In 1815 the population of St. Louis was 2,000. Billon’s Annals for 1817–’20 states: “The adult male population of that day was about 700. Of American birth 400, French and Spanish 150, and of foreign birth 150. Of these, fully two thirds, or about 100, were Irishmen, some fifteen or twenty European Frenchmen, about the same number English and Scotch, and some ten or twelve Germans.”
The tax list for 1811 shows Auguste Chouteau as the largest taxpayer, the Irish-American firm, McKnight & Brady, second. The first directory of St. Louis (1821) contains 749 names. Of these but few are Germanic. As late as 1827 there were but twenty-seven German families here.
In 1663 Marquis de Tracy was governor-general of all the French possessions in America, and another Franco-Irishman, Chevalier McCarthy, in 1751, was commandant of the French settlement of the Illinois territory, and in 1769 a native Gael, Alexander O’Reilly, had command under the Spanish.
Peter Conley appears as a witness to Laclede’s will. Charles Gratiot was a member of the firm of David McCrae & Co., at Cahokia, from 1771 to 1781. Among the earliest mortgages in St. Louis is that of Pierre Saffray to Joseph O’Neille. Mathew Kennedy, in 1771, executed a bond to Antoine Bernard, and in the will of Jan Louis Lambert, a merchant, who died here in 1771, is found memoranda of an indebtedness due Morrissey & Co. Both Kennedy and Morrissey were prominent merchants here long prior to this.
When Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, determined to check the progress of the English on the Western frontier, he gave the command to the son of an Irishman, Gen. George Rogers Clark. Virginia was unable to furnish the money to equip Clark’s troops for the Illinois campaign, but an Irish merchant of New Orleans, Oliver Pollock, borrowed $70,000 from Count O’Reilly, once commandant of the Louisiana territory. What Morris did in the East Pollock did in the West for the American cause. To his financial aid the United States owes the success of Clark’s Illinois campaign. That Clark had many soldiers of Irish birth in his army is shown by a deposition taken at Kaskaskia, June 11, 1779, in which are the names of Andrew McDonald, Aaron Barrett, Patrick Shine, Andrew Coil and Tarrance Mooney.
The first American who settled in St. Louis after Clark’s surprise of Kaskaskia, in 1778, was Philip Fine, son of Thomas Fine, an Irish settler in Virginia. He came in 1781. Kaskaskia was the settling place of many Irish in the early days, among them being Robert Morrison, an Irish merchant, who arrived in 1792.
In 1800 occurred the murder of Adam Horne, on the Meramec. The commandant at Carondelet appointed as witnesses to the inventory John Cummings and John Donald, the witness to the order being Bartholomew Harrington.
In 1803 Governor Delassus organized two companies of militia for the protection of New Madrid, and appointed Richard Waters, captain, and George K. Reagan, lieutenant of cavalry, and Robert McCoy, captain, and John Hart, ensign of infantry. William Sullivan obtained the first tavern license issued in the town after its transfer to the Americans, and was appointed by General Harrison constable and coroner, holding in the latter capacity the first inquest. In 1816, when Chouteau laid out the first addition to the town, Sullivan purchased a half block, on which he built a residence, where he died.
Immediately after the transfer of the territory, Colonel Delassus addressed an official note to the new American officials commending, among others, the following officers who had served under him in the French service: James Mackay, commandant at St. Andrew, “an officer of knowledge, zealous and punctual”; also Mr. Mathew McKonel, Robert McKay, “a brave officer,” and Dr. Samuel Dorsey, surgeon of the fort.
After the transfer came the descendants of Irish settlers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, the Carolinas and Tennessee, a sturdy, vigorous, independent and progressive race, to whom President Roosevelt, himself a descendant on the maternal side, pays tribute in his Winning of the West. The fathers of many of them took part in the Revolutionary War, others were those who were banished from Ireland through the same laws that forced Americans to rebel.
