, as this precludes the plea of being either English or
“Scotch-Irish.”
But as regards the race, the fact is that even within the period of
which we shall treat in regard to the forced emigration, there remained
in Ireland but little of the pure old Celtic stock. The inhabitants of
Ireland had been gradually becoming a mixed people, and were as much of
an aggregation as the population of the United States is a
conglomeration of all other races. Yet there is something in the Irish
climate and surroundings, which, even within a generation, exercises a
powerful influence in bringing the descendants of all foreigners to a
type possessing much in common, and with characteristics unlike any
other people.
It was not until near the close of the reign of Charles the First, that
the Irish people were forced to emigrate. Therefore, I propose to begin
with a brief reference to the so-called “Rebellion of 1641.”
In this movement Charles the First of England was the active spirit, and
if ever a man richly deserved his fate through retributive justice,
Charles rightly suffered. His inhuman treatment of the Irish people, who
had been most loyal to him, would have justified his execution if no
other cause existed. No historical event, which antedates the testimony
of living witnesses, can be more clearly established in all its details
than the history of this forced outbreak in 1641, and this can be done
notwithstanding there are few instances in history which have been more
distorted by falsehood.
It would not be germane to my subject to enter into detail at greater
length than to establish the provocation, or necessity existing at this
time, for a large emigration of the Irish people. The English government
had long held for the crown an absurd claim which involved the title of
every estate in Connaught. The Catholics held nine tenths of the land
and they bore in numbers about the same proportion to the population.
During the reign of James an effort had been made to clear off this
claimed lien, and large sums of money had been paid by the owners to the
English government for this purpose, with the understanding that these
transactions should be made a public record.
When Charles came to the throne it was found that James had appropriated
this money for his own use, and the only record existing was one in
which only the title of estates held by Protestants was established.
For an additional sum Charles promised, among many other promises which
he did not keep, to have the title of the estates held by the Catholics
cleared of all government claims, wherever the holder could prove his
right of possession. For this ostensible purpose a commission was
appointed, at the head of which was the Lord Chief Justice and the chief
prosecuting officer for the crown in Ireland.
It is now known that the real object of the commission was to obtain
some pretext for a general confiscation of the land, and to make a
plantation of Catholic Connaught, after the people had been disposed of.
As a stimulus to the zeal of these officers an additional bonus of two
shillings on the pound was granted from the value of each estate
confiscated to the crown, when made on the plea of a defective title.
The owner was generally made foreman of the jury and whenever the
verdict was a “Prevarication on the evidence,” as it was termed, and not
for the crown, he was fined to bankruptcy, his estate confiscated
“legally,” and the jurymen were both fined and imprisoned.
But this semblance of justice proved to be too slow a process, so the
country was suddenly overrun with English troops to force an extended
outbreak. Additional instructions were given to exterminate, if
possible, the whole Catholic population, English as well as Irish, as is
clearly proved by the writings of Leland, Clarendon, Warner, Carte, and
other writers, who had no sympathy for the Irish people.
The cattle and all available property were seized; persons in all
stations of life were imprisoned, without having charges preferred
against them, or they were wilfully murdered without provocation; the
wives and daughters of the Catholic Irish were subjected to unspeakable
brutality, and it was a frequent boast that no woman was spared; the
well and the sick, the young and the old were indiscriminately turned
adrift, their houses were burned, and all provisions and stores which
could not be used by the troops were wantonly destroyed.
No less than three thousand heads of families, constituting the Catholic
nobility and gentry, and the owners of the land in the west of Ireland
were imprisoned, charged with treason, and their property was seized.
A new commission was now formed, consisting of judge and jurymen in
English interests, yet who were sworn, it is supposed, to investigate
with some pretext to honesty the charge of treason against these
individuals. As a result of their labors _over one thousand indictments
were drawn up by this commission in two days_, by which each individual
was found guilty of treason, thus losing his life, and his property was
seized for the crown! If it be assumed that this jury worked
continuously each day for twelve hours, the average would be about one
indictment for a little less than every minute and a half. During which
time it was supposed that witnesses duly sworn were examined as to the
guilt of each individual, and after due deliberation, and after giving
the prisoner the benefit of all doubt, where the testimony was deemed
unreliable, the verdict had been rendered.
