Providence, R. I.
A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY.
]
This paper will develop some interesting and striking facts concerning
the early history of Boston, and to Americans of Irish blood, unless
they be students of colonial history, it would prove a revelation were
they to read it. You will see from this narrative that the Irish of
those by-gone days were not all hewers of wood and drawers of water,
despite the tremendous handicaps of racial and religious hostility and
the disproportion of the numbers in comparison to the English.
On the contrary, some of them shone as patriots and statesmen; in the
fields of art and invention; and in various ways of lesser importance
there were many whose names deserve recording in a discourse of this
nature.
Some years ago I became interested in a letter which appeared in one of
our daily papers containing a few facts about the pioneer store-keeper
of Boston—the first person to start a business here and thus earn for
himself the title of “The Father of Boston Merchants.” The reason for my
interest lay in the fact that he was an Irishman. His name was John
Cogan.
Histories of Boston and the chapters on colonial Boston in the histories
of the United States, as might be expected, both ignore the story of
John Cogan, and you would search the city in vain were you looking for a
memorial of any sort to him. Neither is there tablet nor memorial of any
sort marking the site of that humble little shop, which was the first
link of the great chain of mercantile establishments which have followed
in its wake. Historical spots of even less interest are, and properly,
suitably marked, but for some reason the site of Boston’s first place of
business has been ignored by our municipal authorities and historical
societies.
I determined to try to rescue John Cogan’s name from the practical
oblivion which enshrouded it and discover details of his career
sufficient for a newspaper or magazine article. My researches into the
musty records of the past were well rewarded and my discoveries I hope
to give the public through some reputable magazine or journal in the
near future.
It was while engaged in this long and laborious work that I discovered a
new vein, as it were, in Boston’s history, and following it up I found
much of the material which goes to make up this paper and which
suggested its preparation.
Had it been our good fortune to have had a directory containing the
names of the residents of Boston each year since its settlement we would
have found in every one of those works, with perhaps the exception of
the first two, Keltic names, and in the entire period of which I treat
some thousands of them.
Undoubtedly these statements surprise you. Naturally. Yet I could easily
make them good. And furthermore I believe it to be quite likely that if
we made a careful research among the names of the Kelts in colonial
Boston that we could easily duplicate ten per cent or more of those
borne by readers of this article.
Of the thousands of these names I have compiled I select a few for
illustration—Blake, Barrett, Boyce, Bryan, Bishop, Boyle and Burk;
Collins, Carey, Connell, Conner, Casey and Cunningham; Drury and
Downing; Flannagan; Griffin; Healy, Hart, Harkins and Hurley; Kennedy;
Lynch and Lane; Murphy, Moore, Martin, Mackey and McLean; Norton and
Neale; Power and Powell; Strain; Timmins; Welch.
The children of Erin began coming here from practically the foundation
of Boston. As Cullen says: “English of all things, it (Boston) was of
necessity anti-Irish, and classed this unfortunate people with the
heathen tribes of the forest; yet, among her earliest records appears
the distinctively Irish names of Cogan, Barry, Connors, MacCarty, Kelly;
throughout her colonial history, when the wild Irish, the Pope, the
Devil and the Pretender were classed together and hated in the lump, the
Irish were in their midst, though Irish Catholicity remained till near
the Revolution almost unrepresented.”
Yet this fact is disputed. One well known newspaper writer of Boston, an
Irishman, too, declares: “It is quite safe to say that there were no
Irish at that time (1630) among the settlers.”
Now that assertion may or may not be true. But I would say in reply to
it that if the Irish were not here as early as 1630 there was at least
one representative of the race in the colony in 1632[4] and another in
1634[5], both prominent, too, by the way, and Irish have been here ever
since.
Footnote 4:
John Cogan, already alluded to.
Footnote 5:
William Hibbens.
The gentleman referred to also says: “Up to that time (1647) there was
practically no infusion of Irish blood in New England.” In reply to that
I would answer that if the other large centers of New England had as
many Kelts as did Boston up to and including 1647—and I would not be
surprised if they had—this gentleman’s statement would stand disproved.
Under Cromwell’s government many Irish people were sent to New England.