Among the latter was Joseph Charless, a native of Westmeath, who sought his fellow refugees, Mathew Carey and William Duane, in Philadelphia. He worked as a compositor on Duane’s Aurora, and set up for Carey the first folio edition of the Bible printed in the United States. Shortly afterward he left for Kentucky, coming later with his printer’s outfit on mulebacks to St. Louis, where he began the publication of the first newspaper printed west of the Mississippi, the Missouri Gazette, in 1808.
In 1804 came John Mullanphy, the celebrated philanthropist. His third daughter, Jane, married Charles Chambers, son of John Chambers, a United Irishman, who, with Thomas Addis Emmet, Dr. William Macneven and thirteen others, after their release from a political prison, came to America, where they rose to distinction.
James Rankin was the first sheriff of St. Louis under American rule, and the first grand jury contains some Irish names, and many transfers of real estate from early settlers are recorded this year, among them that of Manuel Lisa to Patrick Cullen and Joseph Bent. Eighteen hundred and four was the year when the old Fort Bellefontaine was selected for the establishment of Jefferson Barracks, which, after its abandonment, in 1826, was left in charge of Capt. John Whistler, a native of Ireland, founder of Fort Dearborn, in 1803, now the city of Chicago, and grandfather of the famous American artist, James A. McNeil Whistler. He died in St. Louis in 1829.
This year also saw the departure of Lewis and Clark to the Rocky Mountains, Clark being a brother to Gen. Rogers Clark. Among the party were George Shannon, who afterward became United States attorney for Missouri, and Patrick Gass.
A remarkable Irishman came in 1805—Jeremiah Conners. In 1818 he was the owner of the 40–arpent lots, on which he laid out Washington Avenue. Part of his property he donated to Bishop Dubourg, in 1820, for founding St. Louis University, the first of its kind in St. Louis. At his house was organized the first Irish society established in the city, in 1818.
William Christy, whose people came from County Down, was also a famous man. He laid out the whole section known as North St. Louis. Another large Irish landholder was Patrick McMasters Dillon, who, previous to leaving Ireland, was involved in the Emmet rising. He laid out several additions to the city on lands he purchased, his last being “Dillon’s Fourth Addition,” in 1840, on a tract purchased from Fred Dent, father-in-law of President Grant. One of his daughters, Martha N., married the celebrated Capt. James B. Eads.
Among other large purchasers of real estate in the early years occur the names of James Mackay, James Conway, Mathew Boyse, John Hogan, Hugh O’Neill and John Dougherty. A famous lawyer of this time was Col. Luke E. Lawless, a native of Dublin, who came in 1816, and who, after the resignation of Judge William C. Carr from the Circuit Court, succeeded him. Still another was Nathaniel Beverly Tucker. He became judge of the Circuit Court. One of the family married John Patten Emmet, youngest son of Thomas Addis Emmet, who was appointed professor of chemistry in the University of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson, the son of the union being the celebrated Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet of New York. Another legal luminary was Hamilton Rowan Gamble, whose people came from Belfast. In 1861 he was chosen provisional governor of the state.
In the first House of Representatives of the territory, S. McGrady represented Ste. Genevieve. In the legislative council occurs the name of James Flaugherty. William Neeley became president of the council. The first state Legislature met in the Missouri Hotel, built by Thomas Brady, a famous Irishman of his day.
Col. John O’Fallon, son of Dr. James O’Fallon, native of County Roscommon, surgeon under Washington, came in 1811, and resided with his uncle, General Clark. The name has become so identified with the history of the city as to need no mention. Francis Redford opened, in 1804, the first school for instruction in English. The honor of giving the grounds for its first seat of learning belongs to a native of the Emerald Isle. The proud distinction of being called the “Father of the University of Missouri” belongs to a man whose ancestors came from the County Tyrone, Dr. James Rollins.
The first bank, the Bank of St. Louis, organized in 1813, had as one of its commissioners Thomas Brady, and the second, the Bank of Missouri, had among its directors John McKnight and Mathew Kerr, and the Bank of the State of Missouri, organized in 1837, had among its directors Hugh O’Neill, Edward Walsh, Edward Dobyns and John O’Fallon. A branch of the United States Bank was started in 1819, with John O’Fallon as president.
