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Ml^Mi -^^z  ::^S^iRIEN 


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Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


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THE  McCarthys  in 

EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


LAMH  LAIDR  A  BUGHD. 
EX  ARDUIS  PERPETUUM  NOMEN. 
rORTI  ET  FlDELl  NIHIL  DIFFICILE. 
FEROX  ET  CELER. 


CREST     OF    THE      MACCARTHYS 

AND     THE     MOTTOES     OF     THE 

VARIOUS     BRANCHES      OF     THE 

FAMILY 

FROM  rooney's  Irish  Genealogies 


THE  McCarthys  in 

EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


BY 

MICHAEL  J.  O'BRIEN 

Author  of  "A  Hidden  Phase  of  American  HiSToaT," 
Ireland's  Part  in  America's  Struggle  for  Liberty 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  ANX'  €QMPANY 

1921 


/US') 


COPTEIOHT,    1921, 

By  DODD,  mead  AND  COMPANY.   Ino 


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<M 

INTRODUCTION 

.  .  The   early  Irish   settlers   in   America— Their  history  neglected — 

Va  Necessity  for  research  work — The  MacCarthys  an  ancient  and 

N*  royal  race — Kings  of  Munster  and  Princes  of  Desmond — The 

.  ^  ruthless  confiscations  of  their  estates  by  the  English— Exiles 

1^  to  France,  Spain  and  Austria  and  to  the  American  colonies — 

\f\  The  various  forms  of  spelling  the  name  in  the  Colonial  records. 

^  Although  many  Irish  families  were  settled  in  Amer- 
ica in  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  times,  and  a  vast 
number  of  Irish  names  appear  in  the  official  records 
of  the  country,  the  contemporary  references  to  these 
people  in  American  historical  works  are  lamentably 
scarce  and  superficial.  Much  of  the  matter  necessary 
for  a  history  of  their  settlements  and  of  their  fortunes 
in  the  new  country  is  irrecoverably  lost,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  some  desultory  references  to  Irish  families 
in  the  work  of  local  town  historians,  in  most  cases  about 
the  only  information  that  can  now  be  gleaned  after  the 
lapse  of  so  many  years  is  that  contained  in  the  dry 
official  records  of  the  time.  While  searching  for  other 
historical  material  relating  to  the  early  Irish  in  Amer- 
ica, I  have  picked  up  some  of  the  lost  threads  connect- 
ing the  descendants  of  the  old  Irish  family  of  Mac- 
Carthy  with  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  history 
of  America  and  have  thought  they  would  be  of  sufficient 
interest  to  publish,  so  that  some  member  of  the  family 
in  the  United  States  may  be  induced  to  take  up  the 
subject  in  earnest  and  bring  out  the  full  story  of  the 
many  persons  of  this  name  who  settled  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. 

T 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

"Wtile  I  have  no  pretensions  to  having  written  a 
complete  history  of  people  of  the  name  in  the  Ameri- 
can Colonies,  and  this  book  must  be  accepted  as  a  mere 
skeleton  of  facts,  I  have  no  doubt  that  rea.ders  of  these 
pages  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  McCarthys 
are  represented  so  largely  in  early  American  annals. 
Yet,  since  much  of  the  data  was  obtained  in  a  casual 
way  only,  it  should  be  understood  that  the  number  of 
McCarthys  referred  to  in  this  work  is  far  short  of  the 
total  number  of  people  of  the  name  who  were  in  this 
country  at  the  period  dealt  with.  If  I  were  tempted 
to  follow  the  method  of  some 'of  our  historical  writers 
and  had  clothed  the  facts  with  the  garb  of  fancy,  it 
could  have  been  made  a  much  more  readable  book,  but 
I  have  determined  to  let  the  facts  "speak  for  them- 
selves," in  the  belief  that  they  are  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  McCarthy  family  is  entitled  to  a  place  in 
American  history  alongside  those  of  any  other  name 
or  race,  not  excluding  even  the  Puritans  of  New  Eng- 
land or  the  Cavaliers  of  Virginia. 

Among  the  deficiencies  of  information  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  early  Irish  settlers  in  America,  noth- 
ing perhaps  is  more  noticeable  than  the  absence  of 
biographies  of  individual  Irishmen  or  their  descend- 
ants, or  genealogies  of  American  families  of  Irish  blood. 
Comparatively  few  of  such  genealogies  have  been  pub- 
lished, and  it  is  indeed  surprising  that  the  race  pride 
which  is  supposed  to  exist  among  Irish  people  and  their 
American  descendants  of  the  first  and  second  generations 
has  not  found  expression  in  the  publication  of  many 
more  family  histories.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  Irish 
in  America  have  not  shown  greater  industry  in  this 
respect,  and  any  one  who  examines  the  early  public 
records  of  the  country  must  at  once  conclude  that,  the 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

Irish  have  sadly  neglected  the  opportunities  which  these 
records  afford,  to  rescue  from  oblivion  and  to  perpetuate 
a  knowledge  among  their  fellow  Americans  of  the  part 
played  by  men  and  women  of  the  Irish  race  in  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  structure  upon  which  this  great 
nation  rests. 

There  is  no  earthly  reason  why  the  Irish,  like  Amer- 
icans of  other  races,  should  not  be  accorded  a  place  in 
the  history  of  this  country.  The  Huguenot'  Society 
has  put  on  record  the  contributions  of  the  French;  the 
Holland  Society  has  told  of  the  part  played  by  Amer- 
icans of  Dutch  descent;  the  Thistle  Society  has  related 
the  story  of  the  Scotch;  the  Spaniards  have  a  well- 
established  place  in  American  history,  and  the  English 
have  had  numberless  historians  who  made  it  a  business 
and  a  trade  to  supply  the  world  with  histories  of  their 
own  making  and  from  their  own  point  of  view ;  in  short, 
nearly  every  race  which  made  up  the  population  of  this 
country  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Irish,  has  supplied  historians 
who  have  put  on  record  the  creditable  deeds  of  men  and 
women  of  their  own  blood.  Thus,  the  American  people 
have  had  opportunities  to  learn  what  each  nationality 
has  contributed  to  the  greatness  and  progress  of  their 
country,  but,  although  the  Celtic  element  was  numeric- 
ally important  in  the  Colonies,  the  general  public  knows 
practically  nothing  of  the  history  of  the  Irish  immi- 
grants or  their  American  descendants. 

A  member  of  the  Virginia  branch  of  the  McCarthy 
family,  on  reading  the  manuscript  of  this  volume,  re- 
marked that  he  could  not  understand  why,  in  the  pub- 
lished histories  of  Virginia,  the  record  of  the  McCarthys 
had  been  ignored.  I  reminded  him  of  the  fact  that 
this  applies  to  many  other  American  families  descended 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

from  Irish  immigrants,  and  that  in  the  comparatively 
few  instances  where  they  have  been  mentioned  by  the 
historians,  they  are  referred  to  as  "Scotch-Irish,"  the 
intention  being  to  show  that  they  were  of  mixed  nation- 
ality and  that  their  predominant  race  characteristics, 
their  virtues  and  saving  qualities,  but  not  their  faults, 
were  derived  from  the  Scotch.  I  cannot  here  resist 
the  temptation  to  point  out,  that  in  nearly  every  in- 
stance where  an  Irishman  distinguished  himself  in  early 
American  history,  the  so-called  historians  describe  him 
as  "a  Scotch-Irishman,"  while  a  native  of  Ireland,  who 
committed  some  discreditable  deed,  is  unhesitatingly 
called  '  *  an  Irishman ' ' ! 

Irish-blooded  Americans  are,  however,  themselves  to 
blame  if  their  people  have  been  relegated  to  a  place 
of  no  importance  in  American  history.  For  many  years 
they  have  been  complaining  that  "the  historians  have 
kept  us  out  of  history,"  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  the 
fault  is  all  their  own,  since  the  real  facts  are  readily 
obtainable  if  they  would  only  devote  to  the  work  a 
part  of  the  energy  that  they  waste  in  denouncing  un- 
sympathetic historians.  Since  a  nation  is  but  an  ag- 
gregation of  individuals  and  families,  it  has  been  well 
said  that  "the  history  of  a  country  is  but  the  history 
of  its  people,"  and  in  the  numerous  published  geneal- 
ogies of  American  families  and  the  biographical  works 
of  historical  societies  are  found  some  of  the  most  inter- 
esting items  of  the  nation's  history.  American  geneal- 
ogists, however,  have  devoted  their  attention  mainly 
to  families  of  English  or  Dutch  descent,  because  the 
demand  for  their  work  came  chiefly  from  those  sources. 

There  is  a  strong  and  ever  increasing  reason,  there- 
fore, to  see  this  state  of  affairs  remedied,  to  look  into 
the   emigrant   ancestry   of  Americans  of   Irish  blood. 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

It  is  highly  desirable  that  their  history  should  be  traced 
as  far  as  practicable,  but  it  can  be  done  only  by  consult- 
ing the  records  of  the  towns  and  parishes  and  the  official 
documents  of  the  Colonial  governments,  and  if  the  proper 
spirit  were  displayed  this  work  would  result  in  making 
many  valuable  contributions  to  the  historical  literature 
of  the  country.  In  many  cases,  the  Colonial  records, 
which  contain  the  only  memorials  extant  of  the  early 
settlers,  are  time-worn  and  gradually  falling  into  decay, 
but  upon  their  fading  and  perishing  pages  are  chronicled 
some  of  the  events  in  which  Irishmen  and  Irishwomen 
took  part,  whose  names  and  deeds  are  forgotten,  or  per- 
haps have  never  been  brought  to  light  through  the  neg- 
lect of  those  who  should  be  most  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject. At  this  late  day  it  is  difficult  for  an  individual 
working  alone  in  this  field,  to  clothe  with  any  degree  of 
interest  the  dry-as-dust  and  barren  details  of  the  ordi- 
nary affairs  of  life  in  which  these  people  figured,  and  the 
light  afforded  by  the  ancient  wills  and  deeds,  parish 
i'egisters,  court  proceedings,  tombstone  inscriptions, 
newspapers,  and  the  many  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
records  that  I  have  examined,  is  insufficient  to  enable 
one  to  write  a  complete  narrative  of  the  lives  of  these 
people  or  of  what  they  contributed  to  the  making  of 
America. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  extend  this  account  of 
the  American  McCarthys  beyond  the  eighteenth  century. 
I  believe,  however,  it  should  be  and  can  readily  be  done, 
for  their  descendants  are  numerous  in  this  country,  al- 
though in  some  instances  the  male  line  has  died  out  and 
many  of  their  collateral  descendants  cannot  now  be  recog- 
nized at  all.  It  would  undoubtedly  be  a  matter  of  great 
interest  to  the  numerous  McCarthys  throughout  the 
United  States  if  the  full  story  were  told,  especially  of  the 


X  INTRODUCTION 

descendants  of  the  first  two  of  the  name  in  the  Colonies, 
namely  Charles  and  Owen  McCartie,  who  came  to  Vir- 
ginia in  1635,  or  only  fifteen  years  after  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower.  A  more  extensive  search 
than  I  have  been  able  to  make  probably  would  locate 
them,  and  perhaps  some  unwritten  American  history  of 
an  interesting  character  would  thus  be  unearthed.  It 
would  also  be  an  incentive  to  other  Americans  of  old 
Irish  stock  to  take  up  the  history  of  people  of  their  names 
and  thus  place  on  permanent  record  the  story  of  their 
deeds,  if  only  as  an  offset  to  the  spurious  accounts  that 
have  been  published  of  some  of  the  "Scotch-Irish"  by 
the  society  calling  itself  by  that  racial  misnomer. 

The  MacCarthys  are  one  of  the  most  ancient  families 
of  Ireland.  One  need  not  dilate  at  length  on  the  glories 
of  the  name  in  ancient  or  modem  Ireland;  enough,  that 
the  family  has  furnished  princes  and  men  of  eminence 
from  IMacCarthy  Mor  down  to  Justin  McCarthy,  the 
brilliant  author  of  the  present  day.  The  antiquarians 
tell  us  that  the  founder  of  the  family  was  Cormac,  King 
of  Munster,  a.  d.  483.  Burke,  the  leading  authority  on 
English  and  Irish  peerages,  declares  that  "few  pedigrees 
in  the  British  empire,  if  any,  can  be  traced  to  a  more 
remote  or  more  exalted  source  than  that  of  the  Celtic 
house  of  MacCarthy,"^  and  the  learned  Dr.  O'Brien 
says  that  "it  was  the  most  illustrious  of  all  those  fami- 
lies whose  names  begin  with  Mac. ' '  ^     Their  history  com- 

1  Oenealogical  and  Heraldic  Dictionary  of  the  Landed  Gentry  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  by   J.   Bernard  Burke;   Vol.   I,    p.    789. 

2  Those  who  may  be  interested  in  more  detailed  accounts  of  this  family 
are  referred  to  such  works  as  Burke's  General  Armory  (London,  1884)  ; 
Burke's  Dormant,  Abeyant,  Forfeited  and  Extinct  Peerages  (London, 
1866)  ;  Burke's  Landed  Gentry  (London,  1871)  ;  Burke's  Vicissitudes  of 
Families  (London,  1859-60);  O'Hart's  Irish  Pedigrees  (Dublin,  1881); 
G'Hart's  Irish  Landed  Gentry  (Dublin,  1877)  ;  McVeigh's  Royal  Book  of 
Crests  and  Washboiirne's  Book  of  Family  Crests  (London,  1882)  ;  Lodge's 
Peerage  of  Ireland  (Dublin,  1789)  ;  Howard's  Miscellanea  Genealogies 
«t    Beraldica;    Nichols'    Topographer    and    Genealogist    (London,    1853) ; 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

mences  with  the  first  page  of  authentic  Irish  records 
and  is  as  well  attested  as  the  history  of  any  royal  house 
in  Christendom,  and  the  fame  of  their  chieftains,  the 
learning,  piety  and  zeal  of  many  saintly  men  among 
them  form  a  vast  inheritance  of  glorious  memories.^  4-S 
the  Irish  antiquarian,  Windele,  wrote :  '  *  Notwithstand- 
ing that  a  large  proportion  of  the  persons  forming  their 
high  ancestral  stock  belong  to  the  mythic  period  of  Irish 
history,  the  MacCarthys  may  proudly  defy  any  other 
family  in  Europe  to  compete  with  them  in  antiquity  or 
accurate  preservation  of  their  records,"  According  to 
the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  ''thirty  of  the  Kings 
of  Ireland  and  sixty-one  of  her  Saints  descended  from 
the  MacCarthys,  and  to  them  belongs  the  matchless  glory 
of  producing  the  first  Christian  King  in  Ireland,  to 
whom  the  country  owes  the  welcome  of  its  religion  into 
the  land,  and  not  only  this  but  the  assembling,  chris- 
tianizing and  sanctioning  of  the  code  of  their  laws,  the 
Seanchus  M6r,  under  which  our  ancestors  lived  for 
twelve  centuries." 

The  ancestry  of  the  family  can  be  traced  through 
twenty-eight  monarchs  who  governed  Ireland,  back  to 
the  dawn  of  Christianity,  and,  if  regard  be  had  to 
primogeniture  and  seniority  of  descent,  the  MacCarthy 
family  is  the  first  in  Ireland.  "Long  before  the  found- 
ers of  the  oldest  royal  families  of  Europe,  before  Rodolph 
acquired  the  empire  of  Germany,  or  a  Bourbon  ascended 
the  throne  of  France,  Cormac  MacCarthy  ruled  over 

The  Complete  Peerage  (London,  1893)  ;  The  Book  of  Dignities  (London, 
1894)  ;  Cusack's  History  of  the  City  and  County  of  Cork  (Cork,  1875)  ; 
Hyde's  Literary  History  of  Ireland  (London,  1899)  ;  Prendecgrast'a 
Ireland  from  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution,  1660  to  1690  (London, 
1887)  ;  Lower's  Patronymica  Britanica  (London,  1860)  ;  and  An  Eisto- 
rieal  Pedigree  of  the  MacCarthys,  by  D.  MacCarthy  (Exeter,  England, 
1880). 

3  Historical    Pedigree    of    the    Sliochd    Feidlimidh,    The    MaeCwrthys    of 
Gleannacroim,  by  Daniel  MacCarthy  Glas,  pp.  100-101 ;  Exeter,  Eng.  1849. 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

Munster  and  the  title  of  King  was  at  least  continued  in 
name  in  his  posterity  down  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. ' '  * 
In  the  history  of  ancient  Ireland  Cormac  MacArt,  115th. 
monarch  of  the  Kingdom,  is  a  famous  figure.  He  is 
noted  especially  for  establishing  a  university  at  Tara, 
one  of  whose  schools  was  for  teaching  jurisprudence. 
Unless  the  Eoman  Forum  be  regarded  as  a  law  school, 
Cormac 's  was  the  first  law  school  in  existence,  and  it 
was  he  also  who  gave  to  the  world  that  system  of  chronol- 
ogy which  makes  the  records  of  a  country  from  year 
to  year  synchronize  with  the  history  of  other  countries, 
by  collating  events  with  the  reigns  of  contemporary 
foreign  potentates. 

Heads  of  families  of  this  name  in  Munster  have  held 
many  proud  titles;  among  them  were  Princes  of  Des- 
mond, Princes  of  Carbery,  Earls  of  ClanCarthy,  Earls 
of  Muskerry,  and  Earls  of  Mountcashel.  Their  pos- 
sessions were  located  chiefly  in  the  Counties  of  Cork  and 
Kerry,  where  for  centuries  they  maintained  their 
princely  predominance,  and  in  the  sixteenth  century 
their  influence  in  Ireland  was  so  great  that  all  Queen 
Elizabeth 's  designs  were  aimed  at  the  destruction  of  their 
power!     An  Irish  poet  has  sung  of  them: 

"Oh !  bright  are  the  names  of  their  chieftains  and  sages 
That  shine  like  the  stars  through  the  darkness  of  ages, 
Whose  deeds  are  inscribed  on  the  pages  of  story, 
There  forever  to  live  in  the  sunshine  of  glory. 
Heroes  of  history,  phantonas  of  fable, 
Charlemiange's  champions  and  Arthur's  round  table. 
Oh!  but  they  all  a  new  lustre  could  borrow 
From  the  glory  that  hangs  round  the  name  of  MaeCaura."  ' 

4  Journal  of  the  Cork  Ilistorical  and  Archaeological  Society;  2nd.  Series, 
Vol.  II,  p.  213. 

e  The  sound  of  the  name  as  pronounced  in  Gaelic. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

O'Hart*  says  that  the  name,  MacCarthy,  is  derived 
from  Carthach  (number  107  on  the  MacCarthy  Mor 
pedigree),  who  was  Prince  of  Desmond  in  the  tenth 
century,  and,  from  the  meaning  of  the  name,  he  con- 
cludes that  Carthach  was  the  founder  of  the  City  of 
Cashel,  which  was  formerly  the  royal  seat  of  the  King- 
dom of  Desmond  or  South  Munster.  This  Carthach  is 
described  in  Irish  annals  as  "  a  great  commander  against 
the  Danes"  in  the  war  between  the  Irish  and  the  Danes 
which  was  terminated  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf ,  a.  d. 
1014.  Muireadach,  son  of  Carthach,  born  in  the  year 
1011,  and  who  became  King  of  Munster  in  1045,  is  said 
to  have  been  the  first  to  assume  the  name,  MacCart- 
haigh,  afterwards  anglicized  into  MacCarthy  and  Mac- 
Caura/  Donal  Mor  na-Caura,  descendant  of  Carthach, 
was  Prince  of  Desmond  from  1185  to  1205,  and  from  this 
Donal  the  word  "Mor"  meaning  "great,"  was  added 
to  the  surname  of  the  elder  branch  of  the  family  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  younger  branches,  and  hence  the 
name,  MacCarthy  Mor. 

The  pedigree  of  the  family  as  traced  by  the  Irish 
antiquarians  shows  that  they  were  a  numerous  Sept, 
and  for  several  centuries  they  were  divided  into  three 
great  stems,  each  subdivided  into  several  minor,  and 
dependent,  but  still  powerful  branches.  The  main  line 
was  that  of  MacCarthy  Mor,  the  second  MacCarthy 
Reagh,  and  the  third  MacCarthy  of  Muskerry.  For 
several  generations  the  descendants  in  the  main  line  were 
known  chiefly  as  Kings  of  Desmond,  the  MacCarthy 
Reaghs  as  Princes  of  Carbery  and  the  third  branch  as 
Lords  of  Muskerry.  They  had  several  castles  in  Cork  and 
Kerry.     Descriptions  of  them  say  that  these  castles  were 

8  Irish  Pedigrees,  Vol.  I,  p.  31. 

T  A.  Literary  History  of  Ireland,  by  Dr.  Douglas  Hyde,  p.  61;  London, 
1908. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

massively  constructed ;  their  towers  and  battlements  were 
equal  in  grandeur  and  strength  to  those  elsewhere  in 
Europe,  and  for  generation  after  generation  they  defied 
the  attacks  of  time  and  the  elements  and  proudly  reared 
aloft  their  stately  walls.  The  principal  seat  of  Mac- 
Carthy  Mor  was  historic  Muckross  castle  at  the  Lakes 
of  Killarney  and  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a 
descendant  of  a  Cromwellian  soldier.  "Of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  castles  in  the  County  of  Cork,"  says 
Windele,  ''twenty-six  were  erected  by  the  MacCarthy 
Mor."®  The  principal  seat  of  the  MacCarthy  Reagh 
branch  of  the  family  was  a  stately  building  at  Kilbrittain, 
County  Cork,  and  the  famous  Blarney  Castle  in  the 
same  county,  until  the  Revolution  of  1688,  was  the  resi- 
dence of  the  branch  which  bore  the  title  of  Lords  of 
Muskerry. 

One  of  the  most  noted  members  of  the  family  was 
Florence  MacCarthy,  who  flourished  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  fifteenth  and  early  in  the  sixteenth  centuries.  In 
the  Pacata  Hihernia  and  in  Smith's  histories  of  Cork, 
Kerry  and  Waterford  much  interesting  detail  is  related 
of  his  career,  and  "The  Life  and  Letters  of  Florence 
MacCarthy  Reagh,  Tanist  of  Carbery,"  compiled  from 
documents  in  the  English  State  Paper  Office  at  London, 
by  one  of  his  descendants,  .Daniel  MacCarthy  Glas,  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  contributions 
to  the  history  of  the  family  that  has  ever  been  pub- 
lished. This  Florence  was  a  collateral  descendant  of 
Donal  Mor  na-Caura  in  the  twelfth  generation,  and 
according  to  O'Hart,  in  the  year  1600  he  was  "solemnly 
created  The  MacCarthy  Mor  with  all  the  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  his  family  for  hundreds  of  generations,  which 
title  and  dignity  was  formally  approved  of  by  Hugh 

8  Windele's  South  of  Ireland. 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

O'Neill,  then  Ard-Righ,  or  Ruler  of  the  Irish  in  Ire- 
land. ' '  ^  He  married  his  kinswoman,  Elana,  daughter 
of  Donal  MacCarthy  Mor,  Earl  of  Clancare,  and  became 
Prince  of  Desmond.  He  was  twice  a  prisoner  of  the  Eng- 
lish; the  first  period  lasting  for  eleven  years  for  ''the 
offense  of  marrying  an  Irish  princess  without  Queen 
Elizabeth's  permission,"  the  second  lasting  for  thirty- 
nine  years  and  was  "for  reasons  of  state,"  and  in 
neither  ease  was  he  brought  to  trial.  He  died  in  Lon- 
don in  the  year  1640.^° 

Another  famous  member  of  the  family  was  Donough 
MacCarthy,  Lord  of  Muskerry,  who  was  created  Earl 
of  ClanCarthy  in  1658,  and  was  commander  of  the  Mun- 
ster  forces  in  the  wars  in  Ireland  in  1641  and  against 
the  Cromwellians  in  1652.  He  was  exiled  to  the  Con- 
tinent and  his  property  conferred  on  his  second  wife, 
Ellen,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond.  At  the  Restora- 
tion of  Charles  II,  he  returned  to  Ireland  and  died  in 
London  in  the  year  1665.  He  had  a  son  named  Donal 
who  was  known  as  the  Buchaill  Ban,  or  "the  fair-haired 
boy,"  and  this  Donal  was  the  father  of  Donal,  or  Daniel, 
McCarty  of  Virginia,  hereinafter  referred  to  as  an  exile 
from  Ireland  to  Virginia  after  the  Treaty  of  Limerick 
in  1691.  Donough  MacCarthy 's  other  sons  were  Cormac, 
Callaghan  and  Justin,  the  last  of  whom  was  created  Earl 
of  Mountcashel  by  King  James  in  1689.  Cormac,  eldest 
son  of  Donough,  became  an  officer  of  the  English  navy 
and  when  he  fell  by  the  side  of  the  Duke  of  York  (after- 
wards King  James  II),  at  a  great  naval  engagement  be- 
tween the  English  and  Dutch  fleets  in  the  year  1665,  it 
was  decided  that  he  should  be  honored  with  a  public 
funeral,  and  "accordingly,  with  all  imaginable  heraldic 

9  Irish  Pedigrees;  Vol.  I,  p.  114. 

10  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Florence  MacCarthy  M6r,  Tanist  of  Cattery, 
by   Daniel   MacCarthy   Glas;    London,    1867. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

pomp  and  solemnity,  attended  by  many  of  the  nobility  of 
England,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  the  remains  of  this  Milesian  chieftain  were 
interred  in  Westminster  Abbey. ' '  ^^ 

Callaghan,  second  son  of  Donough  MacCarthy,  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Fitzgerald,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  named  Donough  who  became 
fourth  Earl  of  ClanCarthy.  Donough  was  educated  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  England  and  there 
married  Elizabeth  Spencer,  daughter  of  Robert  Spencer, 
Earl  of  Sutherland.  On  the  accession  of  James  the 
Second  he  returned  to  Ireland  and  took  a  prominent  part 
with  his  uncle,  Lord  Mountcashel,  in  the  James  and 
Williamite  war  which  ended  with  the  Treaty  of  Limerick. 
On  the  landing  of  King  James  at  Kinsale  from  France 
in  the  year  1689  he  received  and  entertained  that  mon- 
arch and  continued  to  support  his  cause  until  captured 
by  the  forces  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  who  conveyed 
him  a  prisoner  to  the  Tower  of  London,  Thence  he 
escaped  to  France  in  1694,  where  he  received  the  com- 
mand of  King  James'  Guards.  Four  years  later  he 
ventured  to  return  to  England  in  a  fruitless  effort  to 
recover  his  property  which  had  been  parceled  out  among 
the  victorious  Williamite  Generals  and  other  officers  of 
the  English  Crown.  He  was  instantly  arrested  and 
was  exiled  on  the  miserable  pension  of  £300.  per  year, 
and  on  the  condition  that  he  should  never  return  to  his 
native  land.  The  enormous  wealth  of  this  branch  of 
the  MacCarthys  may  be  supposed  from  a  passage  in 
Windele's  account  of  the  Earl  of  ClanCarthy:  "With 
the  fortunes  of  King  James  fell  those  of  ClanCarthy. 
His  property,  which  upon  a  loose  calculation  made  in 

H  Historical    Pedigree    of    the    Sliochd    Feidlimidh,    The    MacCarthys    of 
Oleannacroim,  by  Daniel  MacCarthy  Glas;  pp.  100-101;  Exeter,  Eng.  1849. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

the  middle  of  the  last  (eighteenth)  century,  was  sup- 
posed to  be  worth  £150,000  per  annum  and  in  1796 
about  £200,000,  was  confiscated."" 

The  unfortunate  Earl,  thus  deprived  of  his  estates, 
retired  to  Altona  in  Germany  and  purchased  a  little 
island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  where  he  died  in  the 
year  1734.  In  a  news  despatch  dated  "London,  October 
1,  1734,"  printed  in  the  American  Weekly  Mercury  of 
Philadelphia  for  the  week,  December  17-24,  1734,  I  find 
the  following  interesting  comments:  "Advice  is  come 
from  Hamburg,  that  about  ten  days  since  died  at  Altona, 
a  Town  near  that  City,  the  Right  Honourable  Donough, 
Earl  of  Clancarty,  Viscount  Muskerry,  etc.,  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Ireland,  aged  78  years.  He  marry 'd  the 
Lady  Elizabeth  Spencer,  Daughter  of  Robert,  Earl  of 
Sutherland,  Prime  Minister  to  King  James  the  Second. 
She  died  at  Copenhagen  in  the  year  1703,  whither  she 
accompany 'd  her  Lord  in  Banishment  (he  having  been 
attainted  for  having  taken  up  Arms  in  Ireland  for  that 
unhappy  Prince),  leaving  Issue  a  Son  and  a  Daughter, 
Viz.  Donah,  Viscount  Muskerry,  now  Earl  of  Clancarty 
(his  Father's  attainder  having  been  revers'd),  who  com- 
mands one  of  his  Majesty's  Ships  of  War  upon  the  Coast 
of  Newfoundland,  and  the  Lady  Charlotte,  Wife  to  the 
Right  Honourable  John,  Lord  Delaware,  Treasurer  of 
his  Majesty's  Household." 

Donough,  fourth  Earl  of  ClanCarthy,  had  a  son  named 
Donough,  who  entered  the  English  navy,  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Prime  Minister  of  France  the 
English  Cabinet,  in  1735,  was  induced  to  consider  a  meas- 
ure for  the  reversal  of  the  iniquitous  outlawry  of  his 
deceased  father  and  the  restoration  of  his  estates.  But, 
the  faction  which  at  that  time  ruled  the  English  Parlia- 

12  Windele's  South  of  Ireland. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

ment,  becoming  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  the  restoration 
of  so  popular  a  chieftain  as  the  Earl  of  ClanCarthy, 
passed  a  law  declaring  as  "public  enemies"  all  lawyers 
who  should  be  concerned  in  his  appeal,  and  the  young 
Earl's  cause  consequently  was  abandoned.  Thereupon, 
he  threw  up  his  commission  and  went  to  France  where 
he  spent  many  years  in  virtual  poverty,  until  he  obtained 
from  the  French  King  an  annual  pension  of  £1000. 

Justin  MacCarthy,  Earl  of  Mountcashel,  third  son  of 
Donough,  Earl  of  ClanCarthy,  was  one  of  the  principal 
commanders  of  King  James'  Irish  army  in  the  war  with 
"William  of  Orange.  On  the  defeat  of  his  troops  at  En- 
niskillen  in  1689  he  was  made  prisoner,  but  he  escaped 
and  fled  to  France  where  he  met  with  a  most  flattering 
reception  from  Louis  XIV,  at  whose  hands  he  had  the 
distinction  of  receiving  a  commission  of  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  entitling  him  to  command  all  the  Irish  troops  in 
the  service  of  France.  He  died  at  Barrege  in  France  in 
the  year  1694  of  wounds  received  in  battle.  His  wife 
was  Arabella,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of 
Strafford,  and  one  of  his  grand-daughters  became  the 
wife,  first  of  the  famous  Patrick  Sarsfield,  Earl  of  Lucan, 
who  commanded  the  Irish  army  during  the  siege  of 
Limerick,  and  second  of  James  Fitzjames,  Duke  of  Ber- 
wick, natural  son  of  James  the  Second.  An  unconfirmed 
tradition  in  the  McCarty  family  of  Virginia  says  that 
the  Dennis  MacCarthy  of  Rappahannock  County  here- 
inafter referred  to  was  a  son  of  Justin,  Lord  Mount- 
cashel, but  the  pedigree  of  the  family  makes  no  mention 
of  a  son  named  Dennis  and  it  is  said,  in  fact,  that  ''the 
Earl  of  Mountcashel  left  no  male  issue."  ^^  Many  other 
interesting  incidents  are  related  in  Irish  history  of  the 

13  Historical    Pedigree    of    the    l^iochd   Feidlimidh,    The    MacOarthys    of 
Oleannacroim,   p.    149. 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

vicissitudes  of  this  noble  family.  Of  an  exiled  member 
of  another  branch  of  the  MacCarthys  the  following  affect- 
ing incident  is  related  by  Crofton  Croker  in  his  Re- 
searches: 

"A  considerable  part  of  the  MacCarthy  estates  in  the  County 

of  Cork  was  held  by  Mr.  S about  the  middle  of  the  last 

century.  Walking  one  evening  in  his  demesne,  he  observed 
a  figure,  apparently  asleep,  at  the  foot  of  an  aged  tree,  and, 
approaching  the  spot,  found  an  old  man  extended  on  the 
ground,  whose  audible  sobs  proclaimed  the  severest  affliction. 

Mr.    S enquired  the   cause   and  was   answered   'Forgive 

me,  sir,  my  grief  is  idle,  but  to  mourn  is  a  rehef  to  the  desolate 
heart  and  humbled  spirit.  I  am  a  MacCarthy,  once  the  pos- 
sessor of  that  castle,  now  in  ruins,  and  of  this  ground;  this 
tree  was  planted  by  my  own  hands  and  I  have  returned  to 
water  its  roots  with  my  tears.  To-morrow  I  sail  for  Spain, 
where  I  have  long  been  an  exUe  and  an  outlaw  since  the  Revo- 
lution. I  am  an  old  man,  and  to-night,  probably  for  the  last 
time,  bid  farewell  to  the  place  of  my  birth  and  the  house  of 
my  forefathers !" 

Justin  MacCarthy,  a  representative  of  the  house  of 
MacCarthy  Reagh,  also  became  an  exile  to  France  after 
the  Revolution  of  1689.  He  lived  at  Toulouse  as  late 
as  1767,  and  of  him  a  writer  in  Bolster's  Quarterly 
Magazine  ^^  many  years  ago  wrote :  The  late  Comte  de 
MacCarthy  Reagh  resided  at  Toulouse  and  left  behind 
him  at  his  decease  a  magnificent  library,  second  only 
to  that  of  the  King  of  France.  No  other  library  in 
Europe  possessed  so  large  a  number  of  printed  and  man- 
uscript books  on  vellum,  of  which  scarce  and  valuable 
material  alone  it  contained  not  less  than  826  volumes. 
His  sons,  nevertheless,  at  his  death,  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  parting  with  it,  and  thus  the 
splendid  literary  cabinet,  the  pride  of  this  unfortunate 
family,  became  scattered  over  England  and  France !     It 

14  No.  VIII,  pp.  327-328. 


XX 


INTRODUCTION 


would  seem  as  if  Fortune  had  not  yet  ceased  her  persecu- 
tion of  an  ancient  and  distin^ished  race!" 

As  in  the  case  of  other  old  Irish  families,  with  their 
power  utterly  broken  and  their  estates  confiscated  by 
the  English  invaders,  they  had  no  recourse  but  to  seek 
asjdum  in  foreign  lands,  and  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centurie's  we  find  many  of  this  ancient  and 
royal  race  emigrating  to  France,  Spain  and  Austria  and 
some  to  the  American  Colonies.  In  American  records 
there  is  less  scarcity  of  this  ancient  Irish  name  than  one 
would  be  led  to  suppose  from  a  perusal  of  the  work  of 
the  historians.  In  the  records  of  all  the  original  Thir- 
teen Colonies  the  name  is  found,  beginning  in  the  ease 
of  Virginia  as  early  as  the  third  decade  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  and  down  to  and  beyond  the  period  of 
the  Revolution.  The  McCarthys  are  found  among  the 
early  settlers  of  nearly  every  American  State  and  Ter- 
ritory; among  the  border  men  and  hunters  who  were 
the  first  to  penetrate  the  wilderness  of  the  west  and 
south;  in  the  rosters  of  the  Colonial  militia  who  held 
back  the  redmen  at  the  frontiers  of  civilization;  in  the 
ranks  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  Revolution;  among 
pioneer  merchants  and  professional  men,  and  more  espe- 
cially among  those  humbler  citizens,  the  "men  with  the 
hoe, ' '  who  so  seldom  find  a  place  in  the  pages  of  history. 
In  short,  people  of  this  name  have  cut  more  or  less  of 
a  figure  in  those  spheres  where  only  men  of  good  red 
blood  and  undaunted  courage  usually  find  a  place. 

