The story of the Irish in Boston, together with biographical sketches of representative men and noted women

Front matter

(ilass Book.

THE STORY

OF THE

Introduction

THE purpose of this work is to give an account of the settlement, progress, and development of the Irish and their descendants in Boston, from the earliest times.

The propriety, expediency, and necessity of presenting the subject was conceived by the author ten years ago, while engaged in preparing an article for the Boston " Pilot," relating to the Irishmen of Boston. The work then seemed to be impracticable, by reason of the complex character of unpublished historical data, the long period of time that would be required to unravel the skein and weave the story together.

Within a few years the labor of examining various histories and collecting manuscripts of invaluable interest and worth was commenced. The researches in this direction revealed many surprising events in the colonial, as well as in the more recent history of Boston, wherein Irishmen were active participants; and, strange to say, where the importance of their achievements is mentioned at all, or they themselves are written about, the most meagre information is given.

By careful study and recourse to comparative references many facts, hitherto generally unknown, were brought to light.

An examination of the table of comparative statistics shows an unequalled record of immigration to Boston, to the credit of the Irish nation. Nor were all the early Irish settlers here " hewers of wood and drawers of water." Amongst the dignified professional, mercantile,'

•John Cogan, of the County Cork, Ireland, was the father of mercantile life in Boston. He was the first to open a store on the north-east corner of Washington and State streets. His house stood on the north-west corner of Tremont and Beacon streets. In 1635 Nathaniel Hancock came from Ireland, and settled in Newtown (now Cambridge, Mass.)- He died in Cambridge, in 1652. See Holmes' Annals.

and commercial * men of the time stood the self-rehant and brainy- Irishman.

In 1634 the General Court of Massachusetts granted lands to Irish and Scotch gentlemen on the Merrimac river, now Newbur}'- port.^ The successive communities from the old Puritan days have realized the good and useful deeds of the Irish in this city, whose unswerving fidelity and loyalty to Boston, old and new, remain unsurpassed.

Their love of liberty, their hatred of oppression, their valor and heroism in the War for Independence, when remembered, should sink so deep in the hearts of their fellow-citizens as to fraternize them forever. When lovely Peace had spread her white pinions over the land. Irishmen wended their way to the farm, the workshop, and the mill.

Their adaptability and loyal adherence at all times to the strange and newly constructed government which followed the Revolution, and their observance of the stranger laws and customs then introduced, are as characteristic of them as their love of industry, thrift, and success.

Once in this free country, they guarded her interests, of which theirs formed an integral part, jealously, carefully, valiantly.

The Irish soldier of Boston engaged in the successive wars that followed the Revolution, and the reader has but to turn to the pages of history to find him fighting and dying on the altar of liberty in its defence. Scrutinize the regimental history of the Union armies :

' A.D. 1636, mo. 3, 15. "Here arrived a ship called the * St. Patrick,' belonging to Sir Thomas Wentworth, Deputy of Ireland, one Palmer, Master. When she came near Castle Island the Lieutenant of the fort went aboard her, and made her strike her flag, which the master took as great injury, and complained of it to the magistrates; who calling the Lieutenant before them, heard the cause, and declared to the master, that he had no commission so to do. And because he had made them strike to the fort (which had then no colors aboard) they tendered the master such satisfaction as he desired, which was only this, that the Lieutenant aboard their ship should acknowledge his error, that so all the ships company might receive satisfaction lest the deputy should have been informed that he had offered that discourtesy to his ship, which he had never offered to any before." — " Winthrop's Journal," p. 100, Vol. i.

'^ See Records of General Court, Vol. i., p. 28.

Where will we find the Union soldiers, foreign or native born, nearer the breastworks of the enemy than those who wore the sprig of green ?

Generations of Irishmen have made their home in Boston. They and their descendants have inwrought their work on the various departments of municipal life. Where is it recorded? Have we an Irish Historical Society in Boston to preserve the history and lives of our people?