The Merchants’ Exchange began as a debating Society, in 1836, with Edward Tracy as president and John Ford as secretary. The Millers’ Association, the first of its kind in the West, was established in 1849, among the members being John Walsh. Financial exchanges need telegraphic connections, so along came a Leitrim man, Henry O’Reilly, in 1847, who opened here the first telegraph office west of the Mississippi.
In military life the men of the “Fighting Race” were to the fore. The St. Louis Grays, the first volunteer organization, started in 1832, had for its ensign John P. Riley, but a volunteer company of light infantry preceded it in 1819, having for its captain Henry W. Conway. Other companies were added to the Grays in 1842, forming the First Regiment, St. Louis Legion, among the designations of the companies being “Montgomery Guards,” with Patrick Gorman, captain; “St. Louis Guards,” Daniel Byrne, captain; “Mound City Guards,” John H. Barrett, captain; “Morgan Riflemen,” Henry J. McKillop, captain.
In this review of the “pioneer” Irish in St. Louis, many names necessarily are omitted. Sufficient to mention men of worth in their day, such as John C. Sullivan, collector, in 1814; Judge Thomas McGuire, 1817; Captain McGunnegle, the Rankin Brothers, Hugh, Robert and David, who came hither from Ireland in 1819; Bernard Gillully, who was in partnership with Edward C. Cummings; James Clemens, Patrick Walsh, Richard K. Dowling, Thomas Hanley, Thomas M. Doherty, Mayor Ferguson, William Carr Lane, Bryan Mullanphy, and others.
Such men, indeed, were the “cream of St. Louis society” in the early part of the nineteenth century.
We hear much of the part played by the Irish in the creation and maintenance of the American republic in the military sense, but what they have contributed towards its civil, commercial, manufacturing or educational development is much overlooked and remains unknown to readers of the present day.
2. Published in Paris, 1903.
3. Possibly intended for Lynch. Some of these attained higher rank during the war and after.
4. The officers of but one battalion of the regiment of Walsh are given here.
5. On page 121, Vol. V, Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society: “Thomas the Irishman” is mentioned as in the Dutch records of New York. Thus, Hon. Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, writing to Capt. Martin Cregier, 1663, says: “Your letter by Thomas the Irishman has just been received.” ... On August 5, 1663, Captain Cregier writes in his journal: “Thomas the Irishman arrived here at the Redoubt from the Manhatans.” On September 1, 1663, Captain Cregier writes: “Thomas the Irishman and Claesje Hoorn arrived with their yachts at the Kill from the Manhatan,” and on the 17th of the same month the captain writes: “Thomas the Irishman arrived today.” The foregoing references may be found in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, edited by Fernow, Vol. XIII, Albany, 1881.
In the preparation for an exhaustive history of early New York Mr. Dingman Versteeg, archivist of the Holland Society, has been able to trace out many heretofore lacking details of the record of the Irishman who was so prominent here in Governor Stuyvesant’s time.
His name was Thomas Lewis, and he must have gone to Holland from Ireland some time previous to 1657. How long he remained there does not appear, but, in that year, he was sent from Amsterdam under contract to the Dutch West Indies Company as a carpenter to New Amsterdam, as this city (New York) was then called. His name was transformed in the records to Thomas Lodewicksen, a sort of Latin-Dutch combination.
For three years after this he does not seem to have made much stir here, and then he appears as the captain of a bark plying between this city and Albany. A man of such standing in this community at that time was a real captain of industry and a citizen of substance.
The favor and regard in which Lewis was held by Governor Stuyvesant is evidenced by the fact that his bark was used to transport troops in the Esopus war of 1663, and on it Stuyvesant made his headquarters, so dating a number of letters still extant.
Lewis was married to a Dutch wife, Geesje Barents, a member of a prominent and well-known family in this city. He had several children. One of them, Thomas Lodewicksen, Jr., married Frances, daughter of the famous Jacob Leisler, head of the colony, which is another indication of his father’s social prominence.
Lewis died here, on September 14, 1685, and his widow was named executrix of his will by Governor Dongan, April 1, 1686. There are many of his descendants among the various Lewis families scattered over this state, but few of them, perhaps, know that their ancestor was that “Thomas the Irishman” mentioned so frequently in the old Dutch records of Stuyvesant’s time.
