sent him to Richmond, Va., where the firm opened a large store. There he
became well acquainted with Chief Justice Marshall, and often had the
privilege of listening to the first lawyers in the Old Dominion. This
probably led to his turning his thoughts to the bar. After a few years
the loss of his store and goods by fire caused him to return to the
scenes of his youthful days. He took up his residence at Princeton,
there married a daughter of Robert Stockton, and entered his name as a
student of law in the office of the Hon. Richard Stockton. In due time
he was admitted to the bar as an attorney and counselor. His career was
brilliant. Whether arguing points of law, or spreading a case before a
jury, he was always heard with fixed attention and lively interest. So
lucid was he in arranging and expressing his thoughts, so quick to seize
hold of strong points in a case, and, when he pleased, so well able to
touch the chords of feeling, that he rarely failed to produce an
impression.
He was no indifferent student of the great political questions. With the
majority of the New Jersey bar, he belonged to the Washington school,
and exerted all his energies in what he honestly conceived to be his
country’s real interests. For his brethren of the New Jersey bar he
cherished a warm attachment, and they were forward in evincing their
high esteem of his worth. A few years before his death a number of them
obtained the services of an artist and had a full-length portrait of him
executed. This now hangs over the judge’s chair in the court-room at
Flemington. He died March 12, 1838.
HISTORY OF NEWTON, GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N. J.
Newton, Gloucester County, N. J., was early settled by the society of
Friends. The following history was written by Thomas Sharp, the first
conveyancer and surveyor of the county:
“Let it be remembered. It having wrought upon ye minds of some,
Friends that dwelt in Ireland, a pressure having laid upon them for
some years which they could not get from under the weight of until
they gave upp to leave their friends and relations there, together
with a comfortable subsistence to transport themselves and familys
into this wilderness part of America, and there by expose themselves
to difficulties, which, if they could have been easy where they were,
in all probability might never have been met with; and in order
thereunto, sent from Dublin in Ireland to one Thomas Lurtin a friend
in London commander of a Pink, who accordingly came, and made an
agreement with him to transport them and their familys into New
Jersey, viz.; Mark Newby and family. Thomas Thackarg and family,
William Bate and family, George Goldsmith an old man, and Thomas
Sharp, a young man, but no familys; and whilst the ship abode in
Dublin harbor providing for the voyage, said Thomas Lurtin was taken
so ill that could not perform ye same, so that his mate, John Dagger,
undertook it. And upon the 19 day of September, in the year of our
Lord, 1681, we sett sail, from the place aforesaid, and through the
good Providence of God towards us we arrived at Elsinburg, in the
country of Salem, upon the 19 day of November following, where we were
well entertained at the houses of the Thomsons, who came from Ireland
about four years before, who, by their industry, were arrived to a
very good degree of living, and from thence we went to Salem, where
were several houses yet were vacant of persons who had left the town
to settle in ye country, which serve to accommodate them for ye
winter, proving moderate, we at Wickacog, among us, purchased a boat
of the Swansons, and so went to Burlington to the commissioners, of
whom we obtained a warrant of ye surveyor general, which then was
Daniel Leeds; and after some considerable search to and fro in that
then was called the third or Irish tenth, we at last pitched upon the
place now called Newton, which was before the settlement of Phila; Pa;
and then applied to S,d Surveyor, who came and laid it out for us; and
the next Spring, being the beginning of the year 1682 we all removed
from Salem together with Robert Lane, that had been settled there, who
came along from Ireland with the Thomsons before hinted, and having
expectation of our coming only bought a lot in Salemtown, upon the
which he seated himself until our coming, whose proprietary right and
ours being of the same nature, could not then take it up in Fenwicks
tenth, and so began our settlement; and although we were at times
pretty hard bestead, having all our provisions as far as Salem to
fetch by water, yet, through the mercy and kindness of God, we were
preserved in health and from any extreme difficulties.
“And immediately there was a meeting sett upp and kept at the house of
Mark Newby, and in a short time it grew and increased, unto which
William Cooper and family, that lived at the Poynte resorted, and
sometimes the meeting was kept at his house, who had been settled
sometime before. Zeal and fervency of spirit was what, in some degree,
at that time abounded among friends, in commemoration of our
prosperous success and eminent preservation, both in our coming over
the great deep as also that whereas we were but few at that time, and
the Indians many, where by it put a dread upon our spirits,
considering they were a savage people; but ye Lord, that hath the
hearts of all in his hands, which cannot be otherwise accounted but to
be the Lord doings in our favor, which we had cause to praise his name
for.
