Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, Norfolk, Va.
Hon. Franklin M. Danaher, Albany, N. Y.
Hon. John F. Finerty, Chicago, Ill.
Hon. John Hannan, Ogdensburg, N. Y.
Hon. J. J. O’Connor, Elmira, N. Y.
Hon. Thomas Z. Lee, Providence, R. I.
P. F. Magrath, Binghamton, N. Y.
James O’Sullivan, Lowell, Mass.
Rev. James O’Doherty, Haverhill, Mass.
Rev. John D. Coyle, New Haven, Conn.
Hugh N. Murphy, Newark, N. J.
Patrick Cassidy, M. D., Norwich, Conn.
Henry V. McLaughlin, M. D., Brookline, Mass.
J. F. O’Reilly, Montclair, N. J.
John F. Hayes, M. D., Waterbury, Conn.
Thomas Hamilton Murray, Boston, Mass.
Patrick Carter, Providence, R. I.
George J. Twohy, Norfolk, Va.
R. J. Donahue, Ogdensburg, N. Y.
Michael F. Dooley, Providence, R. I.
James L. O’Neill, Elizabeth, N. J.
Joseph M. Byrne, Newark, N. J.
Don C. Seitz, Cos Cob, Conn.
Bernard J. Joyce, Boston, Mass.
Dennis H. Tierney, Waterbury, Conn.
John T. F. MacDonnell, Holyoke, Mass.
Thomas A. O’Gorman, Providence, R. I.
M. P. O’Connor, Binghamton, N. Y.
P. H. Garrity, Waterbury, Conn.
Richard Tillard, Newark, N. J.
Francis I. McCanna, Providence, R. I.
H. S. Tierney, Torrington, Conn.
James J. Higgins, Elizabeth, N. J.
Thomas J. Spellacy, Hartford, Conn.
John F. O’Connell, Providence, R. I.
John Haddow, Newark, N. J.
Michael J. Morkan, Hartford, Conn.
William J. Kelly, Portsmouth, N. H.
John J. McNally, Norfolk, Va.
The after-dinner exercises were of unusual interest, Judge Danaher
presiding, as he had over the dinner, and the various events on the
program being most enjoyable.
The leading paper of the evening was by Hon. Joseph T. Lawless of
Norfolk, Va., whose subject was “Gen. Daniel Morgan of the Revolution.”
It was a very able production and was highly appreciated.
Willis B. Dowd of New York City, read a paper on the “Early Irish
Settlers of North Carolina,” showing much research on his part, and
being a valuable contribution to the historical papers of the Society.
There were also addresses by Hon. John F. Finerty of Chicago, Ill., and
by other gentlemen.
The evening’s exercises likewise included solo and chorus singing, with
orchestral accompaniment, the selections including “The Star Spangled
Banner” and “Killarney.”
ADDRESS TO THE SOCIETY BY PRESIDENT-GENERAL McGOWAN.
The following address was issued early in the year by President-General
McGowan:
_To the Members of the American-Irish Historical Society_:
GENTLEMEN: Permit me to express my gratitude for the honor you have
done me in electing me to be your president-general for the ensuing
year. I accept the office, and will discharge its duties and
responsibilities to the utmost of my ability.
To be the official head of a society such as ours is a position any
man, no matter how exalted his place in life, should be proud to
hold. My distinguished predecessors in the office—Meade, Moseley,
Gargan, Crimmins, McAdoo—have ably presided over the Society’s
affairs in the past and have reflected honor upon the organization,
as honor has been reflected upon them in virtue of their being
chosen to that high station.
The American-Irish Historical Society is now in its tenth year of
existence. It has accomplished a vast amount of good, and the
practical work it has so abundantly performed is of permanent value
and utility. No organization was more needed and none has a broader
or more glorious field in which to work.
The Irish chapter in American history is one of the most important
and interesting in our career as a nation. It was a strong and
important chapter in America for even a century before we became a
nation, and has gone on increasing in importance and potency, in
value and interest, as generation has succeeded generation, until
today it stands unsurpassed in the respects mentioned.
As John Boyle O’Reilly once wrote,
We slight no true devotion, steal no fame
From other shrines to gild the Pilgrims’ name.
So I may say, we rob no race to gild the Irish name when we
undertake to unearth the records of the past, showing what the Irish
element has accomplished in the early colonial periods and in later
periods when the republic was forming and had become a fact. We
merely wish to claim, assert and set forth the credit which to us
belongs, for the part that men and women of Irish blood took in
bringing about the reign of liberty and freedom we now enjoy.
Toward people of all other race elements in the make-up of the
American people—English, French, Dutch, German, etc., by whatever
name they may be known or from whatever land they or their ancestors
may have come—we entertain good will and desire them to have such
meed of credit and of praise as to them belongs. We do not wish to
praise ourselves by “masquerading in borrowed plumes,” nor have we
any desire to detract one iota from the credit that is honestly that
of others.
But the credit that is ours we demand and shall insist upon
possessing. Our mission is “To make better known the Irish chapter
in American history.” That brief statement of our principles conveys
in a very few words our exact reason for existence as a society.
We are an American historical organization devoted to a work that
shall place the Irish element in this great republic in its proper
and merited position before the American people of which we
constitute no small part, and which shall, at the same time, reflect
glory upon the Irish fatherland. Our Society rests upon a generous
basis. Its founders builded wisely and for the perpetuation of the
heroic deeds of the past. I trust these founders will long be
honored by every member of the organization.
Reviewing the work thus far accomplished by the Society, I am
prompted to say a few words: With very limited financial means, we
have, nevertheless, produced five handsome volumes of the JOURNAL of
the organization, two other volumes of great merit and a number of
extremely interesting pamphlets. Copies of these publications have
been placed in the leading libraries of the country, where they have
been cordially welcomed. Our publications are in the libraries of
such institutions as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell,
Georgetown, Princeton, and other great universities, where they are
having an excellent influence.