James and Isaac Savage and their two sisters, came to America from Ireland. Afterward, about 1763, their father, James Savage, being then an aged man, came to this country to Newton, Mass., where the two daughters had settled. There he died and was buried.
His sons, James and Isaac, settled at Woolwich, Me., where James was early killed by the Indians. Isaac married and had a large family. His wife’s name is not known. Among their children was a son, who settled at Wiscasset, Me., another son who settled at Woolwich and another son, James, who also settled at Wiscasset. James (3) married Mary Hilton, who was born at Berwick, Me., in 1721, and lived to be 100 years old. James and Mary had seventeen children. Order of birth is not known.
They were as follows: Isaac, who married Deborah Soule; Abigail, married, June 13, 1765, Robert Lambert; Lydia, married, February 1, 1776, Daniel Ring; Hannah, born 1745, married Thomas McFadden; James, married Annah Young; Ebenezer, born 1753, married Sarah Chase; Abraham, married, in 1783, Patience Young; John, married, in 1783, Susannah Tinkham or Pinkham; Jacob, born in 1759, married, in 1781, Hannah Gray; Mary, married, in 1795, John Card; Charles, married, in 1784, Margaret Corillard, and married, second, about 1785, Margaret Rose Lovejoy; Catherine, died April 24, 1800, unmarried; Edward, born 1776, married, June 6, 1790, Sarah Smith; Andrew, born 1769, married Tamson Tibbetts; Christiana, Daniel, Ann.
An interesting historical paragraph recently contributed, states that in 1798 Edward O’Brien printed in New Haven, Conn., his “School Dictionary: Being a compendium of the latest and most improved dictionaries,” which exists in two copies—the British Museum copy (perfect) and the Yale College Library copy (lacking ten pages). This was the first dictionary by an American author published in this country. It has no date, but is thought to have been issued towards the end of 1798. Its author, who taught school in Guilford, Conn., was born there March 10, 1757, and died there August 20, 1836. Soon after its publication its author and the Rev. John Elliott (1768–1824, great-great-grandson of John Elliott, the Indian apostle) prepared the second American dictionary, which was copyrighted in June, 1799, and published in January, 1800.
James Stevenson, a native of Ireland, was born in 1750 and was brought to this country when a child. During the Revolutionary War he served as a sergeant in Colonel Evans’ Pennsylvania regiment, was captured by the enemy and held for a year in the notorious British prison ships.
After the war he married Hannah Bull, a daughter of Col. John Bull, of Chester County, Pa., a soldier of the Revolution. They removed to Lawrence County, Pa., Mr. Stevenson dying in Poland, Ohio, in 1834. He left many descendants and a society has been formed among them. It holds annual reunions.
Among his descendants may be mentioned: John H. Stevenson, of Allegheny; Prof. William M. Stevenson, of Pittsburg; Rev. Frank B. Stevenson, of New Castle; Dr. Silas Stevenson; James A. Stevenson and E. S. Stevenson, of New Castle; T. D. Stevenson, of New Bedford, Pa.; Mrs. Rebecca Stevenson Neal, of Pulaski, Pa.; Capt. Thomas S. Calhoun, of Georgetown, Pa.; Thomas S. McCready, of Manchester, Kas.; Homer A. McCready, of Hancock County, W. Va.; Thomas W. Stevenson, of East Liverpool, O.; William E. Stevenson, of Hookstown, Pa., and W. H. Stevenson, of Hookstown.