The  names  and  data  here  given  are  obtained  by  ex- 
amination of  the  records,  and  where  the  records  them- 
selves were  not  obtainable,  from  official  copies  of  them 
published  by  the  various  states,  the  town  and  county 
histories,  genealogies,  publications  of  historical  societies 
and  other  reliable  sources.     How  many  more  McCarthys 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

could  be  located  by  a  more  exhaustive  search  I  am  not 
prepared  to  say,  but  those  mentioned  here  seem  to  be 
sufficiently  numerous  and  important  to  serve  as  an  incen- 
tive to  the  American  McCarthys  to  make  a  special  study 
of  the  history  of  people  of  this  name  in  the  "Western 
Hemisphere.  For  example,  an  effort  might  be  made,  by 
following  up  the  official  records  of  the  regiments  of  which 
they  were  members,  to  ascertain  what  part  was  played 
by  the  four  hundred  or  more  McCarthys  who  served 
in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars  and  in  the  second 
war  for  Independence.  Whatever  influence  they  had 
during  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  it  was  almost  wholly 
on  the  patriot  side,  and  according  to  the  enlistment 
papers  we  find  among  them  many  young  men,  who  evi- 
dently were  active,  eager  spirits  in  the  cause  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  who  probably  rendered  good  service  to 
their  country  in  her  hour  of  trial.  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  only  two  persons  of  the  name  can  be  found  among 
the  "Loyalists  of  the  Revolution,"  Isiah  and  Denis 
McCarty,  whose  names  appear  in  lists  of  loyalists  who 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia.  Where  these  two  McCartys  were 
located  in  the  American  Colonies  I  am  unable  to  say,  but 
I  believe  it  was  in  New  England. 

While  there  are  clear  indications  that  some  of  the 
American  Irish  McCarthys  of  those  early  days  were  of 
the  better  classes  and  were  men  of  education  and  refine- 
ment, who,  ' '  preferring  an  altar  in  the  desert  to  a  coro- 
net at  court,"  voluntarily  expatriated  themselves  to  the 
Colonies,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  those 
whose  names  appear  in  the  early  records  crossed  the 
seas  as  poor  ''redemptioners"  and  had  to  work  their 
way  against  obstacles  of  the  most  difficult  character. 
But,  their  record  in  America  has  been  an  honorable  one 
and  in  several  instances  they  or  their  immediate  descend- 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

ants  are  seen  to  have  risen  to  places  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility in  the  business,  political  and  social  life  of  their 
day. 

Although  the  correct  spelling  of  the  name  is  *'Mac- 
Carthy,"  I  have  selected  for  the  title  of  this  book  the 
form  of  the  name  in  most  general  use,  viz.,  "McCarthy." 
As  in  many  other  cases,  the  naihe  is  spelled  in  divers 
curious  ways  in  the  colonial  records,  for  all  surnames 
were  at  the  mercy  of  the  whims  and  caprices  of  the  offi- 
cials of  the  period,  and  while  I  am  quoting  the  exact 
spelling  as  it  is  recorded  in  each  instance,  it  should  be 
understood  that  all  such  persons  mentioned  herein  were 
of  the  old  MacCarthy  family  of  Munster.  The  labor 
of  collecting  this  material  has  been  great,  yet  it  is  only 
part  of  other  more  extensive  researches  that  I  have  made 
into  the  history  of  the  early  Irish  in  America,  and  this 
may  serve  as  an  explanation  of  what  will  probably  be 
noticed  by  my  readers,  namely,  that  in  the  case  of  many 
of  the  McCarthys  whose  names  appear  in  public  records 
I  have  furnished  very  little  details  of  their  history. 
That  is  because  my  opportunities  for  research  were  often 
limited  and  were  confined  largely  to  places  where  the 
information  is  readily  accessible. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
CHAPTER 

Intboduction 

I    The  McCaetys  of  Virginia 1 

II    The  McCaetys  of  Virginia  (continued)   ...  39 

III  The  McCartys  of  Virginia  (continued)  ...  71 

IV  The  McCarthys  in  Maryland,  the  Carolinas 

AND  Georgia 1^^ 

V    The   McCarthys    in    Louisiana,    Illinois    and 

Kentucky 128 

VI    The  McCartys  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  147 

VII     The  McCarthys  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey  173 

VIII    The  MacCartys  in  Massachusetts     .     .-    .     .  199 

IX    The  MacCartys  of  Massachusetts  (continued) .  240 

X    McCarthys    in    Connecticut,    Rhode    Island, 

Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  .     .     .  263 

XI    The  Fighting  Race 287 

Appendix ^^1 


Index 


319 


THE  McCarthys  in 

EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


THE  McCarthys  in  early 

AMERICAN  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  MC  CARTYS  OF  VIRGINIA 

Charles  and  Owen  McCartie,  the  first  of  the  name  in  America — 
The  Town  of  Kinsale,  Va.,  founded  by  Irish  Colonists  about 
1662 — Dennis  MacCarthy,  patentee  of  lands  in  Rappahannock 
and  Princess  Anne  Counties  in  1675 — Daniel  McCarty,  King's 
Attorney  in  Virginia  in  1692 — Florence  MacCartie,  of  York 
County,  and  his  descendants — Daniel  McCarty,  exiled  from 
Ireland  by  the  Treaty  of  Limerick,  1691 — A  wealthy  land- 
owner— Speaker  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  1705- 
1715 — His  interesting  career — Other  Irish  pioneers  in  Virginia. 

In  the  State  Paper  Department  at  the  Public  Record 
Office  of  England  there  are  still  preserved  some  of  the 
passenger  lists  of  the  ships  that  left  English  ports  for 
the  American  Colonies  during  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  copies  of  these  manuscripts,  as  transcribed  by  John 
Camden  Hotten,  are  familiarly  known  as  ^'Hotten's 
Original  Lists"  and  were  published  at  London  in  the 
year  1874,  under  the  title  of  "The  Original  Lists  of 
Persons  of  Quality,  Emigrants,  Religious  Exiles,  Political 
Rebels,  Serving  Men,  sold  for  a  term  of  years,  etc.,  who 
went  from  Great  Britain  to  the  American  Plantations 
between  1600  and  1700." 

The  "Immigrant  Lists  to  Virginia"  of  this  period 

contain  a  surprisingly  large  number  of  Irish  names,  and 

among  those  who  came  to  Virginia  in  the  Plaine  Joane 

1 


2  THE  McCarthys 

which  sailed  from  London  on  May  15,  1635,  were  Charles 
and  Owen  McCartie.^  The  Plaine  Joane  is  said  to  have 
disembarked  her  passengers  at  Newport  News  in  whose 
immediate  vicinity  some  of  them  are  known  to  have 
settled,  while  others  moved  out  along  the  James  and  Rap- 
pahannock Rivers,  where  they  worked  as  laborers  on 
the  plantations  or  later  received  grants  of  uncultivated 
lands  themselves.  A  search  through  the  Virginia  records 
fails  to  disclose  any  trace  of  the  whereabouts  of  Charles 
or  Owen  McCartie,  except  that  mention  is  made  of  their 
names  in  the  records  of  Norfolk  County,  where  it  is 
said  that  Charles  was  aged  twenty-seven  and  Owen  eigh- 
teen at  the  time  of  their  arrival.  Their  names  do  not 
appear  in  the  early  land  patents,  which  indicates  the 
probability  that  they  came  over  as  "redemptioners"  and 
were  employed  in  some  capacity  by  Virginia  planters. 
It  is  noted  that  they  came  to  this  country,  not  direct 
from  Ireland  but  from  the  port  of  London.  At  that 
time  and  during  the  period  of  Oliver  Cromwell's  activi- 
ties in  Ireland,  thousands  of  Irish  youths  of  both  sexes 
were  forcibly  seized,  taken  to  English  ports  and  thence 
transported  across  the  seas.  Some  were  sent  to  the 
islands  of  the  West  Indies  and  others  to  the  American 
Colonies,  where  they  were  placed  in  the  service  of  the 
planters  of  Virginia  and  New  England,  and  in  the  Colo- 
nial records  may  be  found  the  names  of  many  of  those 
Irish  boys  and  girls  acting  as  servitors  to  their  English 

masters.     No  discrimination  was  made  as  to  the  social 
standing   of   the    families   who   were   visited   by   these 

1  Hotten's  Original  Lists,  p.  78.  See  also  New  England  Historic- 
Genealogical  Tteoister;  Vols.  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  15,  for  references  to  Charleo 
and  Owen  McCartie  and  a  large  number  of  other  Irish  youths  who  were 
transported  to  Virginia  in  the  year  1635,  transcribed  for  that  Society 
from  the  original  records  by  H.  G.  Sowerby  of  London.  See  also  YirginUi 
County  Records,  edited  by  William  Armstrong  Oroiier  and  published 
by   The   Genealogical  Association  in   ten    volumeB. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  3 

traflSckers  in  human  lives,  and  Prendergast  relates,  in 
The  Cromwellian  Settlement  of  Ireland,  the  shocking 
details  of  the  seizures  of  boys  and  girls  of  gentle  birth 
who  were  caught  and  hurried  to  the  private  prisons  of 
these  English  "man-catchers"  and  afterwards  trans- 
ported to  the  American  plantations. 

It  is  not  perhaps,  assuming  too  much  to  say  that 
Charles  and  Owen  McCartie  were  brothers,  and  no  doubt 
at  their  age  were  able-bodied  men,  and  consequently 
equipped  by  nature  to  brave  the  unknown  perils  and 
undergo  the  privations  of  a  savage  and  unreclaimed 
wilderness.  If,  as  appears  from  a  tradition  which  exists 
among  the  McCartys  of  Virginia,  they  left  the  protection 
of  the  seaboard  settlements  and  proceeded  inland  as  the 
servitors  of  some  planter  or  to  carve  out  destinies  for 
themselves,  we  can  imagine  that  they  were  possessed  of 
no  mean  courage,  when  we  consider  the  conditions  that 
prevailed  in  the  then  unexplored  region  that  stretched 
from  Chesapeake  Bay  north  and  west  to  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  Shenandoah  mountains.  At  this  period,  much  of 
that  territory  was  nothing  more  than  a  vast  hunting 
ground  upon  which  the  savage  tribes  of  the  west  and 
south  killed  the  elk  and  buffalo  and  occasionally  en- 
countered each  other  in  bloody  conflict.  Few  permanent 
settlements  existed  within  its  borders.  It  was  inhabited 
mostly  by  Indians  hostile  to  the  whites,  each  and  all  of 
whom  fiercely  disputed  the  settlement  of  the  territory. 
To  meet  these  conditions  required  men  with  nerves  of 
iron  and  sinews  of  steel,  and  it  is  men  of  that  caliber 
only  that  were  instrumental  in  redeeming  the  great 
Southwest  from  the  savage  and  opening  the  way  for  the 
stream  of  civilization  which  has  since  poured  over  its 
fertile  plains. 

The  family  tradition  says  that  Charles  and  Owen,  in 


4  THE  McCarthys 

course  of  time,  returned  to  the  seaboard  and  found  a 
permanent  location  for  settlement  in  one  of  the  Virginia 
Counties  bordering  on  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  that  they 
were  among  those  who  began  the  settlement  known  after- 
wards as  the  town  of  Kinsale,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yeo- 
comico  River,  a  branch  of  the  Potomac,  about  the  year 
1662.  If  that  were  true,  it  suggests  the  probability,  as 
in  the  case  of  Charles  McCarthy  of  Rhode  Island  here- 
inafter referred  to,  that  these  interesting  pioneers  came 
from  Kinsale  in  the  County  of  Cork  and  that  the  name 
of  the  Virginia  town  was  selected  in  memory  of  their 
original  home  in  Ireland.^  Kinsale,  Va.,  is  a  place  that 
is  seldom  heard  of  and  it  has  grown  but  little  in  the  250 
years  of  its  existence,  though  it  appears  to  have  been  a 
place  of  much  trade  in  tobacco  in  colonial  days;  its 
shipping  was  considerable  at  one  time  and  although  it 
gave  promise  of  becoming  a  town  of  no  small  importance, 
yet,  like  many  other  old  places  in  the  South,  it  failed 
to  fulfill  expectations. 

But,  despite  the  tradition,  it  is  hardly  probable  that 
Charles  and  Owen  McCartie  were  among  the  founders 
of  Kinsale,  because  their  names  do  not  appear  in  any 
of  the  Virginia  land  records.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that 
the  "founders"  of  a  town  could  be  other  than  substantial 
colonists,  and  as  nearly  all  men  of  standing  and  substance 
in  those  days  were  landed  proprietors,  since  it  does  not 
appear  that  Charles  or  Owen  McCartie  received  any 
grant  of  land  from  the  Colony  it  must  be  assumed  that 
they  were  employed  in  some  lowly  capacity.  However, 
according  to  a  statement  made  by  Captain  W.  Page 
McCarty,  a  former  editor  of  the  Richmond  Times,  whose 
information  was  obtained  from  the  papers  of  his  father, 

2  Kinsale,  Ireland,  was  the  seat  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Mac- 
Carthy    family. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  5 

at  one  time  Governor  of  Florida,  "Colonels  McClanahan, 
Andrew  Wagoner  and  Major  Richard  McCarty  of  the 
Revolution  were  descendants  of  a  small  group  of  Irish- 
men who  named  the  little  town  of  Kinsale  on  the  Po- 
tomac ahout  1662.  Daniel  McCarty,  Speaker  of  the 
Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  in  1715,  was  of  this  set  of 
people  and  was  grandson  of  McCarty  of  Glencare.  "^ 
Mr.  William  G.  Stanard,  Secretary  of  the  Virginia 
Historical  Society  and  one  of  the  leading  authorities  on 
early  Virginia  history,  informs  me:  "it  is  apparent  that 
a  group  of  immigrants  from  the  South  of  Ireland  located 
on  the  Rappahannock  River  some  time  between  1650 
and  1680,  and  although  there  is  no  tangible  proof  as  to 
when  or  by  whom  the  settlement  was  established,  it  is 
known  that  among  those  who  comprised  this  early  Vir- 
ginia colony  were  the  families  of  McCarty,  Travers, 
Rice  and  my  own  family,  the  Stanards."  He  has  no 
further  knowledge  of  the  Irish  colony  "farther  back 
than  William  Stanard  who  appears  in  Middlesex  County 
on  the  Rappahannock  about  1674,"  and  "although  there 
is  no  record  of  any  marriage  or  connection  with  any  fam- 
ily named  Eaton,  yet  one  of  William  Stanard 's  grand- 
sons named  a  son  Eaton  Stanard,  and  as  there  was  an 
Eaton  Stanard,  a  lawyer  of  some  prominence  and  Re- 
corder of  Dublin  about  1735,  who  belonged  to  a 
family  of  Stanards  described  as  of  Ballyhealy  Castle 
in  the  County  of  Cork,  the  assumption  is  that  the 
Stanard  who  came  in  the  Irish  colony  alluded  to  was 
of  the  Cork  family  of  the  name."  Accepting  Mr.  Stan- 
ard's  statement  as  correct  that  the  Travers,  the  Mc- 
Cartys  and  the  others  came  to  Virginia  about  the  same 
time,  the  statement  as  to  the  founding  of  the  town  of 
Kinsale  "about  the  year  1662,"  would  seem  to  be  eon- 

3  Journal  of  the  American  Irish  Historical  Society;  Vol.  II,   p.   165. 


6  THE  McCarthys 

firmed,  since  Virginia  records  show  that  the  Travers 
were  in  the  colony  in  1663,  and  in  the  books  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  of  that  year  the  head  of  the  family  is  styled 
"Colonel  William  Travers."* 

Members  of  the  Travers  and  Rice  families  are  men- 
tioned several  times  in  Virginia  records  in  connection 
with  the  McCartys.  The  Travers  were  an  old  Cork 
family  of  probable  English  descent,  and  O'Hart  names 
the  Rices  among  "the  chief  Anglo-Norman  and  English 
families"  who  settled  in  the  County  of  Kerry.^  The 
records  of  old  Rappahannock  County  at  Essex  Court 
House  show  that  Dennis  McCartee  was  appointed  on 
December  20,  1686,  "Attorney  for  Rebecca  Rice,  wife 
of  John  Rice,  a  merchant  of  Rappahannock  County, ' '  to 
give  her  consent  to  the  execution  of  a  deed,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Hayden,  compiler  of  Virginia  Genealogies,  in 
executing  the  deed  Rice  and  his  wife  both  used  as  seals 
the  arms  of  the  Rice  family  of  Dingle,  County  Kerry. 
Their  daughter  is  on  record  as  marrying  "William 
Travers,  Gentleman,"  whose  will  also  bears  the  Rice 
arms.  This  John  Rice,  his  wife  and  his  brother,  James, 
were  refugees  from  Ireland  to  the  Island  of  Barbadoes 
and  their  names  appear  in  the  list  of  worshippers  at 
St.  Michael's  Catholic  Church,  Barbadoes,  in  1675,  and 
on  August  3,  1679,  they  are  on  record  as  receiving  tickets 
to  emigrate  from  Barbadoes  to  Virginia  on  the  ship, 
Young  William.^  When  Daniel  McCarty  devised  certain 
lands  in  Richmond  County  in  1724,  his  will  said  that 
these  lands  had  been  entailed  on  his,  Daniel's,  father  by 
Captain  John  Rice,  so  it  is  probable  that  the  McCartys 
and  Rices  were  related  either  by  blood  or  by  marriage. 

With  the  exception  of  Charles  and  Owen,  no  other 

4  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large;  Vol.  II,  p.  330. 

5  Irish  Pedigrees;  Vol.  I,  p.   810. 

6  Hotten's  Original  Lists. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  7 

immigrants  of  the  name  appear  in  the  lists  of  passengers 
on  the  ships  that  arrived  in  Virginia  up  to  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
find.     In  all  likelihood,   Charles  and  Owen  McCartie, 
or  either  of  them,  married,  and  some  of  the  McCarties 
whom  I  have  located  in  Virginia  and  the  neighboring 
colonies   were   descendants   of  the   immigrants   of  the 
Plaine  Joane.     The  period  of  their  removal  to  the  vi- 
cinity of  Chesapeake  Bay  is  problematical,  since  there 
is  nothing  on  record  concerning  it,  and  their  permanent 
settlement  in  that  part  of  the  State  prior  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  town  of  Kinsale  has  no  other  authority 
than  a  family  tradition.     All  available  sources  of  in- 
formation such  as  land  grants,  parish  registers,  court 
files,  wills  and  deeds  and  publications  of  the  historical 
societies  have  been  examined,  but,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion of  the  reference  to  them  in  the  records  of  Norfolk 
County,  there  is  no  trace  of  their  names  in  any  public 
records  after  their  arrival  in  1635.     In  the  absence  of 
this  information,  therefore,  the  authentic  history  of  the 
family  in  Virginia  begins  with  Dennis  and  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty. 

In  addition  to  the  data  secured  from  public  records, 
Hayden's  Virginia  Genealogies  furnish  many  interesting 
items  linking  the  members  of  this  family  with  other  his- 
toric families  of  the  South,  although  it  is  clear  that 
Hayden  erred  in  several  instances,  probably  because  he 
failed  to  examine  all  of  the  records  or  became  confused 
through  the  constant  appearance  of  members  of  differ- 
ent branches  of  the  family  bearing  the  same  Christian 
names.  The  pedigree  of  this  ancient  family  shows  the 
Christian  names,  Tiege,  Donal,  Donogh,  Finin  and  Cor- 
mac  occurring  generation  after  generation,  and  in  the 
American  branches  we  observe  the  constant  recurrence 


8  THE  McCarthys 

of  the  same  given  names,  that  is,  the  corresponding 
anglicized  forms,  Thaddeus,  Daniel,  Dennis,  Florence 
and  Charles  respectively.  Eoghan,  or  Owen,  was  also  a 
popular  name  in  the  family,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  exiles  of  1635,  Charles  and  Owen  McCartie,  were 
of  this  family  and  were  closely  related  to  Dennis  and 
Daniel  of  Virginia,  as  well  as  to  Thaddeus  and  Florence 
MacCarty  of  Boston,  hereinafter  mentioned. 

So  many  McCartys  appear  in  Virginia  records  and 
there  are  so  many  variations  in  the  spelling  of  the  sur- 
name, as  well  as  many  repetitions  of  the  same  given 
name  in  the  ditlPerent  branches  of  the  family,  that  it  is 
an  extremely  difficult  matter  to  trace  them  and  their 
numerous  descendants.  The  name  is  found  at  various 
periods  in  the  land  books  and  court  and  church  records 
of  Eappahannock,  Princess  Ann,  King  George,  North- 
umberland, Norfolk,  Stafford,  Fairfax,  Westmoreland, 
Loudoun,  Hampshire,  Prince  William,  York,  Isle  of 
Wight  and  Richmond  Counties,  Virginia,  beginning  in 
some  instances  as  early  as  the  year  1675  and  down  to 
the  present  time,  although  their  descendants  are  now 
scattered  all  over  the  Southern  States.  In  the  Virginia 
land  books  the  name  is  spelled  in  several  different  forms, 
such  as  MacCarthy,  McCarty,  McCartee,  MacCartoo,  Mc- 
Cartie, Maccarty,  Macartagh,  Mackartee,  Carty  and 
Cartie.  In  all  cases  it  was  not  in  this  country  that  the 
name  was  changed  from  its  original  form  to  "Carty"  and 
"Cartie,"  because  the  pedigree  of  the  family  as  pub- 
lished by  O'Hart  and  other  authorities  shows  several 
instances  where  the  name  was  spelled  without  the  prefix, 
"Mac,"  before  any  of  the  family  came  to  the  Colonies. 

The  first  mention  of  the  name,  aside  from  that  of  the 
two  who  came  over  in  1635,  is  found  in  the  records  of 
the  Land  Of&ee  at  Richmond,  wherein  it  is  seen  that  by 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  9 

deed  dated   September  21,   1675,   one   Edmund  Moore 
conveyed    to    "Dennis    MaeCartee    of    Rappahannock 
County"  250  acres  of  land,  described  as  "lying  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Lynnhaven,  at  the  time  of  the  Survey 
in  the  County  of  Lower  Norfolk,  but  now  in  Princess 
Ann  County."     For  some  reason  that  does  not  appear 
the  title  to  these  lands  was  further  secured  by  patent 
dated  October  20,  1692,  from  Governor  Francis  Nichol- 
son to  Dennis  Maccartee,  and  the  document  states  that 
one  hundred  acres  of  the  tract  were  "due  unto  the  said 
Dennis  Maccartee  for  the  importation  of  two  psons."'^ 
There  is  a  reference  also  to  a  deed  executed  in  Norfolk 
County  in  the  year  1675,  by  which  "Dennis  Macartie" 
sold  to  Adam  Keeling  "250  acres  of  land  fonnerly  be- 
longing to  Thomas  Allen  in  Linhaven,"  although  there 
IS  nothing  to  show  how  he  came  into  possession  of  these 
lands,  and  Edmund  Moore  sold  to  ' '  Dennis  Macartagh ' ' 
150  acres  "on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Lynnhaven"  in  the 
same  year.^ 

The  next  entry  in  which  he  appears  is  on  September 
15,  1691,  in  a  grant  of  250  acres  described  as  "on  the 
east  and  south  sides  of  a  branch  of  the  Wiccocomo  River 
in  Northumberland  County."  In  the  patent  for  these 
lands  his  name  is  recorded  as  "Macarte,"  and  curiously 
enough  in  the  body  of  the  document  he  is  referred  to  as 
"the  said  Cartoo"  and  "the  said  Dennis  Macarto,"  and 
in  the  margin  of  the  patent  there  is  a  reference  to  him 
reading:  "Cartoo,  Mr.  Dennis,  p*  250  acres  of  land."» 
On  October  16,  1691,  he  received  a  further  grant  of  250 
acres  in  Princess  Ann  County,  and  on  October  29,  1697, 
Dennis  Maccartee  and  Adam  Keeling  were  granted  a 
patent  for  400  acres  in  the  same   County,  "escheated 

7  State  Land  Office  records;   Book  VIII,  fol.  79. 

8  Records  of  Lower  Norfolk  County. 

9  Land  Patents;  Book  No.  1,  p.  117. 


10  THE  McCarthys 

lands  late  in  the  possession  of  Jonathan  Langsworth, 
deceased. ' '  ^°  This  latter  Dennis  Maccartee  must  have 
been  a  son  of  the  first  Dennis,  since  the  latter  died  in 
the  year  1694,  as  the  probate  of  his  will  filed  in  Rich- 
mond (formerly  Rappahannock)  County  shows.  There 
was  also  a  Dennis  MacCartie  who  lived  in  Princess  Ann 
County  in  1693,  described  as  ''old,  lame  and  poor,"" 
but  it  is  hardly  possible  that  this  could  have  been  the 
first -mentioned  Dennis,  since  he  seems  to  have  been  a 
prosperous  land  owner.  The  patent  of  October  29,  1697, 
was  granted  by  Governor  Edmund  Andros  and  in  the 
original  entry  in  the  land  book  the  name  is  spelled 
variously  "Maccartie,"  "MacCarty"  and  "Maccar- 
too."" 

The  MacCarthys  were  not  the  only  Irishmen  who 
owned  lands  in  Norfolk  or  Lower  Norfolk  County  at 
this  time,  and  indeed  so  many  of  their  countrymen  are 
mentioned  in  the  early  records  of  this  part  of  the  State 
that  it  would  appear  an  Irish  settlement  was  planted 
there  sometime  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Among  the 
surnames  which  occur  in  the  land  and  probate  records 
of  this  part  of  Virginia  between  1650  and  1700  are 
Barry,  Brady,  Burke,  Carney,  Condon,  Connell,  Connor, 
Corbett,  Daly,  Donnell,  Dougherty,  Foley,  Fitzgerald, 
Grady,  Gilligan,  Higgins,  Hayley,  Hurley,  Hayes,  Joyce, 
Kelley,  Lary,  Mahoney,  MacKroree,  McEUalen,  Mac- 
Kenny,  Macdaniel,  McCoy,  McLenahan,  Mulligan,  Mur- 
phy, O'Neal,  Piggott,  Reilly,  Shea,  Sheane  or  Sheehan, 
Slavin  and  Sullivan. 

An  unconfirmed  tradition  in  the  family  says  that 
Dennis  MacCarthy  of  Rappahannock  was  a  son  of  Justin, 

10  Land  Patents;   Book  No.  9,  p.   118. 

11  Statement  of  Mr.  William  G.  Stanard;  see  Hayden's  Tirginia  Oeneal- 
ogies;  p.  84 A. 

12  Land  Patents;   Book  No.  9. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  11 

Earl  of  Mounteashel,  who  succeeded  to  the  title  and 
estates  of  his  father,  Donoch  or  Dennis,  Earl  of  Clan 
Carthy,  on  the  latter 's  death  in  the  year  1665.     Justin, 
Lord  Mounteashel,  married  Arabella,  daughter  of  the 
famous  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford,  although 
in  the  issue  of  this  marriage,  as  listed  by  0  'Hart,  there 
is  no  mention  of  a  son  named  Dennis.     There  are  various 
conflicting  statements   as  to  the   period  of  his  settle- 
ment in  Virginia.     Dr.  Lyon  G.  Tyler,  a  former  presi- 
dent of  William  and  Mary  College  and  a  well-known 
authority  on  early  Virginia  history,  states  that  Dennis 
MacCarthy  came  to  the  colony  "about  1670";  ^^  yet  an- 
other historical  writer  names  "1668"^*  as  the  year  of 
his  marriage  in  Virginia.     Still  another  historian  in- 
timates that  he  settled  first  in  Norfolk  County  in  the 
year  1675.     In  the  "Registry  of  American  Families  en- 
titled to  Coat  Armor,"  ^^  familiarly  known  as  "Crozier's 
General  Armory,"  the  name  is  listed.     The  registry  con- 
tains descriptions  of  nearly  two  thousand  coats  of  arms, 
with  the  name  of  the  first  of  the  family  in  America  in 
each  case,  the  date  of  his  arrival  and  the  place  of  settle- 
ment, and  in  many  instances  the  town  or  country  whence 
he  came.     Under  the  name,  McCarty,  appears:     "Den- 
nis McCarty  of  Norfolk,  1675,"  followed  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  arms  of  the  MacCarthy  family  of  Ireland. 
While  it  is  seen  from  these  different  dates  that  the 
exact  period  of  Dennis  MacCarthy 's  advent  in  Virginia 
is  not  known  for  a  certainty,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  in 
the  colony  as  early  as  1675  and  the  best  evidence  is 
that  in  March  of  that  year  he  married  an  English  lady 

13  Encyclopedia  of  Virginia  Biography;  Vol.  I,  p.  288;  New  York,  1915. 

li  Early  Settlers  in  Alabama,  by  James  B.  Saunders  and  C.  B.  Stubbs ; 
p.   401;    New  Orleans,    1899. 

15  Edited  by  William  Armstrong  Crozier  and  published  by  The  Geneal- 
ogical Association;  New  York,  1904. 


12  THE  McCarthys 

named  Elizabeth  Billington,  daughter  of  Luke  Billing- 
ton  of  Farnham  Parish,  now  in  Richmond,  but  then  in 
Rappahannock  County.  It  is  certain  that  he  and  his 
wife  lived  in  or  near  Farnham  Parish  in  1678,  since  the 
register  of  Farnham  Parish  church  on  file  in  the  County 
Clerk's  office  at  Warsaw,  Va.,  contains  entries  of  the 
births  of  two  of  their  children,  namely  "Catherine, 
daughter  of  Dennis  and  Elizabeth  McCarthy,"  on  April 
16,  1678,  and  "Daniel,  son  of  Dennis  and  Elizabeth 
McCarthy,"  on  March  19,  1684.  It  appears  they  had 
two  other  children  named  Florence  and  Dennis,  but  I 
am  unable  to  obtain  any  information  as  to  when  or 
where  they  were  bom.  According  to  "Order  Book 
No.  I,"  Richmond  County  records,  the  "will  of  Dennis 
McCarthy"  was  admitted  to  probate  on  April  4,  1694,^® 
so  that  Hay  den's  statement  that  "Dennis  died  about 
1700"^"  is  obviously  incorrect. 

We  see  from  the  foregoing  extracts  from  the  records 
that  Dennis  MacCarthy  was  the  owner  of  a  large  estate 
in  widely  separated  parts  of  Virginia  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  From  the  place  where  he 
is  first  located  in  old  Rappahannock  County  to  Norfolk 
County,  at  the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  was  a  very 
considerable  distance  to  cover  in  those  days  of  Indian 
trails,  bridgeless  streams  and  virgin  forests.  He  could 
not  have  managed  his  large  interests  in  person,  and  no 
doubt  his  object  in  acquiring  so  much  land  was  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  his  sons  to  carve  out  careers  for 
themselves.  He  seems  to  have  retained  his  plantation 
in  Rappahannock  County  for  himself,  that  in  Norfolk 

16  Entries  from  "Order  Book  No.  1,"  reproduced  in  WUliam  and  Mary 
College  Quarterly,  Vol.  17.  I  am  informed  by  the  County  Clerk  that  the 
book  containing  the  record  of  Dennis  McCarthy's  will  is  not  now  in  ex- 
istence. 

17  Virginia  Genealogies,  p.   85. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  13 

County  he  gave  to  his  son  Dennis,  his  estate  in  North- 
umberland County  to  Daniel,  and  his  other  son,  Flor- 
ence, was  the  owner  of  a  plantation  in  York  County. 
These  three  became  the  founders  of  separate  branches 
of  the  family  whose  descendants  have  since  spread  them- 
selves all  over  the  United  States.  It  appears  there  were 
three  of  the  family  named  Dennis  and  three  named 
Daniel,  all  in  Virginia  about  the  same  period.  These 
were : 

(1)  Dennis  of  old  Rappahannock,  who  first  appears  in 

the  land  records  in  1675  and  who  had  four  chil- 
dren, viz. — ■ 

Catherine,  born  in  Farnham  Parish,  April  16, 

1678; 
Daniel,  born  in  Farnham  Parish,  March  15, 
1684; 

(2)  Dennis,  date  and  place  of  birth  not  ascertained ; 
Florence,    date    and    place    of    birth    not    as- 
certained. 

(3)  Dennis  of  Princess  Ann  County,  of  whose  descend- 

ants, if  any,  nothing  is  known. 

(1)  Daniel,  the  above  son  of  Dennis  of  Rappahannock. 

(2)  Daniel  of  Westmoreland  County,  who  was  exiled  to 

the  colonies  about  1692. 

(3)  Daniel,  who  was  appointed  "King's  Attorney  for 

Rappahannock  County"  in  1692. 

The  last-mentioned  Daniel  McCarty  could  not  have 
been  a  son  of  Dennis  of  Rappahannock,  since  his  son 
was  only  eight  years  old  in  1692;  nor  could  the  King's 
Attorney  have  been  the  Daniel  who  was  exiled  about 
1692,  because  the  latter  was  only  thirteen  years  old  at 
the  time.     It  is  possible  that  the  "two  psons"  Dennis 


14  THE  McCarthys 

MacCarthy  brought  to  the  Colony,  and  for  whose  ''im- 
portation" he  received  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  as 
stated  in  the  patent  of  October  20,  1692,  were  his  sons, 
Dennis  and  Florence,  which  may  be  the  explanation  why 
there  is  no  entry  of  their  births  in  Virginia  church  rec- 
ords. Who  the  father  of  the  King 's  Attorney  was  there 
is  nothing  to  indicate,  although  it  may  possibly  have 
been  the  Dennis  of  Princess  Ann  County.  The  branches 
of  the  family  tree,  running  in  so  many  different  direc- 
tions, make  a  very  complicated  problem  to  solve  at  this 
late  day,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  two  of 
the  Daniels  were  known  as  "Captain"  and  each  had 
sons  named  Daniel  and  Dennis,  and  it  is  hard  to  differ- 
entiate between  the  two  when  their  names  appear  in 
public  records.  In  many  cases  it  is  impracticable  to 
determine  the  relationships  which  existed  between  the 
different  persons  of  the  name,  without  making  an  elabo- 
rate study  of  all  the  old  records,  and  it  is  doubtful  if 
even  this  could  be  done  at  all  for  the  reason  that  some 
of  the  parish  records  and  land  and  will  books  are  not 
now  obtainable.  Besides,  it  is  clear  from  a  study  of  the 
available  information,  that  some  branches  of  the  family 
became  extinct  through  failure  of  the  male  line.  Many 
of  the  papers  and  heirlooms  of  the  family  were  de- 
stroyed in  a  fire  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  McCartys 
at  Merry  Point,  Lancaster  County,  shortly  after  the 
Civil  War,  and  I  am  informed  that  this  house  was  the 
repository  of  much  genealogical  data  relating  to  the 
early  members  of  the  family  in  Virginia. 

Hayden  says  that  Daniel  of  Westmoreland  County 
"probably"  was  a  son  of  Dennis  of  Rappahannock,^® 
but  he  is  clearly  mistaken  in  that  assumption,  since  it 
is  known  that  Daniel  of  Westmoreland  was  a  son  of 

18  Yirginia  Genealogies,  p.  86. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  15 

Donal  MacCarthy,  and  the  Famham  Parish  register 
shows  that  Daniel,  son  of  Dennis,  was  bom  in  Virginia 
on  March  19,  1684,  and  Captain  William  Page  Mc- 
Carty,  great-great-grandson  of  Daniel  of  Westmoreland, 
wrote  that  the  latter  was  ' '  exiled  by  the  Treaty  of  Limer- 
ick" (1691).  Besides,  the  year  of  the  death  of  Daniel 
of  Westmoreland  is  shown  on  his  tombstone  at  Montross, 
Va.,  as  1724  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  while  the  Farn- 
ham  Parish  register  gives  the  date  of  burial  of  Daniel, 
son  of  Dennis,  as  August  6,  1739.  And  the  fact  that 
Dennis  resided  in  Virginia  at  least  four  years  before 
Daniel  was  born  again  proves  that  Hayden  's  assumption 
as  to  their  having  been  father  and  son  was  an  error, 
and  that  his  genealogy  of  the  family  begins  on  a  wrong 
basis.  I  think  these  facts  are  conclusive  and  it  is  plain 
that  Hayden  confused  the  different  Daniels. 

All  indications  are  that  Dennis  MacCarthy  of  Rappa- 
hannock was  a  near  relative  of  Daniel,  the  Irish  exile, 
and,  if  the  tradition  before  referred  to  were  correct,  they 
were  second  cousins.  Another  well-known  Virginia  his- 
torian, also  erred  in  his  reference  to  the  McCartys. 
Bishop  William  Meade,^^  in  his  "Old  Churches,  Ministers 
and  Families  of  Virginia,"  '^^  says:  "The  McCartys  of 
Virginia  are  an  ancient  family  springing  from  Daniel 
and  Dennis  McCarty,  who  are  first  mentioned  in  1710. 

19  This  famous  Churchman  was  a  great-grandson  of  Andrew  Meade, 
an  emigrant  from  Ireland  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  He  was  a 
native  of  County  Kerry,  the  original  home  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Mc- 
Cartys of  Virginia.  He  was  a  Catholic,  but  conformed  to  the  established 
church  after  his  settlement  in  the  colonies.  Many  references  to  him  are 
found  in  Virginia  colonial  records.  He  is  described  as  "a  man  of  educa- 
tion and  influence,  a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  Judge 
of  the  Court  and  Senior  Colonel  of  Militia,"  and  is  said  to  have  been 
"a  man  of  great  physical  strength."  He  died  in  Nansemond  County, 
Va.,  in  1745,  "leaving  behind  him  a  stainless  character  and  the  title  of 
'Andrew  Meade,  the  Honest.'  "  His  son,  David  Meade,  in  1729  or  1730 
married,  under  romantic  circumstances,  a  daughter  of  Sir  Richard  Ever- 
ard,  Governor  of  North  Carolina. —  (Encyclopedia  of  Virginia  Biography, 
by  Dr.  Lyon  G.  Tyler;  Vol.  IV,  p.  76.) 