On their arrival they were sold as servants or slaves by those at whose
charge they were brought here. This slavery, however, was only
temporary, and generally for a period of four years. It was distinctly
understood that this service of the Irish was to be in direct payment
for the trouble and expense of transporting them.
The men of Irish blood were not prominent in the early story of the
colony, with a few exceptions. But that was neither their fault nor to
their discredit. The reasons for this were in brief the racial antipathy
on the part of the colonists; their hatred of the religion professed by
the mass of the Kelts; the social ostracism of the English toward the
children of Erin; the legislation in Ireland which forced the natives
into, and kept them in, ignorance from an educational standpoint; their
poverty, another heritage of England’s misrule of their country and the
smallness of their numbers in comparison with the English settlers.
But time works wonders and brings its revenges! The erstwhile tiny
English and Puritan colony has become a great city, one of the greatest
in America, in fact, and the stronghold of the Catholic and Kelt. Only
the other day it was governed by a man of that faith and blood, and he
was the successor of four other mayors born in Ireland or descended from
Irish people, while the majority of the leading city officials were of
the same class.
In the professions and business life also men of Irish blood are making
a good showing here. And as to religion, our clergy of Keltic blood
outnumber those of all other nationalities and so do they all the
non-Catholic ministers combined.
I know you will be now interested to hear of John Cogan, to whom I
referred in the beginning of this paper. For a quarter of a century he
was prominently identified with the colony—from 1632 until his death in
1658. He probably came from Cork. The late John B. Reagan, of
Dorchester, noted for his historical research regarding the Irish in
America, said of the first of Boston’s Keltic citizens: “Among those who
came over in the so-called Winthrop fleet, composed of ‘people from all
parts,’ were several merchants from the maritime ports of Ireland, of
whom John Cogan was one.”
In my researches for details of Cogan’s career I found this reference to
him, from Lechford’s Notebook: “Whether John Cogan, of Boston, Mass.,
was related to this family (the Cogans of Chard, Eng.,) or not I do not
know. He appears to have been from Devonshire, as in 1639 he gave Isaac
Northcut, of Honiton, a power of attorney to receive any legacy under
the will of his mother, Eleanor Cogan, of Tiverton, in Devon.” Still,
this would not prove that Cogan was English, as thousands of Irish have
settled in England from an early period.
Cogan was virtually one of the founders of Boston, one of its leading
citizens, one of its wealthiest and most enterprising, and a pillar and
one of the founders of the First Church. And I am glad to say that the
colonists were sensible enough to so far overcome their prejudices as to
appreciate what sort of man he was, for they honored him with numerous
public offices and positions of trust.
He was a member of the first board of selectmen and served in that
capacity for a long time; a juror in the Court of Assistants; one of a
committee to allot land for the inhabitants to plant on and of another
committee to allot land on the Neck and in East Boston; one of a
committee to erect fortifications on Fort Hill and its treasurer; a
member of the grand jury; a surveyor of the highways; a constable. The
full list of offices he held would be too long to give here.
He opened the first store in 1633 or 1634. It stood on Washington Street
opposite the Old State House, on the northeast corner. Colonial records
fail to state what class of goods our pioneer store-keeper dealt in, or
how long he conducted his shop, or whether he made it a success, which I
venture to predict, in view of his career, he did.
He proved himself a shrewd and energetic business man and became wealthy
for the times in which he lived. He was the proprietor of a large amount
of real estate, including two stores and half an acre of land, which is
now covered by the store of Houghton & Dutton, and corn mills in
Charlestown and Malden.
He was one of the builders of Long wharf, the oldest in Boston and the
one with the most interesting history. He served as sergeant in that
organization of, as somebody has facetiously dubbed them, “bottle-scared
veterans,” the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
Among his benefactions was a gift of 70 acres to Harvard College. I
might state in passing that Cogan was one of the settlers of Dorchester,
which colony was founded in the same year as was Boston, 1630, and lived
there until his removal here in 1632.
Some few weeks ago the daily papers chronicled the death of the oldest
alumnus of Harvard College and Boston’s oldest attorney. This was
Charles A. Welch of Cohasset, Mass. Welch was the descendant of John
Welch, who was recorded in Boston as a tax-payer as early as 1682, and
who wedded Elizabeth White. The distinguished lawyer had as his great
grandfather John Welch, who served as commander of the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company, while the father of the lawyer was a noted
wood carver and made the famous codfish which adorns the State House and
also the great figure-head of Andrew Jackson which ornamented the bow of
the American frigate _Constitution_.
