REVIEW OF THE YEAR.

Leading Events in the Career of the Society, for 1906, or of Special Interest to the Members.

Jan. 4.: Death of P. J. Kenedy, New York, senior member of the firm of P. J. Kenedy & Sons, publishers. Mr. Kenedy was a member of the Society.
Jan. 6.: The U. S. gunboat Hist arrived at the Charlestown (Mass.) navy yard today from Newport, R. I. Chief Boatswain Hugh Sweeney, who was in command, immediately turned the vessel over to Boatswain Patrick Shanahan and returned to Newport.
Jan. 10.: Thirtieth meeting of the council of the Society is held this evening at Providence, R. I. Hon. Thomas Z. Lee of Providence presides.
Jan. 10.: Following the council meeting just mentioned the members and friends partook of dinner at the Narragansett Hotel, Providence.
Jan. 18.: Annual meeting and dinner of the Society. The event took place at the Hotel Manhattan, 42d Street and Madison Avenue, New York.
Jan. 18.: A dinner to James McMahon was given at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, tonight, by the officers of the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, that city. Mr. McMahon retires from the presidency of the bank after fourteen years’ service. He is a member of the Society.
Jan. 29.: Death of Ambrose F. Travers, New York, a member of the Society.
Feb. 1.: Governor Swanson of Virginia is inaugurated. He has appointed Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, of Norfolk, a member of the Society, to be a colonel on his staff.
Feb. 4.: Capt. James Connolly of Coronado, Cal., a member of the Society, writes to Secretary Murray that he has contracted with a Boston publisher to bring out a volume of verse entitled “The Jewels of King Art,” in commemoration of a famous Irish monarch.
Feb. 18.: John A. McCall, a life member of the Society, dies at Lakewood, N. J.
Feb. 21.: Rev. John F. Leary, rector of St. Michael’s Church, Chapman, Kan., and chaplain of the Grand Army of the Republic, died on this date. He was a native of Ogdensburg, N. Y. During the Civil War he served as a member of the Fifteenth New York Engineers. That was before he became a priest. He was in the engagements at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Appomatox. Though he was wounded at Bermuda Hundred, he was able to get back to his regiment in time to be in at the finish at Appomatox Courthouse. Father Leary was elected chaplain-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic at the national encampment held last September.
Feb. 28.: George T. Little, librarian of Bowdoin College, requests a copy of Volume II of the Journal of the Society for that institution. He states that the college is already in possession of the other volumes of the series.
March.: Rev. Cyrus Townsend Brady, LL. D., of the Society, is the author of a volume brought out this month entitled, The True Andrew Jackson. It is illustrated, comprises 503 pages, and is dedicated as follows: “To that most useful and eminent citizen, John D. Crimmins, and our fellow-members of the American-Irish Historical Society, I dedicate this appreciation of the greatest among the many of Irish lineage who have contributed to the upbuilding of the republic.”
March 2.: The State Historical Society of Missouri, by its secretary, expresses a desire to secure copies of the publications of our Society.
March 8.: Cyril Crimmins, a son of Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York, becomes a life member of the Society.
March 9.: Frederick H. Hild, librarian of the Chicago Public Library, writes that the library is desirous of having a complete set of the Journal of the Society, and also copies of such other publications as may be issued.
March 12.: The Rhode Island state house commissioners granted this afternoon, permission to the Society to erect a tablet in the edifice to Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.
March 13.: The Providence (R. I.) Evening Tribune contains an interesting article on the memorial tablet which the Society purposes erecting in the state capitol, Providence, to Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.
March 14.: An article on Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan is published in the Providence (R. I.) Evening Tribune today, accompanied by his portrait.