In this respect there has been a void in the literature of Boston. The original design of this work was draughted on a much smaller scale ; but, by the advice of many persons eminent in letters and public life, it was enlarged.

The subject is presented in two parts — historical and biographical. The first seven historical chapters were written by Mr. William Taylor, Jr.

The biographical sketches — Distinguished Men of Early Times, Representative Men of Our Own Times, and Noted Women, — including a newly written sketch of the Catholic Church in Boston, Sketches of Men in Professional and Public Life, etc., were written, and in some instances compiled, by the author, who also prepared the table of contents, in a way to make it interesting. The engravings were made especially for this work.

If the work shall lead to a more thorough knowledge of the good accomplished by the Irish in Boston, and thereby awaken a fuller appreciation of their worth as citizens, its object will have been attained.

J. B. C.

Boston, Mass., February, 1889.

Chapter I. Page

The Irish in the colonial period. — St. Botolph's town. — Pro-English and Anti-Irish feeling among the colonists. — Irish names that appear in Boston's colonial history. — Causes of Irish emigration. — Religious prejudice. — ^The authorities extend an invitation to the New-England colonists to settle in Ireland. — The undesirableness of Ireland as a home at that time. — The "Scotch-Irish." — Visits of the Puritans to Ireland. — American colonists of Irish descent. — Declaration of the citizens of the town on the Catholic question. — Extracts from the town records of Sept. 22, 1746. — "Pope's night" in Boston. — Burning the Pope in effigy. — Gen. Washington appears on the scene. — He reprimands the soldiers. — The Abbe de la Poterie. — Irish apostates. — Difference in race between the " Scotch-Irish " and the CathoHc-Irish. — The Charitable Irish Society. — " Of the Irish Nation." — The Scots' Charitable Society. — A.D. 1636. — The Brecks of Dorchester. — A numerous and distinguished family. — An unrecorded deed. — " Robert Breck of Galway, in Ireland, merchant." — Florence Maccarty in Boston as early as 1686. — Thaddeus Maccarty and family. — Edward Mortimer, the mathematician and volunteer fireman. — Distinctively Irish names which appear in the register of births, marriages, and deaths, in Boston, from 1630- 1700. — Under Cromwell's government many Irish people emigrate to New England. — On their arrival they are sold as slaves. — The reason why. — In 1654 the ship " Goodfellow " arrives at Boston with a large number of Irish immigrants. — What Cotton Mather says. — The petition of Ann Glyn and Jane Hunter, spinsters, lately arrived from Dublin, Ireland. — English criminals systematically sold to the colonists. — Daring pirates kidnap men and sell them to Americans. — The brigantine " Bootle," Capt. Robert Boyd commanding, touches Boston in August, 1736. — The selectmen order him not to let his passengers " Come on Shoar." II

Chapter II

The Irish witch. — The belief in the actual existence of imps, witches, and embodied devils. — The defenders of the belief were often men of great and distinguished talents. — Eminent counsel and learned divines gave attendance at trials of suspected witches. — The devil's marks " being pricked will not bleed." — Watching for the witch's imp. — The wise magistrate. — Colonial society ajar, and seized by the devil-fear. — Mrs. Ann Hibbins falls a victim to the witch-hunter. — The

2 CONTENTS.

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fourth victim. —The Goodwin family suspected of witchcraft. —Gov. Hutchinson and the " Wild Irish." —The ministers appoint a day of fasting and prayer with the Goodwin family. — Goody Glover speaks in the Gaelic tongue while rendering her testimony in court. — She is said to be under the devil's influence. — Her house searched while she is on trial. — What was found there.— " Two honest men " act as her interpreters. — She is sent to prison. — Cotton Mather visits her twice while she is in prison. — She speaks to him in Irish. — Her interpreters tell him that the Irish word for "spirits" is the same as for "saints." — A witness testifies to having seen Goody Glover come down the chimney. — Examined by the physicians. — Their conclusion is that poor Goody is sane. — Sentenced to be hanged. — From the prison to the gallows. — The prophecy. — The procession. — The tumult. — Judge Sewall makes an entry in his diary. — The execution . . 25

CHAPTER HI.