Another descendant of this John Welch of colonial Boston, and brother of
the lawyer, was Edward H. Welch, who had the happiness not only of
returning to the church of his ancestors, but also of becoming a member
of the Society of Jesus. The lawyer and priest numbered among their
cousins the present Episcopalian Bishop of Fond du Lac, the Right
Reverend Charles C. Grafton; and Mrs. Abbott, wife of the late Judge
Abbott. In a word, John Welch of colonial Boston was the progenitor of a
distinguished family.
How many of you could tell me who made the first piano-forte in America?
And the first bass-viol? And the artificial leg with joints? And the
first pack of playing cards? If you don’t know, it is not a matter of
surprise, for those achievements are not chronicled in our histories.
Well, I’ll tell you. There lived in Dorchester or Milton between the
years 1640 and 1650 a lad named Teague Crehore, who, it is said, had
been stolen from his parents in Ireland.
One of his descendants was Benjamin Crehore, who was born in Milton. He
was a remarkable genius. He it was who made the first piano-forte in
America, manufactured the first bass-viols and invented the artificial
leg with joints.
And it was Thomas Crehore, a nephew of Benjamin Crehore and the son of
William Crehore, a chair maker, and of the fifth generation of Teague
Crehore, who manufactured the first playing cards in America.
Thomas Crehore was a native of Dorchester and born in 1769. At the age
of thirty-two he bought the land on which he built his factory and
house. The industry continued there (in Milton Lower Mills, on the
Neponset River, I believe) until 1846, when the factory was burned down.
Mr. Crehore died in the same year, leaving a large estate.
The Crehores and John Cogan were not the only Kelts who were business
pioneers here in the early days. The first paper manufactured in America
was made in Dorchester and three Irishmen, while not actually starting
it, may be said to have been among the founders and promoters of the
industry (their predecessors having for only a short time conducted it).
These were Capt. James Boies, Jeremiah Smith and Hugh McLean. Cullen in
his _Story of the Irish in Boston_, says: “If to Mr. Smith belonged the
credit of being the first individual paper manufacturer, to others of
his countrymen is due the fact that the Neponset River was made by them
the basis of paper manufacturing in the North American colonies.”
Boies was born in Ireland in 1702 and died in Milton at the age of
ninety-six years. He was with General Wolfe in the battle on the Plains
of Abraham. By direction of General Washington, Captain Boies directed
the work of transporting the fagots, in which 300 teams were engaged,
that were used in fortifying Dorchester Heights, following which event
the British evacuated Boston. Boies was one of a committee of three
which drew up instructions for the representatives of the town of
Milton, wherein it was voted that the colony would support the
Continental Congress with their lives and their fortunes in the event of
hostilities with England.
Jeremiah Smith was a native of Ireland and born in 1705. At the age of
twenty-one he came to Boston and in 1737 removed to Milton. In that year
he became superintendent of a paper industry started by some men,
including Thomas Hancock, a few years before. Four years later he was
its owner. He carried on the business until 1775, when he retired, after
amassing a fortune.
Smith was an intimate friend of Governor Hutchinson and also of Governor
Hancock, at whose hospitable board the wits of the day were wont to
gather. Smith was seldom absent on such occasions, and if he were
blessed with the characteristic Keltic wit, as presumably he was, he
must have added largely to the entertainment of Hancock and his guests.
Hugh McLean, the third of the trio, was born in Ireland in 1724. He
married a daughter of Boies and while in partnership with him became
wealthy. He died in Milton at the age of seventy-five.
Col. John C. Linehan, in his work _The Irish Scots and the
“Scotch-Irish,”_ says: “Massachusetts had received, before the
Revolution, a fair proportion of the Irish, for which the race has
received but little credit. * * * The chronicles of the town of Boston,
Mass., are full of enactments to keep the Irish out, but it was found to
be impossible. They would come despite the prejudice, for Massachusetts
was the most progressive of the colonies, and these people, or many of
them, being artisans, spinners, weavers, shoemakers, ropemakers, etc.,
their labor became welcome, and a compromise was made by obliging those
of them who were well-to-do to furnish bonds for their poorer countrymen
and women, to the end that they would not become public charges.”