Here in Washington our publications are in the library of Congress,
in that of the George Washington University, in the Catholic
University and in the newly-established Trinity College for young
women. The United States Military Academy at West Point also has our
works on its shelves, as has the Naval Academy at Annapolis. From
many leading historical societies come reports of our publications
being received by them.
Many of the great public libraries—North, South, East and West are
in receipt of the works issued by our Society, and the same are in
constant demand for consultation and reference. Among these public
libraries are those of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston,
Chicago, Troy, Rochester, Oswego, Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee,
Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco and other cities.
This is practical work. I know of no other society that in so short
a time has done so much of real, lasting value as has ours. Indeed,
when we consider all the circumstances, we have done astonishingly
well. Many societies hoary with age, in the possession of plethoric
treasuries, and constantly receiving large bequests, have done no
better, if as well, from a practical viewpoint.
Our Society is fortunate in having an indefatigable secretary, who
from the start has worked in season and out of season to advance the
interests of the organization. A competent secretary is a priceless
possession for any society, and we have been especially fortunate in
this respect.
The Hon. John D. Crimmins of New York City, my immediate predecessor
in the office of president-general, has always been ready with
purse, services and hospitality to forward the interests of the
Society, and under his administration the organization has made
splendid progress. Owing to his initiative, a movement has just been
started to raise a permanent fund of $10,000 for the organization.
This is good news, indeed, and I have no doubt the amount will be
speedily raised. With a substantial fund such as this back of it,
the Society will be enabled to be of even greater service in the
future than it has in the past.
The salient work of the organization must be its publications. The
more we have of these the better for the cause we have at heart.
While a dinner, now and then, is desirable, the organization must
never deteriorate into a mere dining club. Too many societies,
started with the most comprehensive program, have done this and lost
sight of their original purposes. Our Society differs from others in
that it is established for historical purposes, to make original
research into the records and documents of the past and to place the
result of its researches in permanent, tangible form. Careful and
frequent publications will enable us to do this.
A great deal depends upon the continued issuance of the annual
volume of the JOURNAL of our Society. That work has thus far been,
and will continue to be, of the greatest possible utility. It gives
the Society a recognized standing in the community that would be
difficult to obtain by any other means. Its advent, year by year,
therefore, is of prime importance.
Speaking incidentally, I may say that I would like to see special
attention given during the year to a study of the material bearing
upon the reputed voyages to these shores of the Irish missionary,
Brendan. These voyages, attributed to a period many centuries
preceding Christopher Columbus, appear to be fully as well
authenticated as those of the Northmen to Vinland. Indeed, the Norse
sagas mention remote Irish comers to these shores and duly credit a
land here once known as Great Ireland. De Roo, in his recent work,
the _History of America Before Columbus_, goes into this subject in
a very entertaining manner. As a rule, our school text-books on
history, while accepting implicitly the narratives relative to the
Northmen and Vinland, find no room in their pages to even allude to
Brendan and his voyages, although, as I have intimated, the latter
seem to rest upon as secure an historical basis as the former. Mr.
Justin Winsor and other distinguished writers, however, make special
mention of the subject and treat the latter with respect.
The history of the early Irish in Virginia is also deserving of our
special attention. Irish names are found in the Old Dominion prior
to the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, while in the
Plymouth colony itself, Governor Bradford tells us, numbers of Irish
arrived a few years after the coming of the _Mayflower_. The war
against the Indian king, Philip, 1675–’76, found Irish enlisted on
the side of the colonists, showing that at that period sons of old
Hibernia were numerous and active here. These and other early
periods and movements furnish our Society ample material for
consideration.
As American history progresses, the material increases in volume and
is greatly multiplied as the Revolution eventuates. But these facts
are well known to you and require no lengthy narrative of detail on
my part. I merely briefly refer to them in order, by way of review,
to indicate the abundance of material awaiting development at our
hands.
I am delighted with the project now under way by the Society to
erect a bronze tablet in the Rhode Island state capitol to the
memory of Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan. The idea is a most felicitous one
and deserves the heartiest commendation. Sullivan was one of the
great soldiers of the Revolution. The placing of the forthcoming
tablet will be a merited tribute to his patriotism and military
skill while in command of the Rhode Island department and during the
entire period of the war.
There are many other great Americans of Irish blood who deserve like
honors, and doubtless the Society will, from time to time, erect
tablets to their memory or commemorate them in some other worthy
manner. The suggestion that the occasion of the dedication of the
Sullivan tablet be made a field day by the Society is a happy one,
and will, I trust, be fully carried out.
As our Society grows in numbers and prosperity, the question of
permanent headquarters will demand consideration. Books and
pamphlets will accumulate by gift or purchase and a place will be
needed where these can be displayed for consultation by the members
and others engaged in historical research. Where these headquarters
shall be located is a subject for future action. A number of cities
are deserving of consideration. In many respects, Washington, the
national capital, would be the ideal place, while, New York, Boston,
Philadelphia and other cities, also present special advantages. But
this whole matter can be fully considered at some future time.
The Society recalls with pleasure its visit to Washington a few
years ago, when it was cordially received at the White House by our
distinguished fellow-member, President Roosevelt. I hope that during
my term as head of the organization the Society will again have
occasion to visit the national capital and once more partake of
Washington hospitality.
Again expressing my gratitude for the honor you have conferred upon
me and hoping that I shall have, while president-general, the
generous assistance of every member of the Society, I remain
Yours fraternally,
JOHN MCGOWAN,
_President-General_.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 25, 1906.