“And that the rising generation may consider that the Settlement of
the country was directed by an impulse upon tranquility, but rather
for the posterity yet should be after, and that the wilderness being
planted with a good seed, might grow and increase to the satisfaction
of the good husbandman. But instead thereof, if for wheat it should
bring forth tares, they themselves will suffer loss.
“This narration I have thought good and requisite to leave behind, as
having had knowledge of things from the beginning.”
ANECDOTE OF WASHINGTON.
Thatcher, in his Military Journal, gives a vivid description of the
sufferings of the troops during “the hard winter of 1779–1780,” at
Morristown, N. J. He says:
“Morristown, January 1st, 1780. A new year commences, but brings no
relief to the sufferings and privations of our army. Our canvass
covering affords but a miserable security from storms of rain and
snow, and a great scarcity of provisions still prevails, its effects
being felt even at headquarters, as appears by the following anecdote:
‘We have nothing but the rations to cook, Sir,’ said _Mrs. Thomson_, a
very worthy _Irish woman_, and _housekeeper_ to _General Washington_.
‘Well, Mrs. Thomson, you must then cook the rations, for I have not a
farthing to give you.’ ‘If you please, Sir, let one of the gentlemen
give me an order for six bushels of salt.’ ‘Six bushels of salt for
what?’ ‘To preserve the fresh beef, Sir.’ One of the aids gave the
order and the next day his Excellency’s table was amply provided. Mrs.
Thomson was sent for, and told that she had done very wrong to expend
her own money, for it was not known when she could be repaid. ‘I owe
you,’ said his Excellency, ‘too much already to permit the debt being
increased, and our situation is not at this moment such as to induce
sanguine hope.’ ‘Dear Sir,’ said the good old lady, ‘it is always
darkest just before the daylight, and I hope your Excellency will
forgive me for bartering the salt for other necessaries which are now
on the table.’ Salt was eight dollars a bushel, and it might always be
exchanged with the country people for articles of provision.”
[Illustration:
HON. JAMES CUNNINGHAM.
Of Portland, Me.
Vice-President of the Society for Maine.
]
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N. J.
Baptist Church at Cohansey. As early as the year 1683 some Baptists from
Tipperary, in Ireland, settled in the neighborhood of Cohansey. The most
prominent persons were David Sheppard, Thomas Abbott, and William
Button.
Emigrants flocked into Cohansey from Ireland and it is very probable
that a Presbyterian Society was formed about the year 1700 or earlier.
Rev. Robert Kelsey, who was from Ireland, used to preach for the
Baptists.
THE FIRST CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES. SOME POINTED COMMENTS ON THE
MANNER OF TAKING SAME AND THE RESULTS THEREOF. AN INTERESTING PAPER ON A
SUBJECT NOT HERETOFORE TOUCHED BY THE SOCIETY.
BY MICHAEL J. O’BRIEN OF NEW YORK CITY, AUTHOR OF “A GLANCE AT SOME
PIONEER IRISH IN THE SOUTH,” IN VOLUME VII OF THE JOURNAL, AND OF MANY
OTHER WORKS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
By an Act of Congress, entitled “An act providing for the enumeration of
the inhabitants of the United States,” and which was signed by President
Washington on March 1, 1790, the marshals of the judicial districts
throughout the United States were “authorized and required to cause the
number of the inhabitants within their respective districts to be taken,
omitting in such enumeration Indians not taxed, and distinguishing free
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, from all
others.” These returns they were instructed to file with the clerks of
their respective District Courts, who were directed to carefully
preserve them.
This was the FIRST CENSUS taken of the inhabitants of the United States,
but it was far from complete, for the reason that “heads of families”
only were recorded.
Eighteen months were allowed in which to complete the enumeration. The
census-taking was supervised by the marshals of the several judicial
districts, who employed assistant marshals to act as enumerators.
When the schedules were all gathered in, they were turned over to the
President, who, on October 27, 1791, transmitted to Congress a summary
of the result, which was published in what is now a very rare little
volume that has not been reprinted for public use. The original
schedules are contained in 26 bound volumes and are still preserved in
the Census Office. They form a curious and most interesting collection,
written as they were by the assistant marshals, “on such paper as they
happened to have, and binding the sheets together. In some cases printed
blanks furnished by the States were used, in others merchants’ account
paper, and now and then the schedules were bound in wall paper.”
A complete set of schedules for each State, with a summary for the
Counties, and in many cases for towns, was filed in the State
Department, but, unfortunately, they are not now complete, “the returns
for the States of Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee and
Virginia having been destroyed when the British burned the Capitol at
Washington during the War of 1812.”