And again: “As early as 1780 and 1790 John Sullivan, Patrick Connor and
Michael Carney were associated in the manufacture of paper at
Dorchester, Mass.”
Properly speaking, I should not quote this statement in my paper, as the
dates mentioned are later than the limit of time with which my subject
treats; but I deemed it fitting to do so as being supplementary to those
facts given about the other three Kelts engaged in the business.
Among the chaplains of the French fleet which assisted the Americans in
the Revolution was Abbe Robin. He wrote a series of letters to a friend
describing his travels in this country; the first, dated in Boston,
contained this paragraph:
“The Irish Presbyterians, discontented with their landlord at home and
attracted by similarity of sentiment, have established in this place,
with some success, manufactories of linen, and have made some attempts
at broadcloths; those that have been lately manufactured are close and
well woven, but hard and coarse; their hat manufactories have succeeded
not better than the cloths; they are thick, spongy and without firmness,
and come far short of the beauty and solidity of ours.”
Now it is fair to infer that these industries were not started since the
beginning of the Revolution. Those things are not done in war-times for
very obvious reasons. That they had been in operation for some years may
be taken for granted.
And now here is evidence showing that one of these industries was
started a long time previous to the date of the Abbe’s letter. The
_American Cyclopedia_ says: “Some of the Scotch-Irish settlers in Boston
in 1720 introduced the linen manufacture, which exercised much interest
and was greatly encouraged, spinning-schools being established.” I
didn’t know until I read this paragraph that there was such an
individual as a “Scotch-Irishman” in Boston in the early days. The
writers of the records never found one; or if they did, failed to
recognize him.
Now a word as to the alleged “Scotch-Irish” of early times in Boston:
Thomas Hamilton Murray, secretary of the American-Irish Historical
Society, says on the subject:
“The Massachusetts colonial records repeatedly mention the ‘Irish,’ not
the Scotch-Irish. Cotton Mather in a sermon in 1700 says: ‘At length it
was proposed that a colony of Irish be sent over to check the growth of
this countrey.’ No prefix there * * *
“Cullen describes the arrival at Boston in 1717 of Captain Robert Temple
‘with a number of Irish Protestants.’ Captain Temple was, in 1740,
elected to the Charitable Irish Society. In another place Cullen alludes
to ‘the Irish spinners and weavers who landed in Boston in the early
part of the eighteenth century.’”
One of the early citizens of Boston was William Hibbens, of Ireland, who
came here in 1634. Like his countryman, John Cogan, he became prominent
and wealthy. He was referred to in the colonial records as a gentleman.
He served for a long time on the board of selectmen; as magistrate,
agent of the colony in England, treasurer of the town stock; deputy to
the General Court; highway surveyor; member of the commission to fortify
Castle Island, and in other offices also labored for the interests of
his townsmen.
Hibbens wedded Mrs. Ann Moore, a widow, and sister of Governor
Bellingham. He died in 1654. Mrs. Hibbens was hung for alleged
witchcraft two years later. She left her property to her two sons, John
and Joseph Moore, of Ballyhorick, County Cork, Ire.
John Casey of Muddy River, as the now aristocratic town of Brookline was
called in early days, was a participant in that conflict with the
Indians known as King Philip’s War, fought in 1675–6. He took part in
the attack on the Red Men’s fort in the Great Swamp in Rhode Island and
was wounded in the engagement.
[Illustration:
BRIG.-GEN. JOHN R. McGINNESS, U.S.A. (Retired.).
Norfolk. Va.
]
The name Collins is found frequently in the early records. Edward
Collins was a resident of Cambridge as early as 1646. He was a merchant.
Christopher Collins, a shoemaker, lived in Dedham as early as 1645.
William Collins was in Boston as early as 1646. He was the New England
agent of Mathew Craddock of London, a merchant. John Collins became a
“freeman” in 1646. Timothy Collins, a servant, was brought to Boston in
1764 on a schooner which came from Halifax and Cork. Four years later
came a lad set down in the records as William Collen, brought here on a
sloop from Windsor.