The Charitable Irish Society.— The earhest association of Irishmen in Boston.— Object, aim, and scope of its founders. — Extracts from the records. — Early members of the Society. —James Mayer and Robert Henry. - The cautious selectmen. — The law of the province. — In 1722 John Little is warned by the selectmen to « depart out of this town."— John remains in Boston. — Interesting incidents and anecdotes about other early members of the Society. — Peter Pelham, painter and engraver. — His unsettled life. — A sketch of his life and works. — He marries the widow of Richard Copley. — Squire Singleton, of Ireland, and his daughter.— "The best Virginia Tobacco, cut, pigtail, and spun, of all sorts by Wholesale and Retail, at the Cheapest Rates."— A sketch of John Singleton Copley. — The Auchmuty family. — Capt. William Mackay, Gentleman. — His address to the members of the Society at a meeting held in October, 1784, the first after the Revolutionary War. — A word about the Tory members of the Society. —The Scots' Charitable Society abscond in a body at the beginning of the Revolution. — They carry off the Society records to Halifax. — Capt. John Mackey, master of the schooner " Margaret," is elected into the Charitable Irish Society in 1 791.— Capt. Robert Gardner furnishes the town of Boston a ship to take home " A true account of the horred Massacre" of Nov. 5, 1770. —His interest in his fellow-countrymen.— Many old members and some interesting facts connected with their lives. —The Society and the Irish Presbyterian Church. — Gov. Hancock presents the bell and vane of the old Brattle-street meeting-house. — The first pastor. — Rev. John Moorhead. — In 171 7 another colony of Irish immigrants arrives with Capt. Robert Temple.— The Know-nothing spirit already abroad.— The Society visits Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, at the Tremont House, June 22, 1833. — President Jackson's address in reply to an Address of Welcome, by Mr. James Boyd, on behalf of the Society. —The Society honors Lafayette. — The centennial celebration, March 17, 1837. -The President of the Charitable Mechanics' Association addresses the Society.— An impending crisis. — Hugh O'Brien submits a draft of resolutions condemning and abhorring every principle or movement that would dissever the Union, and invoking the assistance of

CO.YTENTS. 3

PAGE

citizens of all classes to devote themselves to the cause of the common country. — Many members go to the seat of war. — The centennial anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill 31

Chapter IV

Capt. Daniel !Malcom and the revenue acts. — He is appointed on a committee to regulate the sale of lambs. — The revenue officers suspect him of keeping contraband goods on his premises. — They institute a search without due warrant. — The sturdy captain stops them at the door of a room that he has his own reasons for protecting. — The officers retire. — They return again and meet with a worse reception. — Captain Alalcom has his Irish temper aroused. — Bloodshed imminent. — The British officers give up the search. — The attitude of the Crown officials. — The government depositions regarding the event. — A town-meeting held at which a committee of eight of the foremost citizens is appointed, including Otis, Hancock, and Adams, to ask the governor for copies of the testimony. — False views of the trouble gain credence with the ministry. — Faneuil Hall closed to the revenue officers at the State dinner on election day. — The revenue officers complain to England. — Gage stations a regiment in Boston. — Castle William prepares for active service. — Trouble brewing. — "Rebel" and "Tyrant." — A guard of forty men and what they did. — The streets filling with an excited crowd. — Wild rumors and a war ship. — Malcom stands at the head of his friends. — The boats arrive. — The excitement increases. — Malcom threatens to throw the frigate's people into the sea. — The moorings are cut. — The vessel leaves the wharf. — An attack. — The Collector's boat dragged to the Common. — The Puritan Sabbath follows. — A meeting at Liberty Hall.— Otis, Hancock, Adams, and Malcom wait upon the governor. — They submit a petition. — Otis speaks of armed resistance. — Malcom still busy vindicating the rights and liberties of the people. — He is appointed to report on the best course for the town to adopt " in the present emergency." — With the recording of the report Captain Malcom passes away. — His membership in the Charitable Irish Society. — His grave on Copp's Hill .............. 44