March 15.: Most Rev. Robert Seton, titular archbishop of Heliopolis, lectured at the Irish College, Rome, today, on The Irish in America. Among those present was Cardinal Michael Logue, archbishop of Armagh, and primate of all Ireland.
March 24.: A despatch from Montreal, this date, states that the Oakhall restaurant, corner of St. Peter and Notre Dame streets, that city, was burned out last night. Special interest centres in the fact that the building was occupied in 1775 as the headquarters of Gen. Richard Montgomery and staff of the American army in Montreal.
March 28.: Melvin G. Dodge, librarian of Leland Stanford Junior University, California, wishes copies of Volumes I and III of the Journal of the Society for that institution. He writes us to that effect.
March 31.: Gaelic Notes in this week’s New York Irish World has the following: “Now that the question of teaching Irish history in the schools has again come to the front, we would repeat the suggestion made by us a couple of years ago to the American-Irish Historical Society, that in no possible way could it so promote the objects for which it is organized as by the preparation of a popular text-book of the history of the race in America, suitable for the use of schools. The Society has the material for doing this; it could do it without loss to itself, and with great profit to the race, which it would thus have put under a debt of gratitude.”
April.: Death of Gen. M. T. McMahon at his home in New York City. He was a judge of the New York Court of General Sessions at the time of his death. He had practised law in New York for many years and was a fine speaker, but he was known chiefly as a soldier. He was educated at St. John’s College, Fordham, from which he graduated in 1855, and then went to Buffalo, where he studied law in the office of Eli Cook, then mayor of the city, in company with Grover Cleveland, since president of the United States. Although able to pass the examination, he was too young to be admitted to the bar, and he became a correspondence clerk in the general post-office at Washington. In President Buchanan’s administration he was appointed special post-office agent to the Pacific coast. He was admitted to the bar at Sacramento in 1861. At the first call for troops at the breaking out of the Civil War he raised the first company of cavalry on the Pacific. He was elected captain of the company, but when it was decided that the company should not go to the front he resigned and went to Washington. He was made a captain in the regular army and an aide-de-camp to Gen. George B. McClellan, whose bosom friend he remained until “Little Mac’s” death. He served in every engagement in which the Army of the Potomac took part. When the Sixth Corps was disbanded he was adjutant-general and chief of staff. He also served under Generals Franklin, Sedgwick (who was killed at the Wilderness), Baldy Smith and Wright. He received the congressional medal of honor for bravery at the battle of White Oak Swamp. Congress also presented him with a jeweled sword for conspicuous bravery at Spottsylvania and other battles. At the close of the war he was assigned as adjutant-general under General Dix, to the Department of the East. He resigned in 1866 and became corporation attorney of New York City. President Johnson made him minister to Paraguay. In 1879 he ran for Congress against Robert B. Roosevelt and was defeated. Two years later he was appointed receiver of taxes by Andrew H. Green, then comptroller. He was United States marshal for the Southern District of New York under President Cleveland. After that he was an assemblyman and a state senator. For years he had been one of the managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In 1896 he was elected judge of the Court of General Sessions. General McMahon was a Fenian and was ready for service in Ireland. He was also a member of the Clan-na-Gael in its earlier days. His brother, John E. McMahon, who was attorney-general and adjutant-general of New York state under Governor Seymour, was colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York Volunteers, which he raised in Buffalo at the outbreak of the war. The regiment was later consolidated with the Phœnix Zouaves, a Fenian regiment, and McMahon became colonel. It was part of the Corcoran Legion. Col. John E. McMahon was killed at the siege of Suffolk, Va., in 1863. The other brother, James P. McMahon, was a captain in the Sixty-ninth with Thomas Francis Meagher, later became lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth New York, and was promoted to be colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York, in place of his brother, Martin. He remained in command of the latter regiment until he was killed in a charge at the battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864.