Ann Collins, a servant, arrived here from Ireland in 1767. Captain
Palfrey Collins came into port in 1768. Clement Collins was one of a
number of citizens who lodged their arms with the selectmen in 1774. He
gave up a gun and a blunderbuss. Joseph Collins, on January 1, 1775, was
nominated a watchman. In the company of which Captain Allen was
commander in 1698 was Mathew Collins. In a public school kept here by
Samuel Holyoke, Daniel Collins was a pupil in 1753. Thomas Collins, a
farmer, came here in 1765 on a sloop from Fort Cumberland. John Collins
was a constable in 1657. Henry Collins was made a freeman in 1636–7 and
Edward Collins in 1640.
Healy was another name of which I find mention on numerous occasions in
colonial days. William Healy, who was here as early as 1645, figured in
a number of real estate transactions and had business dealings with
Governor Dudley.
One of the leading Keltic families of colonial Boston was the McCarthys.
Thaddeus McCarthy was here as early as 1666. He was an officer of the
town in 1674 and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company
in 1681.
One of his sons, if I mistake not, was Florence McCarthy, who became one
of the leading citizens of the town, a man of wealth and a successful
dealer in provisions. He was one of the founders of the first Episcopal
church in New England. He was here as early as 1686 and died in 1712. He
left an estate valued at £2,922, including his farm, which embraced the
land in Roxbury on which the Marcella Street Home stood.
Another son was Captain William McCarthy, who was the best known
ship-owner in the town. Still another was Thomas McCarthy. He was chosen
a constable in 1727, but was not anxious to serve in that capacity. A
fourth son was Thaddeus McCarthy, who was graduated from Harvard
College, was pastor of the First Church in Worcester for thirty-seven
years and became the father of fifteen children.
A brother of this Thaddeus McCarthy, the minister, was Captain William
McCarthy, who served as quartermaster of the Fifteenth Massachusetts
Regiment in the Revolution, and a son was Dr. Thaddeus McCarthy, who
became a noted medical practitioner in Fitchburg, Mass., and Keene, N.
H. A Charles Maccarty took part in the expedition against Quebec in 1690
and was badly wounded.
I will not vouch positively that I have stated accurately the relations
to one another of these Maccarthys. There is a little difference in one
or two statements in this matter by at least two good authorities,
Bernard Cullen, author of _The Story of the Irish in Boston_, and the
late Col. John C. Linehan of Concord, N. H., author of numerous articles
on the early Irish residents of New England.
Now I am going to give you a few tid-bits, as it were, from the colonial
records and other sources:
“Derman Mahoone is fined 20 shillings for intertaining two Irishwomen”
in 1657. In other words, he simply gave them the hospitality of his home
in a legitimate way. But that was against the law—for the Irish.
“Margaret Noriss, an Irishwoman is admitted to the town.” That was in
1658.
John Martin, a ship carpenter, was a resident in 1637 and was admitted
an inhabitant in the following year.
John Moore was the servant of the governor in 1639.
Myles Tarne, a leather dresser, was here as early as 1642.
From the records of 1646 I quote: “John Berry is put an apprentice to
Edward Keyly for seaven years.” Berry, undoubtedly, is a corruption of
Barry, and Keyly of Kelly or Kiley.
I hardly need to remind you, in mentioning this, that the spelling of
the keepers of the colonial records was something atrocious. William
Healy, to whom I referred a moment ago, had his name spelled in at least
five different ways.
James Carey was chosen town clerk of Charlestown in 1662.
A great fire occurred in Boston in 1760. Among those whose homes were
destroyed were Captain Killeran and Michael Carroll. They lived in the
district which we used to know as Fort Hill.
In 1659 Governor Endicott united in marriage John Morrell and Lysbell
Morrell, both Irish, say the records.
James Cochran, an Irish boy, was captured by Indians in those early
days. He was a brave youth and managed to kill a couple of savages and
make his escape. _The Boston News-Letter_ of April 29, 1725, said of
him: “James Cochran, ye youth that came into Brunswick with two scalps,
came into town on Monday last and on Tuesday produced ye same scalps
before ye Honorable Lieutenant-Governor and Council, for which he
received a reward of two hundred pounds. And for ye farther
encouragement of young men and others to perform bold and hardy actions
in ye Indian war, His Honor ye Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to
make him sargeant in ye forces.”