In 1907, Congress authorized the Director of the Census to publish, in a
permanent form, the First Census of the United States. “These
schedules,” says the Director of the Census, “form a unique inheritance
for the nation, since they represent for each of the States a complete
list of the heads of families in the United States at the time of the
adoption of the Constitution. The framers were the statesmen and leaders
of thought, but those whose names appear upon the schedules of the First
Census were in general the plain citizens, who, by their conduct in war
and peace, made the Constitution possible, and by their intelligence and
self-restraint put it into successful operation.”
The First Census has a peculiar interest for Americans of Irish blood or
descent, for here we find irrefutable evidence of the racial origin of a
large part of the people of the United States a few years after the
close of the Revolutionary war. There is, of course, no standard, or
fixed rule or principle, by which an absolutely correct judgment on the
question of the racial composition of the early inhabitants of the
United States can now be formed. The available statistics on the subject
are incomplete and confusing.
But, if names are to be accepted as a criterion, those who examine the
Census Returns, in conjunction with the records of land grants, the
parochial registers, the Colonial Records that have been collected and
edited by the secretaries of state, the court and church records, the
Revolutionary rosters, the old newspapers, the Registers of Historical
Associations, and other similarly reliable records, must at once
conclude that a goodly percentage of the people were of old Irish stock.
It must be borne in mind also that the Census enumerators made no
returns of unmarried persons. This fact is important, when we place
beside it the statements of reliable historians that the Irish exodus of
the 18th century largely comprised the youth of the country. From the
records which we have already quoted, we know that thousands of the
Irish youth became indentured servants after their arrival in the
Colonies, and it is not likely that these people, even though married
while still in servitude, were considered of sufficient importance by
the census enumerators to be included in the lists of the “heads of
families.”
One who examines these records for traces of the Irish settlers will be
surprised to find a most inviting field of retrospect and research ever
widening before him. We do not need to wander into the field of romance,
as some writers occasionally do, in search of proof that at the
beginnings of the Nation the Celtic element figured to a larger extent
than it has been credited with at the hands of our historians.
There is so much of dry fact concerning them in these hitherto obscure
records as to make it a perplexing thought for the investigator where to
begin upon an exposition of the part played by the Irish Colonists and
their descendants in shaping the destinies of the future Republic.
Theirs is generally a prosaic story of trials bravely borne, of
victories snatched from rude nature in the face of many difficulties.
The pioneer settlers lived a simple but rude life on the frontiers of
civilization, free from the artificialities of our latter-day mode of
living, but they made the wilderness which they found to blossom as the
rose and to become a fair habitation for the generations that have
succeeded them.
Their story would hardly be worth relating were it not for the fact that
it affords the proof that men and women of our race and blood were of
the “warp and woof” from which has been evolved the new and composite
race, miscalled “Anglo-Saxon,” which has made this Western Hemisphere
the leader among the nations of the civilized world.
It is in the Census of the Southern States that Irish names appear in
the greatest numbers. During the first half of the 18th century there
were large immigrations of Irish people to the Carolinas, who spread
themselves over an immense area, reaching from the Santee river to the
eastern boundary line of Georgia, and as far north as the dividing line
of North Carolina. Doubtless, the majority of those on the Census
Returns bearing Irish names were descendants of those early settlers,
rather than natives of Ireland.
The historian Lossing says: “Between the years 1730 and 1740 an Irish
settlement was planted near the Santee river in South Carolina, to which
was given the name of Williamsburg Township. Up the Pedee, Santee,
Edisto, Savannah and Black rivers settlements spread rapidly, and soon
the axe and the plough were plying with mighty energy, and from the
North of Ireland such numbers departed for Carolina that the
depopulation of whole districts was threatened.”
Williamsburg he calls a “hotbed of rebellion” during the Revolutionary
war. As soon as General Francis Marion received his commission from
Governor Rutledge, we are told, “he sped to the district of Williamsburg
between the Santee and Pedee to lead its rising patriots to the field of
active military duties.” (The rosters of General Marion’s brigade
contain a large number of Irish names.)
Ramsay also refers to these Irish settlements and deals with them at
length in his History of South Carolina. He says that the district was
named Williamsburg by an Irishman named James, who came to the Colony
with his father in 1733. It is now called Kingstree, and the county in
which it is situated is still named Williamsburg.
Sims’ _Life of General Marion_ says: “the people of Williamsburg were
sprung generally from Irish parentage. They inherited in common with all
the descendants of the Irish in America a hearty detestation of the
English name and authority. This feeling rendered them excellent
patriots and daring soldiers wherever the British lion was the object of
hostility.”