20  Vol.  II  p.   173. 


16  THE  McCarthys 

This  is  obviously  incorrect  as  to  the  year,  since  it  is 
shown  by  the  family  records  that  Daniel  came  to  the 
Colony  about  1692  and  all  three  Dennis  McCartys  were 
here  many  years  before  1710. 

Daniel  McCarty,  King's  Attorney  for  Rappahannock 
County,  was  appointed  "Queen's  Attorney"  in  1707. 
In  "Order  Book  No.  4,  1692-1709,"  Court  records  of 
Richmond  County,  at  Warsaw,  Va.,  under  date  of  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1707,  appears  the  following  entry  linking  the 
names  of  John  and  Lawrence  Washington  with  that  of 
Daniel  McCarty  in  connection  with  an  action  at  law : 

"The  Jury  finds  that  Colonel  John  Washington,  being  seized 
of  1400  acres  of  land  in  Rappahannock  County  (since  Rich- 
mond), by  his  last  will  gave  the  same  to  Anne,  his  daughter, 
who  married  Francis  Wright,  Gent.,  by  whom  he  had  a  son, 
John,  and  we  find  that  said  Francis  conveyed  200  acres  to 
Lawrence  Washington,  George  Eskridge  and  Daniel  McCarty, 
Attorneys  for  the  King."  ^i 

Although  King's  attorney,  Daniel  McCarty  also  prac- 
ticed law  in  the  County  Courts  and  there  are  several 
cases  of  record  where  he  appeared  as  counsel  for  private 
litigants.  He  also  married  into  the  Billington  family, 
his  wife  having  been  Barbara,  sister  of  the  Elizabeth 
Billington  who  married  Dennis  of  Rappahannock.  Dan- 
iel McCarty  and  "his  wife  Barbary"  are  on  record  as 
executing  a  deed  in  Richmond  County  in  1698.  In  the 
nuncupative  will  of  Luke  Billington,  Junior,  given  orally 
to  his  brother,  McCarty  Billington,  on  January  25, 
1686,  probated  March  11,  1687,  he  left  legacies  to  his 
sister,  Barbara  McCarty,  "my  pistolls  to  little  Daniell 
McCarty,"  and  after  providing  for  other  bequests  he 
directed  that  "the  rest  of  my  estate  shall  go  to  my 
cousins,  your  three  children."     This  passage  in  the  will 

21  Quoted  in  William  and  Mary  College   Quarterly,  Vol.   17. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  17 

indicates  how  relationships  were  sometimes  styled  in 
those  days,  because  the  three  children  of  Barbara  Mc- 
Carty,  whom  Luke  Billington  called  his  "cousins,"  were 
in  reality  his  nephews. 

In  the  patents  recorded  at  the  Land  Office  in  Rich- 
mond prior  to  1666  there  are  350  Irish  names  mentioned, 
nearly  all  "head  rights,"  among  whom  were  Elisa 
Macartee  who  arrived  in  the  year  1653  and  Mahan  Carty 
in  1655.2'  joi^n  Macartey  is  mentioned  in  York  County 
in  the  year  1681  as  "a  small  farmer  brawling  with  his 
neighbours, ' '  ^^  and  Charles  Macarthy  is  also  mentioned 
in  1682,  but  in  friendly  transactions  with  his  "neigh- 
bours." It  is  quite  possible  that  this  may  have  been 
the  Charles  McCartie  who  came  over  in  1635.  Another 
Charles,  whose  surname  is  spelled  "Mackartie,"  tame 
over  in  1688  with  Captain  Francis  Page  to  York  County 
as  a  "head  right,"  -*  and  when  his  term  of  service  had 
expired  he  received  an  allottment  of  fifty  acres  of  land. 
In  Captain  Page's  list  of  "head  rights"  he  also  men- 
tioned the  name  of  "Dennis  Mackartie,"  showing  that 
he  brought  over  two  of  the  name.  There  is  no  fur- 
ther mention  of  them  in  the  records  as  far  as  I  can 

find. 

Florence  MacCarthy  was  a  resident  of  York  County 
in  1690,  and  since  he  is  mentioned  as  "a  son  of  Dennis 
MacCartie,  the  immigrant,"  that  is  a  clear  indication 
that  the  latter,  while  undoubtedly  a  native  of  Ireland, 
could  not  have  been  a  descendant  of  either  Charles  or 
Owen  who  came  over  in  1635,  and  it  also  furnishes  fur- 
ther proof  of  the  fact  that  Dennis  of  Rappahannock 

22  See  Early  Immirjrants  to  Virpinia,  a  list  of  names  of  "head  rights" 
appearing  in  the  land  grants,  collected  by  George  Cabell  Greer,  Clerk 
of  the  Virginia  Land  Office,    and  published  under  that  title  in   1912. 

23  York   Records,   1675-1684. 

24  Ibid.,   1687-1691,   Vol.   139. 


18  THE  McCarthys 

could  not  have  been  the  "father"  (as  Hay  den  says) 
of  the  Daniel  McCarty  of  Westmoreland  County.  In 
1705  Florence  purchased  a  tract  of  land  from  one 
"William  Jordan  and  in  1714  another  tract  from  John 
Harrison.  In  1711  he  served  on  a  jury  in  York  County 
and  in  1717  he  was  appointed  ' '  Constable  of  the  Upper 
Precinct  of  Bruton  Parish."  In  the  York  books  (1633- 
1700)  at  the  Virginia  State  Library,  there  are  at  least 
two  references  to  Florence  MacCarthy.  At  a  court 
held  in  York  County  on  May  24, 1699,  "fflorence  Macarte 
hath  order  granted  for  an  Attachment  ag*  y^  Estate  of 
Mary  Dyer,  Adm''  of  William  Dyer  of  Yorke  County, 
Deceased,  in  an  Accon  upon  y®  case  for  y*  sum  of  one 
pound  five  shillings  &  a  halfe  penny  farthing  sterling  by 
Account  Returnable  by  y^  next  Court."  And  at  a  ses- 
sion of  the  court  held  on  September  25,  1699,  ''fflorence 
MacKarte  haveing  brought  suit  agt  Mary  Dyer  adm*"* 
of  William  Dyer  Deced  in  an  Accon  upon  y^  Case  and 
now  faileing  to  prosecute  y®  suite  is  dismist. " 

The  fact  that  Florence  MacCartie  married  Mary 
Wright,  daughter  of  Dionysius  Wright,  would  indicate 
that  he  was  a  man  of  some  importance  in  that  section  of 
the  Colony.  Dionysius  Wright  was  a  lawyer  practicing 
in  York  and  James  City  Counties,  and  according  to  the 
Journals  of  the  Council  of  Virginia  he  was  appointed 
on  December  5,  1700  "Clerke  of  y®  Generall  Assembly," 
and  on  August  27,  1701,  he  was  "Clerke  at  y^  Confer- 
ence (consisting  of  a  committee  of  Burgesses  and  Coun- 
cillors) to  settle  Indian  affairs."  Ann  Washington, 
daughter  of  Colonel  John  Washington,  married  Frances 
Wright,  a  relative  of  Dionysius  Wright.  Florence  and 
Mary  MacCartie  had  issue :  Florence,  Dennis,  Dionysius, 
Eleanor,  Margaret,  Mary  and  Anne.^^     In  the  church 

25  Parish  Registers,  Bruton  Parish  Church,  Williamsburg,  Va.     Among 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


19 


register  of  Bruton  parish  his  death  is  recorded  under 
"March,  1717,"  and  his  will,  executed  on  Saint  Patrick's 
Day  in  that  year,  was  proved  in  court  on  May  19,  1718, 
In  this  will  he  is  described  as  "of  Bruton  Parish,  York 
County."  To  his  son,  Florence,  he  gave  "the  dwelling 
plantation"  and  101  acres  of  land,  with  the  proviso  that 
his  wife  was  "to  have  all  the  rights  she  enjoyed  during 
her  husband's  lifetime."  Other  bequests  of  lands  and 
money  he  left  to  his  sons,  Dennis  and  Dionysius;  to 
John  he  left  "£50  in  money  to  purchase  him  a  seate  of 
land,"  and  various  bequests  to  his  four  daughters.  He 
directed  especially  that  his  sons  were  "to  be  educated 
and  brought  up  to  schooling,  that  is,  that  they  be  taught 
to  read,  write  and  to  cypher  as  far  until  they  are  able  to 
work  out  the  rule  of  three,  all  out  of  the  profits  of  ray 
estate."  He  signed  his  will  "Flor  MacCartie."  His 
widow  married  Thomas  Larke  who  undertook  to  manage 
the  estate  in  the  interest  of  the  orphans,  but  in  1727  the 
court  removed  it  from  his  control,  charging  him  with 
"mismanagement,"  and  thereupon  "the  children  chose 
new  guardians." 

Dionysius  MacCartie  married  Elizabeth  Power  and 
had  a  son,  James,  who  died  in  1746.  There  was  a  Dr. 
James  McCarty,  a  physician  at  Petersburg,  Virginia, 

other  names  in  the  birth  and  death  records  of  this  church  and  the  years 
in  which  they  appear,  are: 

Daniel   Mecarte    1694 

John    Casey    1703 

Denis     Mecharte,     son     of 

Florence    1705 

Edward  Powers   1710 

Abigail    O'Brian    1719 

Florence   McCarty    1719 

Richard  Tobin    1723 

Daniel   Murphy    1726 

Patrick   Green    1729 

Daniel  Cain    1735 

Catherine    O'Connor    1737 

John   McCarty    1747 


Elizabeth    McCarty    1747 

William  Swiney    1748 

William  Dunn    1752 

Thomas   Dunn    1762 

Michael  McCarty    1762 

Katherine    Dunn    1762 

Matthew  Doran    1763 

Elizabeth    Doran    1763 

Patrick  Hyland    1764 

John    Connilly     1764 

James   McCarty    1767 

John   McCarty    1767 

Nelly  Connelly   1768 


20  THE  McCarthys 

who  is  said  to  have  been  a  son  of  James  MacCartie,  whose 
estate  was  administered  in   1747  by  John  MacCartie. 
Many  of  the  collateral  descendants  of  the  original  Flor- 
ence MacCartie  are  mentioned  in  the  records  down  to 
and  beyond  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  but,  as  to  the 
direct  line,  there  is  very  little  information  available. 
His  daughter,  Eleanor,  married  Robert  Drewry,  son  of 
John  Drewry  who  was  "Commissioner  of  Records  in 
York  County"  in  1702;  Anne  MacCartie,  bom  June  25, 
1706,  married  Peter  Oliver,  a  planter  of  Hampton  Par- 
ish in  York  County.     Their  son,  Peter,  and  his  wife 
Ann  who  also  seems  to  have  been  a  McCarty,  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  some  time  be- 
fore the  Revolution,  where  ten  children  were  born  to 
them.     One  of  them  was  Rev.  Florence  McCarty  Oliver 
of  Elbert  County,  Georgia,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  in 
1775,  and  his  son,  also  Florence  McCarty  Oliver,  was 
born  in  Georgia  in  1809.     He  had  a  son  named  John 
McCarthy  Oliver  who  settled   at   Lafayette,  Alabama. 
The  Olivers  were  a  very  prominent  Georgia  family  and 
their  genealogy  shows  that  through  the  succeeding  gen- 
erations they  preserved  the  McCarty  name  and  It  ap- 
pears occasionally  in  the  family  down  to  recent  years. 
Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  pioneers  of 
the  name  in  America  was  Daniel  McCarty  of  Westmore- 
land County,  Virginia.     There  is  no  information  avail- 
able as  to  the  exact  date  of  his  arrival  in  the  Colony, 
but  it  is  evident  that  it  was  only  a  short  time  after  the 
signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick,  in  October  1691,  and 
in  after  years  he  is  referred  to  prominently  as  the  owner 
of  large  tracts  of  land  in  Virginia.     As  already  stated, 
his  father  was  Donal,  son  of  Donough,   Earl  of  Clan 
Carthy,-^  and  was  an  officer  of  the  Irish  army  that  fought 

26  Burke,    in   his   Landed   Gentry    of   Great   Britain   and   Ireland,    says 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  21 

against  King  William.  There  was  a  Captain  Donal  Mac- 
Carthy  taken  prisoner  at  the  siege  of  Cork  in  1689  by 
Colonel  Churchill,  afterwards  Duke  of  Marlborough,  but, 
as  to  his  ultimate  fate,  the  Irish  records  are  silent,  al- 
though in  all  probability  this  was  the  father  of  Daniel  of 
Virginia.  D 'Alton,  one  of  the  historians  of  the  "Wil- 
liamite  War, ' '  states  ^^i  that  when  Lord  Mountcashel  was 
attainted  in  1691  and  again  in  1696,  "seventy-eight 
other  Inquisitions  of  Outlawries  were  held  on  the  Mac- 
Carthys,  on  whose  confiscations  various  claims  were  held 
at  Chichester  House,"  and  one  of  this  number  was 
Captain  Donal  MacCarthy. 

That  Daniel  McCarty  came  from  Ireland  when  very 
young  is  clear  from  the  following  statement  by  one  of 
his  descendants :  ^^ 

"Captain  Daniel  MeCarty  was  exiled  by  the  Treaty  of 
Limerick.  He  was  a  scion  of  the  Irish  house  of  McCarty. 
His  silver,  which  I  have,  is  all  blazoned  with  the  shield  and 
crest  of  that  house,  and  some  of  it  bears  the  date  of  1620. 
Though  the  tradition  is  that  he  was  the  Earl  of  Clancarthy, 
it  is  more  likely  that  he  was  the  son  of  Mount  Cashel,  the 
head  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  family,  as  the  helmet  on 
the  arms  is  a  Knight's,  not  an  Earl's,  and  that  his  people 
merely  considered  him  the  Earl  after  the  elder  branch  became 
extinct,  as  represented  in  Ireland  by  the  younger  branches, 
than  the  Colonial  one." 

In  the  "Williamite  War"  many  of  the  MacCarthj'-s, 
with  their  retainers  and  followers,  fought  against  Wil- 
liam of  Orange  and  in  Irish  annals  are  mentioned  sev- 
eral military  officers  of  the  name  who  espoused  the  cause 
of  James  the  Second  and  fought  at  the  Boyne  and  at 

that  members  of  the  line  of  Donough,  Earl  of  Clan  Carthy,  came  to 
America  but  he  does   not  furnish  the   names. 

27  King   James'    Irish    Army    List;    p.    491,    Dublin,    1855. 

28  Letter  dated  October  9,  1884,  from  William  Page  McCarty  of 
Richmond  to   Rev.    Horace   G.    Hayden,    compiler   of   Virginia   Genealogies. 


22  THE  McCAETHYS 

Limerick.  We  are  told  that  "the  Sept  of  the  Mac- 
Carthys  furnished  for  the  service  of  King  James  four 
regiments  of  their  name,  namely,  the  regiments  of  Clan 
Carthy,  Mount-Cashel,  MacCarthy  Mor  and  MacCarthy 
Eeagh.  The  greater  number  of  the  officers  bore  the  name 
of  the  Sept  and  these  regiments  afterwards  passed  into 
the  service  of  France  and  in  1695  vrere  resolved  into 
other  regiments.  Many  of  the  MacCarthys  Reagh  at- 
tached themselves  to  the  service  of  Spain  and  several 
of  their  descendants  were  slain  in  the  wars  of  succession 
to  the  crown  of  the  two  Sicilies. ' '  ^^ 

Once  the  Treaty  was  signed  and  Sarsfield,  the  com- 
mander at  Limerick,  had  capitulated  the  English  broke 
faith  with  the  Irish,  and,  as  Davis  wrote  in  his  cele- 
brated poem  on  "The  Battle  of  Fontenoy,"  "the  Treaty 
broken  ere  the  ink  with  which  'twas  writ  could  dry," 
the  Irish  officers,  deprived  of  their  properties  and  see- 
ing no  future  for  them  at  home,  prepared  immediately 
to  leave  their  native  land  forever.  When  the  "Wild 
Geese ' '  ^"  fled  to  the  Continent  after  the  Treaty  of  Lim- 
erick, some  of  the  MacCarthys,  broken  in  fortune  like 
the  sons  of  other  noble  families  whose  estates  were  con- 
fiscated to  the  Crown,  followed  King  James  to  France 
and  entered  the  service  of  the  French  King,  and  in  the 
days  of  France's  greatest  military  glory  they  received 
honorable  mention  as  officers  of  the  far-famed  Irish  Bri- 
gade.^^  Those  of  the  family  who  remained  behind  in 
Ireland  appear  to  have  sunk  into  comparative  inferiority 
and  their  fate  thereafter  was  to  become  tenants  or  vassals 
of  the  new  "owners"  of  their  lands  and  castles. 

29  Historical  Pedigree  of  the  Sliochd  Feidhlimdh,  The  MacCarthys  of 
Oleannacroim,    by    Daniel    MacCarthy    Glas;    p.    180,    Exeter,    Eng.,    1849. 

30  The  name  given  in  Irish  history  to  the  refugees  from  Ireland  to 
the    Continent   after   the   Treaty   of    Limerick. 

31  See  History  of  the  Irish  Brigades  in  the  Service  of  France,  by 
John    Cornelius    O'Callaghan. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  23 

Why  Virginia  instead  of  France  or  Spain  was  chosen 
as  the  future  home  of  young  Daniel  McCarty,  is  not 
clear,  except  it  be  that  Dennis  MacCarthy,  who  undoubt- 
edly was  a  near  relative,  was  already  settled  in  that 
Colony.  It  is  entirely  unlikely  th'at  he  came  to  this 
country  alone  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  accom- 
panied on  his  journey  by  some  older  guardian,  and  as 
there  were  several  relatives  of  his  father  named  Don- 
ough  or  Dennis  it  is  possible  that  the  Dennis  McCarty 
of  Princess  Ann  County,  who  in  1693  was  described  as 
''old,  lame  and  poor,"  was  a  relative  of  the  boy  Daniel 
and  that  it  was  they  who  brought  the  family  plate  to 
America.  Of  Daniel's  early  years  in  Virginia  no  trace 
can  be  found  in  the  public  records,  although  it  is  likely 
that  if  all  the  family  papers  were  accessible  some  inter- 
esting information  concerning  him  could  be  obtained. 
How  or  where  he  spent  the  years  of  his  boyhood  or  from 
what  source  he  derived  the  education  that  made  him 
so  accomplished  a  man  as  to  be  elected  a  representative 
to  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six,  and  te^i  years  later  Speaker  of  the  House,  is  matter 
for  interesting  enquiry. 

That  he  was  possessed  of  large  means  for  his  time 
is  quite  evident  from  the  extent  of  his  property  and 
dealings,  and  that  he  occupied  a  position  of  social  dis- 
tinction is  attested  by  his  being  referred  to  in  public 
documents  as  "Gentleman,"  "Esquire,"  etc.,  and  by 
the  standing  of  those  with  whom  his  name  is  constantly 
associated.  The  form  of  the  name  used  by  him  invaria- 
bly was  "McCarty"  and  it  is  spelled  usually  in  that  way 
in  the  records,  although  occasionally  we  also  find  the 
spelling  "McCarthy";  as  for  instance,  to  the  will  of 
Colonel  Rodham  Kenner  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Stephens, 
dated  July  26,  1706,  as  filed  in  Northumberland  County, 


24  THE  McCarthys 

"Daniel  McCarthy"  signed  as  one  of  the  witnesses  and 
the  name  is  spelled  in  the  same  way  in  the  record  of  his 
testimony  before  the  court  when  the  will  was  up  for 
probate  on  August  21,  1706.  The  same  form  of  the  name 
was  also  used  in  the  recording  of  a  lease  of  a  plantation 
dated  January  24,  1746,  from  his  son,  "Daniel  Mc- 
Carthy," to  James  Carter  of  Washington  Parish,  West- 
moreland County. 

Captain  Daniel  McCarty  lived  on  his  estate  in  the 
Parish  of  Cople,  Westmoreland  County,  near  the  Rich- 
mond boundary  line,  and  the  fact  of  his  settling  in  that 
County  to  where  the  original  immigrants,  Charles  and 
Owen,  are  said  to  have  removed  some  years  before,  would 
seem  to  confirm  the  theory  that  all  three  were  related. 
He  seems  to  have  been  particularly  fortunate  in  the 
selection  of  a  place  to  establish  his  home.  Before  his 
death  his  estate  extended  along  both  sides  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock River  in  Westmoreland  and  Richmond  Coun- 
ties, as  well  as  in  Stafford  County,  and  across  West- 
moreland almost  as  far  as  Nomini  Creek  where  it  drops 
into  the  Potomac.  It  is  a  place  to  which  nature  has 
been  lavish  with  its  gifts,  having  a  salubrious  climate 
and  rich  soil,  and  the  numerous  creeks  and  inlets  along 
the  Potomac  boundary  abound  with  the  finest  fish,  oys- 
ters and  wild  fowl.  This  section  also  has  practically 
unlimited  deposits  of  marl,  brick  and  pottery  clay;  the 
cities  of  Washington,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  are 
built  largely  from  bricks  made  of  Westmoreland  County 
clay,  and  there  are  also  large  quantities  of  pure  fuller's 
earth,  principally  along  the  streams.  The  slaves  on  their 
plantations  excavated  these  rich  deposits  at  very  little 
expense,  and  for  many  years  the  industry  was  carried  on 
by  the  MeCarty  and  neighboring  families,  in  addition 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  25 

to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  which  was  shipped  to  Europe 
from  the  nearby  wharves  on  the  Potomac. 

Westmoreland  County  is  one  of  the  oldest  settled  parts 
of  Virginia  and  in  colonial  days  it  was  the  home  of 
wealth  and  influence.  Indeed,  it  is  by  far  the  most 
historic  section  of  the  State ;  many  rich  and  aristocratic 
families  have  resided  there  and  the  County  is  dotted 
with  some  fine  estates.  Washington  once  called  West- 
moreland "the  garden  of  America,"  and  it  has  the  un- 
disputed distinction  of  having  been  the  birth-place  of 
some  of  the  most  eminent  Americans,  among  them  Gen- 
eral Washington  and  others  of  the  Washington  family, 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  his  three  brothers,  Thomas, 
Francis  and  Arthur,  President  Monroe  and  General  Rob- 
ert E.  Lee  of  Civil  War  fame. 

Daniel  McCarty  was  married  twice,  first  in  1703  to 
Mrs.  Sarah  Payne,  widow  of  James  Payne,  and  second 
in  1715  to  Ann  (Lee)  Fitzhugh,  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Laetitia  Lee  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Westmoreland 
County,  and  widow  of  Colonel  William  Fitzhugh  of 
Eagle's  Nest,  King  George  County,  who  died  in  January, 
1714.32  ■^Qj.Q  ^han  a  century  later  (on  March  30,  1817), 
we  see  a  re-uniting  of  the  McCarty  and  Lee  families 
when  Anne,  daughter  of  another  Daniel  McCarty,  mar- 
ried Major  Henry  Lee,  son  of  that  famous  Revolutionary 
General  who  is  familiarly  known  as  ' '  Light  Horse  Harry 
Lee."  Major  Lee  served  in  the  12th  U.  S.  Infantry  in 
the  war  of  1812  and  was  private  secretary  to  President 
Andrew  Jackson  and  afterwards  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Legation  at  Paris.^^  He  and  his  wife  lived  in  a 
famous  colonial  mansion  in  Westmoreland  County  known 
as  Stratford  Hall,  in  which  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Fran- 

32  The  Lee  FamUy   of   Virginia;   p.   83,    Phila.,    1895. 
Zilbid.,   p.    403. 


26  THE  McCarthys 

cis  Lightfoot  Lee  and  General  Robert  E.  Lee  were  born. 
A  strong  friendship  was  maintained  between  the  suc- 
cessive generations  of  these  two  families  and  one  of  the 
McCartys,  Mrs,  Starke,  sister  of  Anne  (McCarty)  Lee, 
was  at  one  time  the  owner  of  Stratford  Hall  and  lived 
in  it  up  to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  and  on  her  death 
she  left  the  manor  house  and  one  thousand  acres  of  land 
to  her  nephew,  Dr.  Richard  Stuart,  whose  family  are 
said  to  be  the  present  owners  of  the  property.^*  On 
August  28,  1802,  Richard  Stuart  of  Cedar  Grove,  King 
George  County,  married  Margaret  R.  McCarty,  widow 
of  Daniel  and  mother  of  the  Anne  McCarty  who  mar- 
ried Major  Lee.  In  later  years  Hancock  Lee  married 
Sarah  McCarty,  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty, 
and  John  McCarty  married  Ann  Lucinda  Lee. 

Between  1705  and  1715  Daniel  McCarty  was  one  of 
the  ' '  Gentlemen  Justices  of  Westmoreland  County ' '  ^^ 
and  was  also  for  some  time  Sheriff  of  the  County,  and  in 
the  "official  Letters  of  Alexander  Spotswood,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  1710-1722,"  ^^  there 
is  a  letter  dated  September  5,  1711,  in  connection  with 
"Proposals  humbly  offered  to  the  hon'ble  Commissioners 
of  Her  Majesty's  Customs  for  the  better  preventing 
illegal  Trade  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia,"  in  which  "it 
was  recommended  to  the  Commissioners  of  Customs  that 
Captain  Daniel  McCarty  be  appointed  Collector  of  Po- 
tomack  River."  In  1705  and  1706  he  was  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  County  in  the  Virginia  Assembly. 
Verbatim  copies  of  the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burg- 
esses were  published  in  several  large  volumes  by  the 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia,   and  these  Journals  show 

34  Manors    of    Virginia    in    Colonial    Times,    pp.    87-88,    by    Edith    T. 
Sale,    Phila.    and   London,    1909. 

35  WUliam   and   Mary   College.    Quarterly;   Vol.    27,    p.    28. 
38  In    Va.    Hist.    Soc.    Collections;    Vol.    I,    p.    115. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  27 

that  on  October  26,  1705,  the  House  "Resolved  that 
Mr.  George  Eskridge  and  Mr.  Daniel  McCarty  are  Duly 
Returned  Burgesses  to  Serve  in  this  Present  General 
Assembly  for  the  County  of  Westmoreland,^^  and  in 
the  same  month  Daniel  McCarty  was  appointed  one  of 
the  four  members  of  the  ' '  Committee  for  Elections  and 
Priviledges. "  That  he  took  a  forward  part  in  the  de- 
liberations of  the  Assembly  and  served  on  several  im- 
portant committees  during  his  terms  of  office,  is  seen 
from  these  Journals,  and  from  1705  to  1720  his  name 
appears  therein  not  less  than  240  times. 

On  August  3,  1715,  he  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  succeeding  Peter  Beverley,  and  on 
April  23,  1718,  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  important 
office.  We  are  told  that  the  session  of  1715,  over  which 
Daniel  McCarty  presided,  was  "chiefly  memorable  for 
a  bitter  quarrel  between  Governor  Spotswood  and  the 
House  of  Burgesses, "  ^^  and  the  session  of  1718  is  also 
described  in  the  preface  to  the  printed  Journals  as  "one 
of  the  most  exciting  that  occurred  in  Virginia  colonial 
history."  In  that  year  there  was  a  bitter  quarrel  be- 
tween members  of  the  House  and  Governor  Spotswood 
and  in  the  circumstances  it  required  much  tact  and  good 
judgment  on  the  part  of  the  presiding  officer  to  meet  the 
situations  that  presented  themselves.  Usually,  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  also  was  Treasurer  of  the  Colony, 
but  during  Daniel  McCarty 's  second  term  as  Speaker, 
Beverley  retained  the  office.  McCarty  seems  to  have 
been  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow  members  and 

87  Journals  of  the  Rouse  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia.  See  also  The 
Colonial  Virginia  Register,  compiled  by  William  G.  and  Mary  N.  Stan- 
ard,  p.  97;  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1902.  Also  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large, 
Vol.  IV.  In  a  "Table  showing  the  General  Assemblies  of  Virginia 
from  1661  to  1758,"  in  the  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biog- 
raphji  (Vol.  XIV,  pp.  408-410)  he  is  listed  as  "Dan  McCarty,  Esq. 
Speaker." 

38  Virginia  Magazine   of  History   and  Biography,  Vol.    XII,    p.    366. 


28  THE  McCarthys 

on  May  29,  1718,  the  House  passed  the  following  reso- 
lution :  ' '  That  the  Sume  of  One  hundred  pounds  out  of 
the  money  in  the  Treasurer's  hands  be  paid  to  the 
Speaker  as  a  Token  of  the  Respect  this  House  beares 
him." 

In  1720  there  was  considerable  agitation  in  the  North- 
em  Neck  of  Virginia  over  some  features  of  the  tobacco 
law,  and  the  matter  became  an  issue  at  the  elections 
held  in  that  year.  Daniel  McCarty  and  Thomas  Lee 
were  the  nominees  for  the  Assembly  and  the  Sheriff  de- 
clared Lee  the  successful  candidate,  but,  on  November 
5,  1720,  a  "Petition  of  Mr.  Daniel  McCarty,  complain- 
ing of  an  undue  Election  and  Return  of  Thomas  Lee, 
Gent.,  to  serve  in  this  present  Assembly  for  the  County 
of  "Westmoreland,"  was  presented  to  the  House.  It 
was  referred  to  the  ' '  Committee  for  Elections  and  Privi- 
ledges,"  and  the  report  of  the  committee  and  the  evi- 
dence presented  before  it  occupy  considerable  space  in 
the  records  of  the  Assembly.  In  the  meantime,  Lee 
actually  sat  as  the  representative  of  the  County,  but  on 
the  committee  reporting  that  "the  Sheriff  made  a  false 
Return  of  the  said  Thomas  Lee,"  the  House  directed 
"that  the  Sheriff  be  sent  for  in  Custody  of  the  Messen- 
ger to  rase  out  of  his  Return  the  Name  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Lee  and  instead  thereof  insert  the  Name  of  Mr.  Daniel 
McCarty."  On  December  8th  following,  a  resolution 
was  passed  by  the  House  declaring  "that  Mr.  Daniel 
McCarty  is  duly  Elected  a  Burgess  to  Serve  in  this 
present  General  Assembly  for  the  County  of  Westmore- 
land.^» 

Virginia  records  subsequent  to  this  period  also  show 
that  other  members  of  the  family  were  active  in  local 
politics,  and  among  those  who  are  mentioned  in  the  pub- 

39  Journals  of  the  Bouse  of  Burgesses. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  29 

lie  records  as  occTipants  of  high  stations  in  the  eouneils 
of  the  Colony  and  the  State  were :  Dennis  McCarty  and 
Daniel  McCarty  (2nd),  who  represented  Prince  William 
and  Westmoreland  Counties  respectively  in  the  House 
of  Burgesses  between  1732  and  1744;  Daniel  McCarty 
(3rd),  delegate  to  the  Convention  of  Virginia  in  1775; 
Charles  McCarty,  who  represented  Richmond  County 
at  an  adjournment  of  the  same  body  in  May,  1776 ; 
Daniel  McCarty  (4th),  representative  from  Westmore- 
land County  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  from  1781  to 
1794,  and  in  the  Virginia  Senate  from  1797  to  1801  he 
was  Senator  from  the  three  Counties  of  Westmoreland, 
Stafford  and  King  George;  Daniel  McCarty  (5th),  who 
succeeded  his  father  in  the  General  Assembly  in  1795 ; 
Colonel  William  McCarty  of  Richmond  County,  who  was 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1799 ;  Colo- 
nel Edward  McCarty,  who  represented  Hampshire 
County  in  the  General  Assembly  from  1814  to  1821; 
Captain  John  Mason  McCarty,  member  of  the  House 
of  Delegates  in  1818-1819,  and  lastly  William  Mason 
McCarty,  who  served  in  thirteen  sessions  of  the  Virginia 
Senate,  was  Representative  in  Congress  from  Loudoun 
County  from  1833  to  1839  and  for  sometime  was  Pro- 
visional Governor  of  Florida.*'' 

Among  the  memorials  to  certain  historic  figures  in 
American  history  in  Bruton  Parish  Church  at  Williams- 
burg, there  is  a  bronze  tablet  commemorating  seven  of 
the  Speakers  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  who 
were  worshippers  at  this  church,  and  one  of  the  names 
inscribed  thereon  is  that  of  "Daniel  McCarty,  1715-18." 
Bruton  is  a  church  of  historic  associations  and  has  held 
a  position  of  unique  importance   in  Virginia  history, 

40  Register  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia,  published  by  the  State 
Library;    Richmond,    1918. 


30  THE  McCarthys 

Nearby  were  the  Governor's  Palace,  the  College  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  and  the  halls  of  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
and  when  public  celebrations  were  held  in  Colonial  times, 
in  which  the  government  or  the  legislature  was  inter- 
ested, it  was  customary  for  the  Governor  to  attend  Bru- 
ton  Church  surrounded  by  the  Burgesses  and  officials 
of  the  Colony.  Washington  attended  this  famous  church 
while  seeking  to  win  the  heart  and  hand  of  the  beautiful 
Martha  Custis,  and  Patrick  Henry  while  Governor  of 
Virginia  in  1776,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Benjamin  Harri- 
son, Edmund  Randolph,  Bland  and  Lee  while  members 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  George  Wythe  the  Signer, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Monroe,  John  Tyler,  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  and  many  prominent  figures  in  Amer- 
ican history  appear  in  the  lists  of  its  worshippers  and 
vestrymen. 

Comparatively  little  is  known,  even  among  his  living 
descendants,  of  the  career  of  Daniel  McCarty,  but  the 
fact  that  this  Irish  exile  rose  to  the  commanding  position 
occupied  by  him  for  several  years  in  the  society  and 
politics  of  the  Colony,  stamps  him  at  once  as  a  man  of 
rare  virtues  and  qualifications.  In  the  mutations  of  time 
the  original  possessions  of  the  family  in  Westmoreland 
County  have  passed  gradually  into  other  hands,  and  as 
far  as  I  could  learn  on  a  hurried  trip  through  that 
County,  there  is  now  no  trace  of  any  person  of  the  name 
in  that  particular  part  of  the  State,  although  there  are 
several  McCartys  in  the  adjoining  Counties  of  Lan- 
caster and  Richmond.  Many  of  the  present  inhabitants 
of  Westmoreland  County  are  descendants  of  its  early 
settlers;  they  have  a  conscious  and  justifiable  pride  in 
their  ancestry,  but  few  can  be  found  among  them  who 
have  any  knowledge  of  or  seem  to  take  any  interest  in 
the  career  of  the  distinguished  Irish  exile,  who  became 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  31 

a  leader  among  the  Cavaliers  of  Virginia  and  who  is 
mentioned  so  prominently  in  the  annals  of  the  State, 

Dennis  and  Daniel  McCarty  undoubtedly  were  brought 
up  Catholics  in  Ireland,  but,  like  nearly  all  the  Irish 
Catholic  immigrants  to  the  colonies,  they  were  obliged 
to  renounce  the  faith  and  conform  to  the  established: 
church.  Cople  Parish,  where  Daniel  resided,  occupied 
the  lower  part  of  Westmoreland  County  and  Washington 
Parish  the  upper  part.  There  were  two  Protestant 
Episcopal  churches  in  Cople  Parish,  one  at  Yeocomico 
near  Montross  and  the  other  about  ten  miles  east,  on 
Nomini  Creek  near  the  Potomac,  and  it  is  known  that 
Daniel  McCarty  and  his  family  attended  both  churches. 
The  church  in  Washington  Parish,  which  it  is  said  the 
McCartys  also  attended  occasionally,  was  known  as 
Pope's  Creek  church.  I  am  informed  that  the  birth 
and  marriage  records  of  Yeocomico  church  have  been 
destroyed  and  also  the  registers  of  Pope 's  Creek  church, 
which  were  kept  at  Montross  until  about  twenty  years 
ago.  The  dates  of  the  births  and  baptisms  of  Daniel 
McCarty 's  children,  therefore,  are  not  obtainable,  but 
his  will  shows  that  four  sons  and  four  daughters  survived 
him,  and  the  fact  that  he  named  one  of  his  sons  Billing- 
ton,  indicates  that  he  was  a  near  relative  of  the  Dennis 
and  Daniel  McCarty  before  alluded  to  as  having  mar- 
ried into  the  Billington  family. 