Verily, a good type of the Fighting Race!
Now to come down to the second half of the period of time which I am
considering. One of the most picturesque and interesting figures in the
history of Boston was John Hancock, whom, some claim, had Irish blood in
his veins. He was a staunch patriot, statesman, leader in public
affairs, governor of the Commonwealth, orator and the first signer of
the Declaration of Independence (which, by the way, with only his
signature as president of the Continental Congress and that of Charles
Thomson, a native of Maghera, Ire., as secretary, was sent forth to the
world, the other names being added to it later).
As a bit of evidence which may help to indicate Hancock’s ancestry, it
may be worth mentioning that he presented a bell and vane to the Irish
Presbyterian Church in Boston.
A copy of _The Tyrone, Ireland, Constitution_, issued some time in or
prior to 1876, contained these statements: “Those who are conversant
with _Reid’s History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland_ are aware
that multitudes of Protestants left Ulster for the plantations of North
America. John Hancock’s ancestor was among that number.”
And again: “It is stated by reliable authorities that the ancestors of
John Hancock emigrated from near Downpatrick, Co. Down, Ire., and
settled in Boston toward the close of the seventeenth century. The
Hancocks have been for centuries actively and largely engaged in the
foreign and domestic trade of Newry, and it was, doubtless, in a
commercial capacity that the first of the name came to Boston. The
family to which President Hancock belonged is, it is said, now (1889)
represented in Ireland by John Hancock of Lurgan, and by Neilson
Hancock, the founder of the Irish Statistical Society. Anthony Hancock,
who came from Ireland, resided in Boston in 1681, and he was evidently
the founder of the family in America.”
Equal to Hancock in patriotism and brilliant qualities was James
Sullivan, who spent the last part of his life in Boston. He was a
governor of Massachusetts, patriot, jurist, orator and author and shone
conspicuously in his various roles. He was a brother of General John
Sullivan, New Hampshire’s most distinguished Kelt, patriot, the soldier
who struck the first blow for the freedom of his country, delegate to
the Continental Congress, jurist and chief magistrate of the Granite
State.
These two great men were the sons of Owen Sullivan or O’Sullivan, who
came from Ardea, Co. Kerry, while their mother was from Cork.
The year 1737 was notable in the annals of Boston as marking the birth
of a lad who was destined, up to the present time, to become her
greatest artist, “the American Vandyke,” as he was fittingly called. He
was a painter of portraits and historical subjects, and doubtless many
of you have seen some of the splendid works from his brush which enrich
the Museum of Fine Arts. I refer to John Singleton Copley. He was the
son of Irish parents (they were from County Clare), who settled in
Boston in 1736.
Copley began his career under great disadvantages—without teacher or
instruction, without model, without materials to practise. He even had
to make his own palette and arrange what colors he used. Furthermore, he
never saw a good picture until he left his native land. But
notwithstanding all this, his genius triumphed.
When twenty-three years old, Copley sent, without name or address, an
exquisite portrait of his half-brother, entitled “The Boy and the Flying
Squirrel,” to Benjamin West, the famous English painter, requesting that
it be placed in the exhibition rooms of the Royal Academy in London.
Though it was contrary to the rules of that institution to give such an
honor to the work of unknown artists, this product of the young American
Kelt was placed there because of its merits and through West’s
influence. West himself made this comment on the painting: “What
delicious coloring! It is worthy of Titian himself!”
Copley spent the latter part of his life in London, and after achieving
the most brilliant success and receiving high honors, died in 1815.
Some of his biographers assert that Copley left America because of
royalist tendencies, but this is untrue. He did so simply to perfect
himself in his art. As a matter of fact, his sympathies and judgment
were enlisted with his countrymen in their struggle for independence, as
passages in his own and friends’ correspondence conclusively prove.