Chapter V

The immigrant. — The first considerable influx of Irish immigrants. — Capt. Robert Temple and the Irish Protestants. — live ships in Boston harbor bearing Irish immigrants. — The authorities warn the Irish to depart the town. — Governor Wentworth receives friendly warnings that the Irish are settling in the Merrimack valley. — John Sullivan, the Limerick schoolmaster, settles in Berwick, Me. — His distinguished sons, James and John. — A transcript from the memorial tablet in King's Chapel relating to William Sullivan. — The Amorys. — The introduction of the potato and the spinning-wheel by the Irish. — The establishment of a public spinning-wheel by the town. — The Society for encouraging Industry. — A public spinning match on the Common. — 1736-3S, ten ships come to Boston

4 CONTEYTS.

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from Ireland. — The immigrants ordered to Spectacie Island. — Capt. Benedict Arnold touches at Boston in the " Prudent Hannah." — A tiftj'-nine days' passage from Kingsgate, Ireland, to Boston. — The returned Irish emigrant inspires Swift to write " Gulliver's Travels." — Dennis Sullivant appears before the selectmen of Boston in 1 736. — A pathetic letter from across the sea. — The province appropriates fourteen pounds to send the poor fellow home. — A sloop in the harbor. — The horrors of starvation. — Cannibalism resorted to by the crew. — In the hospital on Rainsford's Island. — Governor Shirley receives a letter from a ship's crew in extreme want. — Piracy, pure and simple. — The result of a privateering exploit. — Importing Irish Protestants. — A letter to Samuel Waldo from James Boies. — " An act to regulate the importation of Germans and other passengers coming to settle in this province." — The modern emigrant ship. — Thanks to Miss Charlotte G. O'Brien . .51

CHAPTER \T.

The Know-nothing movement. — Its origin, history, and development. — Beautiful Devorgilla, of Brefny. — Dermot McMurrough and the O'Rorke. — English hatred towards the Irish. — Its influence on American thought and action. — Fostered by a careful silence of English historians on the grievances of the Irish. — Nursed on American soil, it sinks to sleep in times of danger. — The Irish citizen stands preeminently among the defenders of American liberty. — The utterance of Cotton Mather. — " There has been formidable attempts of Satan and his Sons to unsettle us." — Boston trembles for the purity of her English stock. — Regulations imposed upon the march of colonization. — The records of 1723. — Many Irishmen in Boston at the time of the Revolution. — The Loyal Irish Volunteers. — Catholics claim the right to worship. — Irish citizenship asserts itself. — A prerequisite to citizenship. — Foreign-born citizens take refuge in the ranks of the democracy. — Accession to the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. — The naturalization Act of 1802. — The War of 1812 kindled by the Irish exiles. — The religious phase of the hostility to the Irish in Boston. — The Broad-street riot. — A blot on Boston's history. — Mayor Eliot on the scene. — He calls out the militia. — The riot is speedily quelled. — The burning of the Ursuline Convent at Charlestown. — The Montgomery Guards. — An insult given to the Irish company. — The march from the Common to Faneuil Hall. — Followed by a mob and stoned. — The Irish boys march steadily through the spiteful shower of missiles until they reach their armory. — Governor Everett applauds the Irish company, and denounces the conduct of the City Guards. — " Native-Americanism " again. — "I don't know." — An " address " to the Native-Americans of New York. — Another anti-Irish excitement in Boston. — Famine in Ireland. — The political aspect of the case. — The visits of Catholic priests to the city institutions considered as revolutionary. — The citizens' movement. — The Boston "Bee." — Mayor Shurtleff and the Board of Aldermen wait upon John, Bishop of Boston. — " Protestant Jesuits " organize. — Their political machinery carefully and perfectly regulated. — The Know-nothing candidate. — He is defeated. — The election of