Yeocomico  church  was  erected  in  the  year  1706,  ac- 
cording to  the  date  engraved  in  the  wall  over  the  front 
door,  and  so  well  was  it  built  that  it  is  said  by  those 
acquainted  with  its  history  that  part  of  the  original 
building  still  remains.  In  the  year  1906,  when  the 
parishioners  celebrated  the  bicentennial  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  church,  the  committee  in  charge  published 
a  short  account  of  its  history,  and  from  this  we  learn 


32  THE  McCarthys 

that  it  suffered  much  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
having  been  shamefully  abused  by  soldiers  who  were 
quartered  in  it,  and  Bishop  Meade  also  says  that  "the 
church  at  Nominy  was  destroyed  by  fire  during  the 
war  of  1812  and  the  plate  belonging  to  it  carried  off  by 
Admiral  Cockburn  and  his  party  when  they  were  on  a 
pillaging  expedition  on  the  Potomac  and  its  tributaries, 
and  the  house  where  it  was  kept  was  plundered  and 
burned.  "^1 

Yeocomico  is  as  quaint  as  its  name  and  its  church 
is  said  to  be  "the  only  one  of  the  old  church  buildings 
of  Westmoreland  County  which  has  escaped  the  gen- 
eral wreck."  It  is  situated  near  Yeocomico  Creek  about 
fourteen  miles  north  of  the  town  of  Kinsale,  established 
by  the  MeCartys  and  other  Irishmen  about  two  and  a 
half  centuries  ago.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and 
situated  as  it  is  in  a  little  recess  off  the  main  road,  in 
the  midst  of  large  trees  and  surrounded  by  an  old  brick 
wall,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  an  object  of  interest  to  one 
whose  soul  has  any  sjrmpathy  for  such  scenes.  Bishop 
Meade  relates  that  during  the  war  of  1812  the  church, 
which  at  that  time  was  abandoned  temporarily,  was 
occupied  by  troops,  that  "the  communion  table  was 
removed  into  the  yard  where  it  served  as  a  butcher's 
block  and  was  entirely  defaced,  and  the  baptismal  font 
was  taken  some  miles  from  the  church  and  used  as  a 
vessel  to  prepare  the  excitements  of  ungodly  mirth." 
This,  however,  was  not  long  permitted,  for  he  relates, 
"a  worthy  old  man  named  John  Murphy,  mortified  at 
the  dishonor  done  to  religion,  took  pains  to  regain  it 
and  restore  it  to  its  former  place."  And,  "it  deserves 
further  to  be  mentioned,"  says  Bishop  Meade,  "that 
whatever  repairs  have  been  put  upon  this  house  were 

41  Old  Churches  and   Families   of   Virginia;   Vol.   II,   p.    148. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  33 

at  the  expense  of  the  good  man  mentioned  above 
(Murphy)  and  a  worthy  gentleman  from  New  York 
whose  matrimonial  connection  in  the  family  often 
brought  him  to  this  part  of  Virginia. ' '  *^ 

In  Yeocomico  churchyard  are  pointed  out  the  graves 
where  rest  the  remains  of  many  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Westmoreland  County.  Close  to  the  base  of  the  east 
wall  of  the  church  may  be  seen  the  stone  foundation 
of  a  vault  which  seems  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  in  this 
ancient  graveyard,  but  it  is  now  a  neglected  mound  of 
earth  and  grass,  the  accumulation  of  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, with  several  cedar  trees  growing  upon  it  and 
firmly  rooted  in  the  spot  where  the  Irish  exile  after 
the  Treaty  of  Limerick  was  laid  to  rest.  Near  the  center 
of  this  mound  is  a  tombstone  which  evidently  has  suf- 
fered from  the  ravages  of  time,  and  upon  this  stone, 
immediately  under  what  appears  to  be  a  crude  repro- 
duction of  the  MacCarthy  coat  of  arms  and  the  motto 
of  the  family,  is  the  following  inscription,  although  the 
lettering  is  now  almost  indecipherable: 

"Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Daniel  McCarthy  who  departed 
this  life  on  the  fourth  day  of  May,  1724,  in  the  45th  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  endowed  with  many  virtues  and  good 
qualifications,  but  the  actions  proceeding  from  them  bespeak 
their   praise.     Here   also    lyeth   the   body   of   Thaddeus   Me- 

42  The  "worthy  gentleman  from  New  York"  referred  to  by  Bishop 
Meade,  was  William  L.  Rogers,  who  had  command  of  a  body  of  troops 
who  occupied  the  church  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  who  repaired 
the  damages  caused  by  the  English  vandals  that  preceded  them.  In 
a  letter  to  Bishop  Meade,  Captain  Rogers  described  Murphy  as  "a 
■Scotch  gentleman  from  Ayrshire,"  who  lived  about  half  a  mile  from 
old  Yeocomico,  and  "whose  estate,  consisting  of  some  thousands  of 
acres,  surrounded  the  church  and  burial  grounds  on  all  sides."  Rogers 
further  referred  to  Murphy  as  "a  gentleman  of  intellectual  culture,  an. 
honored  magistrate  and  a  Presbyterian  of  the  Covenant  School,  whosa 
residence  was  the  seat  of  hospitality  and  the  home  of  the  clergy."  In 
the  "Journal  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Virginia  State  Agricultural 
Society"  (p.  114)  it  is  stated  that  "John  Murphy  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  a  threshing  machine  la  the  Northern  Neck 
of  Virginia." 


34  THE  McCarthys 

Carthy,  the  youngest  son  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  Esqr.  who  de- 
parted this  life  the  7th  of  February,  1731,  in  the  19th  year  of 
his  age.  Near  this  place  likewise  is  the  body  of  Penelope, 
wife  to  Daniel  McCarthy,  second  son  of  Daniel  McCarthy, 
Esqr.  and  daughter  to  Christine  Higgins,  Gent,  who  departed 
this  life  the  26th  of  March,  1732,  in  the  19th  year  of  her 
age  with  one  child."  *^ 

Apparently,  the  first  lands  he  owned  were  acquired 
by  purchase  from  John  Glendenning  and  his  wife,  as 
appears  from  a  deed  dated  March  27,  1697,  recorded  in 
Richmond  County.  When  examining  the  records  of 
Patents  at  the  Virginia  Land  office,  the  earliest  entry 
I  could  find  covering  a  grant  to  Daniel  McCarty  is 
March  11,  1703,  on  which  date  ' '  Marguritte,  Lady  Cul- 
peper,  Thomas,  Lord  Fairfax,  and  Catherine,  his  wife. 
Proprietors  of  ye  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia, ' '  conveyed 
to  Daniel  McCarty  and  Daniel  Tebbs  1350  acres  of 
land,  described  as  "on  ye  East  side  of  ye  mouth  of 
Mackotique  River  and  extending  along  Potomack  River 
East  by  North,"**  etc.  These  lands  were  situated  in 
Westmoreland  County  and  were  patented  originally  by 
one  Richard  Cole  on  November  18,  1650,  but  as  Cole 
and  his  wife  died  without  heirs  or  legally  disposing  of 
their  property,  the  land  was  escheated.  In  the  patent 
to  McCarty  and  Tebbs  the  proprietors  reserved  for  them- 
selves ' '  all  Royall  mines ' '  and  one-third  part  of  all  min- 
erals found  on  the  land,  and  it  provided  for  ' '  a  f ee  rent 
of  one  shilling  sterling  money  for  each  fifty  acres  of 
land  hereby  granted,  to  be  paid  on  the  feast  day  of 
Saint  Michael  the  Archangel. "  *^     In  fact,  all  deeds  from 

43  From  a  copy  of  the  inscription  in  William  and  Mary  College 
Quarterly,  Vol.  VII,  p.  97.  The  spelling  of  the  surname  on  the 
tombstone  seems  to  be  "McCarty,"  but  the  spelling  as  given  in  this 
authoritative    publication    is    "McCarthy." 

44  Land  Patents,   Book  III,   p.  23. 

45  Ihid. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  35 

the  proprietors  at  this  time  and  for  many  years  there- 
after contained  this  provision. 

In  a  grant  from  the  proprietors  dated  January  28, 
1707,  they  conveyed  to  Daniel  McCarty  certain  other 
lands  in  "Westmoreland  County,  which  he  "surveyed 
by  virtue  of  a  warrant  from  the  Proprietors,  dated  July 
3,  1706,"  and  in  this  document  he  is  styled  for  the  first 
time  *' Captain"  Daniel  McCarty,  and  the  patent  con- 
tained the  usual  reservations  as  to  "  royall  mines, ' '  min- 
erals and  fee  rent,*^  He  received  another  grant  on 
February  2,  1709,  of  2993  acres  "above  the  Falls  of 
Potowmack  River,  beginning  on  said  River  side  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  Sugar  Land  Island  opposite  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  rocks  in  said  River.  "^^  By  deed 
dated  December  19,  1716,  "the  Right  Hon^^«  Catherine, 
Lady  Fairfax,  Sole  Proprietor  of  the  Northern  Neck 
of  Virginia,"  conveyed  to  Captain  Daniel  McCarty  648 
acres  situated  "on  the  south  side  of  the  main  run  of 
Accotinck  Creek  in  Stafford  County,  as  surveyed  by 
Simon  Council  on  September  26,  1714,"  but  which  he 
(Connell)  had  "allowed  to  lapse  through  noncomply- 
ance  with  the  rules  of  the  Proprietor's  Office."  *^  This 
tract  fell  into  Fairfax  County  when  that  County  was 
formed  from  Stafford  and  was  adjacent  to  the  property 
of  the  Washingtons.  Again  by  deed  dated  December 
5,  1722,  Lord  Fairfax  conveyed  other  lands  in  Cople 
Parish  to  Daniel  McCarty .^^ 

These  grants  by  no  means  cover  all  of  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty's  landed  property,  and  the  number  of  deeds  and 
conveyances  recorded  in  Virginia  between  1697  and  the 

46  Land  Patents,    Book   III,    p.    182. 

i7  Ibid.,  Book   III,    p.    248. 

48  Ibid.,  Book  V,   p.   129. 

49  Ibid.,  Book  A,   p.   3. 


36 


THE  McCarthys 


year  of  his  deatli  covering  transfers  of  real  estate  in 
Rielimond  County  to  and  from  Daniel  McCarty,  alone 
are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  extent  of  his  holdings. 
Among  the  legal  instruments  recorded  in  the  office  of  the 
County  Clerk  at  Warsaw,  Va.,  are  the  following  deeds 
for  lands  in  that  County: — 


Date 

Grantor 

Grantee 

1697, 

March    27 

John     Glendenning     &    wife 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1698, 

June    15 

Daniel    McCarty 

Simon 

Tomasin 

1704, 

August   25 

Samuel    Samford 
(  Philip    Rogers 
I  Vincent   Cox 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1706, 

April    2 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1706, 

April   2 

John    Sabre   &   wife 
5  John  Davis,   Sr. 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1707, 

October  1 

'  1  John  Davis,   Jr. 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1707, 

October  2 

Same 
1  Charles     Barber 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1708, 

July   7 

1  George   Glascock 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1714, 

January    4 

Webley   Pavey 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1714, 

Au^st   31 

Same 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1714, 

November    30 

Benjamin    Hinds    &    wife 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1717, 

May    2 

Robert  Baylis  &  wife 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1717, 

June  5, 

Samuel  Randal  &  wife 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1719, 

May    5 

William    Fauntleroy 

Daniel 

McCarty 

1719, 

July   13 

Robert   Baylis   &   wife 

Daniel 

McCarty 

Daniel  McCarty 's  landed  property  was  situated  in 
four  Counties,  Westmoreland,  Richmond,  Prince  Wil- 
liam and  Stafford,  and  four  years  after  his  death  his 
executors  acquired  for  the  estate  another  tract  of  land 
in  Spottsylvania  County.^*'  His  will,  dated  March  29, 
1724,  was  proved  in  Westmoreland  County  on  May  27, 
1724  51  Tiie  inventory  of  his  estate,  taken  June  15th 
of  the  same  year,  included  ''The  Library  of  Colonel 
Daniel  McCarty  of  Westmoreland  County,  Esquire." 
It  was  an  extensive  collection  for  the  time,  and  judging 
by  published  accounts  of  other  libraries  owned  by  promi- 
nent colonial  families,  evidently  it  was  one  of  the  im- 
portant private  libraries  in  Virginia.^^     In  his  will  he 

50  Extracts  from  Deed  Book  A,  in  Virginia  County  Records,  Vol.  1,  pp. 
103-104. 

51  Probate   Records,   Book   8,    p.   52. 

62  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly,  Vol.  VIII. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  37 

disposed  of  a  large  estate  in  lands,  houses,  slaves,  jewelry 
and  plate  of  great  value,  and  he  named  among  the 
legatees  his  sons,  Dennis,  Daniel,  Billington  and  Thad- 
deus,  and  daughters,  Winifred,  Sarah,  Lettiee  and  Anna 
Barbara,  the  last-mentioned  having  been  the  wife  of 
one  of  his  executors,  John  Fitzhugh  of  Stafford  County. 
To  his  eldest  son,  Dennis,  he  gave  his  personal  property 
including  the  family  plate  brought  from  Ireland,  the 
"home  plantation"  and  other  real  estate  in  Stafford 
and  all  his  "debts  in  that  County";  to  Daniel  he  gave 
lands  in  Westmoreland  County;  to  Billington  his  land 
at  Farnham  Creek  in  Richmond  County;  to  Thaddeus 
his  land  at  Mango  rite  in  Richmond  County,  "which  was 
Captain  John  Rice's."  This  was  the  John  Rice  of 
Dingle,  County  Kerry,  already  mentioned.  To  his 
daughters  he  left  cash  bequests  of  £500  each.  The  will 
is  a  very  long  document  and  is  couched  in  all  the  ex- 
travagant phraseology  of  the  day.  It  shows  this  exiled 
Irishman  to  have  been  a  man  of  fine  characteristics,  as 
witness  the  fact  that  he  directed  his  sons  "to  be  edu- 
cated, one  a  lawyer,  one  a  divine,  one  a  physician,  one 
a  chirurgeon  or  mariner  in  the  Secretaries'  office,  or 
to  any  lawful  employment  as  their  inclination  leads 
them,  but  rather  to  the  ax  and  hoe  than  suffered  in 
idleness  and  extravagancy. ' ' 

It  is  strange  that  there  is  so  little  mention  of  this 
pioneer  Irishman  in  Virginia  history.  Nor  is  there  any 
place  in  the  State  called  after  him  or  any  of  his  numer- 
ous descendants;  yet  he  occupied  a  prominent  place 
in  the  society  of  the  Colony  and  his  children  married 
into  some  of  the  leading  families  of  the  day.  The  only 
places  where  any  mention  of  his  name  can  be  found  are 
in  the  official  records  of  the  Colony,  in  the  land  and 
court  records  of  the  day,  in  the  birth,  marriage  and 


38  THE  McCarthys 

death  registers  of  the  districts  where  he  and  his  family- 
resided,  and  in  the  genealogies  of  the  families  with  whom 
the  McCartys  intermarried.  But,  as  for  giving  him  a 
place  in  history,  the  historians  are  peculiarly  silent! 

The  will  of  Mrs.  Ann  McCarty,  widow  of  Daniel, 
dated  November  7,  1728,  and  probated  in  Westmoreland 
County  on  May  3,  1732,  named  several  members  of  the 
Fitzhugh  family,  as  well  as  Thaddeus  and  Billington 
McCarty,  as  sharing  in  the  bequests.  She  died  in  the 
year  1732. 

The  estate  of  Daniel  McCarty  was  the  subject  of  two 
actions  in  Chancery  in  the  Courts  of  Virginia,  "for  the 
accounting  of  a  trust  estate,"  one  styled  "McCarty  vs. 
McCarty 's  Executors"  and  the  other  "McCarty  vs. 
Fitzhugh,"  Daniel  McCarty  having  been  the  plaintiff 
in  both  suits,  and  the  papers  in  the  second  case  describe 
him  as  "a  lawyer."  Complete  descriptions  of  these  law- 
suits with  the  decisions  of  the  Judge  may  be  found  in 
the  "Decisions  of  the  General  Court  of  Virginia"  edited 
by  Robert  T.  Barton.^^ 

53  Vol.    I,    pp.    R112-113    and   Vol.    II,    p.    B34;    Boston,    1909. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  MC  CARTYS  OF  VIRGINIA   (continued) 

The  descendants  of  Daniel,  the  Speaker — Romantic  marriage  of 
Dennis  McCarty  and  Sarah  Ball — ^Their  children  were  cousins 
of  George  Washington — Thaddeus  McCarty  married  in  Wash- 
ington's home — Colonel  Daniel  McCarty,  the  "well-beloved 
friend"  of  Augustine  Washington  and  executor  of  his  will — 
Associated  with  eminent  Virginians — George  Washington's 
Diary  frequently  mentions  the  McCartys — Correspondence  be- 
tween Washington  and  Daniel  McCarty — The  McCarty  family 
invited  to  attend  the  funeral  of  Washington — Eleven  McCar- 
tys members  of  the  Virginia  legislature  since  1705. 

Dennis,  eldest  son  of  Captain  Daniel  McCarty,  in- 
herited the  ' '  home  plantation ' '  in  "Westmoreland  County 
as  well  as  his  father's  lands  in  Stafford  County.  In  the 
land  office  at  Richmond  there  is  a  deed  recorded  on 
March  25,  1727,  from  Lord  Fairfax,  whereby  he  con- 
veyed to  Dennis  McCarty  522  acres  of  land  ''upon  the 
upper  side  of  Accotink  Creek  in  Stafford  County,"^ 
and  another  as  of  February  20,  1729,  from  Lord  Fair- 
fax to  "Dennis  MacCarty  of  the  County  of  Stafford, 
Gent.,"  conveying  to  him  a  tract  of  land  on  the  north 
side  of  Pohick  Run,^  and  in  both  deeds  the  boundary 
lines  on  three  sides  are  described  as  McCarty 's  own 
lands.  In  1724  Dennis  married  Sarah  Ball  of  the  noted 
Virginia  family  of  that  name  who  lived  at  Ball's  Creek 
in  Lancaster  County.  In  the  marriage  register  at  Lan- 
caster court  house  there  is  a  letter  dated  September  21, 
1724,  from  William  Ball  to  Thomas  Edwards,  Clerk 
of  Lancaster  County,  asking  **for  a  license  for  mar- 

1  Land  Patents,  Book  B,  p.  53. 

2  Ibid.,  Book  0,  p.  31. 

80 


40  THE  McCarthys 

riage  between  Mr.  Dennis  MeCarty  of  Copeland  Parish, 
Westmoreland  County,  and  my  daughter,  Sarah  Ball," 
and  the  marriage  was  solemnized  in  Cople  Parish  church 
on  the  day  following  the  issuance  of  the  license.  The 
Balls  are  referred  to  by  Virginia  historians  as  "one  of 
the  best  families  in  Virginia"  and  tradition  says  that 
Sarah  was  "a  girl  of  acknowledged  charm,"  and,  that 
Dennis  McCarty  must  have  been  a  young  man  of  highly 
polished  manners  and  agreeable  personality,  is  appar- 
ent from  the  fact  that  he  was  acceptable  to  "the  old 
Cavalier,  William  Ball,"  as  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of 
his  daughter  in  marriage. 

Sarah  Ball 's  youthful  charms  must  have  created  havoc 
in  more  than  one  susceptible  heart.  There  is  a  roman- 
tic story  told  in  the  family  how  another  aspirant  for 
the  hatid  of  the  fair  Sarah,  mortified  at  his  failure, 
maue  use  of  some  derogatory  remarks  concerning  his 
more  fortunate  rival ;  how  Dennis  McCarty  came  down 
to  Lancaster  and  threatened  to  chastise  the  rash  youth 
in  public  in  front  of  the  courthouse,  it  being  during 
a  term  of  court,  one  of  the  few  occasions  when  the 
people  of  the  County  assembled  in  any  numbers;  how, 
on  his  rival  tendering  him  an  apology,  he  gi^aciously 
invited  him  to  attend  the  wedding.  As  the  story  goes, 
the  occasion  was  "one  of  the  events  of  the  season"  in 
those  parts,  and,  that  Dennis  and  his  friends  made  the 
most  of  it,  we  may  judge  when  we  are  told  that  they 
drove  to  Ball's  Creek  in  a  large  coach  drawn  by  six 
splendid  black  horses,  with  grooms  and  lackeys  as  out- 
riders, and  returned  with  the  bride  and  bridesmaids  to 
Cople  Parish  church,  where  the  ceremony  was  performed, 
after  which  days  were  spent  in  festivity  and  rejoicing 
and  hunting  parties  formed  by  the  gay  young  bloods 
of  the  neighborhood. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  41 

This  union  resulted  in  a  most  interesting  and  his- 
toric relationship   between   the  Washington,   Ball   and 
McCarty  families.     According  to  the  genealogy  of  the 
Ball  family,  Sarah  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County 
"between  1700  and  1705"  and  was  a  granddaughter  of 
William  Ball,  an  immigrant  to  Virginia  in  the  year 
1650.     This  William  Ball  had  two  sons,  William  and 
Joseph.     William  Jr.  was  the  father  of  Sarah  Ball  and 
Joseph  was  the  father  of  Mary  Ball.     As  already  stated, 
Sarah  Ball  became  the  wife  of  Dennis  McCarty  and 
had  three  sons,  Daniel,  Thaddeus  and  Dennis,  and  two 
daughters,  Anne  and  Sarah  McCarty.     Sarah  Ball's  first 
cousin,  Mary  Ball,  married  Augustine  Washington  on 
March  6,  1730,  and  to  this  union  was  born  the  illus- 
trious "Father  of  his  Country";  so  that  Daniel,  Thad- 
deus, Dennis,  Anne  and  Sarah  McCarty,  grandchildren 
of  the  Irish  exile,  Daniel  McCarty,  enjoyed  the  rare 
distinction  of  having  been  second  cousins  of  the  im- 
mortal Washington!     That  the  friendship  between  the 
Washington  and  McCarty  families,  which  had  been  of 
long  standing,  was  firmly  cemented  by  this  interesting 
union,  is  indicated  by  an  account  of  the  marriage  on 
April  20,   1768,   of   Sarah   Richardson   and  Thaddeus, 
nephew  of  the  above-named  Dennis,  which  appears  in 
William  and  Mary   College  Quarterly.^     This  account 
says:     "According  to  tradition,  the  marriage  ceremony 
took  place  in  the  home  of  George  Washington,  who  was 
related  to  the  McCartys  through  the  Balls." 

In  the  year  1730  the  present  Prince  William  County 
was  formed  from  Stafford  and  we  find  the  name  of 
Major  Dennis  McCarty  recorded  as  a  Justice  of  the  new 
County  in  1731.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected  a 
representative  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  from  Prince 

3  Vol.    22,    p.    187. 


42  THE  McCarthys 

William  County,  serving  until  1734.  His  attendance 
at  the  sessions  of  the  House  seems  to  have  been  inter- 
mittent, and  the  records  of  the  Assembly  show  that  on 
June  27,  1732,  the  House  "ordered  that  Mr.  Dennis 
McCarty  have  Leave  to  go  Home  for  Recovery  of  his 
Health,"  and  a  similar  resolution  was  passed  on  Sep- 
tember 28,  1734.  Two  years  later  he  was  defeated  for 
reelection,  but  he  contested  the  seat  and  on  September 
17,  1736,  "A  Petition  of  Mr.  Dennis  McCarty  was  pre- 
sented to  the  House  and  read,  complaining  of  an  undue 
Election  and  Return  of  Mr.  Peter  Hedgman  to  serve 
as  Burgess  in  this  present  General  Assembly  for  the 
County  of  Prince  William. "  *  It  was  a  long  document 
detailing  alleged  "undue  practices"  of  his  opponent  and 
friends,  which  prevented  many  of  the  freeholders  of  the 
County  from  voting  for  McCarty,  and  the  latter  de- 
clared that  in  any  event  he  had  "the  greater  Number 
of  Legal  Voters  upon  the  Poll."  The  controversy  con- 
tinued for  two  years,  but  on  November  9,  1738,  Dennis 
McCarty  was  granted  "leave  to  withdraw  his  petition" 
and  thereupon  Peter  Hedgman  was  declared  dul}'  elected. 
Another  "petition  of  Dennis  McCarty"  also  appears 
in  the  records  of  the  General  Assembly  of  November 
6,  1738.  It  prayed  "that  Leave  may  be  given  to  bring 
in  a  Bill  to  dock  the  Entail  of  Five  Hundred  acres  of 
Land  in  the  Parish  of  Lunenburg  in  the  County  of  Rich- 
mond, and  for  settling  other  Lands  of  greater  value  in 
the  County  of  Prince  William  to  the  same  Uses,"  but 
on  November  27  of  the  same  year  McCarty  withdrew  his 
petition. 

In  1741  Prince  William  County  was  divided  and  the 
eastern  part  of  the  County  became  known  as  Fairfax. 
Dennis  McCarty 's  homestead  was  situated  on  Pohick 

4  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  43 

River  in  what  is  now  Fairfax  County  and  that  of  his 
brother,  Daniel,  was  at  Cedar  Grove  in  the  same  County 
about  fourteen  miles  below  Alexandria,  where  the  Po- 
hick  and  Accotink  Creeks  pour  their  waters  into  the 
Potomac.  Daniel's  lands  adjoined  the  estate  of  the 
Washingtons  whose  home  at  Mount  Vernon  between 
1735  and  1739  was  about  five  miles  west  of  that  of  Daniel 
McCarty.  The  famous  Truro  Parish  is  in  this  vicinity 
and  all  of  these  families  and  the  gentry  from  the  sur- 
rounding neighborhood  are  recorded  among  the  wor- 
shippers at  old  Pohick  church  in  Truro  Parish,  which 
was  one  mile  south  of  Pohick  Run  until  1772,  when 
a  new  site  was  selected  about  a  mile  north  of  the  Run. 
Augustine,  Lawrence  and  George  Washington,  Dennis 
and  Daniel  McCarty  and  other  prominent  men  of  Prince 
William,  Fairfax  and  Stafford  Counties  served  as  Vestry- 
men of  the  parish  at  various  times,  and  indeed  the  very 
first  name  which  appears  in  the  parish  book  as  vestry- 
man between  1732  and  1741  is  that  of  Dennis  McCarty. 
Augustine  Washington  was  sworn  in  as  vestryman  of  the 
parish  on  November  18,  1735. 

The  Vestry  Book  opens  with  a  reference  to  the  Act 
of  the  General  Assembly  instituting  the  parish,  the 
election  of  the  vestry  and  the  proceedings  at  its  first 
meeting.  The  Act  prescribed  that  the  sheriff  of  the 
County  should  summon  the  freeholders  and  housekeepers 
and  elect  so  many  of  "the  most  able  and  discreet  per- 
sons in  said  parish  as  shall  make  up  the  number  of 
Vestrymen  in  the  said  parish  twelve  and  no  more, ' '  and 
at  its  initial  meeting  on  November  7,  1732,  Dennis  Mc- 
Cart}^  Charles  Broadwater,  Richard  Osborn,  John  Lewis, 
Gabriel  Adams,  Edward  Emms,  John  Heryford  and 
Edward  Barry  were  elected.  Barry  was  nominated  for 
Clerk  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  several  years 


44 


THE  McCarthys 


and  in  1743  his  brother,  John  Barry,  was  elected  Clerk 
and  served  until  1775.  It  is  also  of  interest  to  note, 
as  showing  there  were  other  early  Irish  settlers  in  this 
locality,  that  when  searching  for  the  names  of  those 
who  appear  in  the  public  records  of  this  section,  I  found 
the  name  of  Dennis  McCarty  listed  in  a  "Poll  for  the 
Election  of  Burgesses  for  the  County  of  Prince  William. 
A.  D.  1741,"  and  among  his  fellow- voters  and  freeholders 
were : 


Edward  Barry 
Darby  Callahan 
Luke  Cannon 
Dennis   Conniers 
Thomas  Carney 
Samuel  Conner 
James  Cullens 
James  Curry 
Thomas   Conway 
Andrew  Dalton 


William  Davy 
Michael   Dermond 
Joseph  Dulany 
Edward  Feagan 
Owen  Gilmore 
James  Halley 
Patrick    Hamrick 
Richard  Higgins 
William  Hogan 
John  Madden 


John  Murphey 
Henry  Murphey 
Gabriel   Murphy 
Daniel   McDaniel 
James  McGlahan 
William   Reardon 
Michael  Regan 
Michael  Scanlon 
William  Teague 
Thomas  Welsh 


In  the  History  of  Truro  Parish,  by  the  noted  histori- 
ographer of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  Rev.  Philip  Slaugh- 
ter, it  is  said  that  "the  first  regular  rector  of  Truro 
Parish"  was  Rev.  Charles  Green  who  was  appointed  by 
the  Vestry  on  August  13,  1737.  Dr.  Slaughter  describes 
him  as  "a  Doctor  of  Medicine  before  he  took  Orders  and 
appears  to  have  practiced  to  some  extent  afterwards, 
and  on  at  least  one  occasion  he  was  called  in  at  Mount 
Vernon  and  prescribed  for  the  relief  of  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton. He  was  a  large  landowner  and  his  deeds,  in  which 
he  is  described  as  'Doctor  of  Physic  and  Clerk  of  Truro 
Parish,'  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  land  records 
of  the  County.  In  his  will,  probated  August  19,  1765, 
he  left  3000  acres  of  land  in  Fairfax,  Prince  William 
and  Loudoun  Counties  to  his  wife.  He  also  mentioned 
certain  relatives  in  Ireland  and  advised  his  wife  to  re- 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  45 

turn  to  that  country,  from  which  it  is  supposed  that  he 
was  an  Irishman." 

Dennis  McCarty's  will,  dated  March  18,  1742,  was  pro- 
bated in  Prince  William  County  on  January  20,  1743, 
He  named  his  brother,  Daniel,  John  Miner  and  his  son, 
Daniel,  his  executors.     He  died  in  1744.     The  second 
son  of  Captain  Daniel  was  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  who 
married  Penelope  Higgins.     He  lived  for  a  time  in  Cople 
Parish,  Westmoreland  County,  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  birthplace  and  residence  of  Augustine  and  George 
Washington,  until  he  established  his  residence  at  Cedar 
Grove,  and  all  three  families  sometimes  attended  Pope's 
Creek  Church  in  Washington  Township  and  were  on 
terms  of  intimate  friendship  for  many  years.     Colonel 
McCarty  was  the  lawyer  before  referred  to  and  his  name 
appears  in  the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  be- 
tween 1727  and  1736  as  one  of  the  representatives  of 
Westmoreland  County.     In  the  election  of  1734  his  oppo- 
nent contested  the  seat,  and  the  "Petition  of  William 
Aj^lett  complaining  of  an  undue  Election  and  Return 
of  Mr.  Daniel  McCarty  to  serve  as  a  Burgess  for  the 
County  of  Westmoreland,"  was  read  in  the  House  on 
September  4,  1734,  but  two  weeks  later  the  House  re- 
solved: "that  Mr.  Daniel  McCarty  is  hereby  elected  and 
returned  a  Burgess  to  serve  in  this   present   General 
Assembly  for  the  County  of  Westmoreland."     His  name 
is  mentioned  frequently  in  the  transactions  of  the  leg- 
islature as  showing  that  he  was  a  very  active  member 
and  during  the  session  of  1735  he  was  the  "father" 
of  several  bills. 

Colonel  McCarty  was  made  Collector  of  Potomac  in 
1733  and  his  name  appears  in  the  Council  Journals  on 
November  7,  1738,  as  receiving  a  commission  as  a  Justice 
of  Westmoreland  County,  and  in  1743  he  was  "Director 


46  THE  McCarthys 

of  Leedstown  in  King  George  County."  He  took  his 
seat  for  the  last  time  as  a  representative  in  the  General 
Assembly  on  August  15,  1736,  and  was  reelected  in  1742, 
but  during  the  interval  between  the  prorogation  of  the 
Assembly  in  that  year  and  its  summons  to  reconvene 
in  September,  1744,  Colonel  McCarty  died  and  George 
Lee  was  recorded  as  "seated  in  place  of  Daniel  McCarty, 
deceased."  ^  In  his  will,  dated  May  16,  1743,  he  named 
as  legatees  his  brothers,  Dennis  and  Billington,  and  as 
executors  he  named  his  *' well-beloved  friends.  Colonel 
Presley  Thornton,  Joseph  Morton,  Augustine  "Washing- 
ton and  Lawrence  Butler,  Gents."  This  Lawrence 
Butler  was  a  brother  of  Anne  Butler,  the  first  wife  of 
Augustine  Washington  whom  he  married  in  the  year 
1715.  She  died  in  1728.  The  Butlers  were  descended 
from  the  Butlers  of  Kilkenny,  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  the  Anglo-Norman  families  of  Ireland.®  Colonel  Mc- 
Carty and  Augustine  Washington,  father  of  the  illus- 
trious First  President  of  the  United  States,  passed  away 
in  the  year  1743  within  a  few  months  of  each  other. 
In  his  will  Augustine  Washington  described  himself  as 
"of  Washington  Parish,  Westmoreland  County,"  and  as 
an  evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  held  his  "good 
friend"  Daniel  McCarty,  he  appointed  him  one  of  the 
executors  of  his  estate.  The  closing  paragraph  of  the 
will  of  Augustine  Washington  ^  reads  as  follows : 

5  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  See  also  The  Colonial  Virginia 
Register,  compiled  by  William  G.  and  Mary  N.  Stanard,  pp.  107  and  117; 
Albany,   N.  Y.,   1902. 

6  Colonel  Richard  Butler,  commander  of  the  Ninth  regiment  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Line,  and  his  four  brothers,  all  Revolutionary  officers,  were  of 
this  family.  Four  of  the  brothers  were  born  in  Ireland  and  the  youngest 
in    Pennsylvania. 

7  A  complete  copy  of  the  will  and  of  the  record  pertaining  to  it  may 
be  seen  in  Waters'  OenealogiccU  Gleanings  (Vol.  I,  p.  536),  as  well 
as  in  WUli  of  Oeorge  Washington  and  his  Immediate  Ancettors,  edited 
by  Worthington  Chauncey  Ford;  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  18»1. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  47 

"Lastly,  I  constitute  and  appoint  my  son,  Lawrence  Wash- 
ington, and  my  good  Friends,  Daniel  McCarty  and  Nathaniel 
Chapman,  Gents.,  Executors  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment. In  Witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  & 
Seal  the  Eleventh   day  of  April,   1743. 

Angus  Washington." 

These  two  wills,  made  within  a  period  of  little  more 
than  a  month,  furnish  additional  evidence  of  the  mutual 
interest  and  affection  which  existed  between  these  fam- 
ilies and  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  if  Daniel 
McCarty  had  not  borne  such  an  ancient  Irish  name,  it 
is  probable  that  readers  of  American  history  would 
have  been  made  acquainted  with  some  of  the  details 
of  the  career  of  the  "well-beloved  friend"  of  the  im- 
mortal ''Father  of  his  Country"!  Another  circum- 
stance of  no  little  interest  is,  the  fact  that  toward  the 
close  of  Augustine  Washington's  life  a  question  arose 
between  him  and  his  brother,  John,  concerning  the  bound- 
ary between  the  estates  bequeathed  them  by  their  father 
in  Westmoreland  County.  The  brothers  agreed  to  sub- 
mit the  matter  to  Daniel  McCarty  and  Richard  Bernard, 
entering  into  bonds  of  £1000  each  to  abide  by  the  de- 
cision of  the  referees,  and  this  decision,  duly  signed  and 
sealed  by  the  brothers,  was  admitted  to  record  in  West- 
moreland County  on  April  12,  1743,  the  very  day  on 
which  Augustine  Washington  died  at  his  home  near 
Fredericksburg.® 

Thaddeus,  youngest  son  of  Captain  Daniel  McCarty, 
died  on  February  7,  1731,  and  although  only  nineteen 
years  of  age  he  was  possessed  of  a  considerable  estate. 
The  inventory  filed  in  Richmond  County  under  date  of 
May  3,  1732,  consisted  of  a  great  variety  of  personal 

8  Barons  of  the  Patomack  and  the  Rappahannock,  by  Moncure  D.  Con- 
way, p.  72;  New  York,  189?. 


48  THE  McCarthys 

property  in  wliicli  were  included  nine  negro  slaves  and 
"one  white  servant  man,"  and  there  is  one  curiosity 
about  it,  namely,  that  unlike  nearly  all  other  known 
inventories  of  the  time,  it  fixed  the  value  of  a  white 
servant  at  £10. 