April.: About this time is issued from the Blanchard Press, Worcester, Mass., a volume entitled: “A Study in the Etymology of the Indian Place Name Missisquoi.” The author of the work is George McAleer, M. D., of Worcester, a member of our Society.
April.: The Munsey Magazine (New York) for this month has a paper on the Irish in America by Herbert N. Casson.
April 7.: Death today of Capt. Patrick S. Curry, Lynn, Mass., a member of the Society. He passed away at Nashua, N. H., where he had been superintending the construction of a new post-office building.
April 9.: Daniel Walsh, a member of the crew of the Monitor when she fought the Merrimac, during the Civil War, died in Lawrence, Mass. He was a native of Ireland.
April 18.: Hon. James D. Phelan, ex-mayor of San Francisco, who is a member of the Society, is appointed a member of the Committee of Safety by Mayor Schmitz of that city, which committee is rendered necessary by the great earthquake and fire disaster.
April 18.: E. Festus Kelly, of Northerwood House, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, expresses his interest in a paper on “The New Hampshire Kellys,” which appeared in Volume V of the Journal of the Society, and desires a copy of the same.
April 20.: Patrick J. Meehan, of Jersey City, N. J., editor of the Irish-American of New York, the oldest Irish newspaper in the United States with the exception of The Pilot, and who may be styled the Nestor of the Irish-American and Catholic journalistic fraternity, died on this date.
April 20.: A despatch from Lowell, Mass., today states that the O’Sullivan Rubber Co., of that city, has wired $500 to the mayor of San Francisco to aid the earthquake sufferers. The check was signed by Treasurer Humphrey O’Sullivan, who is a member of our Society, as is James O’Sullivan, president of the company.
April 25.: At Phalerum, Greece, today, Martin J. Sheridan of the Irish-American A. C., New York, won the contest at discus throwing. Giorgantas, a Greek, was second.
April 25.: President Roosevelt, in a proclamation today, urges the American people to now send their contributions for the alleviation of the distress in San Francisco, directly to ex-Mayor James D. Phelan, chairman of the finance committee in San Francisco, instead of to the American Red Cross. The proclamation goes on to say: “The need of employing the Red Cross, save as an auxiliary, has passed, and I urge that hereafter all contributions from any source be sent direct to James D. Phelan, chairman finance committee, San Francisco. Mr. Devine of the Red Cross will disburse any contributions sent to him through ex-Mayor Phelan and will work in accord with him in all ways.”
April 26.: Reception this evening to Rear-Admiral John McGowan, U. S. N., the new president-general of the Society. The event took place at the residence of Hon. John D. Crimmins, 40 East 68th Street, New York.
April 28.: An editorial in the New Century, Washington, D. C., this date, says: “As an individual contributor to the San Francisco relief fund, one notices an Irish name leading all the rest—far and above in amount, the generosity of the Rockefellers, the Astors and the Vanderbilts. The name is that of James D. Phelan, who subscribed $1,000,000. And this, notwithstanding that he himself lost $15,000,000 by the fire. These great catastrophes always evoke large-hearted acts and assure us that neither magnanimity, public spirit nor courage have yet vanished from the face of the earth. Mr. Phelan’s conduct proclaims him a man worthy of his wealth. We learn, further, that he is a Catholic, a graduate of a Jesuit college and that he was mayor of San Francisco from 1896 to 1902. As he is only forty-five years of age, we shall hope to hear more of him hereafter.”
April-May.: A committee organized by Archbishop Farley, of New York, for the relief of the San Francisco sufferers, has been very successful. Among the members of the Society who have contributed to the fund, together with the amount given by each, are the following: Archbishop Farley, $1,000; Hon. John D. Crimmins, $1,000; Hon. W. Bourke Cochran, $1,000; Eugene Kelly, $1,000; James S. Coleman, $300; Francis J. Quinlan, M. D., $250; Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, $250; Edmond J. Curry, $100; J. Henry Haggerty, $100; all of New York. Mr. Crimmins is treasurer of the fund.