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Alexander H. Rice to the mayoralty. — The Columbian Artillery. — It disbands to escape persecution at the hands of the State government. — The birth of the anti-slavery movement. — Wreck of the so-called American party. — War! Irishmen to the front .........•'• 65

CHAPTER VII. I. - — Concord and I^cxington

The Irish soldier. • — Irish heroes come forward to take their places in the annals of American history. — Col. James Barrett at Concord bridge. — The cry of Paul Revere. — Irishmen heard it and sprang to the defence of the common cause. — The minute-men. — A beautiful picture of united patriotism. — A battle without a parallel in histor}'. — Yankee marksmen lay the red-coats low. — Irish- American minute-men. — Hugh Cargill, of Ballyshannon. — Dr. Thomas Welsh, the army surgeon, to the patriots. — " Lo ! from the east I see the harbinger, and from the train 'tis Peace herself, and, as attendants, all the gentle arts of hfe." — Irish names on the rolls of the Lexington minute-men ....... 82

Tl. — Bunker Hill.

The morning of June 17, 1775. — A wonderful sight. — The breastworks on top of Breed's Hill. — Manned by yeomen. — A blow for liberty, and another in revenge for the dreadful oppression of their forefathers in Ireland. — One thousand men at work under the veil of darkness. — A fierce cannonade from the English war-ship " Lively." — Brave Col. John Stark addresses his men. — They fight to the death.

— Charlestown ablaze. — The flower of the English army twice hurled back from their defences. — " There, see that officer! Let's have a shot at him!" — The English columns broken to pieces. — " The patriots stand like the Greeks of Thermopylre." — Names of Irishmen found on the rolls of Bunker Hill, as given

in the ^Massachusetts archives .......... 88

III. — The Siege of Boston.

The English must go. — Washington arrives from Virginia. — General John Sullivan leads a brigade. — Emigrants from Ireland settle along the South Atlantic coast.

— They go forth to battle for American liberty. — Daniel Morgan. — Colonel Knox promises to send a noble train of artillery to General Washington. — He keeps his word. — Afaithful wife. — General William Sullivan's reminiscence. — General Knox financially embarrassed. — A trio of men. — Friendly tears. — " Gentlemen, this will never do ! " — Irish hospitality. — Stephen Moylan. — Old Put, — " Powder, powder; ye gods, give us powder!" — A word about General Sullivan. — Irish Tories. — Arthur Lee on the Irish Catholics. — General Howe speaks of" some Irish merchants." — Crean Brush, the Irish villain. — His connection with Ethan Allen. — Brush is delegated by General Gage. — Brush is put in Boston jail. — Remorse and suicide of Brush. — W^hat is a Firbolg? — The Irishmen who served in the Continental army besieging Boston .......... 94 b CONTENTS.

IV. — The War of 1S12 and the Mexican War.

PAGE

Boston, the seat of discontent and turbulence. — War declared. — Boston is antibellum. — The New England Guards. — The Rangers. — The Boston and Charlestown Sea Fencibles. — Irish names on their rolls. — The citizen soldiery enlist. — Irishmen on the rolls of this regiment ......... 102

V. — ]Var of Secession.

Two distinctively Irish regiments march from Boston to the seat of war. — The sunburst floats in companionship \\ith the stars and stripes about the bayonets of the famous Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, and the equally famous Twenty-eighth, the " Faugh-a-Ballaghs." — The adjutant-general's report of the Ninth regiment. — Thomas Cass offers his services to Governor Andrew. They are gladly accepted.