Is it possible to conceive of a more complete travesty on justice? The
prisoners knew nothing of the proceedings, and the average time for
conviction of less than one minute and a half was scarcely sufficient to
add the signatures necessary to give each death warrant a semblance of
legality.
By this one transaction the British crown came into possession of some
ten millions of acres, which was a little more than one half of all the
available land in Ireland.
Between five and six hundred thousand men, women, and children were
slaughtered, or died from starvation. Many thousand were sent to the
West Indies, or to the American colonies, and sold as slaves. A limited
number escaped to the mountains, where many died from starvation, and
the remainder lived for years a life in common with the wild beasts,
with a price upon their heads, and were hunted as such. The whole and
entire population of this great tract of country disappeared, and was
literally wiped out.
Shortly after, Cromwell overran the south and southwestern portion of
Ireland which was also chiefly settled by Catholics, and they received
as little mercy from his army as had been meted out to those of their
creed in Connaught. When Cromwell had completed his work at least two
thirds of the landed property in Ireland had been confiscated; and after
the greater portion of the Catholic Irish men, women, and children had
been put to the sword, or driven into exile, the whole country became
resettled with his soldiers, or by persons devoted to the English
interest. Over one hundred thousand young children, who had been made
orphans, or who were taken from their Catholic parents, were sent to the
West Indies, to Virginia, or to New England, that they might thus lose
their faith, as well as all knowledge of their nationality.
During this period thousands of Irishmen were driven into exile, to
enter the armies of European nations, or to emigrate and settle on the
frontiers of the American colonies, as a bulwark against the Indians,
for the protection of the more favored settlers on the coast.
In addition, a host of both men and women who were taken prisoners, were
sold in Virginia and New England as slaves, and without respect to their
former station in life.
In later years, certain writers have attempted to pervert the truth by
claiming that these men and women, who were refined and educated, and
who had been the owners of the confiscated lands, were convicts. But I
have not been able to obtain any reliable evidence to prove that
Virginia or any of the American colonies were ever made penal
settlements.
The Catholics of Ireland were the only people of Europe who had at this
time so great a necessity for leaving their country. It is a well
established fact that during the greater part of the eighteenth century
thousands of able-bodied male Catholics, in the south and western
portion of Ireland, left the country at an early period of life for some
European port, and very few ever returned. This is corroborated by the
circumstance that the Catholic population of Ireland steadily decreased
during this period, and at one time it was less than half a million of
individuals scattered through the bogs and wilds of the country.
The wealthy English people invested their money freely in the early
settlement of the West Indies and in Virginia, but they remained at
home. The middle and lower classes, who were more likely to have
emigrated to a new country, were, to a great extent, contented at home.
They had no cause to leave it, as the political changes which occurred
in England during the seventeenth century had a decided tendency to
better their condition.
I believe that with the exception of some among the first settlers in
Virginia and New England, the far greater portion of the English who did
emigrate during the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth
century, went to Bermuda, Barbadoes, Jamaica, and the other West India
Islands, and did not come to this country. The American colonies were
mostly settled under a grant to some proprietor or corporation, with
more restrictions on business pursuits than were made by the English
government for the West India Islands. Consequently the field for
individual enterprise was greater on the Islands.
Those of English birth who settled on the main land did so largely in
Virginia and Carolina, and as a rule their business was confined to the
seaport towns. I believe that a larger proportion of the English than of
any other people, when successful in business, returned in after life to
their native country, or went with their families to Barbadoes or
Jamaica to invest their money in sugar plantations. It is from this
circumstance that these islands have always been more English in
character than any American colony now within the territory of the
United States.
For an Irishman without means there was no opening in any of the West
India Islands but as a common laborer. In the American colonies,
however, he could easily reach the frontiers, free from all restriction
after he had served out the time necessary to pay for his passage, and
could there establish his independence with the labor of clearing off
the forest from the land selected by himself.
In consequence of the restrictions made by England to destroy Irish
commerce, it is well known that for several centuries the intercourse
between Ireland and different continental countries, by means of vessels
engaged in smuggling, was far greater than by any communication with
England, which was almost an unknown land to the west coast Irishman.