May 3.: Warren Upham, secretary and librarian of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn., writes that the organization is desirous of possessing a complete set of the Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society.
May 5.: The New York Irish-American for this week has the following relative to our San Francisco member, ex-Mayor James D. Phelan: “In San Francisco the man of the hour in whose hands is the management of the great relief fund, and under whose executive direction the important movements that are to lift the stricken city up from the depths and rebuild her shattered fortunes have already been begun, is that well-known Irish-American, James D. Phelan, former mayor of the city. Although his personal and business losses must reach millions, it is reported that he has devoted the sum of $1,000,000 out of his private fortune to employ the afflicted laboring people of his native city. Mr. Phelan, whose father was one of the men who made San Francisco rich and famous, was born in 1861, and was educated at St. Ignatius College, in that city, where he graduated with honor, after a four years’ course of study. He then entered as a student at the law department of the University of California, of which he is also a graduate. He was selected mayor of the city, as a Democrat, in 1896, and served until 1902. His régime was marked by zeal and ability in the public service. The Democrats of the state Legislature complimented him with their nomination for United States senator a few years ago. He is one of the leading capitalists of the United States, and has numerous commercial and mining interests. He is president of the Mutual Savings Bank and the finest business block in San Francisco, situated on Market Street, bore his name. It withstood the shock of earthquake, but the resulting fire reduced it to a mass of smoking ruins. Mr. Phelan has been for years a generous supporter of the Irish cause and has stood by both Parnell and Redmond with his influence and his money. His father aided in receiving Terence Bellew McManus, John Mitchel and Thomas Francis Meagher when those patriots escaped from the British penal settlements in Australia and sought liberty and new careers in America. No city has been more generous in aid of Ireland than San Francisco and its people, of all races, are renowned for their hospitality and liberality, and foremost among those who offered that hospitality has always been James D. Phelan. In the new city that is to rise triumphant from the ashes of the present disaster his grateful fellow-citizens will no doubt give him every honor in their bestowal.”
May 12.: The funeral took place, at Boston today, of Patrick E. Flood. He was a member of the crew of the U. S. S. Kearsarge when she fought the Alabama.
May 29.: John F. Sweeney, Buffalo, N. Y., becomes a life member of the Society.
May 30.: In the old Granary burying ground, Boston, this morning, was unveiled a slab marking the burial place of those who fell in the Boston massacre of March 5, 1770, and of a boy who was killed on the previous February 22. The modest slab of slate is in keeping with the other memorials in this historic burying ground. It was erected by Boston Chapter, S. A. R., and is the first permanent marker that has been placed over these graves. Dr. Samuel Crowell, president of the Boston Chapter, unveiled the slab with a brief introductory speech, presenting Dr. Moses Greeley Parker of Lowell, president of the Massachusetts Society, who congratulated Boston Chapter on the work it has done and is doing. Edward W. McGlenen, city registrar, of the committee, gave a brief historical sketch of the events leading up to the massacre, including the shooting of the boy, Christopher Snider, by the British soldiers, who fired into his father’s house. Little attention has been paid in history to the killing of this boy, called on the slab “the innocent first victim of the struggles between the colonists and the crown.” The slab stands close to the grave of Samuel Adams and is in plain view from the street. The inscription reads:

The Remains of

SAMUEL GRAY

SAMUEL MAVERICK

JAMES CALDWELL

CRISPUS ATTUCKS

and

PATRICK CARR

Victims of the Boston Massacre

March 5th, 1770

Were here interred by order of the

Town of Boston

Here also lies buried the body of

CHRISTOPHER SNIDER

aged 12 years

Killed February 22nd, 1770

The innocent first victim of the struggle

between the Colonists and the Crown

which resulted in

INDEPENDENCE

Placed by Boston Chapter, S. A. R.

1906.

June 4.: Hon. Arthur P. Gorman passed away this morning in Washington, D. C. He was the senior United States senator from Maryland and was the Democratic leader in the upper branch of Congress. Deceased was a native of Woodstock, Md., and was born in 1829. His grandfather, John Gorman, came to Pennsylvania from Ireland in 1784 and settled in Harrisburg.
June 13.: John J. Coffey, of Neponset (Boston), Mass., passes away. He was a member of the Society and took much interest in the work of the latter.
June 15.: Death of Hon. Michael J. Sullivan, a member of the executive council of the governor of Massachusetts, at his home in Boston. He worked his way through the Boston University Law School and continued his legal studies in the office of the Hon. Patrick A. Collins, afterwards mayor, and was in July, 1898, admitted to the bar. He was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1898, and re-elected in 1899. He served on the important committee of metropolitan affairs and represented Mayor Collins on that committee, looking after the interests of the City of Boston. He was a candidate for the state Senate in 1900, but was defeated. In the following year he was chosen a member of that body, and re-elected in 1902. He was a member of the governor’s council in 1904, 1905 and the present year. Governors Bates, Douglas and Guild, in whose councils Mr. Sullivan served, had high admiration for him. In June, 1905, he was in charge, officially, of the Massachusetts delegation to the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Ore. The state was represented at the funeral by Governor Guild, Lieutenant-Governor Draper and members of the executive council, Senate and House, and the city by Mayor Fitzgerald and members of the board of aldermen and common council, and men connected with the different departments.
July 18.: Death of Patrick F. Sullivan, Boston, Mass., a member of the Society.
July 23.: Hon. John J. Flaherty of Gloucester, Mass., a justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, died today.
Aug. 22.: Rev. Denis P. O’Flynn, New York City, a member of the Society, passes away.
Aug. 26.: Death of Col. O’Brien Moore, Tucson, Ariz., a life member of the Society.
Aug. 29.: Col. James Quinlan, a member of the Society, passes away at his home in New York City.
Sept. 25.: Richard Deeves, New York, contributes $100 to the Permanent Fund of the Society.
Oct. 1.: William Pigott, Seattle, Wash., becomes a life member of the Society.
Oct. 12.: The Ninth Massachusetts Regiment, under command of Col. William H. Donovan, starts for New York City to participate in the dedication of the new armory of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. With the Ninth went a number of invited guests, including Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston, Mayor Duggan of Worcester, Mayor Casey of Lowell, Mayor Kane of Lawrence and other Massachusetts gentlemen.
Oct. 13.: Dedication in New York City today of the new armory of the Sixty-ninth Regiment. Mr. Justice James Fitzgerald of the New York Supreme Court, a member of our Society, presided.
Oct. 21.: John C. Sullivan, registrar of probate for Plymouth County, Mass., was accidentally killed tonight by being struck by a trolley car. He was sixty-four years of age and had been registrar of Plymouth County for many years. Born in Ireland, he came to this country alone when a small boy. He attended the local schools and later Peirce Academy and Brown University, the latter in Providence, R. I. He enlisted during the Civil War and served out his full term, being a good soldier and comrade. After the war he was admitted to the bar.
Oct. 29.: Death today of Hon. Robert T. Davis, M. D., of Fall River, Mass., a member of the Society.
Oct. 29.: Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary and superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., writes to us saying: “Thank you most cordially for your kindly gift of books and pamphlets to our library. We shall certainly appreciate them very much indeed. We trust that you will continue to favor us with your several publications, as we have a very large, growing, and much used collection of material in the field in which your Society works.”
November.: The American-Irish Historical Society this month receives an invitation from the American Historical Association to send a representation to a conference of historical societies to be held in Providence, R. I., December 26–29, 1906.
Nov. 2.: William Doogue, superintendent of public grounds, Boston, Mass., passed away this evening. He was a member of the Society.
Nov. 5.: It is stated that the Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, presiding justice of the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court, today filed his resignation with the secretary of state at Albany. Judge O’Brien will become a member of a prominent New York law firm.
Nov. 6.: The Hon. James H. Higgins, mayor of Pawtucket, R. I., is today elected governor of Rhode Island. He is the first Catholic to be elected to the office.
Nov. 6.: Joseph F. O’Connell, a member of the Society, is today elected to Congress from the Tenth Massachusetts district.
Nov. 6.: Patrick J. McCarthy, a member of the Society, is today elected mayor of Providence, R. I.
Nov. 21.: The secretary of the State Historical Society of Missouri writes that he has forwarded us the first number of a quarterly review just issued by his society and that they shall be glad to place us on their regular mailing list, and to receive from us copies of such publications as our Society may issue.
Nov. 23.: The librarian of the public library, St. Louis, Mo., writes for two volumes of the Journal of the Society to complete the library’s set.
Nov. 23.: Anniversary of the birth of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was of Irish parentage.
Nov. 29.: Anniversary of the birth of Charles Thomson, the “perpetual secretary” of Congress; a native of Ireland.
December.: Hon. George F. O’Neil, Binghamton, N. Y., becomes a life member of the Society.
Dec. 2.: Died on this date, in 1783, Thomas Burke. He was a native of Ireland, and was chosen governor of North Carolina in 1781.
Dec. 11.: A meeting of the council of the Society is held this evening in Providence, R. I.