Other local historians of the South also refer to the Irish settlements
in this territory, which continued with but intermittent intervals down
to the closing years of the 18th century. When we turn to the Census
schedules we find that the statements of the historians are amply
corroborated.
In the Williamsburg district, that “hotbed of rebellion,” we find
mention of such Irish families as Burke, Barrett, Biggen, Butler,
Barron, Bryan, Broaderick, Boland, Brady, Bradley, Cain, Cummins,
Connor, Cunningham, Collins, Conway, Callihan, Cronan, Cantey, Corbett,
Connell, Castlelaw, Creed, Conally, Cochran, Dunn, Dempsey, Dawson,
Dollard, Downing, Donoho, Donnally, Delaney, Dillin, Dailey, Dulon,
Dogharty, Earley, Flin, Foley, Fitzpatrick, Faning, Gorman, Galaspy,
Gibbons, Gallivant, Ganey, Gowen, Gavin, Gallaher, Gill, Garven, Hagan,
Hart, Harrington, Hayes, Hainey, Joice, Jordan, Kennedy, Keenan, Kelly,
Kelty, Keen, Keefe, Kerns, Kailey, Lynch, Leysath, Murphy, McCalvey,
McCartney, McGill, McFarlin, Manning, McCormic, McKenny, McDowell,
McKee, McGinney, McCauley, McBride, McMullan, Mulhollen, Mitchel,
McConnell, McClare, McIlveen, McGee, McFadden, Moore, McCottery,
McElroy, McMelly, McCleary, McDaniel, McDonald, McCarthy, McCall,
McSwain, McWilliams, Morrison, McGraw, McCausland, McCune, McElhaney,
McFail, McClendon, McGrath, McElduff, McAdams, McCoy, McCary, McCain,
Mahon, O’Brian, O’Neil, O’Cain, O’Bannon, Phelon, Powers, Quinn, Rogers,
Roach, Riley, Reidy, Rial, Ryan, Sullivan, Shealds, Swiney, Steele,
Shannon, Timmons, Toole, Ward and Walsh.
These are not all. Of the Murphys alone there were in the Williamsburg
district eleven families, nine Kellys and several distinct families
named O’Brian, O’Neil, O’Bannon and McCarty.
We have selected only one of each name, in order to show that the Irish
settlements spoken of by Lossing, Sims and Ramsay were drawn from the
South, East and West, as well as from the North of Ireland. American
historians are in the habit of saying that the immigrants from Ireland
were mainly the so-called “Scotch-Irish” element from the northern
counties. While it is true there were large settlements of Scotch Gaels
in the Carolinas, it is seen from the foregoing list that nearly every
county of Celtic Ireland was represented in the “hotbed of rebellion” of
South Carolina.
We see from the Census Returns that the collectors wrote down the names
phonetically in most cases, having paid little or no attention to
spelling, or the use of capital letters where they were needed. Some
peculiar transformations in names resulted from the carelessness or
ignorance of the enumerators. For instance, we find O’Neill spelled
“onailes” and “Ownaile”; O’Brien spelled “Obrient” and “Obriant”;
O’Farrell as “Opherl,” and Casey as “Caycey”; Donovan is down as
“Dunnevant” and “Dunnaphant”; Doherty as “Dehoitey” and “Dohoty”; Nolan
as “noling”; Sullivan as “Sellivent,” “Swillevaun” and “Sewlovan”;
Murphy as “Murff,” “Murph,” “Murpry” and “Murfree”; Gallagher as
“Gollerhorn”; Flynn as “Phlyn” and “Fling”; Kinsella as “Kincheloe”;
McLaughlin as “Maklafflin”; O’Hara as “Oharroe”; and O’Ryan as “Orion.”
To the prefix “Mac” the enumerators, in many cases, gave the sound of
“Mag.” Thus we have such name transformations as “Magnamee” and
“Magmanous.” We also find “Makmain” for McMahon and “Muckleroy” for
McElroy, and so on. Fitzgeralds are down as “Fitzjarrel” and “Jarrel”;
Fitzpatrick as “Fitchparterack” and “Pitch Patrick”; Reilly as “Royley”
and “Royalley”; Cassidy as “Casaty.” In some Southern city directories
we have come across the name of “Pitch,” and we wonder if some of these
are not descendants of the “Pitch Patricks” or Fitzpatricks!