It is not possible to form even an estimate as to the numbers of Irish
who went by means of these smugglers chiefly to France and Spain. We
only know the fact that a steady current of impoverished Irishmen passed
over to the continent year after year. We also know that a very large
number served in the armies of those countries, but it is doubtful,
under any circumstances, if more than a comparatively small proportion
of the number could have been thus provided for. Of the remaining
portion but few could have had any other means of support, and no other
explanation presents itself but emigration to America from necessity,
and on their arrival in a foreign vessel their nationality would have
been overlooked.
The English government during the eighteenth century allowed no vessel,
knowingly, to sail from Ireland direct, but it was necessary by law
first to visit an English port before clearance papers could be obtained
for the voyage. A record was also kept for the purpose of collecting a
head tax on every individual thus leaving an English port for the
colonies. I have gone carefully over this register, and to my surprise
scarcely a name appears which could be identified with Ireland.
Notwithstanding this fact the official register has been cited in proof
that there was no emigration from Ireland but those who were sent abroad
in servitude, and consequently that this country for a century, at
least, was settled chiefly by English people.
But we must remember that every Irishman in Ireland within reach of
English authority was at that time governed by the following law: “An
act that Irishmen dwelling in the counties of, etc. ... go appareled
like Englishmen and wear their beards after the English manner, swear
allegiance, and take English sirnames; which sirnames shall be of one
town, as Sutton, Chester, Trim, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colours, as
white, black, brown; or arts or sciences, as smith or carpenter; or
office, as cook, butler, etc., and it is enacted that he and his issue
shall use this name under pain of forfeyting of his goods yearly, etc.”
As a consequence, every Irish emigrant crossing in an Irish or English
vessel and from either England or Ireland, appeared in the official
record as English, for the voyage did not begin according to law until
cleared from an English port.
By this circumstance we prove the converse, that a large Irish
emigration did reach this country by some route which was not under
English control. How otherwise can we explain the presence of undoubted
Irish surnames unchanged, as found in early records of the country? And
on the other hand we find to-day Irishmen and their descendants in this
country, bearing the names of Sutton, Chester, Kinsale, White, Black,
Brown, Smith, Carpenter, Cook, Butler, etc., proving thereby that this
law was enforced, by which they were deprived of their pure Irish names,
and that they did not change these names after coming to this country.
Virginia was undoubtedly first settled by the English, but at an early
period the Irish began to come in, bound to serve a stated term in
payment for their passage money, but eventually these people became free
men, settling down on the frontier, and their descendants in the next
generation, as indicated by their names appearing in the records, began
to take part in the affairs of the colony.
Maryland was largely settled by Irish Catholics, and Calvert himself
received his title of Lord Baltimore from a place in the southwest of
Ireland.
William Penn spent a portion of his life in Ireland before he received
his grant in America. A number of his followers were Irish, and the most
prominent person next to Penn himself was James Logan, an Irishman, who
acted as governor of the province for a number of years. He was most
tolerant to the Irish Catholics, who were allowed free exercise of their
religion, and they received protection in this colony from the first
settlement.
Many of those who first settled in New Jersey were from Ireland, and
there were undoubtedly some Irish in New Amsterdam. In the Jesuit
Relations it is shown that Father Jogues, who afterwards suffered the
death of a martyr among the Indians of Central New York, came about 1642
from Canada to administer to some of his faith then living among the
Dutch and in New Jersey.
In 1634 the General Court of Massachusetts Bay granted lands on the
Merrimac river for an Irish settlement, and there were many Irishmen who
served in King Philip’s Indian War, whose names are still preserved in
the colonial records. I have a record of the fact, but neglected to note
the authority, of a reference to a contemporaneous account of a fearful
storm which occurred in the winter of 1634–’35, off the north coast of
Ireland.[2] As one of the incidents mention is made of the shipwreck of
a vessel filled with Irish emigrants, on the second day out of their
voyage to join, as was stated, the Merrimac river settlement in New
England.
This straw of information is a valuable indication in our current of
circumstantial evidence. It establishes the fact by another source that
an Irish settlement was planned on the Merrimac river as early as 1634.