Andrew Haley was of the Isles of Shoals. He was of Irish blood and had a son, Andrew, who married Elizabeth Scammon, of Kittery, Me., in 1697. Andrew Haley, Sr., early settled on the islands and eventually became styled “King of the Shoals.” He and his descendants seem to have long occupied that portion of the Shoals known as Haley’s Island. In the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, for 1800, is a paper descriptive of the Shoals, from which paper we extract the following: “The only secure harbour in these islands is Haley’s, which opens to the S. W., having Haley’s island S. E., Malaga N. W., a wall built by Mr. Haley, between 70 and 80 paces in length, on the N. E.... At the close of the year 1800 there were on Haley’s island, three decent dwelling houses, occupied by Mr. Haley, an ingenious and respectable old gentleman of seventy-six, and his two sons, with their families. Mr. Haley has expended a handsome fortune in erecting the expensive wall before mentioned, wharves, and other useful works. Among these are a windmill, rope walk, 270 feet long; salt works erected before the war [Revolution], a bake house, brewery, distillery, built in 1783, and a blacksmith’s and cooper’s shop.”
Long before the Revolution, and long after that period, Irish pork and butter were imported to this country in great quantities. A Boston paper publishes the following letter, which was dated October 29, 1763, and sent from a leading firm in Boston to parties in Ireland: “This is to Desire you will as soon as possible & without Fail Ship us from Cork 250 Barrels Best Irish Pork & 100 Firkins of good Irish Butter, the weight of each Barrell of Pork to be mark’d on the head, to be well Pack’d. This Article will be very Scarce & Dear here, that we must Depend upon your shipping it with the 100 Firkins of Butter [all] to be here in March if possible & if no oppor’y to this place Ship it to Halifax to the care of Benj. Gerrish Esqr. and as soon as the next May Butter is fit to ship we Desire you will then ship us 100 Firkins more of the best Rose May Butter. We rely on your care to have these articles of the best kind & purchased at the best Rates, which charge to our accott. We beg your attention to this that we may not by any means be disappointed, as we shall be in great want of it. We are with Respect, Gent., Your most hum. Servts, Messrs. Jona. Barnard & Co.”—(From The Recorder [A. I. H. S.], Boston, Mass., March, 1902.)
A Moravian missionary who went from Pennsylvania to Georgia, in 1743–’44, writes that while in the lower valley of Virginia: “I asked him (Joist Hite) for the way to Carolina. He told me of one which runs for 150 miles through Irish settlements, the district being known as Irish tract.”—(Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October, 1904.)
Barnabas Palmer, of Rochester, N. H., was born in Cork or Limerick, 1725, emigrated from there with two brothers, and enlisted under Sir William Pepperill. Barnabas sailed from Portsmouth, N. H.,—one of the force of 3,000 men, 1745, and on the Isle of Cape Breton, under Fort Louisburg, left his right arm. Subsequently he settled in Rochester, N. H., married, had fourteen children, and was a member of the General Court of New Hampshire that ratified the Constitution of the United States. Here is another fragment of history: Lieutenant-General Pepperrell, in 1745, ordered Maj. John Stover to organize a company at Wells, Me., for the Louisburg expedition. The order was promptly carried out. Among the volunteers were Edward Welch, John Conaway, James Gillpatrick, John McDaniel, James Read, Michael Wilson and John Burks (Burke?). They sailed March 24, 1745, for Cape Breton. Some of the company died there. In the fall of 1745 most of the survivors returned to Wells.
Workmen who were digging in Congress Street [Boston] the other day found an interesting old coin which is said by experts to link the records of Boston currency nearly two centuries ago with a mintage controversy that stirred even the phlegmatic George III, and elicited some of the most famous witticisms of Dean Swift and dignified declarations of Sir Isaac Newton. It is about one third larger than an American quarter and has on the obverse side an idealized head of George III, in the center, surrounded with the words “Georgius Deo Gratia Rex.” Perhaps the intrinsic interest is in the reverse side, which has in the center a symbolic figure of Ireland, bearing a harp, and on the border is stamped “Hibernia—1723.” The first anomaly in this is that, although it was on its face an Irish coin, it was neither coined nor circulated in that country, but, owing to indignant protests of Irish dealers, crystallized by the sarcasms of that witty divine, Dean Swift, it was shipped over to Boston, where it circulated as the “colonial half-penny.” In the old country it was called the “Woods half-penny,” on account of its coinage by a Londoner of that name. This was the chief element of grievance, as Ireland was then approaching the time when the aspiration of a Grattan were to find realization, and Swift argued in his famous Drapier letters that the country should not have these foreign and false coins passed upon it.—(Boston Transcript, October 12, 1895.)