Among the Massachusetts men who signed the Declaration of Independence
was Robert Treat Paine of Boston. Paine, according to what is believed
to be good authorities, had Irish blood in his veins. He was the
grandson of Robert Paine, who came here about the year 1698. This Robert
Paine was a brother of Henry O’Neill of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, a
descendant of Shane the Proud, Prince of Ulster, and cousin of Sir Neal
O’Neill, who perished in the Battle of the Boyne. Henry O’Neill changed
his name to Paine, which had been borne by a parental ancestor, in order
to preserve part of his estates. So says O’Hart, compiler of _Irish
Pedigrees_.
Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born
in Boston in 1731. He became a lawyer and conducted the prosecution of
the English soldiers who perpetrated the “Boston Massacre,” as it is
called. He served in the legislature and was a delegate to the
Continental Congress from 1774 to 1778. When the State Constitution of
Massachusetts was adopted in 1780 he was made attorney-general and
served as such for six years, then becoming a judge of the Supreme
Court.
Two of his descendants and namesakes are today prominent citizens of
Boston, one a successful business man, while the other, his son, a few
years ago was the candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket.
The first indication of the Irish in Boston giving any evidence of
national spirit occurred in 1737, on St. Patrick’s Day, when twenty-six
Protestant Kelts—they all belonged to the Irish Presbyterian
Church—organized the Charitable Irish Society to aid unfortunate fellow
countrymen and to cultivate a spirit of unity and harmony among all
Irishmen in the Massachusetts colony and their descendants and to
advance their interests socially and morally. It has held meetings and
celebrations from that day down to the present, except during the
Revolution, in which a number of members took part. It has the
distinction of being the oldest Irish society in America. Some of the
charter members were the founders of distinguished families.
One of the founders was Peter Pelham, stepfather of Copley, the artist.
He was an engraver, painter and father of fine arts. The same year the
society was founded the selectmen granted him permission to open a
school for the education of children in reading, writing, needle-work,
dancing and the art of painting on glass, etc.
Major-General Henry Knox, that brilliant and dashing soldier of the
Revolution, and secretary of war, was also a member, as were his father
and two uncles. General Knox was born in Boston in 1760.
The membership roll also contained the names of Capt. Robert Gardner, a
wealthy and prominent citizen; Rev. John Moorehead, pastor of the Irish
Presbyterian Church; William Hall, who was the first president of the
Society and was a constable in 1730; John McLean, a slater, and who made
repairs on Faneuil Hall; Captain James McGee, who had command of a
vessel in the service of the commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay and which
was wrecked during a great storm in 1778, when seventy-two of the crew
perished; and William Moroney. The diary of Lieutenant Burton, published
in the Revolutionary rolls of New Hampshire, mentions the appointment by
Washington of Mr. Moroney as provost marshal of the army.
Among the soldiers serving in the Revolution was the son of Mr. Greaton,
who kept the Greyhound Tavern in Roxbury. That boy became known to fame
as General John Greaton. He belonged to the first company of minute men
raised in America in 1775, and was chosen major, lieutenant-colonel and
colonel of Heath’s regiment. After the battle of Lexington he was
engaged in the skirmishes about Boston until he joined that memorable
excursion to Quebec. He served throughout our struggle for independence
and was one of Washington’s most trusted officers.
William Connolly was another Boston Kelt who fought in the Revolution.
And so was Michael Cassady. Cassady was one of the patriots at Valley
Forge.
Among the residents of Milton in colonial days was Anthony Gulliver, who
was born in Ireland in 1619. He was the ancestor of a large number of
able and influential men and women who have been prominent in public and
religious affairs of Milton, Mass., for nearly two centuries.
_The Story of the Irish in Boston_ contains the following interesting
paragraph about a member of the Gulliver family:
“Capt. Lemuel Gulliver, who once lived at Algerine Corner, returned to
Ireland in 1723 and gave a glowing description of the American country
to his neighbor, Jonathan Swift. Lemuel’s imagination was vivid and
fanciful and he turned it to a quaint account in this instance.
“He declared to Swift that ‘the frogs were as tall as his knees and had
musical voices that were guitar-like in their tones; the mosquitoes’
bills were as long as darning needles’; and from these exaggerated and
fabulous accounts of the country the great Swift conceived and wrote the
famous _Gulliver’s Travels_, which was published in 1726, displaying a
unique union of misanthropy, satire, irony, ingenuity and humor.”