It also shows that however intolerant the New England Puritans were
sometimes to the Irish in their immediate surroundings, they did
tolerate in this instance and likely in many others, the “fighting
Irish,” as they were termed. In fact they gave little thought to their
religious belief so long as they remained on the frontier to fight the
Indians. This incident shows that emigrants sailed from the north of
Ireland for this settlement, notwithstanding it may have been necessary
to have officially commenced their voyage from an English port. The fact
as to their religion is established by a knowledge of the condition of
the country at that particular time, which I have attempted to describe.
The Catholics were fleeing in all directions from the districts of
country which had been laid waste, and in some instances they had to
subsist on the dead bodies of those who had preceded them, and who had
died on the way from starvation. Comparatively few but Catholics left
Ireland at this time, as individuals in sympathy with the English were
then busy in bettering their condition by securing a portion of the
spoils.
There were a number of adult Catholics, as I have stated, sent out to
New England through the efforts of Cromwell, and, although they may not
have come at that time as willing emigrants, they were not likely to
have lost their faith under the circumstances, and their descendants
must afterwards have become identified with the country.
Prendergast in “The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland,” states the
following: “As one instance out of many: Captain Vernon was employed by
the commissioners for Ireland into [from] England, and contracted in
their behalf with Mr. David Selleck and Mr. Leader, under his hand,
bearing date of 14th of September, 1653, to supply them with two hundred
and fifty women of the Irish nation, above twelve years and under the
age of forty-five, also three hundred men above twelve years of age and
under fifty, to be found in the country within twenty miles of Cork ...
to transplant them into New England.” These men and women were seized
and sold in New England at a profit for the English commissioners.
Prendergast further states in this connection: “How many girls of gentle
birth must have been caught and hurried to the private prisons of these
men-catchers none can tell.” “But at last the evil became too shocking
and notorious, particularly when these dealers in Irish flesh began to
seize the daughters and children of the English themselves, and to force
them on board their slave ships; then, indeed, the orders, at the end of
four years, were revoked.”
If we take into consideration the total number of “Puritan Fathers” in
New England at this time, it would seem not improbable that these two
hundred and fifty young Irish women, with many others sent over from
Ireland about the same time, must have all eventually been transformed
at least into Irish Puritans. If so their progeny must in time have
given quite a Hibernian tint to the blue blood of the descendants from
the _Mayflower_. I have not found that the New England writers have
noted these facts, but probably they failed to do so on evidence that
they were not “Scotch-Irish” women.
From the time that William of Orange possessed himself of the British
crown and until the beginning of our Revolution, a steady stream of
emigrants passed out of Ireland to this country. The English government
manifested a determination to destroy utterly every Irish industry, and
this policy was maintained until the Volunteer movement, when for a
period a portion at least of the Irish people had charge of their own
affairs.
William, of “Blessed Memory,” in consequence of his hatred of the Irish
people, both Catholic and Protestant, caused the destruction of all
woolen manufactories, and other industries of the north of Ireland. The
so-called “Scotch-Irish” were chiefly the sufferers at this time, and as
a consequence thousands of them emigrated to France, where, with the
assistance of the French government, these people established in that
country woolen and silk industries which, for nearly two hundred years,
have been a constant menace to England’s trade.
After the departure of a large portion of these people from Ulster, the
country became again gradually settled up from England, and by Catholic,
Presbyterian, and Protestant Irish from different parts of Ireland, who
were not Scotch.
In a few years later a large proportion of the Irish Presbyterians, with
a limited number of Catholics in Ulster, became engaged in commerce and
various manufacturing interests. But all these people were ultimately
ruined by England’s policy, that Ireland should not prosper, and they
were gradually forced to leave the country to better their condition by
emigration to the American colonies.
The Presbyterians who settled in the north of Ireland, after the early
part of the eighteenth century, had come chiefly from the central
portion of England, and as a rule represented the better element among
the new settlers. They, like Cromwell, hated the Scotch, and would never
have accepted the term “Scotch-Irish” for themselves. After “the
Restoration” these people in common with the Catholics, were only
tolerated as non-conformists, and were not allowed by the Protestant
authorities to take any part in public affairs.
From adversity these people became in time more tolerant towards their
fellow sufferers, the Catholic portion of the population, and were
finally moulded into a remarkably fine and self-reliant type of men.