— The governor permits the Irish flag to be carried by the soldiers. — The war-officers of the regiment. — The Twenty-eighth is mustered in on Jan. 11, 1S62, at Camp Cameron, near Boston. — The war-officers of the regiment. — June 29, 1S61. — The Ninth on to Washington. — At Arlington Heights. — The Peninsula campaign. — The Ninth bears the beautiful national flag \\-hich was presented to the regiment by the boys of the Eliot school. — Aboard the U. S. Transport, " State of Maine." — The campaign of McClellan. — A plan of the peninsular campaign.

— Confederate cavalry ride completely around General McClellan's army. — A change of base. — General Lee planning to attack the Union army. — General Porter attacked by Gen. A. R. Hill. — The battle of- Gaines' Mill follows. — A desperate engagement. — The national army loses 6,000 men. — The Ninth's ranks decimated. — They lose over one-fifth of their fighting strength. — Colonel Cass is disabled, and dies at Malvern Hill. — Col. Patrick R. Guiney succeeds to the command. — ^ Guiney orders the colors forward. — Charge ! — The Irish regiment that never lost a color. — The Ninth among the last regiments to leave the field of battle. — The war correspondent's tribute to the Ninth. — After the battle of Gaines' Mill. — The rebel yell. — McClellan's tribute to the men of the Ninth.

— Colonel Guiney at Harrison's Landing. — Promoted for ability and bravery. — The Ninth in the Second Bull Run. — Under McDowell. —The Twenty-eighth in the battle. — The disaster at Fredericksburg. — Terrible fighting. — Hancock's division, with the brigades of Cook, Meagher, and Caldwell, advance. — The Ninth at Gettysburg. — The Twenty-eighth on Cemetery Hill. — Exposed to the heavy and concentrated musketry fire. — Colonel Guiney wounded in the first day's fight in the Wilderness. — Lieut. -Colonel Hanleyin command during the remainder of the battle. — The Twenty-eighth in the Wilderness. — Death of Capt. James Mclntire and Capt. Charles P. Smith. — A race for Richmond. — The Ninth in it to Cold Harbor. — The loss in this series of engagements. — The Twenty-eighth stays nearly through the war. — Death of Colonel Byrnes at Cold Harbor. — At Petersburg, Va. — The Twenty-eighth the last regiment to leave the intrenchments at the battle of Reams' Station. — Publicly complimented for gallant conduct by General Nelson A. Miles. — Officers killed in action. — Home again . . . 104

COXTEXTS.

PAGE 121

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN OF EARLY TIMES.

John Hancock

Major-Gexeral Henry Knox

Governor James Sullivan

Robert Treat Paine

The Crehore Family

Rev. John Lyford

William Hibbins .

Benjamin Crehore

George Downing .

Anthony Gulliver

James Boies .

Jeremiah Smith

John Hannan .

Hugh McLean

John McLean

John Singleton Copley

Lord John Singleton Copley Ly

Charles Jackson .

James Jackson

Patrick Tracy Jackson

James Kavanagh .

William Douglass O'Connor

Jeremiah Smith Boies .

Andrew Dunlap .

Cornelius Conway Felton

James Boyd .

193 193

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF OUR OWN TIMES.

John Boyle O'Reilly

Patrick A. Collins

Hugh O'Brien

Patrick S. Gilmore

Gov. Thomas Talbot

The Milmores

CONTENTS.

William Parsons . . • •

Patrick Donahoe . . . •

Thomas D'Arcy McGee

Rev. Henry Giles

Thomas J. Gargan

The Most Rev. John J. Williams

Rt. Rev. Matthew Harkins

Rev. Robert Fulton, S.J. .

Robert Dwy'er Joyce, M.D., M.R.I..\

Gen. Patrick R. Guiney

John E. Fitzgerald

Rev. John Cordner

Rev. Robert Meredith

Edward C. Carrigan .

Rev. Henry Bernard Carpenter

•

253 256

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF NOTED WOMEN.

Louise Imogen Guiney

Mary Elizabeth Blake

Kathekine Eleanor Conway

Mary Catherine Crowley

277 281

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF BOSTON LA^\TERS . . • •

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF BOSTON PHYSICIANS .... BIOGR\PHICAL SKETCHES OF BOSTON JOURNALISTS • • .