Billington  McCarty,  third  son  of  Captain  Daniel,  mar- 
ried Ann  Barber  at  Farnham  Parish  church  on  June 
16,  1732,  and  had  four  sons,  Daniel,  born  October  22, 
1733 ;  Billington,  bom  October  3,  1736 ;  Thaddeus,  born 
April  1,  1739,  and  Charles,  bom  August  3,  1741.  The 
date  of  his  death  is  unknown,  but  his  will  is  on  record 
at  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk  for  Richmond  County 
at  Warsaw,  Va.,  as  of  July  1,  1745.  It  mentions  his 
wife  and  children,  but  names  only  his  son,  Billington, 
among  the  legatees.  The  latter  married  Elizabeth 
Downman  in  October,  1756,  and  according  to  the  rec- 
ords had  issue:  Daniel,  born  August  24,  1757;  Billing- 
ton, March  18,  1759 ;  Thaddeus,  September  1,  1763,  and 
Elizabeth,  born  November  30,  1768.  He  died  in  April, 
1771,  and  his  will  which  was  recorded  in  Richmond 
County  on  May  6  of  that  year  shows  that  he  was  the 
father  of  three  other  children,  namely  Dennis,  William 
and  Nancy.  He  named  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  and  his 
brothers,  Thaddeus  and  Charles,  joint  executors  of  his 
estate  and  he  divided  his  property  into  fourteen  equal 
parts  which  he  bequeathed  to  his  wife  and  children.  One 
of  his  sons.  Colonel  William  McCarty,  was  a  member 
of  the  Virginia  Assembly;  his  son,  Dennis,  married 
Elizabeth  Woodbridge  Yerby  and  his  daughter,  Eliza- 
beth, married  into  the  Downman  family.  Billington 's 
brother,  Charles,  was  the  Charles  who  represented  Rich- 
mond County  in  the  Revolutionary  Convention  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1776.  There  is  a  record  of  his  will,  dated  No- 
vember 11,  1784,  at  Warsaw,  showing  that  he  divided 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  49 

his  estate  among  his  wife,  Winney,  sons  Bartholomew 
and  Charles  Travers,  and  daughters  Fannie,  Winney 
and  Bettie  Ann.  Charles  Travers  McCarty  married 
Apphia  Fauntleroy  of  the  famous  Virginia  family  of  that 
name. 

The  issue  of  Dennis  and  Elizabeth  McCarty  were :  Wil- 
liam Downman,  George  Yerby,  Albert  G.,  and  Juliet 
Ann  McCarty.  William  Downman  McCarty  was  a  Cap- 
tain of  the  United  States  Navy  in  the  War  of  1812  and 
was  one  of  the  gallant  men  who  served  on  board  the 
Constitution  in  her  conflict  with  the  English  warship, 
Ouerriere,  on  August  19,  1812.  For  his  gallantry  dur- 
ing that  engagement,  the  United  States  and  the  State 
of  Virginia  each  presented  him  with  a  gold-mounted 
sword,  since  in  the  possession  of  his  grandson,  Benjamin 
Franklin  McCarty,  of  Lancaster  County.  Captain  Mc- 
Carty married  Frances  Ravenscroft  Ball,  great  grand- 
daughter of  Joseph  Ball,  already  referred  to  as  George 
Washington 's  grandfather.  They  left  two  sons.  Captain 
James  Ball  and  Ovid  Downman,  and  four  daughters, 
Cordelia  Ball,  Juliet,  Virginia  and  Lavinia  McCarty. 
Captain  James  Ball  McCarty  married  Lavinia  Carter, 
great-granddaughter  of  King  Carter  of  Lancaster 
County;  Ovid  Downman  McCarty  married  Martha  Hill, 
daughter  of  Colonel  William  Hill  of  Richmond;  Cor- 
delia Ball  McCarty  married  (1st)  Bartholomew  Carter 
Chinn,  and  (2nd)  Oscar  Yerby;  Juliet  McCarty  married 
Barton  Ball  of  Lancaster  County;  Virginia  McCarty 
married  William  Beale  McCarty  of  Woodford,  Va.,  and 
Lavinia  McCarty  married  Littleton  D.  Mitchell  of  Lan- 
caster County,  Va. 

Anna  Barbara  McCarty,  eldest  daughter  of  Captain 
Daniel,  married  Major  John  Fitzhugh,  son  of  William 
Fitzhugh,  a  noted  man  of  Marmion,  Stafford  County, 


50  THE  McCarthys 

in  1719.  They  had  three  sons,  Daniel  MeCarty,  John 
and  William,  and  four  daughters,  Sarah,  Elizabeth,  Bar- 
bara and  Rosamond.  Lettice  McCarty  married  George 
Turberville  and  Sarah  McCarty  married  Thomas  Beale 
at  Farnham  Parish  church  on  April  27,  1728,  but  of 
Winnifred,  the  other  daughter  of  Captain  Daniel,  I  am 
unable  to  find  any  record  and  it  is  probable  she  died 
young.  A  further  illustration  of  the  difficulties  of 
identifying  the  numerous  descendants  of  the  original 
MacCarthys  in  Virginia  is  furnished  to  us  by  the  geneal- 
ogy of  the  Fitzhugh  family.  One  of  the  sons  of  John 
Fitzhugh  and  his  wife,  Anna  Barbara  McCarty,  born 
June  28,  1733,  was  named  Daniel  McCarty  Fitzhugh. 
William  Fitzhugh,  brother  of  John,  married  Ursula 
Beverley  and  one  of  their  sons,  born  March  15,  1758, 
was  also  named  Daniel  McCarty  Fitzhugh.  John  Fitz- 
hugh, son  of  the  first  named  John,  married  Alice  Thorn- 
ton and  they  had  a  son,  born  May  9,  1763,  whom  they 
named  Daniel  McCarty  Fitzhugh.  All  three  Daniels 
lived  in  Stafford  County,  and  since  their  names  are 
mentioned  in  the  records,  in  several  instances  about  the 
same  period,  and  all  three  were  known  to  their  intimates 
as  "McCarty,"  it  will  be  seen  what  a  perfect  puzzle 
it  becomes  to  determine  "which  is  which"! 

Daniel,  the  eldest  son  of  Major  Dennis  and  Sarah 
(Ball)  McCarty,  is  referred  to  frequently  in  Virginia 
records  as  "Colonel  Daniel  McCarty"  and,  next  to  his 
grandfather,  the  Speaker,  he  seems  to  have  been  the 
best-known  member  of  the  family  and  tradition  speaks 
of  him  as  one  of  the  notably  representative  Virginians 
of  his  time.  One  of  his  descendants  informs  me  that 
"at  one  time  he  went  to  England  and  was  received  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James  by  his  proper  title,  Earl  of 
Desmond."    As  there  is  no  mention  of  this  incident  in 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  51 

the  colonial  records  of  Virginia,  it  is  apparent  that  his 
visit  to  London  was  not  in  an  official  capacity,  and  since 
he  was  interested  largely  in  the  cultivation  and  ex- 
portation of  tobacco,  it  is  probable  that  his  journey  was 
in  connection  with  this  business.  He  inherited  portion 
of  his  father's  estate  in  Fairfax  and  Stafford  counties 
and  his  home  plantation  and  dwelling  was  known  as 
"Mount  Airy."  In  June,  1748,  he  married  Sinah  Ball, 
by  whom  he  had  Daniel,  Sarah,  Mary,  Sinah  and  Anne, 
and  it  is  said  that  these  four  girls  attracted  much  atten- 
tion among  the  gallant  young  men  of  Virginia  for  their 
captivating  manners,  cleverness  and  beauty.  Sarah  mar- 
ried Colonel  Richard  Chichester ;  Mary  died  unmarried ; 
Sinah  became  the  wife  of  Richard  Waggoner  and  Anne 
married  a  McClanahan,  who  doubtless  was  a  descendant 
of  the  McClanahan  who  came  to  Virginia  with  the 
Irish  colonists  who  founded  the  town  of  Kinsale  about 
the  year  1662. 

Besides  the  property  he  had  inherited  from  his  father, 
Daniel  McCarty  (3rd)  owned  lands  in  Nomini,  pur- 
chased from  Major  John  Thornton  which  by  his  will, 
dated  January  17,  1783,  he  bequeathed  to  his  son,  Daniel 
(4th)  and  his  daughter,  Elizabeth,  who,  on  January  10, 
1788,  became  the  wife  of  Burwell  Bassett  of  New  Kent 
County,  a  member  of  Congress  for  many  years.  The 
name  of  Daniel  McCarty  (3rd)  appears  in  lists  of  stu- 
dents at  William  and  Mary  College  in  1756  and  in  1767 
he  succeeded  to  the  position  held  by  his  father.  Collector 
of  Lower  Potomac.  His  son,  Daniel  (4th),  who  lived 
at  Pope's  Creek,  married  Margaret  Robinson  in  1795 
and  died  in  1801,  and  in  the  next  year  his  widow  mar- 
ried Dr.  Richard  Stuart  of  Cedar  Grove.  As  already 
stated,  the  Washington  and  McCarty  families  wor- 
shipped at  old  Pohick  church  in  Truro  Parish  and  Bishop 


52  THE  McCarthys 

Meade  says  that  the  pew,  with  a  brass  plate  bearing 
the  name,  "Colonel  Daniel  McCarty,"  which  for  many 
years  was  occupied  by  the  McCarty  family,  and  which 
was  immediately  behind  that  of  the  Washingtons'  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  aisle,  was  still  preserved  at  the 
time  he  was  preparing  his  history  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia.  Evidently,  the  location 
of  a  family  pew  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of  some  im- 
portance in  those  days,  and  Bishop  Meade  quotes  an 
interesting  document  illustrating  this  which  he  found 
among  the  records  of  old  Pohick  church.  It  is  a  deed 
dated  February  24,  1774,  conveying  to  "Daniel  McCarty 
of  Truro  Parish,  Fairfax  County,  Gentleman,"  and  his 
heirs  the  perpetual  ownership  of  pew  number  14  which 
he  had  purchased  on  November  20,  1772,  and  its  position 
in  the  church  is  as  carefully  and  accurately  described 
as  if  it  were  a  tract  of  land  that  was  being  conveyed, 
rather  than  the  right  to  the  occupancy  of  a  pew  by  Mc- 
Carty and  his  family.  The  consideration  was  the  sum 
of  £15,  10s.,  and  George  Washington  was  one  of  the 
vestrymen  who  executed  the  deed  and  John  Barry  was 
one  of  the  witnesses.^ 

The  Vestry  Book  of  Truro  Parish  is  a  rich  storehouse 
of  historic  names  and  among  its  vestrymen  for  twenty- 
two  years  was  George  Washington,  having  been  chosen 
for  the  first  time  on  October  25,  1762,  and  "qualified 
at  a  Court  held  for  Fairfax  County  on  February  15, 
1763.  "10  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  was  a  vestr;yTnan  of 
the  Parish  for  thirty-six  years,  having  been  elected  first 
in  1748  and  serving  continuously  until  1784,  and  both 
names  appear  frequently  in  the  records  of  the  church. 
His  election  and  that  of  his  fellow-vestrymen  in  1748 

9  Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia;  Vol.   II,   p.   484. 

10  Fairfax   County   Records. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  53 

was  thus  referred  to  by  the  famous  William  Fairfax  in 
a  letter  dated  August  15,  1749,  to  Lawrence  Washing- 
ton, then  in  England :  ^^  "  Our  Principal  Occurrence  in 
this  County  Since  your  Departure  has  been  the  Election 
of  our  Vestry,  a  copy  of  which  is  enclosed."  The  en- 
closure was  a  list  of  the  successful  and  defeated  candi- 
dates in  the  handwriting  of  George  Washington,  and 
among  the  names  of  the  twelve  vestrymen  elected  was 
that  of  Daniel  McCarty.  Moncure  D.  Conway,  in  com- 
menting on  the  individuals  included  in  Washington's 
list,  says:  "The  McCartys  and  Bronaughs  were  con- 
nected with  the  Mason  family  and  were  men  of  great 
influence. "  ^^  It  might  appear  as  if  Colonel  McCarty 
was  a  builder  and  contractor,  since  the  Vestry  Book 
shows  that  at  a  meeting  held  on  February  19,  1749,  it 
was  voted  to  erect  an  addition  to  the  church,  and  an 
entry  in  the  record  of  that  date  reads :  ' '  Captain  Daniel 
McCarty  undertakes  this  work  for  5500  pounds  of  to- 
bacco, he  also  having  the  material  in  the  old  Vestry 
House  to  make  what  use  of  he  can  in  building  the  new. ' ' 
The  parish  meetings  were  supposed  to  be  held  in  the 
church  edifice,  but  the  records  show  that  they  were  held 
occasionally  at  the  home  of  one  or  other  of  the  vestrymen 
and  that  they  lasted  sometimes  for  two  or  three  days. 
Doubtless,  these  occasions  were  largely  turned  into  social 
gatherings,  since  their  attendance  often  involved  a  ride 
on  horseback  for  a  considerable  distance,  depending  at 
whose  house  the  meeting  was  held,  and  we  may  depend 
upon  it  that  much  was  discussed  at  these  meetings  other 
than  the  mere  local  business  of  the  parish.  The  vestry- 
men and  wardens  of  those  days  were  important  people 
and  only  men  of  prominence  in  County  affairs  were 

11  Quoted    in    Barons    of    the    Patomaek    and    the    Rappahannock,    by 
Moncure  D.  Conway,  pp.  264-266;   New  York,   1892. 

12  Ibid.,  p.   267. 


54  THE  McCarthys 

chosen  for  such  positions,  since  they  were  not  only  offi- 
cials of  the  parish  but  also  of  the  State,  and  one  of  the 
functions  of  government  devolving  on  the  vestrymen  and 
wardens  was  the  levying  of  taxes  for  the  support  of 
the  poor  and  the  appointment  every  fourth  year  of 
commissioners  to  view  all  boundary  lines  of  land  grants 
and  claims,  to  arbitrate  disputes  and  to  see  that  the 
shooting  and  range  laws  were  complied  with.  The  meet- 
ing of  the  Vestry  for  Truro  Parish  held  in  November, 
1765,  lasted  three  days  and  was  held  at  the  home  of 
Daniel  McCarty,  and  the  record  shows  that  there  were 
present  on  that  occasion  ''Mr  Edw  Payne,  CoP  Geo 
Washington,  Capt  Posey,  Capt  Daniel  McCarty,  Colo 
Geo  William  Fairfax,  Mr.  Thomas  Ford  and  Mr,  Alex 
Henderson." 

The  Vestry  Book  attests  the  regularity  with  which 
Washington  attended  the  meetings  and  the  interest  he 
took  in  the  affairs  of  the  parish.  There  were  two 
churches  in  Truro  Parish,  Pohick  and  Old  Falls  church, 
the  latter  called  after  the  falls  of  the  Potomac.  Wash- 
ington and  McCarty  were  also  vestrymen  of  Old  Falls 
church,  as  is  seen  from  an  entry  in  the  record  dated 
March  28,  1763,  on  which  date  both  were  present  at  a 
meeting  in  the  capacity  of  vestrymen.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Vestry  held  on  February  3,  1766,  relating  to  a 
new  church  building,  it  was  "Ordered  that  Colonel 
George  Washington,  Captain  Daniel  McCarty,  Colonel 
George  William  Fairfax,  Mr,  Alexander  Henderson 
and  Mr.  Thomas  Ford  or  any  three  of  them  do  view 
and  admire  the  said  building  from  time  to  time  as  shall 
be  requisite. ' '  Washington  continued  an  active  and  un- 
tiring member  of  the  Vestry  of  Truro  Parish  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  Among  his  original  papers 
at  the  Library  of  Congress  I  find  a  letter  to  him  from 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  55 

Daniel  McCarty  dated  February  22,  1784.  It  is  an 
unusually  fine  specimen  of  penmanship  for  the  time  and 
its  purpose  was  to  notify  Washington  that  "Tomorrow 
is  appointed  for  us  to  have  a  Vestry ;  the  place  of  meet- 
ing is  to  be  at  William  Lindsay's  in  Colchester  by  11 
o'clock;  it  was  attempted  five  or  six  times  last  fall,  but 
you  and  Mr.  Henderson's  both  being  out  of  the  country 
we  never  could  get  a  sufficient  Number  of  Gentlemen  to 
meet  to  make  a  Vestry,  by  which  means  the  poor  suffers 
very  much  and  some  of  them  must  inevitably  perish 
without  they  can  have  some  assistance.  I  must  therefore 
beg  your  attendance.  Mrs.  McCarty  and  family  join 
me  in  our  best  respects  to  you  and  your  worthy  Lady 
and  I  am  with  the  greatest  esteem 

D'  Sir  your  Most  0^' 
and  very  humble  serv* 

Daniel  McCarty." 

But,  Washington  at  this  time  had  decided  to  retire 
and  he  replied  to  the  above  letter  on  February  23rd. 
tendering  his  resignation,  and  on  that  date  the  follow- 
ing entry  was  made  in  the  parish  book:  ''John  Gib- 
son, Gent,  is  elected  a  Vestryman  of  this  Parish  in  the 
room  of  His  Excellency  General  Washington,  who  has 
signified  his  resignation  in  a  letter  to  Daniel  McCarty, 
Gent."  At  the  same  meeting  Daniel  McCarty  himself 
tendered  his  resignation  and  Lund  Washington  was 
elected  in  his  place.  He  died  at  his  home  at  Cedar 
Grove,  Fairfax  County,  in  1791,  His  only  son,  Daniel 
McCarty,  Junior,  was  elected  a  Vestryman  of  the  Parish 
on  December  8,  1779. 

Thaddeus,  second  son  of  Major  Dennis  and  Sarah 
(Ball)  McCarty,  was  bom  on  April  1,  1739,  and  the 
records  of  Lancaster  County  show  that  on  May  19,  1758, 


56  THE  McCarthys 

he  received  a  license  to  marry  Ann  Chinn,  daughter 
of  Rawleigh  Chinn  of  an  old  Virginia  family,  and  on 
October  8,  1773,  both  are  on  record  as  disposing  of  lands 
in  Loudoun  County  which  Ann  (Chinn)  McCarty  had 
inherited  from  her  father.     He  is  referred  to  in  Virginia 
records  as   Colonel   Thaddeus.     According  to  Hayden, 
he  was  a  Vestryman  of  St.  Mary's  Parish,  Lancaster 
County,  from  1761  to  1776,  Church  Warden  from  1771 
to  1776,  Clerk  of  the  County  from  1778  to  1781  and  was 
one  of  the  Lancaster  County  Revolutionary  Committee 
of  Correspondence   chosen  on  February   6,   1775.     He 
fought  in  the  Revolutionary  war.     He  had  one  son  whom 
he  named  Thaddeus,  born  in  Loudoun  County  in  1760. 
Thaddeus,  Jr.,  had  seven  children,  each  of  whom  lived 
on  a  separate  estate;  all  married  and  brought  up  fam- 
ilies and  their  descendants  are  now  scattered  through 
Kansas,  Texas,  Virginia  and  Mississippi.     One  of  his 
sons,  George  Washington  McCarty,  owned  Newington, 
a  large  estate  with  a  fine  stone  mansion,  overlooking 
the  Little  River  near  Middleburg,  in  Loudoun  County, 
near  the  county  seat  of  James  Monroe,  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  when  Lafayette  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  went  to  Leesburg  on  August  9,  1825,  on  a  visit 
to  President  Monroe,  they  were  entertained  by  the  Mc- 
Carty family  at  their  fine  home.     George  Washington 
McCarty  was  a  wealthy  farmer,  owning  many  slaves. 
His  son,  William  Thaddeus,  married  Hannah  Fox,  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  John  Fox  of  Prince  William  County, 
descended  from  Charles  James  Fox,  the  English  states- 
man.    One  of  his  grandsons  was  Captain  William  Thad- 
deus McCarty,  who,  when  a  student  at  the  University 
of  Virginia  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  organized 
the  celebrated  company  known  as  the  "University  Vol- 
unteers,"  which   became   part    of    General   Henry   A. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  57 

Wise's  Brigade.  Captain  McCarty  commanded  a  Con- 
federate artillery  company  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
and  two  of  the  sons  of  Stephen  Washington  McCarty 
&.lso  served  as  officers  of  the  Confederate  army  and  one 
of  them  was  killed  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas. 

Ann,  daughter  of  Major  Dennis  and  Sarah  (Ball) 
McCarty,  married  William  Ramsay  of  Alexandria,  Va,, 
and  had  two  sons,  Dennis  and  William  McCarty  Ram- 
say. Dennis  was  a  Captain  and  William  a  Surgeon 
in  the  Revolutionary  army.  Dennis  Ramsay  married 
Jane  Allen  Taylor,  daughter  of  a  merchant  of  Belfast, 
Ireland,  and  was  Mayor  of  Alexandria  in  1793,  and 
"it  was  he  who  prepared  the  stirring  address  to  Wash- 
ington on  April  16,  1789,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of 
Alexandria. ' '  ^^  Sarah,  daughter  of  Dennis  and  Sarah 
McCarty,  married  George  Johnson,  of  Alexandria,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  his  day  in  Virginia,  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Burgesses  from  1758  to  1766,  author 
of  the  Stamp  Act  Resolutions  which  Patrick  Henry 
offered  to  the  House  and  which  Johnson  seconded  in  a 
powerful  speech  on  May  30,  1765.  He  was  also  chosen 
one  of  the  Council  of  Alexandria  on  July  18,  1752,  to 
succeed  Lawrence  Washington.  Their  son,  George,  was 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Continental  army,  Aide-de- 
Camp  to  Washington  and  his  confidential  military  secre- 
tary from  December,  1776,  until  his  death  at  Morris- 
town,  N.  J.,  in  June,  1777.^* 

Dennis,  third  son  of  Major  Dennis  and  Sarah  (Ball) 
McCarty,  served  as  an  officer  in  the  colonial  wars,  and 
when  Washington  made  his  famous  journey  in  the  Fall 
of  1753  from  Williamsburg  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie, 
as  the  envoy  of  the  government  of  Virginia  to  the  com- 

13  Hayden's   Virginia  Genealogies,  p.   88. 
lilhid.,  p.  87. 


58  THE  McCarthys 

mander  of  the  French  forces  with  a  demand  that  the 
French  desist  from  their  inroads  upon  the  settlements 
on  the  Ohio,  his  cousin,  young  Dennis  McCarty,  was 
one  of  the  few  personal  friends  who  accompanied  him. 
At  the  State  Land  Office  I  found  a  record  of  three  deeds 
from  Lord  Fairfax,  one  dated  December  15,  1740,  con- 
veying to  Dennis  McCarty  a  tract  of  1140  acres  de- 
scribed as  "on  the  branches  of  Little  River  and  branches 
of  Goose  Creek, "  ^^  in  Prince  William  County,  and  two 
deeds  dated  December  16,  1740,  one  conveying  to  Dennis 
McCarty  1235  acres  "upon  Stallion  Branch,  being  a 
branch  of  the  Broad  Run  of  the  Potomaek,"  ^^  and  the 
other  to  Thaddeus  McCarty  for  1220  acres  "on  the 
south  side  of  Goose  Creek  in  Prince  William  County."  " 
From  the  fact  that  the  grantee  in  the  first  two  deeds 
is  referred  to  therein  as  "Dennis  McCarty,  the  Younger, 
son  of  Major  Dennis  McCarty  of  the  County  of  Prince 
William,"  it  is  clear  that  he  was  the  son  of  Dennis  and 
Sarah  (Ball)  McCarty.  Yet,  he  was  only  fifteen  years 
old  at  the  time  these  deeds  were  executed,  and  as  to 
Thaddeus,  the  grantee  of  the  1220  acre  tract,  I  am  un- 
able to  place  him  at  all,  since  only  three  Thaddeus  Mc- 
Cartys  appear  in  the  early  birth  records,  one  of  whom 
died  in  1731  and  the  other  two  were  only  one  year 
old  at  the  time  the  above-mentioned  laud  grant  was 
made.  This  indicates  that  there  were  other  McCartys 
in  this  section  of  Virginia  besides  those  mentioned  in 
this  book. 

In  1755,  after  Braddock's  defeat  at  Fort  Duquesne, 
Colonel  Dunbar  of  the  British  army  became  senior  offi- 
cer in  command  of  the  colonial  troops,  but  on  Dunbar's 
removal  from  that  post  Colonel  George  Washington  was 

15  Land  Records;  Book  E,  p.  230. 

16  Ibid.,  p.  232. 

17  Ibid.,  p.  231. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  59 

appointed  to  his  place,  and  the  person  whom  "Washington 
despatched  to  Winchester  to  acquaint  Colonel  Fairfax 
with  this  news  was  his  young  Lieutenant,  Dennis  Mc- 
Carty.  In  the  papers  of  Colonel  George  William  Fair- 
fax there  is  a  letter  from  him  to  Governor  Dinwiddie, 
dated  ''Winchester,  September  4th.  1755,"  which  begins 
thus:  ''This  instant  Mr,  Dennis  McCartj^  came  here 
and  gave  me  the  agreeable  news  of  Colonel  Dunbar's 
being  ordered  back  and  that  my  friend  Colonel  Wash- 
ington is  to  have  command  of  the  forces  raised  by  this 
Colony,  which  undoubtedly  is  a  great  trust,  but  I  dare 
aay  he  will  discharge  it  with  honour.  "^^ 

In  the  "Dinwiddie  Papers"  we  read  some  interesting 
references  to  Lieutenant,  afterwards  Captain,  Dennis 
McCarty,  who  served  under  Washington  in  the  border 
warfare  in  Virginia,  and  in  these  papers  he  is  referred  to 
as  "a  gallant  frontiersman."  In  a  letter  from  Washing- 
ton to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  dated  Alexandria,  Janu- 
ary 13,  1756,  relative  to  an  expedition  against  the  Shaw- 
nee Indians,  Washington  asked  for  approval  for  the 
appointment  of  Dennis  McCarty  to  a  vacancy  as  Lieu- 
tenant in  his  regiment.  The  Governor  approved  the 
appointment  in  a  letter  to  Washington  on  January  23, 
1756 ;  but,  McCarty 's  political  opponents  in  the  County 
having  brought  a  charge  against  him  of  "endeavouring 
to  persuade  the  Men  in  the  Virginia  Regiment  to  desert" 
in  order  that  he  (McCarty)  "may  have  the  Opp't'y 
of  enlisting  'em,"  the  Governor  canceled  his  commis- 
sion in  a  letter  to  McCarty  on  December  10,  1756.  There 
is  a  letter  of  the  same  date  from  the  Governor  to  Wash- 
ington, referring  to  "the  villiany  of  McCarty,"  which 
"is  without  precedent,"  and  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Fair- 
is  The  Fairfaxes  of  England  and  America  in  the  Seventeenth  and 
Eighteenth   Centuries,  by   Rev.   Edward   D.   Neill;   Albany,   N.   Y.,    1868. 


60  THE  McCarthys 

fax  five  days  later  the  Governor  said:  ''Dennis  Mc- 
Carty  has  behaved  very  basely  in  getting  some  of  our 
forces  to  desert  in  order  that  he  might  enlist  'em,  which 
occasioned  my  recalling  the  Com 's 'on  I  gave  him  to 
recruit  the  Royal  Amn's.  I  can't  with  patience  write 
him ;  therefore  as  he  writes  me  he  has  recruited  24  men  I 
do  not  incline  he  should  suffer  in  that  service,  and  if 
you'll  take  the  trouble  to  give  him  notice  if  he'll  send 
'em  down  to  this  Place,  on  rec  't  of  'em  I  '11  pay  him  any 
reasonable  Acco't  he  may  produce  for  enlisting  and 
maintaining  of  'em."  Later,  this  political  "tempest 
in  a  teapot"  subsided,  and  on  December  23,  1756,  Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie  wrote  McCarty,  saying  ' '  I  shall  be  glad 
if  you  come  here  and  desire  you  to  march  down  with  the 
recruits  you  have  to  join  the  others  here."  ^^ 

As  already  stated,  a  strong  friendship  existed  between 
the  Washington  and  McCarty  families,  and  indeed  it 
is  clear  that  they  maintained  the  most  intimate  social 
relations,  since  the  McCartys  were  frequent  and  welcome 
visitors  at  the  Washington  home.  The  various  letters 
passing  between  them,  as  well  as  the  entries  made  by 
Washington  in  his  Diary,  fully  attest  that  fact.  At 
the  Library  of  Congress  I  have  examined  the  original 
Diary  and  the  letters  to  Washington,  and  find  in  them 
many  interesting  references  to  the  McCartys.  Among 
the  entries  in  the  Diary  the  earliest  appears  under  date 
of  February  24,  1760,  and  reads  thus:  "Calld  and 
dind  at  Cap*''  McCartys  in  my  way  home  and  left  the 
Order  of  Court  appointing  him  and  others  appraisers 
of  Nations 's  Estate  (which  I  had  sent  my  Boy  down 
for)  and  at  the  same  time  got  a  promise  of  him  to  Prize 
&  Inspect  his  Tob°  at  the  Warehouse."  On  July  6, 
1768,   Sinah  and   Sarah,   daughters  of  Colonel  Daniel 

19  The  Dinwiddie  Papers,  published  by  the  Virginia  Historical   Society. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  61 

McCarty  of  Cedar  Grove,  paid  a  visit  to  Mount  Vernon 
and  this  event  was  thus  recorded  by  Washington  in  his 
Diary:  "Rid  to  Muddy  Hole  where  three  white  men 
were  cradling  &  then  to  the  Mill  where  we  were  getting 
in  Wheat.  Mr.  Chichester  with  his  wife,^^  Miss  S.  Mc- 
Carty and  Dr.  Rumney  came."  On  July  16,  1768,  we 
find  Washington  writing  in  his  Diary:  ''Went  by 
Muddy  Hole  and  Doeg  Run  to  the  Vestry  of  Pohick 
Church,  stayed  there  till  half  after  3  oclock  &  only  4 
members  coming  returned  by  Captn  McCartys  &  dined 
there."  On  July  6,  1769,  Daniel  McCarty 's  daughters, 
Sarah  and  Nancy,  visited  Mount  Vernon  and  on  that 
date  Washington  wrote  in  his  Diary:  "Went  into  my 
Harvest  field  in  the  Neck,  on  my  Return  to  Dinner  found 
Mr.  Chichester,  his  wife,  and  Nancy  McCarty  who  stayd 
all  Night,"  and  the  next  day  he  wrote:  "The  above 
Company  going  away  after  Breakfast  I  went  over  into 
ye  Neck  and  returned  to  Dinner. ' ' 

Washington's  Diary  at  this  period  was  kept  irregu- 
larly and  there  are  long  lapses  of  time  between  the 
entries,  and  the  next  item  relating  to  the  McCartys  is 
under  date  of  June  9,  1772,  when  he  wrote:  "Went 
into  the  Neck  in  the  forenoon,  found  Mr.  Chichester 
and  Wife,  Miss  Molly  McCarty  and  Mr.  Phil  Pendle- 
ton here;  the  first  went  away."  His  next  entry  was 
made  on  October  16,  1772,  and  reads :  ' '  Capt"  McCarty, 
his  wife  and  son,  came  after  Dinn'^  &  stay'd  ye  night," 
and  the  next  day,  "They  went  away  after  Breakfast." 
In  the  entry  in  the  Diary  for  "Sunday,  September  3, 
1786,"  Washington  recorded  that,  in  company  with 
"Major  Washington  and  Tobias  Lear,"  he  "went  to 
Pohick  Church  &  dined  at  CoP  McCartys,"  and  in  the 
years  1785  and  1786  he  recorded  other  social  events  in 

20  Mrs.   Chichester   was   a  daughter  of   Daniel  McCarty. 


62  THE  McCarthys 

which  he  participated  with  the  McCartys  and  speaks  of 
hunting  and  dining  ''with  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  of 
Pope's  Creek." 

It  appears  also  from  Washington's  papers  that  on 
three  different  occasions  he  employed  people  named  Mc- 
Carthy, although  none  of  these  seem  to  have  been  con- 
nected with  the  old  Virginia  family.  In  1771  he  built  a 
mill  on  his  Mount  Vernon  estate  and  employed  Cor- 
nelius McCarthy,  a  bricklayer  and  stone  mason,  on  the 
work,  and  on  August  20,  1771,  he  made  this  entry  in 
his  Diary:  ''Con  McCarty  began  to  work  on  the  Chim- 
ney of  the  Miller  H°  in  the  morning  and  Bond  ab*  12 
oclock,"  and  in  August  and  September,  1771,  his  ac- 
counts show  that  he  paid  "Con  McCarty"  £9  2s.  6d. 
In  1786,  one  Thomas  McCarthy  was  in  Washington's 
employ  as  steward  of  his  household,  although  it  is  evi- 
dent that  his  services  were  not  very  satisfactory.  An 
entry  in  the  Diary  under  date  of  August  12,  1786,  reads 
as  follows:  "Thomas  McCarty  left  this  yesterday,  it 
being  found  that  he  was  unfit  for  a  House  hold  Steward. 
Richard  Burnett  took  his  place  on  the  wages  of  Thirty 
pounds  p'  ann."  In  the  Washington  papers  there  is 
also  a  letter  to  him  dated  "City  of  Washington,  April 
26,  1797,"  from  one  Patrick  McCarthy  in  connection 
with  a  contract  which  Washington  had  given  him  for 
a  building  or  alterations  of  some  kind,  and  this  letter  is 
endorsed  in  Washington's  handwriting:  "From  Mr. 
Patrick  McCarthy,  Stonecutter,  April  26,  1797."  An- 
other letter  in  the  Washington  papers  is  dated  "West 
Point,  14  August,  1780,"  and  is  from  one  Daniel  Carthy 
to  Major  Raines  in  relation  to  the  employment  of  arti- 
ficers at  Newburgh  and  New  Windsor,  N.  Y.,  and  re- 
questing Major  Raines  "to  inform  the  General  (Wash- 
ington) I  am  just  going  to  push  off  to  Fishkill  after  the 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  63 

paper,"  etc.  .  .  .  and  "in  the  meantime  pray  assure 
the  General  the  Return  of  Artificers  shall  be  sent  to- 
morrow by  10  o'clock."  While  this  letter  is  si^ed 
"Carthy,"  it  is  endorsed  by  Richard  Varick,  Aide-de- 
Camp  to  General  Benedict  Arnold,  "From  McCarthy, 
August  14,  1780." 

That  portion  of  his  estate  in  Stafford  County  which 
Daniel,  the  Speaker,  bequeathed  to  his  son,  Dennis,  hav- 
ing been  subject  to  entail,  the  latter 's  descendants  re- 
garded it  as  a  hardship  that  they  were  precluded  by  the 
terms  of  the  will  from  disposing  of  it  as  they  chose.  This 
matter  was  the  subject  of  discussion  between  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty  and  George  Washington,  and  among  the  Wash- 
ington papers  at  the  Library^  of  Congress  there  is  a  letter 
from  Daniel  McCarty  dated  December  6,  1769,  addressed 
to  "George  Washington  Esq.  at  Williamsburg,"  which 
reads  as  follows: 

"I  send  you  by  Mr.  Peiree  Bayly  the  Deeds  made  by  me  and 
my  wife  to  Mr.  Chichester  and  Likewise  them  from  him  and 
his  wife  to  me,  as  also  my  Grandfather's  will,  Wherein  you 
will  find  in  the  3rd.  Page  how  he  gave  the  Land.  Fairfax 
County  was  then  Stafford,  and  by  looking  over  the  Will  you 
may  see  some  hardships  which  my  father  was  laid  under  more 
than  either  of  my  Brothers.  My  wife's  father's  will  I  have 
not,  neither  is  it  in  my  Power  to  get  it  at  this  time,  it  being 
on  the  Records  of  Lancaster,  but  you  may  see  by  the  Deeds 
made  to  Mr.  Chichester  in  what  manner  it  was  Given  which 
I  hope  will  be  sufficient.  We  have  at  last  had  a  Vestry  to 
lay  the  Parish  Levy  which  is  Sixty  three  per  Pole  34900  being 
Levy'd  Towards  Paying  for  the  Church  and  by  those  very 
Gentlemen  who  was  so  much  against  it  formerly.  Mrs.  Posey 
&  old  Mrs.  Johnston  are  both  dead  within  two  or  three  Days 
of  each  other.  You  will  remember  that  I  informed  you  that 
I  have  near  Six  thousand  acres  of  Land  more  which  is  all 
intailed,  being  in  the  County  of  Loudoun,  and  I  must  beg 
your  care  of  the  Papers  now  sent.  Mv  Wife  joyns  me  in 
our  Compliments  to  your  Self,  Mrs.   Washington  and  Miss 


64  THE  McCarthys 

Patey,  hopeing  to  see  you  all  Return  in  Good  Health,  And 
I  Remain  with  great  esteem 

D''  S'"  y""  most  obet  H*''^  Servt 

Daniel  MeCarty." 