Those who emigrated to the colonies were well fitted to help lay the
foundation of the American Republic, and those who remained behind
proved sturdy patriots. A little more than one hundred years ago they
originated in Belfast the United Irishmen movement, and they were the
first to make the demand for religious tolerance in Ireland, that their
Catholic countrymen might be free to worship God according to the
dictates of their conscience.
During the last century, Maine, New Hampshire, the greater part of
Vermont and west Massachusetts, west Pennsylvania, a large portion of
Maryland, the western part of Virginia, between the Blue Ridge and the
Alleghany mountains, into North Carolina, along the French Broad river,
to the upper part of South Carolina, and into the territory now forming
Tennessee and Kentucky, with a part of the northwest territory, to the
north of the Ohio river, and which then belonged to Virginia, was
largely, and in some sections was entirely, settled by Irish, who did
not change their names before or after leaving Ireland. From the latter
circumstance the course of settlement can be traced by the surnames of
the first settlers, and the indications are rendered all the stronger by
the names of so many settlements which clearly indicate the localities
in Ireland whence these people came.
It can be claimed that some of these Irish emigrants were of English
descent from some period more or less remote. This was doubtless true,
but they became Irish by birth, and were no longer in sympathy with
English interests, or they would not have left the country.
Notwithstanding the severe penalties, which were so long in operation,
for “taking up with the Irishy,” the fate of many of the invaders was
the same after each invasion. In time they yielded to the charms of the
Irish women, and their progeny became often more Irish than those from
the original Celtic stock. The descendants of many a Cromwellian soldier
can be found in Ireland and abroad, who are to-day bitter and
uncompromising foes to England’s rule in Ireland, and are a potent check
to her influence elsewhere.
I have found reported among the debates in the Irish Parliament, a
speech by the Hon. Luke Gardiner, delivered April 2d, 1784, on Irish
Commerce, and from which I quote: “America was lost by Irish emigrants.
These emigrations are fresh in the recollection of every gentleman in
this house. I am assured, from the best authority, the major part of the
American army was composed of Irish, and that the Irish language was as
commonly spoken in the American ranks as English. I am also informed it
was their valor determined the contest, so that England had America
detached from her by force of Irish emigrants, etc.”
I find in Marmion’s work, “The Ancient and Modern History of the
Maritime Ports of Ireland,” some interesting facts bearing upon a
portion of the exodus to this country.
In 1771, 1772, and 1773, over twenty-five thousand emigrants left
Belfast, and other ports in that immediate neighborhood, for the
American colonies, in consequence of having been evicted from one of the
estates of the Marquis of Donegal, in Antrim.
Marmion states, “The emigrants were chiefly farmers and manufacturers
who, it was calculated, by converting their property into specie, which
they took with them abroad, deprived Ulster of one fourth of its
circulating medium, which then consisted altogether of specie; and also
a portion equal thereto to the most valuable part of its population.”
Could Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, enlighten us as to
the effect from bringing this amount of specie into the country, we
would realize that the benefit was an incalculable one, and it is a
matter of surprise that writers of our history have not noted so
important a circumstance.
What credit we had in this country after the paper money had
depreciated, was based upon this specie throughout the greater part of
the Revolution. Among many instances to this purpose was its use in
moving the army to Virginia with such expedition as to ensure the
capture of Cornwallis, which event contributed more to the termination
of the war than any other; and without the credit based on this specie
the struggle would have terminated long before the alliance was made
with France.
The Irish people throughout this country were with few exceptions in
sympathy with the cause of the colonies, and immediately after the
battle of Bunker Hill thousands among them entered the army, but
particularly such was the case with these emigrants from the north of
Ireland, who, from their continuous service and discipline, became a
mainstay of the organization until the end of the war. These Irishmen,
who had settled in Pennsylvania, turned out chiefly under the command of
Col. Edward Hand and Col. William Irving. They were both Irishmen, and
had served as surgeons in the British service, the first in the army and
the latter in the navy.
Hand was certainly of Catholic parents from the north of Ireland, and
his command, composed largely of Presbyterians, joined the army before
Boston shortly after Washington took command. But the arrival of Hand’s
troops, it is claimed, had been preceded a few days by a body of
Catholic Irishmen from Maryland and lower Pennsylvania, under the
command of Col. Stephen Moylan, who was a personal friend of Washington,
an aide on his staff, and an active officer throughout the war. Moylan
was a brother of the Catholic bishop of Cork, Ireland, who was a devoted
friend to the American cause.