Since I forwarded the data relating to Dennis and William Mackarty, I have again examined the probate records of this town, and have made the discovery that the will of Dennis Maccarty of Warren was probated November 7, 1757. As Dennis of Bristol did not die until 1760, it follows that there must have been living in Bristol County two men bearing the same name, both of whom served in the French wars.
I enclose a copy of the will of Dennis of Warren. In 1757, Warren, as you know, included Barrington. You will notice that the legatees mentioned in the will were all Barrington men; therefore, I conclude that that Dennis resided in the west section of the town. Again, the testator mentions no kindred, while Dennis of Bristol had a wife and son. Here is the will mentioned:
“In the Name of God Amen I Dennis Maccarty of Warren in the County of Bristol in the Colony of Rhode Island Labourer being engaged in the expedition against Crown Point; and not knowing what Shall befall me Being now of a Sound and Disposing mind; Thanks be to God; Do make this my last will and Testament in manner following; Principally and first of all I give my soul to the hands of God that gave it and my Body to the earth to be Decently Buried in a Christian manner hoping for a Blessed Resurrection thro the merits of Jesus our only Redeemer; and as to my worldly goods where with it hath Pleased God to Bless me I give the same in the following manner;
“Item. My Will is that my Just Debts and Funeral Charges be Duly and Seasonably Paid by my executor.
“Item. To my loving and well beloved Friend Peleg Richmond I give a Note of hand I have against him of one hundred and thirty-two pounds old tenor Rhode Island currency.
“Item. To my loving and beloved friend John Roger Richmond I give all my wearing apparel.
“Item. To my friend Mary Richmond Juner I give one hundred pounds. To her sister Elizabeth Richmond I give sixty pounds; and to Sarah Richmond I give forty pounds; all to be paid in old tenor Rhode Island.
“Item. To my beloved friend Benjamin Viall I give a note of hand I have against him of Forty Pounds three Shillings old tenor.
“Item. To my beloved friend Thomas Brown I give Thirty Pounds old tenor Rhode Island currency.
“To my Trusty and Beloved Friend Solomon Townsend of Warren, Clerk, whom I make executor of my last will and Testament I give and bequeath all the Remainder of my moneys, Bills, notes, Bonds, and wares that Shall Remain and become Due After the above Legacies are Paid. And I Do Ratify and confirm this to be my last will and testament. In Witness hereof I have Set my hand and Seal this Thirtieth Day of April in the Twenty ninth year of his majesties’ Reign Anno Domini Seventeen Hundred and Fifty Six.
“Signed, Sealed, Published and delivered by sd. Dennis Maccarty to be his last Will and Testament.
The sloop Seaflower left Belfast, Ireland, July 10, 1741, bound for Philadelphia, in the province of Pennsylvania. She had 106 persons aboard, mainly emigrants.
The Seaflower was owned by Joseph Thompson of New Haven, Conn., and Capt. Ebenezer Clark, master of the sloop. Thompson owned three fourths and Clark the remainder. When about two weeks out, Captain Clark, the master, sickened and died and the mate was also taken ill.
Thus began a reign of suffering, wretchedness and misery that has seldom been surpassed in the annals of ocean voyages. Some time after the master’s death the sloop sprung her mast and to add to the horrors of the voyage the supply of water and provisions began to run low.
The accident to the mast, the sickness and other troubles greatly extended the voyage so that long before the American coast was sighted many of the ship’s company and passengers had perished of hunger.
In order to sustain life the living were driven to feed on the dead. Six bodies had been thus consumed and the seventh was being cut up when the Success, man-of-war, came alongside and her captain supplied the well-nigh crazed survivors of the Seaflower with provisions sufficient to bring them into port.
Now to account for this fearful voyage: It is possible that the sloop was overcrowded on leaving Belfast; also that a miscalculation had been made as to the probable length of time that would be required for the voyage, this leading to an inadequate supply of water and provisions. The death of the master and the illness of the mate likewise had a decided tendency to complicate matters. When the food supply was at length exhausted, and the last drop of water gone, thirst was added to the horrors of hunger. With the vessel still many leagues from land, the awful sufferings of passengers and crew can be imagined, not described.