It would be difficult to think of an old Irish name that is not
represented in the First Census, and which was not, at some time or
other, translated into something very different in appearance, and
sometimes only partially retaining the sound of the original name. In
the mutations of time, even these new names became still further
changed, so that many of the present-day descendants of the Irish
pioneers of the Carolinas cannot be recognized as at all of the old
Gaelic race.
The most numerous Irish name on the First Census of South Carolina is
Murphy, there having been 50 distinct families of that name, although
the 48 Kelly families gave them a close race. The Gill and McGill
families run nip and tuck with the O’Neills and the Nealls. There were
34 of the former to 33 of the latter. The O’Briens and O’Bryans ran the
gauntlet of many changes. The Census enumerators failed to appreciate
the significance of the regal prefix “O,” so they wrote down the name
Obrient, Obriant, Bryan and Briant. There were 53 of these in South
Carolina in 1790.
[Illustration:
HON. ALEXANDER C. EUSTACE.
Elmira, N. Y.
Ex-President New York Civil Service Commission.
A worthy Member from New York State.
]
The Celtic “Macs” make a great showing. There are upwards of one
thousand of such families in all, the “Macs” that are indigenous to
Ireland being more numerous than those that are supposed to be
exclusively native to Scotland. When we consider that, in 1790, the
total number of free white males of 16 years and upwards in South
Carolina was only 35,756, we can readily understand that one thousand
heads of families, with their wives and children, must have constituted
a large percentage of the total population. An examination of the Census
Returns indicates that the average number of children to each of the
Irish-named families was five, so that, on a conservative estimate, the
“Macs” alone must have contributed nearly 20 per cent to the population
of South Carolina!
We find 40 Ward families, 26 McClure families, 26 McDaniels, 23 McKees,
22 McCoys, 20 McDowells, 19 Cauleys and McCauleys, 19 Mahons and
McMahons, 18 McCalls, 17 McBrides, 17 McConnells, 16 McCarts and
McCartys, 12 McNeills, 11 McFaddens, and 10 McMullan families. There are
also numbers of McCormacks, McGees, McGowens, McGraws, McGuires,
McCrackens, McCanns, McCartneys, McCarys, McClearys, McClendons,
McCollums, McElroys, McKennys, McKelveys, McLaughlins, McManus, and many
other similar Irish family names.
There are 41 distinct families of Bradleys recorded, 29 Harts, 24
Sullivans, 28 Reynolds, 22 Canes and Kains, 22 Hayeses, 22 Hendricks, 21
Dunns, 23 Connors and O’Connors, 21 Carrolls, 20 Logans, 20 Reillys and
Royleys, 17 Dawsons, 14 Gilmores, 16 Manions and Mannings, 12 Hagans, 13
Walshes and Welches, 13 Higginses, and 11 Lynch and Linch families.
Among names that are common to Ireland and England, there are 113
families named Moore in the First Census of South Carolina, 80 Rogers
and Rodgers, 24 Morrows, 46 Collinses, 42 Butlers and 41 Fords. There
are 43 heads of families named Mitchell, 41 Montgomery, 26 McDonald, 26
Cunningham, 18 Gillespie, 17 Cochran and 22 Kennedy families, some of
whom, no doubt, were Scotch.
Such names as Brady, Burke, Casey, Connelly, Corbett, Cassidy, Callahan,
Cleary, Cummings, Curry, Daly, Doherty, Donnelly, Dempsey, Dowling,
Duggan, Doyle, Donovan, Ennis, Fitzgerald, Fogarty, Fitzpatrick, Flinn,
Garrett, Garvin, Gorman, Hogan, Jordan, Kearns, Lyons, Malone, Mulligan,
Madden, Morrison, Nolan, O’Bannon, Quinn, Regan, Roach, Ryan, Rutledge,
Shannon and Shiels, as well as others of ancient Irish origin, occur
quite frequently in the Census Returns, and in all parts of the state.
Indeed, we might say, with startling frequency, if they are examined by
that set of persons who are so fond of telling us that the American
people are of Anglo-Saxon origin!
Besides the old Irish clan names, it is seen that a very large number of
the early inhabitants of South Carolina bore names that have been common
in Ireland for centuries, although not all of Irish origin. There are
many Browns, Grays, Greens, Whites, Griffins, Grimeses, Rices, Savages,
Steeles, Glovers, Raineys, Rays, Flemings, Staffords, Shaws, Gastons,
Parnells, Mileses, Reeds, Fergusons, Coxs, Courtneys, Clarks, Carrs,
Kerrs, Allens, Pattersons, Berrys, Hails, Henrys, Morrises, Martins,
Lowrys, Hollands, Morrows, Jacksons, Laceys, Masseys and Leonards.