It  is  evident  that  upon  Washington's  return  from 
"Williamsburg  the  question  was  again  discussed,  and  that 
it  was  decided  that  McCarty  should  seek  relief  from  the 
legislature  by  securing  the  passage  of  an  act  canceling 
the  entail,  which  process  was  known  as  "docking  the 
entail."  The  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  under 
date  of  December  12,  1769,  contain  this  entry: 

"A  Petition  of  Daniel  McCarty  was  presented  to  the  House, 
and  read,  setting  forth  that  the  Petitioner  is  seized  in  Fee 
Tail  under  the  Will  of  Daniel  McCarty  his  Grandfather,  of 
2000  Acres  of  Land  in  the  Parish  of  Truro,  and  County  of 
Fairfax,  and  is  seized  in  Fee  Simple  of  1000  Aci'es  of  Land 
in  the  County  of  Fauquier,  purchased  of  Richard  Cliichester 
and  Sarah  his  Wife,  and  that  it  will  be  to  the  advantage  of 
the  Petr  and  those  claiming  in  Remainder  if  the  Intail  of  the 
said  2000  Acres  of  Land  in  Fairfax  was  docked  and  the  said 
1000  Acres  of  Land  in  Fauquier,  with  nine  valuable  Slaves, 
settled  in  Lieu  thereof,  and  therefore  praying  that  an  Act 
may  pass  for  that  Purpose." 

Thereupon,  it  was  "Ordered  that  leave  be  given  to 
bring  in  a  Bill  pursuant  to  the  prayer  of  the  said  Peti- 
tion," and  it  is  with  considerable  interest  that  we  note 
that  the  two  persons  who  were  "ordered"  by  the  House 
"to  prepare  and  bring  in  the  same"  were  George  Wash- 
ington and  Richard  Henry  Lee.^^  On  the  following  day 
there  is  an  entry  in  the  Journals,  reading:  "George 
Washington,  member  of  the  House  from  Fairfax  County, 
presented  a  Bill  to  dock  the  Intail  of  certain  Lands 
whereof  Daniel  McCarty  is  seized  and  for  settling  other 

21  This  was  the  celebrated  Revolutionary  officer,  "Light  Horse  Harry 
Lee,"   afterwards  Governor  of  Virginia. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  65 

Lands  and  Slaves  to  the  same  Uses,"  and  the  bill  was 
passed  by  the  House  on  December  19,  1769. 

One  of  the  nearest  and  most  intimate  friends  of  the 
MeCartys  was  George  Mason  of  Gunston  Hall  in  Fair- 
fax County.  Mason  is  an  historic  figure  in  the  political 
movements  of  his  day  and  is  described  as  "one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  a  great  period."  He  was  the  author 
of  the  "Declaration  of  Rights"  and  the  Constitution  of 
Virginia,  and  is  familiarly  known  as  "The  Father  of 
States'  Rights."  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  and  George 
Mason  were  keen  sportsmen,  and  Dogue's  Neck,  part  of 
the  Mason  estate,  was  long  famous  for  its  native  deer 
and  wild  fowl,  and  the  neighboring  gentry  often  were 
guests  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  the  Masons  and  in 
hunting  parties  and  other  social  events  of  the  time. 
In  1778,  Daniel,  son  of  Daniel  and  Sinah  (Ball)  Mc- 
Carty, married  Sarah,  daughter  of  George  Mason,  and 
William  T.  Mason,  son  of  George,  married  Sarah  Mc- 
Carty. Daniel,  Jr.,  was  also  known  as  "Colonel,"  and 
after  their  marriage  the  young  couple  settled  at  Cedar 
Grove.  Kate  Mason  Rowland,  in  her  Life  of  George 
Mason,  thus  refers  to  Cedar  Grove:  "The  McCarty 
place  has  gone  out  of  the  family  of  its  original  owners. 
It  is  beautifully  situated  on  Pohick  Creek.  Its  lovely 
water  views  from  its  commanding  position  on  high 
ground  almost  entirely  surrounded  by  the  Creek,  are  its 
chief  attraction  now,  but  in  former  days,  with  its  lawns, 
its  orchards  and  its  shrubberies,  it  must  have  made  a 
delightful  residence.  The  family  burial  ground  at  Cedar 
Grove  is  perhaps  a  half  mile  from  the  house  in  a  dense 
grove  of  oaks  and  poplars.  Bending  back  the  thick 
branches  in  this  Druid-like  solitude  and  stooping  over 
fallen  trees,  one  finds  three  graves  with  their  gray  moss- 
covered  stones,  marking  the  spots  where  rest  Dennis  Mc- 


66  THE  McCarthys 

Carty  and  his  grandson,  Daniel  McCarty,  with  the  wife 
of  the  latter,  who  was  the  daughter  of  George  Mason, 
Colonel  Daniel  McCarty,  the  elder,  the  friend  and  con- 
temporary of  George  Mason,  was  buried  at  Mount  Airy, 
another  family  seat  of  the  McCartys."^^ 

Colonel  McCarty  was  a  large  landed  proprietor  and 
was  also  interested  in  the  exportation  of  tobacco.  In 
the  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography  ^^  there 
is  a  list  of  "Slave  Owners  in  Westmoreland  County  in 
1782,"  numbering  410  in  all,  who  owned  4536  slaves, 
and  in  this  list  Daniel  McCarty  is  shown  to  have  been 
the  owner  of  112  slaves  and  only  one  other  man  in  the 
County,  Robert  Carter,  had  a  greater  number.  Colonel 
McCarty  commanded  a  Virginia  regiment  in  the  Revolu- 
tion and  he  is  named  among  the  leaders  of  the  patriot 
cause  in  Virginia  several  years  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  In  referring  to  the  great  opposition  through- 
out the  country  caused  by  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act 
(1765),  the  historian  Green  says:  "the  Assembly  of  Vir- 
ginia was  the  first  to  formally  deny  the  right  of  the 
British  Parliament  to  meddle  with  internal  taxation  and 
to  demand  the  repeal  of  the  Act."  "Thus,"  wrote 
Bancroft,  "Virginia  rang  the  alarm  bell  for  the  Con- 
tinent," and  in  this  historic  event  we  find  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty taking  an  active  part.  When  the  news  of  the 
passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  reached  the  Colony  an  asso- 
ciation of  patriots  was  formed  to  resist  the  imposition 
of  the  tax,  and  on  the  24th  of  February,  1766,  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  of  the  leading  men  of  Westmoreland 
County  met  at  Leedstown  and  formed  "The  Association 
of  Westmoreland." 

At  this  meeting  Richard  Henry  Lee  drew  up  resolu- 

22  Life   of  George  Mason;  Vol.   I,   p.   Ill;   New  York,   1892. 

23  Vol.  X,  pp.   229-235. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  67 

tions  which  were  signed  by  all  present.  They  asserted 
in  bold  language  the  rights  essential  to  Civil  Liberty 
which  were  subsequently  maintained  by  the  Revolution ; 
they  denounced  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  British  Par- 
liament and  pledged  the  members  of  the  Association  to 
resist  its  enforcement  with  their  lives  and  fortunes. 
To  this  historic  document  Daniel  McCarty  signed  his 
name,  and  among  others  famous  in  Virginia  history  who 
also  signed  it  were  four  of  the  Washingtons  and  six  of 
the  Lees.  It  is  one  of  the  most  stirring  and  interest- 
ing documents  extant  relating  to  the  history  of  the 
Colony  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Virginia 
Historical  Society,  and  a  copy  of  it  is  inscribed  on  a 
tablet  at  Montross,  Va.,  not  far  from  the  residence  of 
Daniel,  the  Speaker. 2*  When  the  Committee  of  Safety 
for  Westmoreland  County  met  on  the  22nd  of  June, 

1774,  Daniel  McCarty  was  also  present  and  at  a  meet- 
ing held  at  Westmoreland  Court  House  on  January  31, 

1775,  he  was  chosen  one  of  thirty-five  delegates  from 
that  County  to  the  Convention  of  the  Colony  of  Vir- 
ginia at  Williamsburg. 

Another  McCarty,  Charles  of  Richmond  County,  Cap- 
tain of  Militia  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  also  elected 
a  representative  of  his  district  at  the  Convention  in 
May,  1776.  This  meeting  has  been  described  as  ''the 
fifth  and  most  important  of  all  the  Revolutionary  Con- 
ventions of  Virginia, ' '  "^  and  it  is  the  fact  that  Williams- 
burg was  the  scene  of  the  important  proceedings  that 
were  nurtured  into  maturity  at  this  Convention,  that 
gave  to  that  City  the  title  of  "The  Cradle  of  the  Revo- 
lution." It  was  a  considerable  distinction  to  be  a  dele- 
gate at  this  Convention,  for  the  newspapers  of  the  time 

24  A  full  copy  of  the  address  and  resolutions  of  the  Virginia  patriots  may 
be  seen  in  the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Vol.  for  1761  to  1765. 

25  WUliam  and  Mary   College   Quarterly;   Vol.   XVI,   p.   52. 


68  THE  McCarthys 

show  there  was  no  small  competition  for  seats  in  its  coun- 
cils. 

In  1797  we  find  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  in  negotia- 
tion with  President  Washington  in  connection  with  a 
proposed  transfer  of  lands  in  Loudoun  County  in  ex- 
change for  lands  owned  by  "Washington  in  what  is  now 
West  Virginia.  In  the  Washington  papers  at  the  Li- 
brary of  Congress  there  are  several  original  letters  from 
Daniel  McCarty  to  George  Washington,  and  copies  of 
the  replies.  The  proposition  seems  to  have  originated 
verbally  with  McCarty,  who  argued  that  having  made 
considerable  improvements  in  his  lands  and  much  of  it 
was  under  cultivation,  while  that  owned  by  Washington 
was  yet  undeveloped,  he  expected  an  equitable  exchange. 
In  a  long  letter  to  Washington  dated  "Cedar  Grove, 
November  2,  1797,"  McCarty  said  that  "this  exchange 
has  long  been  the  object  of  my  wishes  and  has  often  been 
revolved  in  my  mind,  from  which  serious  contemplations 
those  suggestions  made  you  the  other  day  resulted;  my 
hope  was  to  obtain  three  acres  for  one."  To  this  Wash- 
ington replied  in  a  letter  dated  "Mount  Vernon,  No- 
vember 3,  1797,"  offering  as  an  equivalent  "three  tracts 
on  the  Kanahawa  containing  together  12,276  acres  for 
your  sugar  lands  entire,"  which  he  said  "would  have 
given  you  a  boundary  on  the  rivers  of  nearly  25  miles 
of  the  richest  low  ground  in  that  country. ' '  Washing- 
ton further  described  these  lands  as  ' '  not  more  than  three 
miles  from  Mount  Pleasant,  a  place  which  must,  as  soon 
as  tranquillity  is  perfectly  restored,  be  of  considerable 
importance  from  its  situation  at  the  junction  of  two  im- 
portant rivers  running  in  different  directions  through  so 
large  and  fertile  a  tract  of  country." 

The  next  letter  on  the  subject  is  dated  November  6, 
1797,  from  McCarty  to  Washington,  declining  to  recede 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  69 

from  his  offer  of  ''one  to  three  for  the  exchange,"  since 
he  put  a  higher  value  on  his  lands  than  Washington 
was  willing  to  admit,  and  the  negotiations  seem  to  have 
continued  verbally  throughout  the  year.     In   a  letter 
from  McCarty  to  Washington  dated  September  19,  1798, 
the  former  said:  "having  naturally  deliberated  on  your 
late   proposals   for   an   exchange   of   Landed   property, 
they  do  not  appear  such  as  are  consistent  with  my  in- 
terest to  accept,  as  your  Quantity  on  the  Ohio  is  not  an 
object  to  so  large  a  family  as  mine  and  the  exclusion 
of  Slaves  in  the  Northwestern  Territory  would  render 
property  of  little  value.     The  indisputability  of  title,  the 
superior  advantages  of  situation  and  soil,  annexed  to 
your  Western  Lands  would  induce  in  my  mind  a  prefer- 
ence to  any  others  in  that  part  of  the  Country,  but 
their  rapid  rise  in  value  has  determined  me  of  late  to 
turn  my  Views  to  Louisiana  where  I  think  the  prospects 
of  accumulating  Property  of  every  kind  are  more  in- 
viting than  in  any  part  of  the  United  States."    With 
this  letter,  the  negotiations  closed. 

In  an  account  of  Washington's  death,  written  by  his 
Secretary,  Tobias  Lear,  we  learn  that  Colonel  Daniel 
McCarty 's  family  were  among  those  who  were  especially 
invited  to  attend  the  funeral  by  the  widow,  at  the  re- 
quest of  Washington  on  his  death  bed.  Tobias  Lear 
had  the  distinction  of  being  personally  attendant  at 
Washington's  bedside  during  his  last  illness  and  of  being 
in  charge  of  the  arrangements  for  the  funeral,  which 
was  solemnized  at  Mount  Vernon  on  December  18,  1799. 
He  wrote  at  the  time  a  detailed  account  of  Washington's 
last  hours,  bearing  every  mark  of  care  and  authenticity,^** 
and  under  date  of  "Monday,  December  16,  1799,"  he 

26  See  Records  of  the   Columbia   Historical   Society;   Vol.   VIII,    p.   116, 
also  Ford's  edition  of   Washington's  Writings;  Vol.  14,  pp.  245-257. 


70  THE  McCarthys 

said:  "Gave  notice  of  the  time  fixed  for  the  funeral 
to  the  following  persons  by  Mrs.  Washington's  desire, 
viz. — Mr.  Mason  and  family,  Mr.  Peake  and  family,  Mr. 
Nickels  and  family,  Mr.  McCarty  and  family,  Miss  Mc- 
Carty,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McClanahan,  Lord  Fairfax  and 
family,  Mr.  Triplet  and  family,  Mr.  Anderson  and  fam- 
ily, Mr.  R.  West.  I  wrote  also  to  the  Revd.  Mr.  Davis 
to  read  the  service.""  The  "Mr.  McCarty"  here  re- 
ferred to  was  Colonel  Daniel,  who  married  Sarah,  daugh- 
ter of  George  Mason;  "Miss  McCarty"  was  his  sister, 
Mary,  and  "Mrs.  McClanahan"  was  his  sister,  Anne, 
before  referred  to ;  so  that,  at  least  three  of  the  McCarty 
family  were  named  among  those  invited  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  the  First  President  of  the  United  States! 

27  Letters   and   Recollections    of   Oeorge    Washington;   p.    135. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  MC  CARTYS  OF  VIRGINIA    (continued) 

William  Mason  McCarty,  Provisional  Governor  of  Florida — The 
sensational  duel  between  Colonel  John  Mason  McCarty  nd 
General  Armistead  T.  Mason — A  romantic  story — The  McCar- 
tys  as  sportsmen — Duel  between  Captain  Page  McCarty  and 
John  Mordecai — Many  separate  families  of  the  name  in  Vir- 
ginia in  colonial  days — Mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  General 
Assembly — Major  Dennis  McCarty  of  Prince  William  County, 
a  prominent  man — The  sad  fate  of  Patrick  McCarty — Colonel 
Edward  McCarty  of  Hampshire  County — The  remarkable  mili- 
tary records  of  Timothy  McCarty  and  his  descendants — 
Colonel  Daniel  McCarty,  a  patron  of  the  turf. 

Two  of  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty 's  sons,  William  Mason 
McCarty  and  John  Mason  McCarty,  were  noted  men  in 
Virginia.  William  M.,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Gen- 
eral Armistead  T.  Mason,  was  a  lawyer  and  from  1832 
to  1839  he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Senate  until 
his  appointment  as  Provisional  Governor  of  Florida, 
and  in  1841  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  Loudoun 
County,  Va.  He  and  his  brother,  John,  were  educated 
at  William  and  Mary  College.  Captain  John  Mason 
McCarty  is  perhaps  best  remembered  in  Virginia  for 
his  fatal  duel  with  General  Armistead  T.  Mason  at 
Bladensburg,  Md.,  on  February  6,  1819,  which  has  been 
a  subject  of  discussion  at  Virginia  firesides  for  a  hun- 
dred years,  and  it  is  said  that  for  a  long  time  after  the 
event  the  quarrel  between  Mason  and  McCarty  which 
culminated  in  the  duel  was  revived  occasionally  among 
their  descendants  or  adherents.  It  is  a  story  of  tragedy 
and  romance  and  still  further  tragedy,  which  seldom 

71 


72  THE  McCarthys 

has  been  surpassed  in  actual  life,  verifying  the  old  say- 
ing, that  "truth  is  stranger  than  fiction"! 

Mason  and  McCarty  were  cousins  and  prior  to  the 
events  that  estranged  them  were  fast  friends.  During 
the  War  of  1812  General  Mason  introduced  a  bill  in  the 
United  States  Senate  permitting  Quakers  who  were 
drafted  to  contribute  their  share  toward  the  support  of 
the  army  by  furnishing  substitutes  on  payment  of  $500 
each.  McCarty  disagreed  totally  with  this  proposition 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  convey  his  views  to  the  author 
of  the  bill,  but  General  Mason  insisted  on  pressing  the 
bill  for  action  and  the  controversy  was  continued  for 
some  time  between  the  two,  and  from  this  sprang  a  suc- 
cession of  bitter  quarrels  over  other  matters  which  ended 
in  a  challenge  from  McCarty  to  fight.  General  Mason 
did  not  accept,  being  a  Senator  of  the  United  States, 
but  after  his  term  had  expired,  while  riding  on  a  stage 
to  Fredericksburg  with  General  Andrew  Jackson,  the 
subject  of  the  challenge  came  up,  when  Jackson  told 
Mason  that  his  refusal  to  accept  was  an  injury  to  his 
standing  and  as  he  was  no  longer  in  office  he  should 
now  challenge  McCarty.  Various  stories  concerning 
this  sensational  duel  have  appeared  in  southern  maga- 
zines and  newspapers  from  time  to  time,  but  the  follow- 
ing account  ^  written  by  a  local  historian  at  Bladens- 
burg,  Md.,  in  the  main  is  more  in  accord  with  the  tradi- 
tions of  these  families  than  any  other  version. 

Bladensburg,  Md.,  July  27. — Bladensburg  has  been  the  scene 
of  many  noted  duels  in  times  past.  So  often,  in  fact,  has  her 
soil  been  drenched  with  the  blood  of  the  flower  of  our  man- 
hood, that  to  this  day  the  name  of  the  old  town  savors  of  and 
recalls  grewsome  memories.     But  perhaps  no  duel  ever  fought 

1  Published  in  the  Baltimore  Sun  of  .July  28,  1907.  Accounts  of  this 
famous  duel  may  also  be  found  in  Sabine's  Notes  of  Duellinf/,  Truman's 
Field   of  Honor,   and   in   Harper's   Magazine   for   January,    1858. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  73 

here  caused  more  universal  regret  or  widespread  interest  than 
that  fought  between  Mason  and  MeCarty  in  February,  1819. 

Nearly  one  hundred  years  have  passed  since  those  cousins 
demanded  satisfaction  of  each  other  under  the  requirements 
of  the  Code  of  Honor,  and  still  the  story  is  related  by  remi- 
niscent old  folk  and  impressed  upon  us  as  one  of  Virginia's 
tragedies.  Gen,  Armistead  T.  Mason,  United  States  Senator, 
and  Capt.  John  M.  McCarty,  member  of  the  House  of  Dele- 
gates of  Virginia,  were  the  combatants  in  the  duel.  Both  were 
sons  of  prominent  Virginia  families.  They  were  kinsmen, 
both  being  grandsons  of  the  first  George  Mason,  author  of 
Bill  of  Rights  and  proprietor  of  "Gunston  Hall,"  on  the 
Potomac,  in  Fairfax  county. 

In  the  political  and  social  issues  of  their  day  they  were  men 
of  note.  General  Mason  was  the  uncle  of  James  G.  Mason, 
Confederate  Minister  to  France,  who  was  taken  from  an  Eng- 
lish warship  the  first  year  of  the  Civil  War.  He  was  a  much 
older  man  than  McCarty,  who  claimed  descent  from  the  Kings 
of  Munster,  Ireland. 

The  quarrel  which  had  such  an  unhappy  ending  originated 
at  an  election  in  Leesburg,  Loudoun  county,  Virginia,  in  May, 
1818.  Captain  McCarty  had  just  returned  from  an  election- 
eering tour.  During  his  absence  scurrilous  reports  with  a 
tendency  to  blacken  his  reputation  had  been  freely  circulated. 
Damaging  assertions  appeared  in  the  newspaper  published  in 
his  town.  The  Genius  of  Liberty,  edited  by  James  H.  Dulany, 
and  under  the  immediate  patronage  of  General  Mason.  That 
the  latter  gentleman  was  not  altogether  guiltless  of  conspiracy 
in  these  published  defamations  was  firmly  believed  by  Mc- 
Carty and  his  adherents.  Certain  it  is  he  did  say  that  young 
McCarty  had  perjured  himself  concerning  his  age,  and  that 
being  a  minor  he  had  no  vote  and  consequently  was  ineligible 
to  office.  Captain  McCarty's  rich  Irish  blood  boiled  with 
a  righteous  indignation  and  an  unrighteous  anger  when  he 
learned  of  these  statements. 

"General  Mason  will  not  dare  say  such  a  thing  to  me,"  he 
declared,  and  going  directly  to  the  General's  office  he  demanded 
either  denial  or  a  confirmation  of  the  said  statements.  Gen- 
eral Mason  declared  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  deny  them, 
whereupon  Captain  McCarty  struck  him  in  the  face,  calling 
him  a  liar  and  a  coward,  and  upon  the  spot  challenged  the 


74  THE  McCarthys 

General  to  fight  him.  But  the  latter  would  not  accept  the 
challenge  unless  written  in  due  form  and  brought  to  him  by  the 
proper  parties. 

Captain  McCarty  then  caused  a  card  to  be  published  and 
freely  circulated  throughout  the  county.  This  old  sheet  lies 
before  the  writer  now.  It  is  timewom  and  yellowed  by  age, 
but  its  very  appearance  is  interesting  and  reminiscent,  its 
black  letters  standing  out  on  its  yellowed  pages  in  bold  relief. 
One  gazes  on  it  with  a  sort  of  fascinated  horror,  for  one  knows 
it  had  a  work  to  do  and  that  it  did  it  well.     Here  it  is: 

"to  the  public! 

"During  the  period  of  my  electioneering  excursion  through 
Loudoun  county,  and  since  the  termination  of  my  controversy 
with  Gen.  A.  T.  Mason,  The  Genius  of  Liberty,  a  paper  under 
his  immediate  patronage,  has  been  frequently  crowded  with 
the  bitterest  invectives  against  me;  but  they  appeared  in  such 
a  form  that  I  could  make  no  inquiries  concerning  them.  A 
few  days,  however,  after  my  election  to  the  House  of  Dele- 
gates a  piece  appeared  in  the  same  paper  signed  'Juriscola,' 
the  author  of  which,  from  its  general  character  of  falsehood 
and  scurrility,  I  demanded  of  the  editor,  and  shall  make  no 
other  apology  for  not  chastising  him  than  to  inform  the  people 
of  Loudoun  that  this  suborned  agent  was  William  H,  Handy ! ! ! 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Handy  was  given  up  as  the  author  of 
'Juriscola'  I  was  infonued  that  Mr.  Handy  had  some  days 
before  obtained  a  pair  of  dueling  pistols  from  George  M. 
Chichester,  Esq.  This  intelligence  was  succeeded  by  some 
communications  between  Mr.  Chichester  and  myself,  and  the 
negotiation  resulted  in  a  manner  highly  honorable  to  that 
gentleman;  but  while  the  negotiation  was  pending  between 
us  the  annexed  letter  was  addressed  to  Dr.  Tebbs. 

"Leesburg,  May  11,  1818." 

Copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  Thomas  F.  Tebbs,  by  Gen. 
A.  T.  Mason: 

"'Sir:  I  understand  you  have  been  the  bearer  of  a  note 
from  Mr.  John  McCarty  to  George  Mason  Chichester,  de- 
manding of  him  an  explanation  of  his  conduct  in  lending  my 
pistols  to  Mr.  Handy.  The  note,  as  might  be  expected  from 
the  character  of  its  author,  was  such  as  not  to  entitle  it  to 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  75 

the  respect  of  an  answer,  and  accordingly  it  has  not  received 
one.  I  will,  however,  inform  you  that  Mr.  Chichester  had  no 
agency  in  the  business  except  to  deliver  the  pistols  at  my 
written  request  to  Mr.  Mandley  Rust.  It  is  true  that  I  did 
not  know,  or  even  suspect,  that  they  were  for  Mr.  Handy; 
but  that  is  of  no  consequence,  for  if  I  had  known  all  the 
circumstances  I  would  have  lent  them  to  Mr.  Handy.  The 
principal  object  of  this  note  is  to  inform  you  that  I  am  re- 
sponsible for  the  loan  of  those  pistols.  I  am  apprised  that 
Mr.  John  MeCarty,  like  a  coward  and  a  scoundrel  as  he  is, 
has  come  from  Alexandria  on  a  bullying  expedition.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  contempt  and  derision  to  which  his  recent 
conduct  has  exposed  him,  he  seems  determined  to  sink  himself 
still  further,  if  possible,  into  the  depths  of  infamy.  The  prof- 
ligacy and  pusillanimity  of  his  character  are  so  fully  ex- 
emplified as  to  forbid  me  to  expect  anything  honorable  of  him. 
But  I  would  wish  him  to  know  by  the  perusal  of  this  letter 
that  I  do  not,  in  imitation  of  the  example  of  Mr.  Mercer,  wish 
any  of  my  friends  to  fight  my  battles  for  me,  even  if  any 
of  them  could  be  ''instigated  "  to  do  it.  And  I  repeat  that 
I  am  responsible  for  the  loan  of  my  pistols  of  which  he  pre- 
tends to  complain. 

"  *I  am,  sir,  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"Abmistead  T.  Mason.'" 

This  correspondence  brought  Mason  and  McCarthy  face 
to  face,  and  though  there  remained  a  long  interval,  during 
which  each  indulged  in  all  sorts  of  threats  and  billingsgate, 
a  duel  was  plainly  inevitable.  It  was  not  actually  fought, 
however,  until  February,  1819,  the  modus  operandi  being  a 
point  of  dispute  in  the  meanwhile,  McCarty  suggesting  that 
one  of  three  ways  be  used:  Clap  hands  and  jump  from  the 
dome  of  the  ca^^itol;  sit  on  kegs  of  gunpowder  over  ignited 
fuses,  causing  simultaneous  explosions;  hand  to  hand  fight 
with  dirks.  General  Mason  did  not  respond  to  any  of  these 
unusual  means,  it  being  finally  arranged  to  fight  with  single- 
barrel  shotguns  at  four  paces. 

Mason  fell  dead  without  a  struggle  and  MeCarty  was  se- 
riously wounded.  Such  a  result  was  a  great  surprise.  Gen- 
eral Mason  was  an  acknowledged  crack  shot,  while  McCarty 
was  an  inexperienced  youth. 


76  THE  McCarthys 

Mason  himself  was  so  confident  of  his  unerring  aim  he  re- 
marked while  taking  their  places  that  he  would  stand  with 
his  face  in  the  direction  he  should  run,  so  no  time  would  be 
lost  in  turning  around.  Two  bullet  holes  were  found  upon 
his  body  and  foul  play  was  suspected  at  first,  but  an  ex- 
amination revealed  that  the  bullet  from  McCarty's  gun  had 
struck  squarely  upon  the  lock  of  Mason's.  It  was  split  into 
halves,  each  half  entering  Mason's  body  and  inflicting  mortal 
wounds. 

Thus  the  curtain  fell  upon  the  last  act  of  that  bloody  and 
unhallowed  tragedy. 

Many  fireside  stories  have  been  told  about  this  duel,  one  to 
the  effect  that  Captain  McCarty  while  a  fugitive  from  justice 
was  filled  with  an  unconquerable  desire  to  look  upon  the  face 
of  his  betrothed,  and  under  cover  of  a  dark  night  sought  her 
home.  When  within  sight  of  the  house  he  found  that  some 
social  function  was  in  progress.  He  secreted  himself  in  the 
dense  shrubbery  near  by  and  watched  with  a  hungry  eye  the 
arrival  of  the  guests,  among  whom  were  many  of  his  young 
friends  and  comrades. 

Sounds  of  merriment  and  joyous  festivity  reached  his  hiding 
spot.  Sad  memories  were  his.  Not  so  long  ago  he  had  been 
a  prominent  figure  in  that  crowd,  his  presence  sought  and 
enjoyed,  for  his  rich  Irish  wit  and  genial,  fun-loving  disposi- 
tion made  him  ever  a  popular  favorite  and  welcome  com- 
panion ;  and  now  what  was  his  lot  ?  A  cast-off,  debarred  from 
the  associations  of  his  best-loved  friends,  and  even  forgotten 
by  the  fair  young  girl,  the  idol  of  his  dreams  of  love  and 
happiness. 

"And  must  I  leave  forever  this  spot  without  one  sight  of 
her  dear  face?"  he  thought.  "The  risk  is  great,  but  I  must 
see  her." 

When  the  merriment  was  at  its  greatest  he  stole  from  his 
concealment  and  took  his  position  close  to  an  unshuttered 
window  at  the  back  of  the  house,  a  spot  which  he  well  knew 
would  give  him  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  interior  of  the 
parlor,  and  there,  pressed  close  to  the  trunk  of  an  old  elm 
tree,  so  close  that  his  slight  figure  could  well  have  been  taken 
for  a  part  of  the  old  tree's  body,  he  saw  the  embodiment 
of  his  thoughts,  the  fair  features  and  graceful  form  of  his 
love,  as  she  stood  at  the  piano  turning  over  some  music. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  77 

Selecting  a  piece,  she  placed  it  on  the  piano  and  took  her 
seat  at  it.  Running  her  fingers  over  the  keys  in  a  soft  musical 
prelude,  she  presently  lifted  her  voice  in  song,  tremulous  at 
first,  but  gathering  strength  after  a  bar  or  two.  See  the  lonely 
watcher  as  he  listens!  Every  nerve  of  sensation  strained, 
every  fiber  of  his  being  alert.  Now  he  knows  that  he  is  not 
forgotten,  he  knows  that  the  sad  wistfulness  on  that  fair 
young  brow  is  through  anxious  thoughts  of  him,  the  hunted 
outcast,  for  is  she  not  at  this  moment  pouring  out  all  the 
sadness  and  grief  of  that  overburdened  heart,  in  the  words 
of  that  pathetic  old  love  song  of  Thomas  Moore's: 

Come  rest  in  this  bosom,  my  own  stricken  deer, 

Though  the  herd  have  fled  from  thee,  thy  home  is  still  here; 

Here  still  is  the  smile  that  no  cloud  can  o'ercast, 

And  a  heart  and  a  hand  all  thine  own  to  the  last. 

Oh,  what  was  love  made  for,  if  'tis  not  the  same 

Through  joy  and  through  torment,  through  glory  and  shame? 

I  know  not,  I  ask  not,  if  guilt's  in  that  heart, 

I  but  know  that  I  love  thee,  whatever  thou  art. 

Thou  hast  called  me  thy  "Angel"  in  moment  of  bliss, 
And  thy  Angel  I'll  be  mid  the  horrors  of  this; 
Through  th?  furnace  unshrinking,  thy  steps  to  pursue, 
And  shield  thee,  and  save  thee,  or  perish  there,  too. 

As  the  last  words  of  the  old  song  floated  out  to  him  Mc- 
Carty,  casting  all  fears  of  arrest  aside,  rushed  from  his  hiding 
place  into  the  room,  and  ere  the  astounded  crowd  could  move, 
had  the  form  of  his  betrothed  in  his  embrace,  and  with  an 
arm  still  encircling  her,  faced  them  as  a  hunted  deer  at  bay. 

"You  are  all  aware,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "that  the  law  is 
on  my  head.  I  am  subject  to  your  arrest.  Do  with  me  as 
you  will." 

So  great  was  the  sympathy  of  all  for  him  that  not  a  finger 
was  raised  against  him.  With  one  more  look  upon  the  loved 
face,  one  more  close  embrace,  and  a  passionate  kiss  upon  the 
pallid  brow,  he  placed  the  almost  fainting  form  upon  a  sofa 
and  went  once  more  out  into  the  night! 

In  the  course  of  time  he  married  this  young  lady  who  had 
remained  so  true  to  him  through  shadow  as  well  as  sunshine. 
Captain  McCarty  was  familiarly  known  as  "Jack"  McCarty 


78  THE  McCarthys 

by  his  friends  and  associates.  He  was  an  active  figure  in  all 
circles.  Full  of  humor,  warm-hearted  and  generous,  he  num- 
bered his  friends  by  the  score.  He  was  of  strong  personality, 
but  his  quick  temper  and  impetuous  outbursts  won  for  him 
the  sobriquet,  "The  Fire-eater." 

He  was  reported  a  particeps  in  a  duel  later  in  life,  fought 
in  the  South,  and  it  was  his  cousin,^  Page  McCarty,  who  killed 
Mr.  Mordecai  in  a  duel  at  Richmond.  To  Captain  McCarty, 
however,  is  due  the  amicable  and  honorable  adjustment  of 
the  bloodless  duel  of  Mr.  Wise,  of  Virginia,  and  Edward 
Stanley. 

McCarty  had  one  son,  to  whom  he  was  most  tenderly  at- 
tached. This  young  man  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  in  all  respects  possessed  an  exemplary  charac- 
ter. On  one  sad  day,  a  young  college  friend,  a  classmate, 
visited  the  young  McCarty  for  a  hunt.  The  friend  became 
very  thirsty  during  the  progress  of  the  sport  and  asked  Mc- 
Carty if  he  knew  of  any  nearby  spring  where  they  could  get 
a  drink  of  water.  McCarty  replied  that  a  little  further  on 
was  a  fine  spring  of  ice-cold  water,  at  the  same  time  pointing 
out  a  tree  in  an  adjoining  field,  a  large  oak,  under  which  the 
spring  gushed  forth  its  cool  waters. 

Arriving  at  the  fence  which  divided  the  fields,  the  young 
man  leaped  it  and  soon  quaffed  away  his  burning  thirst.  Be- 
coming aware  that  young  McCarty  had  not  followed,  but  re- 
mained sitting  on  the  fence,  he  inquired  why  he  did  not  come 
and  drink  also.  McCarty  told  him  he  did  not  dare  place  a 
foot  on  the  soil  upon  which  he  (the  friend)  now  stood,  for  it 
belonged  to  the  kinsman  whose  blood  the  hand  of  his  father 
had  spilled.  Thereupon  his  friend  passed  him  a  cup  of  water, 
but  in  the  act,  the  lock  of  young  MeCarty's  gun  caught  on 
a  fence-rail  and  an  explosion  resulted.  The  whole  load  en- 
tered under  MeCarty's  chin,  passing  out  at  the  top  of  his 
head  and  causing  instantaneous  death. 

Captain  McCarty,  the  father,  was  absent  from  his  home 
at  the  time  of  this  horrible  disaster,  on  a  business  trip  in  New 
York  city;  and  now  comes  the  strange  part  of  the  incident. 
Captain  McCarty  could  not  be  communicated  with,  having 
left  no  address  behind  him.     The  night  following  the  day  of 

2  Page    McCarty    was    a    nephew    of    John    Mason    McCarty. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  79 

the  accident  to  his  son  he  had  a  dream.  He  dreamed  his  son 
was  in  some  deep  trouble;  he  could  hear  his  voice  full  of 
poignant  distress,  calling  him  so  plainly  that  he  awoke  and 
started  from  his  couch.  He  didn't  like  the  dream  and  pon- 
dered over  it  long  ere  slumber  again  visited  him. 

Again  he  saw  in  a  second  dream  his  son  lying  dead  before 
him  in  the  exact  spot  he  had  met  his  death.  Again  the  father 
awoke,  and  yet  again  he  slept  and  dreamed  the  same  dream. 
Whereupon  he  arose  and  prepared  himself  with  all  dispatch 
for  his  return  home.  Being  the  day  of  the  stage-coach,  he 
did  not  reach  his  home  until  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day. 
When  within  sight  of  his  home  he  saw  a  funeral  cortege  wind- 
ing through  the  yard  gate. 

He  followed.  Needless  for  him  to  ask  whose  loved  form 
rested  in  that  black-draped  casket!  In  his  dreams  he  had 
seen  it  all,  and  when  told  how  and  where  the  boy  of  whom 
he  was  so  proud,  and  whom  he  so  devotedly  loved,  had  met  his 
sad  end  his  chin  sank  upon  his  breast  and  as  he  entered 
his  sorrow-stricken  home  he  muttered,  "Retribution!" 