Forty-six died on the passage.
The Seaflower cast anchor in Boston Harbor, October 31, sixteen weeks having elapsed since she sailed from Ireland. On the date mentioned, October 31, 1741, the selectmen of Boston convened in session, there being present: Captain Forsyth, Caleb Lyman, Jonas Clark, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Cook and Captain Steel. At this meeting was considered “The sloop Seaflower this day arrived from Belfast, Ebenezer Clark, late master, with 65 passengrs on board....” The following minute was recorded, viz., that
“Whereas a Sloop from Ireland with a number of Passengers on board being arrived in this Harbour & apprehending danger may acrue to the Inhabitants by reason of the Hardships the People have Suffered in their Passage being obliged to eat some of their People to Sustain Life, Voted That the Select Men View the State of the Persons on board with Doctr Clark & Report what Circumstances they are in....”
The selectmen accordingly visited the afflicted survivors of the Seaflower and found the facts as here outlined. So serious was the case, that the Selectmen again met on November 2 and decided to wait on the governor and council to acquaint them with the conditions and see what could be done. The same day, November 2, a meeting of the governor and council was held in the council chamber in Boston, the selectmen appeared, stated their case and sought advice.
They declared that about thirty of the passengers were in “very low circumstances & not able of taking care of themselves, but require the speediest care to preserve life.” The selectmen prayed “that suitable provision may be made for them or else they must perish.” The governor and council accordingly
Ordered that the selectmen secure the papers belonging to the owners and last master, with the goods aboard and dispose of the servants and passengers in hospital on Rainsford’s island, where they were to be supported and nursed. It was also ordered that the “owners of the said Sloop” be speedily advised of existing conditions and requested to come to Boston, “pay the Charges herein expended & take all further Care in the Premisses as shall be necessary.”
The selectmen thereupon sent an express to Joseph Thompson, of New Haven, asking him to repair to Boston and take charge of the Seaflower and servants. They likewise directed the town clerk of Boston to write to Mr. Thompson. The selectmen also voted that Captain Forsyth and Captain Steel of their number be a committee to go aboard the sloop and take an account of the papers, etc., and secure them, Mr. Savell to see that the unfortunate people were supplied with all things necessary to their comfort until the vessel was taken to Rainsford’s island. Mr. Ball was directed to take the sloop there as soon as possible.
On Tuesday morning, the vessel and passengers were taken over to the island “with the help of Capt. Tyng & his People who came in the long boat & other persons.” The passengers were all carried ashore and lodged in the hospital. Doctor Clark gave directions for the treatment of the patients, and men were put in charge of the vessel and the goods aboard.
The selectmen met again on November 16. Mr. Thompson of New Haven appeared and stated that he owned three fourths of the sloop and that Ebenezer Clark, the deceased master, owned the rest. He asked that the vessel’s papers he delivered to him and this was done. Thompson and Captain Steel, the latter one of the selectmen, assumed all the charges incurred.
The facts briefly stated herein have been obtained from the minutes of the selectmen of Boston as reproduced in printed form by the record commissioners of that city.
Portsmouth, R. I., was settled in 1638. Nine years later it was the most populous town in the colony. Here Eleazar Slocum was born on the “25th day of the 10th month 1664.” He resided there until some twenty years of age when he removed to Dartmouth Township, now included in the city of New Bedford, Mass.
In Dartmouth he wedded an Irish girl named Elephell Fitzgerald. Concerning her there are two theories. The first is that she was the daughter of an Irish earl and came to this country with her sister, who was eloping with an English officer. The second theory is that favored by Charles E. Slocum, M. D. Ph. D. In his History of the Slocums he inclines to the belief that Miss Fitzgerald was one of those Irish maidens who were shipped to New England in Cromwell’s time or at later periods.