Joseph Galloway, a native of Maryland, but long a resident of
Pennsylvania before the Revolution, was one of the best informed men in
the colonies, and probably, with the exception of Franklin, had no equal
as to his accurate knowledge relating to the general condition of
affairs in the country. He was an early and active sympathizer in the
American cause until the Declaration of Independence, when he became a
Loyalist. During a visit to England he was examined in June, 1779,
before an investigating committee of the House of Commons, and his
testimony has been frequently published. When asked as to the
composition of the Rebel army—his answer was—“The names and places of
their nativity being taken down I can answer the question with
precision,—there were scarcely one fourth natives of America; about one
half Irish,—the other fourth were English and Scotch.” He might have
stated more in detail, that the fourth part was composed of some
English, very few Scotch, and more Germans, or Dutch, as they were
called, from Pennsylvania and the valley of Virginia, who formed the
brigade under the command of Muhlenberg, and the Eighth Virginia
regiment.
Galloway’s testimony was in relation to his experience while
superintendent of the police in Philadelphia during the British
occupancy. It is but just to state that to a subsequent question, “Do
you know anything of the army of the Rebels in general, how that is
composed—of what country people?” His answer was, “I judge of that by
the deserters that came over.” Had we no other testimony to corroborate
Galloway’s first statement it would be to the discredit of the Irish,
but taken as a whole it is shown that no larger proportion of them
deserted than of any other nationality; and if the proportion of native
born from Irish parents could be ascertained, the number of deserters
among those of Irish blood would be shown to have been less than any
other.
I have estimated that about one fourth of all the American officers were
Irish by birth or descent.
A large number of Irish were in the Continental Congress or prominent as
leaders in every station of life. I may mention that even Washington was
possibly descended on his father’s side from a Washington who had lived
in Ireland, and his mother’s family, the Balls, beyond doubt came from
the neighborhood of Dublin. Walford in his “Country Families of the
United Kingdom” shows that at the present time the only families with
any property bearing the name of Ball, are to be found in Ireland. The
family, it is stated, came to Ireland in the Fourteenth century as
Flemish emigrants. The De Wessyngtons, it is also claimed, were Flemish,
who settled about the same time in both England and Ireland. But the
head of the English family, it seems, died some years before the
planting of Jamestown, Va. The members of the Irish branch[3] have all
been traced and some of them to this country. One, a son of Henry
Washington, who was a prominent man, disappeared from Ireland during the
troubles I have described. He probably escaped to Bermuda, where many
vessels first stopped on their way to the American colonies.
During a visit to Bermuda in 1852, I had occasion to examine some of the
early church records. I there saw several references made in the minutes
of the Vestry meetings to one Washington, “a sojourner,” who was several
times fined for not conforming by attending the service of the
Established church. He seemed to have proved incorrigible as he was
finally ordered “to go his way.” He probably did so to Virginia, from
the known fact that his father had been a friend of Lord Baltimore, and
others who were connected with the Virginia settlements.
The Irish Presbyterians and Catholics were in full sympathy with this
country during the Revolution, while in Ireland or elsewhere there were
very few Scotch who favored the American cause. A noted exception to the
rule was John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence
from New Jersey, who was a devoted patriot. The only large settlement of
Scotch in the colonies was formed in North Carolina by the British
government, after the battle of Culloden, by transplanting the
Highlanders. Among them was Flora McDonald, whose husband, with every
other man in the settlement, espoused the English cause and fought
against the Americans.
It is full time that we divest ourselves of English influence in this
country. Until this be done we will remain in ignorance of the truth
relating to a large portion of our history, which has yet to be written
in strict accord with the facts.
[Illustration:
HON. MORGAN J. O’BRIEN,
A Justice of the New York Supreme Court.
]
[Illustration:
MR. JOHN CRANE,
NEW YORK CITY.
]
[Illustration:
MR. STEPHEN J. GEOGHEGAN,
NEW YORK CITY.
]
[Illustration:
MR. JOSEPH FORSYTH SWORDS,
NEW YORK CITY.
]