One  of  the  members  of  the  family,  Mrs.  Sally  Mc- 
Carty  Pleasants  of  Menasha,  Wisconsin,  was  the  author 
of  a  book  entitled  Old  Virginia  Days  and  Ways.^  It 
is  a  delightful  series  of  reminiscences  of  Virginia  life 
before  the  Civil  War  and  in  it  Mrs.  Pleasants  relates 
several  interesting  anecdotes  of  the  McCartys.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Mason  McCarty  and  his 
wife,  Ann  Lucinda  Lee,  and  was  born  in  Loudoun  County 
in  1836,  and  her  childhood  days  were  spent  in  Lees- 
burg,  a  historic  town  at  the  foot  of  the  Blue  Ridge  moun- 
tains. She  inherited  from  her  father  about  1200  acres 
of  land  in  Loudoun  County  which  she  says  "is  all  that 
is  left  to  the  family  of  a  tract  granted  to  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty, which  tract  embraced  a  strip  of  country  extending 
from  Broad  Run  to  Sugar  Land  Run  and  covered  parts 
of  several  Counties."     In  referring  to  the  fondness  of 

3  Menasha,  Wis.,  1916. 


80  THE  McCarthys 

the  family  for  following  the  chase,  she  relates  this  amus- 
ing incident : 

"My  grandfather,  Daniel  McCarty,  whose  mother  was  a 
Miss  Ball,  married  a  daughter  of  George  Mason  of  Gunston 
Hall.  He  had  ten  sons  and  one  daughter.  When  they  all 
grew  up,  Cedar  Grove  became  the  scene  of  continued  frolick- 
ing. Fox-hunting  was  the  favorite  pastime,  especially  of 
Daniel,  the  eldest  son.  So  do  our  predilections  decide  our 
fate.  One  day  when  the  chase  had  been  unusually  long  and 
hard,  he  became  separated  from  his  companions  and  followed 
the  quarry,  until  after  many  doublings  and  windings,  it  ran 
unexpectedly  into  the  wooded  lawn  of  a  gentleman's  house. 
Daniel  rushed  after  in  hot  pursuit  to  find  himself  confronted 
by  a  beautiful  young  woman,  in  whose  arms  the  fox  had  taken 
sanctuary.  With  flashing  eyes,  she  dared  him  to  touch  it 
and  he  instantly  divined  that  the  little  animal  must  be  a  pet 
in  the  family.  Confused  and  contrite,  he  threw  himself  from 
his  horse  and  hat  in  hand  stammered  his  apologies.  Alas! 
the  fox  got  the  better  of  the  hunter  that  October  day,  for 
Daniel  was  so  hard  hit  that  he  never  rested  until  he  won  the 
spirited  damsel  for  his  wife.  The  temper,  however,  which 
had  seemed  so  charming  in  the  maid,  proved  less  attractive 
in  the  spouse  and  many  tales  are  told  of  her  violent  and  un- 
reasonable temper.  Daniel  McCarty  died  before  he  was  forty 
and  his  friends  were  accustomed  to  say,  in  speaking  of  him, 
that  in  chasing  a  fox  he  caught  a  vixen!" 

The  Page  McCarty  before  referred  to  had  a  pictur- 
esque career  as  lavt^yer,  journalist  and  duelist,  and  the 
duel  which  he  fought  with  John  Mordecai  near  Rich- 
mond 42  years  ago,  in  its  romantic  and  tragic  circum- 
stances, created  as  much  sensation  at  the  time  as  that  in 
which  his  uncle,  John  Mason  McCarty,  took  part  about 
sixty  years  before.  Page  IMcCarty  was  best  known  as  a 
writer  of  short  stories,  and  as  editor  of  The  Campaign 
during  the  "Readjuster  Days"  in  Virginia,  he  achieved 
considerable  local  fame.  His  utterances,  however, 
brought  down  on  him  the  wrath  of  certain  political  ele- 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  81 

ments  in  the  State,  and  being  a  man  of  fiery  temper  he 
became  embroiled  in  more  than  one  quarrel.  In  an 
account  of  his  career  we  are  told :  ' '  The  reigning  belle 
and  beauty  of  the  day  in  Richmond  was  Mary  Triplett, 
one  of  the  most  charming  and  queenly  women  ever  pro- 
duced in  Virginia.  Hundreds  worshipped  at  her  shrine 
and  she  was  known  as  Hhe  Belle  of  the  South.'  Ming- 
ling in  the  best  society,  Mordecai  and  McCarty  constantly 
met  Miss  Triplett  and  soon  were  rivals  for  her  favor, 
outstripping,  it  is  said,  all  the  rest.  The  two,  once 
feuch  fast  friends,  became  estranged,  although  not  exactly 
hostile  to  each  other.  So  matters  went  until  an  event 
occurred,  joyous  in  its  nature,  but  the  beginning  of  a 
tragedy  which  ended  one  life  and  wrecked  another.  A 
grand  ball  was  given  at  which  the  favored  portion  of  the 
social  world  of  Richmond  was  present.  Miss  Triplett 
was,  as  always,  the  center  of  attraction  and  among 
her  devoted  cavaliers  were  Mordecai  and  McCarty.  The 
former  was  the  favored  suitor  that  night  and  the  pa- 
tience of  the  high-spirited  McCarty  was  severely  tried. 
Finally,  the  beauty  slighted  him  in  such  a  marked  man- 
ner that  he  left  the  ball  thoroughly  enraged." 

This  incident  served  to  widen  the  breach  between 
Mordecai  and  McCarty  and  when  they  met  at  the  Rich- 
mond Club  a  few  days  later  a  quarrel  arose,  which  ended 
in  a  challenge  from  McCarty  to  fight.  The  spot  selected 
for  the  duel  was  near  Oakwood  Cemetery,  where  sleep 
the  remains  of  twenty  thousand  Confederate  soldiers. 
"On  a  beautiful  afternoon  in  May,  1878,  two  carriages 
left  the  City  by  different  routes,  bound  for  the  place 
chosen.  The  sun  was  just  sinking  below  the  horizon 
as  the  men  were  placed  in  position,  each  one  cool  and 
calm.  At  the  word  both  fired,  and  when  the  smoke 
lifted  each  lay  on  the  ground  apparently  lifeless.     A 


82  THE  McCarthys 

cursory  examination  by  the  surgeons  revealed  wounds 
of  a  terrible  nature.  McCarty's  right  thigh  had  been 
shattered,  while  the  bullet  from  his  pistol  had  pierced 
Mordecai's  abdomen.  Two  days  later,  Mordecai  died, 
while  MeCarty  was  confined  to  his  bed  desperately  ill. 
The  seconds  were  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail,  where 
they  remained  for  six  weeks.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
McCarty,  having  partially  recovered,  was  placed  on  trial, 
and  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  $500,  as 
well  as  to  serve  a  sentence  of  six  months  in  jail.  He 
paid  the  fine,  but  was  pardoned  a  few  days  later  by 
Governor  Kemper,  on  the  statement  of  physicians  that 
he  would  die  if  confined.  Since  that  day  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  McCarty  was  a  miserable  man.  He  avoided 
women  and  was  inclined  to  shun  all  mankind.  He  re- 
entered the  newspaper  field,  doing  work  on  the  Washing- 
ton Post  and  Alexandria  and  Richmond  papers.  Mary 
Triplett,  whose  fatal  beauty  caused  the  tragedy,  mar- 
ried Captain  Philip  Hoxall  a  short  time  after  the  duel. 
She  died  suddenly  of  heart  disease  a  few  years  ago. 
To  the  last  she  was  a  leader  of  society." 

Besides  Major  Dennis  McCarty  and  his  family  who 
lived  in  Prince  William  and  Stafford  Counties,  the  land 
records  show  that  others  of  the  name  settled  in  that 
part  of  the  Colony  about  the  year  1730.  By  deed  dated 
February  19,  1729,  Lord  Fairfax  conveyed  to  ''Alex- 
ander MacCarthy,  Gent,  of  the  County  of  Prince  George 
in  the  Province  of  Maryland,"  200  acres  of  land  in 
Clifton's  Neck,  Stafford  County,*  and  it  is  evident  that 
MacCarthy  removed  from  Maryland  and  settled  in  this 
vicinity,  since  his  name  is  found  on  record  there  two 
years  later.  On  December  11,  1730,  he  received  a  grant 
of  ' '  290  acres  on  the  northeast  side  of  Tuskarora  Branch 

4  Patent  Book  C,  p.  29,   at  Virginia   Liand  office. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  83 

adjoining  the  lands  of  George  Keaton,"  ^  and  three  days 
later  he  patented  ''340  acres  on  Little  Hunting  Creek 
adjoining  the  lands  of  George  Brenton.  "^  In  the  records 
of  the  Circuit  Court  at  Manassas,  Va.,  under  date  of 
November  20,  1733,  there  is  an  entry  of  a  deed  of  con- 
veyance from  Benjamin  Grayson  to  Alexander  Mac- 
Carthy  of  a  tract  of  land  lying  on  Goose  Creek  in  Prince 
William  County,  and  on  August  18, 1749,  Cornelius  Mac- 
Carthy  purchased  lands  lying  on  Goose  Creek  from  Ber- 
trand  Ewell.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  whether  these 
Prince  William  and  Stafford  MacCarthys  were  related 
to  the  other  McCartys,  descended  from  Dennis  and 
Daniel,  although  there  is  a  tradition  among  Cornelius' 
descendants  in  Kentucky  that  "the  connection  between 
their  line  and  the  Dennis-Daniel-Thaddeus  McCarty 
line  goes  back  to  a  very  early  beginning, ' '  "^ 

Cornelius  MacCarthy  had  sons,  Cornelius  and  Thomas, 
and  daughters,  Nancy  and  Betsey,  all  of  whom  spelled 
their  name  McCarty.  In  the  historical  publications  of 
William  and  Mjary  College  there  are  long  accounts  of 
these  McCartys.  Cornelius,  Junior,  who  was  born  in 
Prince  William  County  in  1766,.  married  Susannah 
Hardwick  on  December  12,  1787,  and  in  1798  they  re- 
moved to  Kentucky  and  twelve  years  later  they  are 
found  on  Otter  Creek  in  Hardin  (now  Meade)  County, 
Kentucky.  Thomas  McCarty  and  his  wife  also  migrated 
with  Cornelius  and  settled  in  the  same  locality.  Cor- 
nelius McCarty  was  the  father  of  eleven,  and  Thomas 
McCarty  of  twelve  children  and  according  to  a  long  list 
of  their  descendants,^  they  are  now  scattered  all  over 
the  Western  States  as  far  as  the  Pacific  Coast.     In  1780, 

6  Patent  Book  C,  p.  84. 
0  Ihid.,  p.  85. 

7  William   and   Mary   College   Quarterly,  Vol.    22. 

8  In  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly,  Vol.  22. 


84  THE  McCarthys 

Nancy  McCarty  married  James  Crook  of  an  old  Virginia 
family  and  had  three  children,  all  brought  up  in  the 
family  of  Thomas  McCarty  on  his  Kentucky  plantation, 
after  being  orphaned  through  the  death  of  their  parents. 
Betsey  McCarty  married  Jacob  McConathy  of  Delaware, 
whose  commission  as  Captain  of  Virginia  militia  in  the 
Revolution  bears  the  signature  of  Patrick  Henry.  The 
McConathys  also  removed  to  Kentucky  in  1797  and  the 
graves  of  several  of  the  name  and  of  the  McCartys, 
and  of  Daniel  McCarty  Paine,  may  be  seen  in  the  old 
McConathy  burying-ground  near  Lexington.  Captain 
McConathy  is  said  to  have  been  the  owner  of  "the  first 
steam  mill  operated  west  of  the  Alleghanies  near  Lexing- 
ton. ' ' 

It  is  evident  that  Cornelius  retained  portion  of  his 
landed  property  in  Virginia,  since  one  of  his  descend- 
ants ®  is  in  possession  of  an  unrecorded  deed  dated  De- 
cember 23,  1816,  between  Cornelius  McCarty  and 
Susannah,  his  wife,  of  the  one  part  and  James  Kincheloe 
of  Fauquier  County,  Va.,  of  the  other  part,  covering 
the  sale  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Fauquier 
County.  Cornelius  died  probably  in  1830,  since  his  will 
is  dated  September  20  of  that  year  and  was  probated 
on  February  28,  1831.  His  brother,  Thomas,  died  in 
Kentucky  in  1828.  Their  children  married  into  families 
named  Beaver,  Bentlej^  Dawson,  Workington,  Lusk, 
Murdock,  Moreland,  Jewell,  Kelley,  Chambers,  Lee, 
Mahan,  Steele,  Wilson,  Ihrie  and  Greer,  and  their  de- 
scendants are  now  all  over  the  Western  and  Southern 
States.  A  grandson  of  Cornelius,  William  M.  McCarty 
of  Salt  Lake,  was  a  Judge  of  the  courts  in  Utah. 

The  difficulty  of  tracing  people  of  the  name  who  ap- 
pear in  Virginia  records  and  establishing  their  relation- 

9  Thomas   McCarty    Murdock    of    Davidson,    Indiana. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  85 

ships,  is  well  illustrated  by  entries  in  the  parish  books 
of  Overwharton  Parish  in  Stafford  County.  According 
to  this  record,  *'John,  son  of  William  and  Agnes  Mc- 
Carty,"  and  "John,  son  of  William  MeCarty,"  were 
born  in  that  parish  on  March  27th,  and  April  1st,  1741 
respectively,  and  William  McCarty  died  there  on  July 
15,  1743.  Among  the  marriages  recorded  in  the  parish 
register  were :  Agnes  McCartee  to  James  Hughes  on  May 
6,  1744;  Elizabeth  McCarthy  to  Simson  Bailey  on  De- 
cember 24,  1747 ;  Eleanor  McCarty  to  John  Lemmon  on 
April  10,  1748;  Frances  McCarty  to  John  Diskin  on 
June  19,  1755,  and  Margaret  McCarty  to  Stephen  Hans- 
ford on  October  14,  1755.  Ignatius  McCarthy  appears 
in  the  burial  records  of  the  church  on  February  18, 
1755.  Among  other  entries  are  found :  ' '  Peter  Murphy 
Carty,  son  of  Honour  Carty,  died  December  1,  1748"; 
"Honour  Cartee  was  delivered  of  a  male  child  which 
died  soon  after,  November  20,  1749,"  and  "Thomas 
Cartee  died  at  Stephen  Pilcher's  June  18,  1751." 
Honour  Carty  or  Cartee  was  the  wife  of  Thomas  and 
the  daughter  of  Peter  Murphy,  whose  name  appears 
several  times  in  the  vital  records  of  the  parish.  While 
we  know  that  Daniel,  the  Speaker,  owned  lands  in  Staf- 
ford and  that  his  son,  Dennis,  was  a  resident  of  the 
County  before  it  was  divided  by  the  formation  of  Prince 
William,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  to  indicate  if  these 
various  McCartys  were  of  the  same  family,  and  inquiries 
among  living  descendants  of  Daniel  bring  forth  no  in- 
formation. 

There  is  no  scarcity  of  Irish  names  in  the  records  of 
Overwharton  Parish,  and  among  the  surnames  in  the 
birth  and  marriage  records  between  1735  and  1755  are 
found  Barry,  Burke,  Carberry,  Carney,  Cassidy,  Con- 
nolly, Conwell,  Dalton,  Dillon,  Dowling,  Driscoll,  Duffy, 


86  THE  McCarthys 

Fitzpatrick,  Fling,  Foley,  Gallahan,  Gill,  Gorman,  Hef- 
fernan,  Kelly,  Kenny,  Maccaboy,  McDonald,  McGuirk, 
MacMahon,  ]\I]aeMurray,  Murphy,  Nowland,  O'Bannion, 
O'Neal,  O'Cane,  0 'Daniel  and  Sullivan.  Several  of 
these  people  are  also  recorded  at  the  Land  office  in 
Richmond  as  patentees  of  lands  in  Stafford  County,  as 
well  as  people  named  Connyers,  Dongan,  Dermott,  Ho- 
gan,  Keeffe,  Lynch,  McCormick,  McGuire,  McLoughlin, 
Prendergast,  Regan  and  Ryley  between  1710  and  1749.^*' 
One  Edmond  MacCarthy  came  at  a  very  early  date  to 
Isle  of  Wight  and  Brunswick  Counties,  Va.  At  the 
Land  Office  I  found  a  patent  recorded  ^^  as  of  Septem- 
ber 28,  1728,  under  which  "William  Gooch,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Colony  of 
Virginia,"  granted  to  "Edmond  Macarthy"  a  tract  of 
"960  acres  of  land  on  both  sides  of  the  north  fork  of 
Jeneto  Creek  in  the  County  of  Brunswick,"  and  in  this 
instrument  the  patentee  is  described  as  "  of  Isle  of  Wight 
County."  Twelve  years  later  he  received  a  grant  of 
940  acres  in  Isle  of  Wight  County,  and  since  he  is  re- 
ferred to  in  this  patent  as  "of  Brunswick  County"  it  is 
probable  that  he  took  up  and  resided  on  the  first-men- 
tioned grant.  These  are  the  only  references  to  Edmond 
MacCarthy  that  appear  in  the  land  books  and  all  efforts 
to  obtain  further  information  about  him  have  been  un- 
availing. 

About  1730  a  number  of  Irish  settlers  located  in 
Orange  County,  Va.,  and  in  the  tax  lists  of  that  County 
of  the  years  1734—1739  are  found  sopie  of  the  most 
distinctive  Celtic  names.  James  Carthey  is  recorded  as 
the  patentee  of  a  tract  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in 

10  The   land  patents   to  these  people   may  be   seen  in   Books   A,    B.    0, 
3,  4  and  5,  at  the  State  Land  OflSce. 

11  Book   14.   p.   29. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


S7 


Orange  County  on  October  23,  1739/2  but  this  is  the 
only  mention  of  his  name  I  have  found.  One  of  the 
early  settlers  in  the  same  vicinity  between  1748  and 
1750  was  Timothy  McCarty.^^  Cartmell  mentions  him 
in  his  Shenandoah  Valley  Pioneers  and  their  Descend- 
ants among  those  included  in  "Washington's  ''Field 
Notes"  relating  to  surveys  of  lands  in  old  Frederick 
County,  and  Washington's  *' Journal  of  My  Journey  over 
the  Mountains,"  ^*  written  while  surveying  for  Lord 
Fairfax  in  the  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  shows  that 
he  surveyed  a  plot  for  Timothy  McCarty  on  August 
26,  1750/^ 

In  a  "Poll  List  of  Frederick  County,  containing  the 
names  of  those  who  voted  for  George  Washington  when 
a  candidate  for  the  House  of  Burgesses,  taken  July  24, 
1758, ' '  the  name  of  Darby  McCarty  is  listed.^^  He  also 
appears  in  the  land  records.  By  deed  dated  December 
20,  1754,  Lord  Fairfax  conveyed  "400  acres  of  land 
on  a  branch  of  the  North  River  of  Shenandoah  called 
Passage  Creek,"  in  Frederick  County,  to  "Darby 
Macarthy"  ^^  and  there  is  another  grant  on  record  dated 

12  Council  Journals  of  Virginia. 

13  West   Virginia  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.   I. 

14  P.  120;   Albany,  N.  Y.,   1892. 

15  Others  for  whom  Washington  made  land  surveys  about  the  same 
time  in  Frederick  County  were  Darby  McKeever,  Barney  McHandry,  Patrick 
Mathews,  Dr.  James  McCormick,  Hugh  Rankin,  Thomas  McClanahan, 
Thomas  and  Francis  Carney,  Edward  Hogan,  Francis  and  William  McBride, 
Daniel   McKelduff,    Patrick    Rice   and   John   Madden. 

16  Among  the  electors  of  Frederick  County,  whose  names  appear  in 
this  list  were 


Tobias    Burke 
James    Burne 
James   Barrett 
William    Barrett 
Thomas    Carney 
William    Cockran 
John    McCormick 
Pat  McDaniel 
Joseph  McDonnell 


Robert  Cunningham 
Matthew   Coleman 
William    Carrel 
William    Coil 
Patrick    Duncan 
Richard   Foley 
John    Madden 
Laughlin    Madden 
William  McMahon 


John  Grinnan 
James  Grinnan 
Murtie  Hanley 
William  McGee 
Darby  McCarty 
Robert  Marney 
Darby  Murphy 


Richard  McMahon 
James  McGill 
Robert  McCoy 
James  McCormick 
Joseph  McCormick 
William    Reynolds 
Patrick    Rice 


17  Land  Records,   Book  H,   p.  590. 


88  THE  McCarthys 

December  17,  1771,  by  whieb  Lord  Fairfax  conveyed 
to  "Darby  McCarty"  a  tract  of  253  acres  in  the  same 
vicinity,  and  the  deed  recited  that  the  grant  was  made 
"as  by  survey  thereof  dated  June  the  First,  1757,  made 
for  the  said  Darby  McCarty  by  George  Hume  and  for- 
feited by  Virtue  of  an  Advertisement  issued  from  my 
ofQce  and  recorded  there  in  Book  N,  but  on  application 
of  said  Darby  McCarty  I  have  allowed  a  Deed  to  issue 
to  him  for  said  Land."^^ 

Daniel  and  James  McCarty  appear  in  lists  of  Virginia 
colonial  militia  of  the  years  1758  to  1762  and  James 
McCarty  and  John  "McCartrey"  fought  on  the  Virginia 
frontier  in  Lord  Dunmore's  war  in  1774.^^^  One  Michael 
McCarty  was  also  in  Virginia  about  this  time  and  his 
name  occurs  several  times  in  the  records  of  the  General 
Assembly.  Twelve  soldiers,  who  said  they  had  been 
"some  time  employed  as  Guardmen  over  the  Magazine 
in  the  City  of  Williamsburg,"  having  been  "discharged  ' 
from  that  duty ' '  and  being  about ' '  to  enlist  in  the  Militia 
and  find  proper  Arms,"  they  petitioned  the  legislature 
to  be  permitted  "to  keep  the  Arms  they  made  use  of 
when  they  guarded  the  Magazine,"  being  "very  poor 
men  and  not  able  to  spare  much  for  the  maintenance 
of  their  respective  Families  as  well  as  purchase  suitable 
Arms  for  mustering."  Michael  McCarty 's  name  ap- 
pears at  the  head  of  this  petition,  which  was  read  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses  on  December  23,  1762,  but  was 
rejected.  On  November  6,  1766,  Mlichael  McCarty  again 
turns  up  as  an  applicant  for  appointment  as  "Door 
Keeper  to  this  House,"  but  Michael  received  only  three 
votes  in  the  committee  and  Robert  Hyland  was  appointed 
to  the  place.     On  February  8,  1772,  Michael  McCarty 

18  Land  Records,  Book  P,  p.  91. 

19  Documentary    History   of  Lord   Dunmore's    War,   ed.   by    Reuben    G. 
Thwaites;   Madison,  Wis.,    1905. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  89 

was  again  one  of  the  unsuccessful  applicants  for  the 
place.-''  William  Cartie  of  Albemarle  County  fought  in 
two  wars,  as  also  did  Daniel  McCarty.  The  latter 's 
record  reads  thus:  "Daniel  McCarty,  deceased  soldier 
in  Captain  Giles  Raines'  Company,  2nd.  Virginia  Regi- 
ment ;  served  May  6,  1774,  to  March  2,  1780,  and  received 
a  land  warrant  which  reverted  to  his  sister,  Sarah,  wife 
of  Captain  Giles  Raines, "  ^^  Florence  McCarty  was  also 
a  resident  of  Albemarle  County  and  in  1776  he  signed 
a  "Petition  of  Albemarle  and  Amherst  Dissenters"  to 
the  House  of  Delegates,  praying  to  be  relieved  of  certain 
burdensome  taxes. 

The  Acts  of  the  Virginia  General  Assembly,  in  Hen- 
ing's  Statutes  at  Large,^^  contain  various  references  to 
the  McCartys,  the  earliest  being  official  documents  of 
the  year  1714  bearing  the  joint  signatures  of  Alexander 
Spotswood,  Governor,  and  Daniel  McCarty,  Speaker  of 
the  House. ^^  The  McCartys  and  Washingtons  were  en- 
gaged in  the  cultivation  and  exportation  of  tobacco,^* 
and  in  many  parts  of  Virginia  this  was  the  staple  prod- 
uct of  the  soil  and  from  the  earliest  times  tobacco  was 
the  currency  of  the  Colony.  So  extensive  was  its  pro- 
duction that  many  Acts  of  the  Legislature  were  passed 
regulating  the  culture  and  trade  in  tobacco,  and  one 
office  of  the  vestries  was  to  appoint  "reputable  free- 
holders ' '  to  supervise  the  crops  and  their  shipment,  and 

20  Journals   of  the   House   of  Burgesses. 

21  Records   of   Land  Bounty   Certificates,   No.   2. 

22  The  full  title  is  The  Statutes  at  Large,  being  a  Collection  of  ail  the 
Laws  of  Virginia  from  the  First  Session  of  the  Legislature  in  the  year 
1619,  by  William  Waller  Hening;  published  at  Richmond  in  sixteen 
volumes. 

23  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV,   pp.   58,   75  and   76. 

24  In  The  Writings  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (Vol.  V,  pp.  406-407;  Wash- 
ington 1904)  may  be  read  correspondence  in  the  year  1786  between  him 
and  William  McCarty,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  tobacco  growers  of  Virginia, 
in  relation  to  the  prices  prevailing  in  Europe  for  American  tobacco. 
Jefferson  was  then  in  Paris. 


90  THE  McCarthys 

as  early  as  1731  we  find  Dennis  MeCarty  appointed  to 
this  then  important  post.  At  various  times  also  the 
Assembly  ordered  the  erection  of  warehouses  on  the 
Potomac  and  Rappahannock  Rivers,  where  the  tobacco 
was  brought  in  for  inspection  and  prepared  for  ship- 
ment. One  of  these  warehouses  was  erected  on  Dennis 
McCarty's  land  on  Pohick  Run,  another  on  Daniel  Me- 
Carty's  property  at  Occoquan  Ferry  and  another  on 
the  Washington  property  at  the  mouth  of  Great  Hunt- 
ing Creek.  These  places  were  made  ports  of  entry  and 
soon  became  busy  marts  of  trade,  sending  out  for  many 
years  ships  laden  with  cargoes  of  tobacco  and  other 
products  for  foreign  ports. 

"An  Act  for  Amending  the  Staple  of  Tobacco  and 
for  preventing  Frauds  in  his  Majesty's  Customs,"  passed 
at  a  session  in  May,  1732,  directed  that  a  number  of 
public  warehouses  be  erected  at  various  points,  one  of 
which  was  "for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  Prince 
William  County  at  Pohick,  upon  Mr.  Dennis  McCarty's 
land. "^^  By  "An  Act  for  erecting  a  town  at  Bray's 
Church  on  the  north  side  of  the  Rappahannock  River  in 
King  George  County, ' '  passed  in  May,  1742,  the  Legisla- 
ture appointed  Daniel  IVIbCarty  one  of  seven  directors 
and  trustees  who  were  directed  to  carry  out  the  enter- 
prise.-" At  a  session  held  in  November,  1753,  an  Act 
was  passed  ' '  for  erecting  a  town  on  the  Occoquan  River 
in  the  County  of  Fairfax  on  the  land  of  Peter  Wagoner," 
which  "would  be  very  convenient  for  trade  and  naviga- 
tion and  greatly  to  the  ease  and  advantage  of  the  frontier 
inhabitants,"  and  under  this  Act  the  land  taken  was 
"vested  in  Peter  Wagoner,  Daniel  McCarty,  John  Barry, 
William  Elzy  and  Edward  Washington,   Gentlemen," 

25  Hening's   Statutes  at   Large,  Vol.   IV,   p.   331,    and  Vol.  V,    p.   233. 

26  Ibid..  Vol.   V    p.    194. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  91 

and  these  several  gentlemen  were  "constituted  and  ap- 
pointed directors  and  trustees  for  designing,  building, 
carrying  on  and  maintaining  the  said  town  upon  the 
land  aforesaid."  ^'' 

By  "An  Act  for  opening  and  clearing  the  navigation 
of  the  Rappahannock  River,"  dated  December  11,  1795, 
Henry  Lee  and  Daniel  McCarty  were  appointed  "Man- 
agers" of  the  undertaking,^*  and  at  the  same  session  of 
the  legislature  William  McCleary,  Nicholas  Casey, 
Michael  Kerns  and  Edward  McCarty  were  appointed, 
a  board  of  four  commissioners  who  were  "authorized 
and  empowered  to  contract  and  agree  with  some  fit  per- 
sons for  repairing  the  waggon  road  from  the  mouth  of 
Savage  River  to  Morgantown  on  the  Mbnongalia  River 
upon  the  best  terms  that  can  be  obtained."  ^'^  It  is  an 
interesting  circumstance  that  all  four  Commissioners 
bore  Irish  names. 

Daniel  McCarthy  was  appointed  on  December  31,  1798, 
to  lay  out  the  town  of  South  Haven  in  Fairfax  County,^** 
and  Edward  McCarty  of  Hampshire  County  was  selected 
on  December  1,  1800,  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  under 
"An  Act  to  incorporate  a  Company  for  establishing 
a  turnpike  road  from  the  mouth  of  Savage  River,  on 
St.  George's  Creek  on  Potowmac  to  the  nearest  western 
navigation. ' '  ^^  Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  was  a  member 
of  "The  Potomac  Company,"  an  organization  first  pro- 
jected in  1762  for  the  development  of  western  lands. 
In  Virginia  records  it  is  referred  to  frequently,  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  acts  of  the  legislature  relating 
to  the  clearing  and  improvement  of  the  Potomac  River 
to  make  it  fit  for  navigation,  and  a  list  of  Virginia  gentle- 
men who,  in  November,  1774,  were  appointed  trustees 

27  Hening's  Statutes,  Vol.  VI,   p.  397.      3"  Ibid.,  Vol.   XV,   p.    177. 
2S  Ibid.,  Vol.   XIV,   p.   407.  Zilbid.,  Vol.   XV,   p.   249. 

23  Ibid.,  Vol.   XIV,  p.   389. 


92  THE  McCarthys 

of  the  company  is  headed  by  such  names  as  George  Wash- 
ington, George  and  Thomson  Mason,  Bryan  Fairfax, 
John  Carlyle  and  Daniel  McCarty.^^  The  provisions  of 
"an  Act  concerning  the  Patowmac  Company,"  passed 
January  27,  1803,  in  relation  to  the  "deepening  of  the 
locks  at  the  great  falls  of  the  Potomac,"  said:  "Tobias 
Lear,  Stevens  T.  Mason,  Lawrence  A.  Washington,  Hugh 
Holmes,  Nicholas  Fitzhugh  Osborne  and  Edward  Mc- 
Carty  are  hereby  appointed  Commissioners  to  explore 
and  view  the  said  river  .  .  .  and  shall  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  the  manner  in  which  said  work  is 
done.  "3^ 

The  Edward  McCarty  here  referred  to  was  a  son  of 
Patrick  jMcCarty,  who  with  his  two  brothers  emigrated 
from  Ireland  about  the  year  1740,  Patrick  locating  in 
Hampshire  County  and  the  others  are  supposed  to  have 
settled  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia.^*  The  place  where 
he  located  was  on  Patterson's  Creek,  a  branch  of  the 
Potomac,  some  distance  south  of  the  present  City  of 
Cumberland,  Md.,  where  the  States  of  West  Virginia, 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  meet.  It  was  a  sparsely 
settled  frontier  region  and  from  the  beginning  it  was 
known  as  "Paddytown,"  but  is  now  called  Keyser. 
Soon  a  sufficient  community  had  gathered  together  to 
from  quite  a  settlement,  which  came  to  be  known  as 
' '  The  Irish  Settlement, ' '  and  for  many  years  the  people 
lived  in  comparative  peace.  But,  after  the  defeat  of 
Braddoek  in  1755,  and  the  Indians,  flushed  with  victory, 
went  on  the  warpath,  this  region  was  visited  frequently 
by  bands  of  savages,  which  made  it  necessary  for  the 

32  Virginia  Gazette,  November  10,  1774. 

33  Henins's  Statutes,  Vol.  XV,  p.  465. 

34  Patrick's  living  descendants  are  unable  to  furnish  the  names  of  the 
two  brothers,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  they  were  the  Darby  McCarty  of 
Orange  County  and  Timothy  McCarty  of  Pocahontas  County,  mentioned 
elsewhere  in  this  book. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  93 

settlers  to  erect  blockhouses  and  stockades,  to  where 
they  fled  for  safety  when  warned  of  an  approaching 
attack. 

The  sad  fate  of  Patrick  McCarty  illustrates  the  hazards 
of  frontier  life.  In  the  year  1762,  while  McCarty  and 
his  neighbors  were  harvesting  their  crops,  the  place  was 
attacked  by  a  band  of  Indians,  and  all  but  Windle  Miller 
and  Patrick  McCarty  managed  to  reach  the  blockhouse  in 
safety.  Miller  was  shot  dead,  but,  on  account  of  the 
breaking  of  a  rail  while  in  the  act  of  climbing  a  fence, 
McCarty  was  overtaken  and  captured  and  was  burned  by 
the  savages  at  the  stake.  Many  years  afterwards,  on 
the  spot  where  this  awful  tragedy  took  place,  a  stone 
was  erected,  which  still  stands  and  bears  the  following 
inscription : 

"In  memory  of  two  early  settlers  on  this  creek 

WINDLE    MILLER 

shot  dead  by  Indians  on  this  spot  and  buried  here  in  the  year 
1761,  leaving  a  Widow   Elizabeth  5  sons  and  4  daughters. 

PATRICK   MC  CARTY 

Taken  prisoner  at  the  same  time  and  afterwards  burned  at 
the  stake  by  the  savages  leaving  a  widow  and  one  son  Colonel 
Edward  McCarty  and  4  daughters.  This  son  and  Miller's 
daughter  Elizabeth  were  married  and  to  these  14  children 
have  arisen  ^^  .  .  ." 

The  year  "1761"  undoubtedly  is  an  error,  because 
I  have  found  at  the  Land  Office  in  Richmond  a  record 
of  a  grant  dated  October  5,  1762,  from  Lord  Fairfax 
to  "Patrick  McCarty  of  Hampshire  County,"  of  "70 
acres  of  land  on  the  North  Branch  of  the  Potomac  River 
in  said  County,"  one  of  the  boundary  lines  of  which  is 
described  as  "the  lands  of  Daniel  O'Neal."^®  It  must 
be  assumed  that  Patrick  McCarty  was  alive  at  the  time 

35  The  remainder   of   the   inscription   cannot  be   deciphered. 

36  Land  Records,   Book  M,   p.   64. 


94  THE  McCarthys 

this  grant  was  made.  One  of  his  descendants  states  that 
"Patrick  McCarty's  grandchildren  were  the  only  old 
settlers  of  the  name  in  Hampshire  County  and  owned 
practically  all  of  the  country  around  New  Creek,  now 
called  Keyser,  but  then  known  as  Paddy  Town."  Ed- 
ward McCarty,  son  of  Patrick,  was  the  leading  man  of 
his  time  in  that  part  of  Virginia,  and,  as  his  great- 
grandson ''^  informs  me,  "he  stood  six  feet  six  inches 
in  heighth,  weighed  over  250  pounds,  was  a  man  of 
extraordinary  energy  and  capacity,  and  was  engaged  in 
all  kinds  of  business  in  that  section. ' '  He  was  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution  and  in  1781,  when  only  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  he  commanded  a  company  of  General  Wil- 
liam Darke's  regiment  of  the  Virginia  Continental  Line, 
and  there  is  an  account  of  his  death  in  the  Providence 
(R.  I.)  American  of  September  21,  1824,  reading: 

"Died,  Colonel  Edward  JMcCarty  in  Virginia,  aged 
68  years,  an  officer  and  patriot  of  the  Revolution." 
There  are  many  references  to  him  in  the  court  records 
of  old  Augusta  County,  in  all  of  which  he  is  styled 
"Colonel"  Edward  McCarty,  and  it  is  assumed  that  this 
title  was  conferred  on  him  after  the  war.  That  he  lived 
on  New  Creek  as  early  as  1774  is  evident  from  some 
testimony  taken  in  a  suit  at  law  entitled  "Marshall  vs. 
Janney,"  tried  in  Augusta  County  court  on  June  22, 
1799.  The  cause  of  action  concerned  title  to  certain 
lands  on  New  Creek  and  Edward  McCarty  testified  that 
"he  had  known  the  lands  involved  in  the  suit  since 
1770."  He  also  appeared  in  a  case  entitled  "Coleman 
vs.  Morgan,"  concerning  a  tract  of  600  acres  on  Big 
Sandy  Creek,  part  of  a  tract  originally  granted  to  Cap- 
tain John  Savage  and  others  in  December,  1775,  and 
which,  after  several  transfers  came  into  possession  of 

37  George  S.  McCarty  of  Woo^bury,  N.  J. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  95 

Edward  McCarty  by  deed  from  Daniel  Jones  dated  Au- 
gust 11,  1801. 