There were doubtless large numbers of these Irish girls brought over. The majority of them were, without question, Roman Catholics. Frequently their fate was a hard and cruel one. Thebaud, in his Irish Race in the Past and the Present, writing on the subject says:
“Such of them as were sent North were to be distributed among the ‘saints’ of New England, to be esteemed by the said ‘saints’ as ‘idolaters,’ ‘vipers,’ ‘young reprobates,’ just objects of ‘the wrath of God’; or, if appearing to fall in with their new and hard task-masters, to be greeted with words of dubious praise as ‘brands snatched from the burning,’ ‘vessels of reprobation,’ destined, perhaps, by a due initiation of the ‘saints’ to become ‘vessels of election,’ in the meantime to be unmercifully scourged with the ‘besom of righteousness,’ at the slightest fault or mistake.”
Some, however, met a better fate. Their lines fell in more fortunate places. In many cases they were kindly treated and, in time, married into the families of their recent masters. Some of them, too, reared large families of manly sons and womanly daughters and lived to a happy old age. Many of their descendants must exist today in high places. Perhaps some are not aware of their maternal Irish descent, while a few may be reluctant to acknowledge it if they are. Yet, many of these Irish girls were descended from the old nobility and clansmen whose names and fames had ranked with the most illustrious in Europe.
Miss Fitzgerald’s marriage to Eleazar Slocum took place about 1687. Their children were Meribah, born in 1689; Mary, born 1691; Eleazar, born in 1693–’94; John, 1696–’97; Benjamin, 1699, and Joanna, 1702. There was also another child named Ebenezer. In 1699 the husband and father is recorded as giving £3 toward building a Quaker meeting house. His will was proved in 1727. It makes the following provisions concerning his wife:
“Item—I give and bequeath Elephell, my beloved wife, the sum of twenty pounds [per] annum of Good and Lawful money of New England, to be paid Yearly and Every Year By my Executrs During her Naturall life—
“Item—I give and bequeath to Elephell my beloved wife an Indian girl named Dorcas During the time she hath to Serve by Indenture—she fulfilling all articles on my behalf—
“Item—I give and Bequeath to Elephell my beloved wife, The great low room of my Dwelling house with the two bedrooms belonging together with the Chamber over it and the Bedrooms belonging thereto, and the Garrett and also what part of the Nw Addition she shall Choose and one half of the cellar, During her Naturall life.
“Item—I will that my executors procure and supply Elephell my wife with firewood sufficient During her Naturall life, And whatsoever Provisions and Corn shall be left after my Decease, I give to Elephell my wife for her support, and also the hay for Support of the Cattle. The above gifts and Bequests is all and what I intend for Elephell my wife instead of her thirds or Dowry.”
To his son Eleazar he bequeathed the northerly part of the homestead farm, 100 acres, with house, barns, orchard, etc.; to son Ebenezer, the southerly part of the homestead farm “on which my dwelling house stands.” To Eleazar and Ebenezer he also gives other lands, and to Ebenezer, in addition one pair of oxen, a pair of steers, eight cows, two heifers and £12. The remainder of the horses, cattle, etc., he gives to Eleazar and Ebenezer. The inventory shows £5,790 18s 11d personal estate.
His widow, Elephell (Fitzgerald) Slocum, made a will “the 19th day of the first month called March 1745–6.” It was proved October 4, 1748. Joanna, one of her daughters, married Daniel, son of John Weeden of Jamestown, R. I. A son of theirs was named Gideon Slocum Weeden.
The late Esther B. Carpenter of Wakefield, R. I., author of a delightful volume of sketches entitled South County Neighbors, once alluded to Miss Fitzgerald in a note to the writer. Miss Carpenter said that she remembered to have heard her maternal grandmother say that she valued her Irish line of descent from Miss Fitzgerald above any other she could claim. This Irish connection had always been a common remark in the family. The grandmother in question had named one of her daughters Alice Joanna after her Irish ancestress, whose daughter Joanna had married a Weeden as already stated. Many of the Weeden, Slocum and other families now in Rhode Island trace descent back to Elephell, the gentle Irish girl. Descendants of Elephell (Fitzgerald) Slocum are found today in New Bedford, Mass. The writer recently conversed with one of them.