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF

THE PUBLIC SERVICE

BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND MEN OF BUSINESS

283 301 309

337 397 431

ENGRAVINGS.

By J. P Ml RPHY & CO.

PACK

John Boyle O'Reilly Frontispiece

James Boyd 40

Tombstone of Daniel Malcom 49

Henry A. McGlenen 102

Gen. Patrick R. Guiney 104

Peninsular War Map 109

Col. Patrick T. Hanley 116

The Most Rev. John J. Williams 124

John Hancock .... 167

Major-General Henry Knox 169

Patrick A. Collins 214

Hugh O'Brien 216

Gov. Thomas Talbot 220

William Parsons . 225

Patrick Donahoe 228

Thomas D'Arcy McGee 231

Thomas J. Gargan 236

Louise Imogen Guiney 264

Katherine E. Conway 278

Mary Catherine Crowley . . . . , 282

Edward J. Jenkins 292

William A. Dunn, M.D - 304

James Jeffrey Roche 310

Thomas F. Keenan 318

William F. Kenney . 320

Thomas Maguire . 322

John J. Merrigan ... 326

Stephen O'Meara . 328

ENGRA VINGS.

Charles S. O'Neill Helen F. O'Neill .

Margaret G. Reynolds Michael M. Cunniff Edward J. Donovan William Doogue .

Paul H. Kendricken John H. McDonough Michael J. McEttrick John R. Murphy .

John B. O'Brien .

Christopher Blake Thomas B. Fitz Patrick Maguire .

Dennis J. Hern John B. Regan

PAGE 332

334 350 354 356 366

THE IRISH IN BOSTON.

Chapter I. The Irish In The Colonial Period

BOSTON, Massachusetts, considered as a name merely, presents a contrast of elements that t}'pifies its history. One end of it is ancient. Christian, civilized : St. Botolph' s town, so clipped and rubbed in centuries of English speech as to leave its canonical namesake out of all memory. As for the other end, it is the native name of a tribe whose history had ceased before Boston's was begun. " The town of a wild Indian tribe which used to be called after St. Botolph" would be a literal translation of its familiar, and, to most of us, intrinsically meaningless name. So, in the history of the dear old place itself, contradictions appear throughout its existence. Planted after several wealthy colonies had already achieved a place in history, it was destined soon to lead in all that marks advance of civilization, and shortly afterward to inaugurate the sullen state of insubordination to England which eventually led to open rebellion. Founded for the sake of an unrestrained worship of God, it was most bitter in religious persecution ; giving of its first thoughts to the establishment of liberal education, it darkened ignorance in the days of witchcraft superstition ; English of all things, it was of necessity anti-Irish, and classed this unfortunate people with the heathen tribes of the forest : }^et among her earliest records appear 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

(in almost unrepresented. And what more striking contrast than its first year and its last past, when an Irish Catholic mayor forthe fourth time ascended the chair of office and entered upon duties that none have more ably and faithfully discharged !

During the colonization of America, Ireland was certainly a dreadful place to live in, and Irish emigration to America was very naturally to be expected. Class lines in Ireland were drawn sharply on the basis of formal religion, and the people were divided into three unequal portions, the largest having least power, and the smallest the greatest power. The government of the country was in the hands of communicants of the Established Church of Ireland; all refusing the rigid and systematic tests were excluded from the franchise. These Episcopalians were the agents of the most cruel and systematic oppression that ever disgraced civilization. They lived among a people outnumbering them nearly ten to one, whose religion they despised and persecuted, whose ignorance they mocked at while they fostered it, whose extreme poverty and distress were the conditions of their own prosperity. Avarice and bigotry both urged them to abuse their despotic power. They lived there as the carpet-baggers lived at the South after the war ; and they had every reason to want to leave at the first profitable opportunity.