At  the  State  Land  Office  there  are  records  of  several 
land  grants  in  Hampshire  and  Hardy  Counties  to  Ed- 
ward McCarty.  On  March  5,  1780,  Beverly  Randolph, 
Governor  of  Virginia,  conveyed  to  him  "401  acres  of 
land  as  surveyed  November  20,  1764,"  and  in  this  deed 
he  is  described  as  "heir  at  law  of  Patrick  McCarty."  ^^ 
On  June  30th,  of  the  same  year  Edmond  Randolph, 
Governor  of  Virginia,  conveyed  to  Edward  McCarty  192 
acres  in  the  same  vicinity,^"  and  on  March  6,  1789,  Gov- 
ernor Randolph  signed  a  grant  in  his  favor  for  forty- 
nine  acres  on  Howell's  Run,  Hardy  County,*''  Hamp- 
shire County  owes  much  to  Colonel  Edward  IMcCarty 
and  his  sons.  For  many  years  they  were  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  building  of  highways  and  opening  up  the 
rough,  mountainous  country  for  the  entry  of  settlers, 
and  it  is  said  that  the  town  now  known  as  White  Post 
in  Hampshire  County,  W.  Va.,  took  its  name  from  a  stake 
or  post  painted  white  erected  in  the  vicinity  for  the 
purpose  of  marking  out  a  tract  of  land  patented  by  one 
of  the  McCartys. 

He  cultivated  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  north 
branch  of  the  Potomac,  known  as  Black  Oak  Bottom, 
which  remained  in  possession  of  the  family  until  1882 
when  it  was  sold  for  $30,000.  He  and  his  sons  were 
the  first  to  clear  out  the  Potomac  and  make  it  fit  for 
navigation,  and  for  many  years  the  sons  were  engaged 
in  the  business  of  transporting  down  the  river  lumber, 
flour  and  charcoal  for  Eastern  and  European  markets. 
One  of  the  many  enterprises  started  by  this  family  was 
the  establishment  of  a  bank  at  Cumberland,  Md.,  in  the 

38  Land   Records,   Book   T,    p.   239. 
S9  Ibid.,  Book  S,  p.  470. 
io  Ibid,,  Book  T,  p.  367. 


96  THE  McCarthys 

year  1811,  which  was  conducted  by  Patrick,  Edward  and 
Michael  McCarty,  sons  of  Colonel  Edward  McCarty, 
and  which  still  exists  as  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Cumberland.  Edward  McCarty  (2nd)  was  born  at 
Cumberland  in  1784  and  died  at  that  place  in  1849.  He 
married  Sarah/  Cresap  and  by  her  had  two  sons,  James 
who  resided  at  Cumberland,  and  Joseph  who  settled 
at  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  from  where  he  emigrated  to  the 
west,  settling  at  Kansas  City,  and  thence  to  Washington 
County,  Texas,  where  he  died  in  1877. 

A  descendant  of  Patrick  McCarty  now  residing  at 
Romney,  Hampshire  County,  West  Virginia,  writes  me 
as  follows:  "The  McCartys  have  all  lived  in  Virginia 
and  one  of  my  paternal  ancestors  was  among  the  earliest 
white  settlers  at  White  Post  and  Winchester,  Virginia, 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  locating  there  with 
people  named  Meade  and  Page.  They  are  connected 
with  many  of  the  oldest  and  best  families  of  the  Valley. 
The  rest  of  their  people  settled  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 
From  a  child  I  have  been  told  we  are  Scotch-Irish,  but 
that  we  are  descended  from  the  best  people  in  Ireland. 
Now,  however,  I  am  proud  to  learn  that  I  am  a  descend- 
ant of  the  real  Irish.  Father  says,  as  far  back  as  he 
can  remember,  that  our  great-grandfather's  religion  was 
Methodist  or  Scotch  Presbyterian. ' '  After  relating  some 
more  interesting  family  history,  this  lady  shows  that 
even  time's  vicissitudes  have  not  entirely  eliminated 
her  Irish  blood,  for  she  naively  remarks,  "we  McCartys 
are  of  the  fighting  races;  the  boys  of  our  family  have 
been  true  to  the  flag  of  freedom;  they  went  where  duty 
called,  and  never  asked  for  the  world's  honors;  'Duty 
and  Service'  was  their  motto  and  I  believe  I  have  a 
justifiable  pride  in  saying  that  I  belong  to  a  family  that 
has  left  its  mark,  not  only  in  the  history  of  Virginia  and 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  97 

West  Virginia,  but  in  many  parts  of  the  West,  where 
the  descendants  of  the  Virginia  McCartys  settled  at  va- 
rious times  during  the  past  century." 

If  testimony  were  wanted  in  support  of  the  statement 
that  the  Irish  in  America  have  neglected  their  oppor- 
tunities of  relating  their  history,  here  is  a  living  wit- 
ness. This  lady,  a  sturdy,  and  patriotic  descendant  of 
the  ancient  race  of  Clancarthy,  who  were  Princes  in 
the  Emerald  Isle  long  before  the  English  connection 
blasted  the  future  of  that  unhappy  country  and  scattered 
her  children  far  and  wide,  has  always  been  under  the  im- 
pression that  she  came  of  the  "Scotch-Irish,"  and  now 
for  the  fii'st  time  learns  that  she  is  of  the  ancient  Irish 
race! 

In  the  records  of  wills  and  deeds  of  old  Augusta 
County  the  name  occurs  frequently,  its  earliest  appear- 
ance being  the  year  1764  in  the  person  of  Thomas  Mc- 
Carthy, who  lived  in  that  part  of  Augusta  that  is  now 
embraced  in  Hampshire  County,  West  Virginia.  A  law- 
suit entitled  "Thomas  McCarthy  vs.  George  Massinbird" 
was  tried  in  Augusta  County  in  the  year  1798,  and  the 
papers  in  the  case  recited  that  Thomas  McCarthy,  Sr., 
father  of  the  plaintiff,  purchased  from  Massinbird  ' '  1010 
acres  of  land  on  the  Little  Levels  of  Greenbrier  in 
Bath  County  by  deed  dated  April  14,  1796;"  that  on 
October  5,  1797,  he  conveyed  500  acres  to  the  plaintiff 
and  the  remainder  of  the  tract  the  McCarthys  sold  to 
William  Poage.  James  Crawford  of  Augusta  County 
claimed  270  acres  of  the  tract  under  a  patent  confirmed 
by  the  court  on  May  2,  1783,  and  on  the  trial  of  a 
suit  against  McCarthy,  Crawford  secured  judgment. 
Thomas  McCarthy,  Sr.,  died  on  March  25,  1799,  leaving 
his  son,  Thomas,  his  sole  heir,  and  the  latter  sued  Massin- 
bird for  the  loss  of  the  270  acres  recovered  by  Crawford. 


98  THE  McCarthys 

Both  suits  occupy  many  pages  of  the  record  and  are 
referred  as  ''the  notable  cause  of  the  McCartys."  In 
the  record  of  another  case  styled  "McCarthy  vs. 
Machir,"  concerning  lands  sold  by  Thomas  McCarthy 
to  James  Machir  on  October  15,  1795,  Thomas  McCarthy, 
Sr.,  is  described  as  "of  Hardy  County"  and  his  son 
as  "of  Monroe  County,"  The  "home  plantation"  was 
near  a  place  called  Moorfield  in  Hardy  County,  now 
in  West  Virginia,  and  one  of  their  neighbors  at  this 
place  was  John  Jackson,  a  native  of  County  Derry, 
Ireland,  who  was  the  great-grandfather  of  General 
"Stonewall"  Jackson  of  Civil  War  fame.  Previous  to 
locating  in  Hardy  County,  however,  Thomas  McCarthy 
acquired  lands  in  Hampshire  County,  and  there  are 
patents  recorded  at  Richmond  by  which  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, Governor  of  Virginia,  conveyed  to  Thomas  Mc- 
Carthy 108  acres  on  Brake's  Run  on  September  15, 
1780,*^  and  405  acres  more  on  November  24, 1789,  "which 

were  surveyed  for  Thomas  McCarthy  on  May  27, 
1771."  *2 

On  March  17,  1767,  Samuel  Pepper  gave  a  bond  in 
Augusta  County  court  "as  administrator  of  James 
Carty,"*^  and  on  November  19,  1768,  he  tiled  a  "sale 
bill"  in  connection  with  his  administration  of  "James 
Cartie's  estate."**  There  is  also  an  entry  under  date 
of  April  18,  1787,  reading:  "James  McCartey's  estate 
settled  by  Samuel  Pepper."  *^  One  William  Watterson 
conveyed  to  "James  McCarty  of  the  City  of  Williams- 
burg, Va.,"  by  deed  dated  April  12,  1768,  "600  acres 
of  land  on  the  Middle  River  in  Augusta  County,  bounded 

41  Land    Records,    Book    T,    p.    19. 

42  Ibid.,   Book   U,    p.    367. 

43  Will    Book   of   Augusta   County,    No.    3. 

44  Ibid.,  No.  4. 

45  Ibid.,  No.   7. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  99 

by  the  lands  of  John  Anderson  and  James  Allen"  for 
a  consideration  of  150  pounds.*^ 

Timothy  McCarty  was  an  early  settler  in  Pocahontas 
County,  now  in  West  Virginia.  His  name  appears  in 
the  land  and  survey  records  between  1745  and  1750  and 
I  am  of  the  belief  that  this  was  the  same  Timothy 
McCarty  already  alluded  to  under  Orange  County,  for 
whom  George  Washington  made  a  land  survey  in  the 
3^ear  1750.  This  Timothy  McCarty  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Virginia  State  Line, 
and  that  the  fighting  spirit  of  the  race  did  not  die  out, 
is  clear  from  the  remarkable  military  records  of  his 
descendants.  Seven  of  his  sons  served  in  the  War  of 
1812;  three  grandsons  served  in  the  Union  army  and 
several  others  in  the  Confederate  ranks  in  the  Civil 
War;  two  of  his  great-grandsons  served  in  the  Philip- 
pines in  the  war  with  Spain,  and  one  of  his  descendants 
has  sent  me  a  list  of  ten  American  soldiers  named  Mc- 
Carty who  gave  up  their  lives  in  France  in  the  World 
War,  some  of  whom  were  descended  from  the  Irish  exile, 
Timothy  McCarty.  An  historian  of  Pocahontas  County 
makes  the  following  interesting  references  to  this  pioneer 
Irishman  and  his  sons : 

"One  of  the  earliest  pioneers  in  our  County  was  Timothy 
McCarty,  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  settled  on  Knapp's  Creek 
previous  to  the  Revolution  and  was  a  soldier  in  that  memorable 
war  for  independence.  He  could  speak  from  experience  that 
hard  was  the  contest  for  liberty  and  the  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. With  his  humble  hand  he  helped  to  make  the 
history  that  forms  one  of  the  most  instructive  chapters  in 
the  annals  of  human  endeavors  for  'life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness.'  His  first  marriage  was  with  Nancy  Honeyman 
and  they  settled  on  lands  near  Frost  (W.  Va.),  thence  re- 
moved to  Brown's  Mountain  and  opened  up  property.     By  his 

48  Deed   Book   No.   15,   fol.   143,   Augusta   County   court  records. 


100  THE  McCarthys 

first  marriage  there  were  seven  sons,  Daniel,  Preston,  Justin, 
James  and  Thomas,  the  names  of  the  others  not  remembered. 
All  of  these  sons  were  soldiers  in  the  War  of  1812  and  but 
one  of  them  (Daniel)  ever  returned  to  Pocahontas  to  live; 
the  rest  either  perished  in  the  war  or  went  to  Tennessee  or 
Kentucky.  Timothy  McCarty's  second  man-iage  was  with 
Jane  Waugh,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children.  He  was 
one  of  those  who  stood  faithfully  in  the  struggle  for  American 
independence,  and  is  one  of  the  few  Revolutionary  veterans 
buried  in  our  mountain  land."  *'' 

Many  descendants  of  Timothy  McCarty  are  now  liv- 
ing in  various  parts  of  West  Virginia,  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Kansas  and  Minnesota.  Daniel  McCarty,  son  of 
Timothy,  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Moore,  settled  on  his 
father's  lands  in  Brown's  Mountain,  and  his  step-brother, 
Jacob  McCarty,  was  a  member  of  the  West  Virginia 
legislature  and  was  prominent  in  the  political  affairs  of 
the  State  many  years  ago. 

Another  soldier  who  served  in  the  War  of  1812  was 
Peter  McCarty  of  Winchester,  Va.,  and  for  his  services 
in  that  war  he  received  a  grant  of  land,  which  however 
he  did  not  take  up.  His  great-great-granddaughter 
informs  me  that  there  is  a  tradition  in  the  family  that  he 
was  a  brother  of  Cornelius  and  Thomas  McCarty,  already 
mentioned  as  having  emigrated  to  Kentucky  from  Prince 
William  County  in  the  year  1798,  and  although  his 
descendants  claim  that  he  was  descended  from  the  orig- 
inal Daniel  of  Westmoreland  County,  it  is  clear  that 
they  are  in  error,  since  there  is  no  record  of  any  Peter 
in  that  branch  of  the  family.  Moreover,  Peter  of  Win- 
chester as  well  as  his  father,  were  Catholics  and  did 
not  abandon  the  old  faith,  which  would  make  it  appear 
that  they  were  more  recent  arrivals  from  Ireland. 
Peter's   first   and   second   wives   were   Methodists    and 

47  Historical  Sketches  of  Pocahontas  County,  W.  Ta.,  by  William  T. 
Price,  pp.  404-408;   Marlinton,  W.  Va.,  1901. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  101 

nearly  all  their  descendants  have  adhered  to  the  Metho- 
dist religion.  I  am  informed  that  ''he  was  a  man  of 
some  importance  in  West  Virginia  about  a  hundred 
years  ago,  a  large  landowner  and  brick  manufacturer 
and  a  well-known  sportsman  in  his  time."  Some  time 
before  the  Civil  War  his  aged  widow  took  up  his  land 
grant  and  was  given  lands  near  Iroquois,  Illinois,  where 
she  located  with  her  son,  James. 

Peter  McCarty's  children  were  George,  Joseph  S., 
John,  James,  Andrew,  Rebecca  Ann  and  Elizabeth  Ann. 
George  left  a  large  family  and  his  grandchildren  are 
now  scattered  through  Virginia  and  Ohio.  Joseph  S., 
is  described  as  "a  man  of  great  force  of  character,  a 
Justice  at  Winchester  for  many  years,"  and  although 
nearly  fifty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War,  he  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army 
and  was  captured  and  sent  to  Fort  McHenry  by  Sheri- 
dan's troops  in  1864.  He  was  the  father  of  seven  sons 
and  one  daughter,  and  three  of  his  sons,  William  H., 
Cornelius  M.  and  Samuel  E.  McCarty,  served  in  the 
Confederate  army  and  were  imprisoned  for  a  time  at 
Fort  McHenry.  William  N.  was  a  purchasing  agent  for 
the  army,  until  captured  and  imprisoned,  and  after  the 
war  he  became  a  Methodist  preacher  on  the  Rockbridge, 
Va.  Circuit.  Of  Peter's  other  sons,  John  died  about 
1835 ;  James  married  Nancy  Hall,  and  with  their  eleven 
children  they  removed  to  Illinois,  and  Andrew  removed 
to  Xenia,  Ohio.  Rebecca  Ann  married  Charles  Blake 
of  New  Hampshire  and  had  ten  children,  and  Elizabeth 
Ann  married  a  Mr.  Stewart  of  Virginia  and  had  seven 
children.  All  told,  Peter  McCarty  had  fifty-four  grand- 
children and  thirty-nine  great-grandchildren,  many  of 
whom  now  live  at  Iroquois  and  Sheldon,  Illinois,  at 
Lafayette    and   Brook,    Indiana,    and   at   Zenia,    Ohio. 


102  THE  McCarthys 

Others  of  his  descendants  in  the  male  line  I  have  traced 
to  Berryville,  "White  Hall  and  Greenspring,  Va.,  to 
Romney  and  Keyser,  W.  Va.,  to  San  Antonio,  Texas, 
Baltimore,  Md.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  Elmira  and 
Oswego,  N.  Y.,  and  the  graves  of  many  members  of  the 
family  may  be  seen  in  the  little  rural  cemeteries  at 
White  Post,  Kernstown  and  Winchester,  Va. 

The  name  turns  up  in  the  public  records  of  so  many 
different  parts  of  Virginia  during  the  colonial  period, 
and  with  little  or  nothing  in  most  cases  to  serve  as  a 
guide  to  enable  one  to  trace  these  people  or  determine 
their  relationships,  that  in  many  instances  one  has  to 
give  up  the  search  as  an  apparently  hopeless  task.  In 
the  successive  generations  of  Daniel  McCarty's  descend- 
ants, their  names  are  associated  constantly  with  those 
of  other  Southern  families  of  caste  and  distinction,  and 
in  accounts  of  eighteenth  century  social  functions  and 
in  the  traditions  of  some  of  the  leading  families  of  the 
State,  the  McCarty  name  occurs  frequently.  The  popu- 
lar southern  sport  of  fox-hunting,  which  was  in  full 
swing  in  Virginia  for  years  before  the  Civil  War,  seems 
to  have  had  its  fascinations  for  the  McCartys,  and  in 
many  an  exciting  chase  for  the  fox's  brush,  when  the 
crimson-coated  horsemen  dashed  gaily  over  the  coun- 
try, the  Irish  blood  of  the  McCartys  often  asserted  it- 
self in  these  stirring  contests.  And  Washington  men- 
tions in  his  Diary  incidents  of  his  following  the  hounds, 
and,  on  his  return  from  the  day's  sport,  "dining  at 
Colonel  Daniel  McCarty's." 

Colonel  Daniel  McCarty  of  Pope's  Creek  is  mentioned 
among  some  prominent  Virginians  who  imported  English 
thoroughbred  horses  for  racing  purposes  between  1750 
and  1775,  and  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time  may  be 
seen  occasional  references  to  his  horses  which  were  en- 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  103 

tered  at  the  ''race  meets"  held  at  Annapolis  and  Upper 
Marlborough,  Md.,  and  at  Fredericksburg,  Va.*^  In  the 
American  Turf  Register  may  be  read  various  memo- 
randa relating  to  the  breeding  and  pedigrees  of  horses, 
racing  notes,  etc.,  taken  from  "the  race  book  and  cer- 
tificates of  Daniel  McCarty,"  and  that  journal  in  com- 
menting on  the  winning  of  his  horses.  Volunteer  and 
Silverlegs,  on  October  24th  and  25th,  1769,  respectively 
at  the  Annapolis  course,*^  said :  ' '  Daniel  McCarty,  Esq., 
of  Pope's  Creek,  Westmoreland  County,  Va.,  was  an- 
other opulent  gentleman  of  the  old  school  and  was  a 
distinguished  patron  of  the  turf. ' '  ^°  Colonel  McCarty 
also  raced  other  horses  named  Cub  and  Little  Driver 
and  at  the  Annapolis  races  in  1770  he  won  the  Jockey 
Club  purse  of  100  guineas,  run  in  four  mile  heats,  with 
his  horse,  Silverlegs.  Volunteer  was  out  of  Eclipse,  re- 
ferred to  ^^  as  "0  'Kelly 's  celebrated  race  horse  that  no 
competitor  could  put  to  his  speed,"  ^^  and  Silverlegs 
was  a  full  brother  to  Yorrick,  "one  of  the  most  famous 
horses  ever  raced  in  Virginia."  In  1789  at  the  Alex- 
andria course,  one  of  the  Cedar  Grove  McCartys  entered 
a  horse  against  George  "Washington's  Magnolia,  but  the 
President's  horse  won  the  race. 

There  is  plenty  of  evidence  also  that  the  sturdy  char- 
acteristics of  the  men  of  the  name  manifested  themselves 
in  many  other  ways  with  the  passing  of  the  years,  and 
that  the  virile  Irish  blood  of  this  old  race  made  them 
a  very  independent  people  and  of  a  class  that  seldom 
feared  to  strike  out  for  themselves  whenever  opportuni- 

48  See    also    "Racing    in    Colonial    Virginia,"    in    Tirginia    Magazine    of 
History  and  Biography,  Vol.   II. 

49  Reported  in  the  Maryland  Gazette  of  October  26,  1769. 

BO  American  Turf  Register,  Vol.  Ill,  p.   95,   and  Vol.  VI,   p.  58. 
51  IbU.,  Vol.    II,   p.    19. 

B2  Eclipse    was    owned    by    Colonel    Patrick    O'Kelly,    whose    stud    waa 
at  a  place  called  Cannons  in  England. 


104  THE  McCarthys 

ties  offered  of  improving  their  condition.     Thus  we  find 
them  among  the  frontier  people,  battling  with  the  primi- 
tive conditions  of  the  time,  building  up  sparsely  settled 
localities,  laying  out  the  highways,  bridging  the  streams, 
cutting  down  the  virgin  forests,  fighting  the  Indians 
and  in  many  other  ways  paving  the  way  for  the  march 
of  civilization.     And,  amidst  it  all,  bringing  up  families, 
many  of  whose  members  in  turn  struck  out  for  new  fields 
in  the  thinly  settled  Western  States.     In  the  early  years 
of  the  last  century  we  can  trace  these  McCartys  through 
Illinois,  Ohio,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  across  the  Rockies  even 
to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  while  I  have  made  very  little 
effort  to  get  in  touch  with  the  descendants  of  these  people 
and  learn  their  story,   the   fugitive   references  to  the 
McCartys  that  I  have  found  in  local  histories  of  the 
Western  States  indicate  that  in  general  they  maintained 
the  reputation  of  the  family  as  pathfinders  and  pioneers. 
Although  the  name  is  not  perpetuated  in  the  geogra- 
phy of  Virginia,  like  those  of  other  colonial  families,  yet 
in  other  Southern  States  the  name  is  found  to  have 
been  given  to  various  places;  although  to  none  of  any 
present-day    importance.     Such,    for   instance,    as    Mc- 
Carthy in  Prince  George  County,  Maryland;  McCarty 
in   Johnson    County,    Georgia;    McCarty   in    Hamilton 
County,  Tennessee ;  McCarty  in  Harris  County,  Texas ; 
McCarty  in  Webster  County,  West  Virginia;  McCarty 
in  Johnson  County,  Missouri ;  McCarty  in  Garvin  County, 
Oklahoma ;  McCartys  in  Carolina  County,  Maryland ;  Mc- 
Cartys  in   Valencia   County,   New   Mexico;   McCarty 's 
Ferry  in  Choctaw  County,  Alabama ;  McCarthy  in  Car- 
bon County,  Montana,  and  McCarthy's  Crossing  in  Mc- 
Henry  County,  Illinois.     In  far  away  Alaska  a  McCarthy 
has  left  the  imprint  of  his  name  in  the  geography  of  the 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  105 

Territory;  in  Lincoln  County,  Maine,  there  is  a  place 
called  McCarty  after  one  of  its  early  settlers,  in  addition 
to  which  there  are  places  named  McCartyville  in  Shelby 
County,  Ohio,  and  in  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  many  instances  of  descend- 
ants of  the  original  immigrants,  Dennis  and  Daniel,  while 
their  names  are  mentioned  herein,  I  have  made  no  effort 
to  trace  their  careers,  and  these  sketches  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  mere  cursory  glance  at  the  history  of  the 
family  in  Virginia.  But,  even  with  the  meager  details 
furnished,  I  have  no  doubt  that  readers  of  this  book  will 
share  in  my  surprise  that  the  historians  should  have  suc- 
ceeded so  well  in  keeping  the  McCartys  out  of  American 
history.  But,  although  they  are  practically  ignored  in 
history,  we  see  in  this  one  family  alone  evidences  of  the 
strength  and  influence  of  some  of  the  early  Irish  settlers 
of  the  South.  There  is  much  more  that  could  be  said 
about  the  family,  for  much  that  is  romantic  is  found 
in  their  lives.  They  gave  many  handsome  women, 
courtly  gentlemen  and  gallant  soldiers  to  the  Colony  of 
Virginia.  Like  many  of  the  descendants  of  the  early 
settlers  in  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia,  they  became  a 
wealthy,  proud  and  independent  people.  They  dis- 
pensed their  wealth  with  prodigality;  the  sons  of  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  in  descent  from  Dennis  of 
old  Rappahannock,  and  Daniel  of  Westmoreland  County 
led  the  easy  lives  of  country  gentlemen,  when  their 
country  did  not  need  their  services  in  the  council  cham- 
ber or  the  field ;  the  daughters  were  educated  and  fitted 
to  hold  place  with  elegance  and  dignity  in  the  best 
society  in  the  Colonies,  several  of  them  having  married 
into  leading  families  of  the  South.  Their  progeny  are 
to-day  scattered   all   over  the   land.     They  held  their 


106  THE  McCarthys 

heads  high,  as  befitted  the  descendants  of  the  MacCar- 
thaighs  of  the  old  Eugenian  race,  who  were  Kings  of 
Munster  and  Princes  of  Desmond  before  the  coming  of 
the  despoilers  of  their  fair  domains. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    MC  CARTHYS    IN    MARYLAND,    THE    CAROLINAS    AND 

GEORGIA 

Land  records  of  Maryland  in  the  seventeenth  century — Large  set- 
tlements of  Irish  colonists — Numerous  land  grants  called  after 
towns  and  cities  in  Ireland  and  by  Irish  family  names — The 
"County  of  New  Ireland"  comprised  New  Connaught,  New 
Leinster  and  New  Munster — McCartys  as  Revolutionary  patri- 
ots— Extracts  from  the  Colonial  Records  of  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia — James  McCarthy  an  early  Schoolmaster  in  North 
Carolina — How  Cornelius  McCarthy  "surrounded"  and  cap- 
tured the  English  soldiers. 

About  the  same  period  that  the  MacCarthys  located  in 
that  section  of  Virginia  south  and  west  of  the  Potomac, 
several  Irish  families  also  settled  in  the  region  east  of 
the  river,  namely  in  Charles  and  Saint  Mary's  Counties, 
Maryland,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
expatriation  of  these  people  from  Ireland  was  coinci- 
dental with  and  arose  from  the  same  cause.  The  records 
preserved  at  the  office  of  the  Land  Commissioner  for  the 
State  of  Maryland  at  Annapolis  contain  such  familiar 
Irish  names  as  O'Dwyer,  O'Daly,  O'Malley,  Reilly,  Ho- 
gan,  Byrne,  Murty,  Connery,  Connolly,  Kelly,  Whelan, 
Callaghan,  Lynch,  Murphy,  O'Neill,  O 'Bryan,  and  so 
on,  among  those  who  obtained  grants  of  land  in  Charles 
and  Saint  Mary's  Counties  during  the  last  quarter  of 
the  seventeenth  or  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
since  only  one  family  named  McCarthy  appears  in  this 
part  of  Maryland  at  that  period,  the  indications  are  that 
all  other  persons  of  the  name  who  came  to  this  section 

107 


108  THE  McCarthys 

of  the  country  settled  in  Virginia  south  and  west  of  the 
Potomac  River. 

The  records  of  the  Land  Commissioner's  office  for  the 
State  of  Maryland  contain  data  of  extraordinary  interest 
to  students  of  early  American  history.  These  records 
are  well  preserved,  considering  their  age;  they  include 
the  names  of  the  "Early  Settlers,  1633  to  1680"  and 
the  years  of  their  arrival  in  the  Province,  the  "Certifi- 
cates and  Patents"  issued  to  these  settlers  covering  their 
allotments  of  land  from  the  Proprietary  Government, 
the  ancient  "Rent  Rolls"  of  the  various  counties,  and 
numerous  wills  and  deeds,  some  dating  back  to  the  ear- 
liest settlements  of  Maryland. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  large  numbers  of  Irish 
people  settled  in  Maryland  during  the  last  quarter  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  Their  names  are  found 
chiefly  in  the  land  and  probate  records  of  Cecil,  Har- 
ford, Talbot,  Ann  Arundel  and  Baltimore  Counties,  and 
as  early  as  1684  part  of  Cecil  and  Harford  Counties 
was  named,  in  a  Proclamation  issued  by  Lord  Baltimore, 
the  ' '  County  of  New  Ireland, ' '  ^  which  territory  was 
divided  into  three  parts  named  New  Connaught,  New 
Leinster  and  New  Munster.  New  Connaught  was  a 
manor  of  eighty  thousand  acres  established  in  the  year 
1680  by  George  Talbot  of  Castle  Rooney,  County  Ros- 
common, Ireland,  who  was  Surveyor-General  of  Mary- 
land ;  New  Leinster  was  named  by  Bryan  0  'Daly  from 
Wicklow  and  New  Munster  by  Edward  O'Dwyer  from 
Tipperary  in  1683.  The  number  of  land  grants  patented 
in  the  names  of  Irish  counties,  towns  and  baronies  and 
by  Irish  family  names  is  astonishingly  large,  and  one 
naturally  wonders  why  there  is  no  mention  of  them  in 
early  Maryland  history ! 

1  Council  Journals  of  Maryland,  April   4,    1684. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  109 

It  was  tlie  custom  in  those  days  to  have  a  patent 
for  a  tract  of  land  recorded  under  a  name  selected  by 
the  patentee,  and  I  have  found  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury records  at  Annapolis  land  grants  named  Dublin, 
Cork,  Donegal,  Limerick,  Galway,  Kerry,  Kilkenny, 
Clare,  Carlow,  Tipperary,  Wexford,  Derry,  Kinsale, 
Waterford,  Clonmel,  Letterkenny,  Belfast,  Tralee,  An- 
trim, Killarney,  and  by  other  Irish  place-names,  in  addi- 
tion to  which  there  were  numerous  land  grants  called 
after  the  surnames  of  the  patentees!  The  name  first 
given  to  the  tract  of  land  now  occupied  by  the  City  of 
Baltimore  was  "Ely  0 'Carroll,"  after  a  Barony  of  the 
name  in  King's  and  Tipperary  Counties,  Ireland,  owned 
by  the  0 'Carroll  family,  and  Baltimore  comes  from  a 
Barony  of  the  name  in  County  Longford. 

As  to  the  McCarthys  in  colonial  Marjdand,  it  cannot 
be  said  that  as  much  trace  can  be  found  of  people  of 
this  name  as  in  the  adjoining  Province  of  Virginia,  and 
I  am  satisfied  that  comparatively  few  families  of  the 
name  came  to  Maryland  in  colonial  days.  However,  the 
name,  with  its  several  variations,  appears  35  times  in  the 
muster  rolls  of  the  Maryland  Militia  and  the  regiments 
of  the  Continental  Line^  and  in  some  cases  the  records 
show  where  the  different  units  were  mustered  in ;  and 
according  to  these  there  were  McCarthys  in  Frederick, 
Baltimore,  Dorchester,  Talbot,  Queen  Anne's,  Kent, 
Cecil  and  Harford  Counties  of  Maryland  at  the  time 
of  the  Revolution. 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  name  in  Maryland  records 
in  under  date  of  October  21,  1666.  In  the  ''Records 
of  Certificates  and  Patents"^  there  is  an  entry  to  the 
effect  that  Hugh  O'Neale  received  a  warrant  for  four 
hundred  acres  of  land  ' '  for  transporting  himself,  Mary, 

2  Lib.    XI,    fol.    104,    Land    Commissioner's    office,    Annapolis,    Md. 


110  THE  McCarthys 

his  wife,  his  children,  Daniel,  Charles  and  Joy  O'Neale, 
Peggy  0 'Moore  and  Jane  McCartie  to  this  Province." 
The  date  of  the  warrant  was  October  7,  1667,  and  while 
the  location  of  the  tract  is  not  stated,  yet  since  it  is 
shown  that  Hugh  0  'Neale  lived  at  Patuxent,  Maryland, 
in  all  likelihood  it  was  to  this  place  that  he  brought 
the  two  Irish  girls  with  his  family,  O'Neale  was  a 
person  of  some  standing  in  Maryland  at  this  time  and 
was  one  of  Lord  Baltimore's  active  agents  in  the  settle- 
ment and  development  of  the  Province.  Hugh  O'Neill, 
who  received  a  warrant  for  lands  in  Maryland  in  1659, 
is  assumed  to  have  been  the  same,  and  on  January  20, 
1667,  ''Captain  Hugh  O'Neill  of  Charles  County"  was 
granted  a  patent  for  four  hundred  acres  of  land  "for 
transporting  eight  persons  to  the  Province."  He  had 
lived  at  Newtown,  Long  Island,  in  the  Province  of  New 
York,  before  coming  to  Maryland,  and  after  the  death  of 
his  wife  in  1666,  he  married  the  widow  of  Adriaen  van 
der  Donck,  the  owner  of  the  "Youncker's  Plantation," 
now  comprising  the  City  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  and  Van 
der  Donck 's  estate  was  "confirmed  by  Royal  Patent  in 
1666,"  on  Mrs.  O'Neale.^ 

Among  the  "Early  Settlers,  1633  to  1680,"  who  are 
recorded  in  several  large  Libers  under  that  title  at  the 
office  of  the  Land  Commissioner  for  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, I  find  the  following: 

"Darby  Maearty,  transported  1667" 

"Katherine  Carty,  transported  1671" 

"Daniel   Mackeharty,  transported  1674" 

"Moses  Maecarty,  immigrated  1675" 

"Ellen  Carthey,  transported  1678" 

"William  Carthey  transported  1678" 

s  See  address  on  Adriaen  van  der  Donck,  delivered  before  the  West- 
Chester  County,  N.  Y.,  Historical  Society,  by  T.  Astley  Atkins;  Yonkers, 
1888. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  111 

"Owen  Carty,  transported  1678" 

"Dennis  Carty,  transported  1678" 

These  are  exactly  as  the  entries  appear  in  the  record, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  further  information  concerning 
these  people  obtainable.  What  part  of  Maryland  they 
were  brought  to,  or  what  their  fortunes  were  in  the 
new  country,  there  is  no  way  whatever  of  ascertaining, 
although  it  is  quite  clear  they  were  of  the  ''redemp- 
tioner"  class  and  were  indentured  as  ''servants"  to 
Maryland  or  Virginia  planters  until  such  time  as  their 
terms  of  service,  representing  the  cost  of  the  passage, 
had  expired.  At  that  time  it  was  the  custom  to  grant 
each  male  servant  fifty  acres  of  land  on  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  service,  unless  he  chose  to  remain  in  the 
employ  of  his  "Master."  In  the  case  of  Moses  Mac- 
carty,  it  will  be  noted  that  he  "immigrated,"  while  the 
others  were  "transported."  That  means  that  Moses 
came  over  voluntarily  and  was  able  to  pay  his  own  way. 

From  the  probate  records  of  Maryland  we  learn  that 
"John  Macardye"  was  one  of  the  legatees  under  the 
will  of  Jeremiah  Sullivan  of  Talbot  County,  and  that 
Sullivan's  plantation  was  patented  in  the  name  of 
"Kingsale."  The  will  was  executed  on  February  24, 
1673,  and  was  admitted  to  probate  on  April  7,  1676.* 
John  Mackart's  will  dated  January  11,  1675,  was  pro- 
bated on  April  17,  1676,^  and  Timothy  McCarty  signed 
as  a  witness  to  the  will  of  John  Edmundson  of  Tred- 
haven  Creek,  Talbot  County,  on  February  13,  1686.^ 

"Patrick  MackArtee"  was  named  as  executor  and 
sole  legatee  under  the  will  of  Ann  Browne  of  Charles 
County,  dated  January  17,   1697;  probated  March  5, 

4  Probable  records,  Annapolis,  Md.,  Liber  V,  fol.  7. 
6  Ibid.,   Liber  V,    fol.   69. 
9  Ibid.,  Lib.   IV,  fol.  284. 


112  THE  McCarthys 

1697/  Patrick  MaekArtee's  own  will  is  recorded  in 
will  book  number  fourteen,  and  shows  the  date  as  of 
October  5,  1716,  and  the  date  it  was  admitted  to  probate 
as  of  March  26,  1717.  Curiously  enough,  his  name 
is  written  in  the  Annapolis  records  of  wills,  "Patrick 
Mackette. ' '  He  gave  his  dwelling  plantation  to  his  sons, 
Patrick,  Edward  and  James  MackArtee,  personalty  to 
his  "godson  and  grandson  Patrick  Mackette,"  and  he 
appointed  his  wife,  Rosamond,  the  executrix  and  resi- 
duary legatee  of  his  estate.  As  an  indication  of  the 
result  of  the  misspelling  of  names  in  the  colonial  records, 
it  is  found  that  the  descendants  of  "Patrick  Mack 
Artec"  became  Mackatees  and  MacAtees,  the  reason  for 
that,  doubtless,  being  that  the  name  was  so  recorded. 
Patrick's  wife,  Rosamond,  made  her  will  on  March  3, 
1716.  Charles  Mccarty  witnessed  the  will  of  George 
Prouse  of  Dorchester  County  on  January  23,  1696,  pro- 
bated February  17,  1696.^  John  "Marcarty"  was  a 
witness  to  the  will  of  Henry  Davis  of  Baltimore  County 
on  December  12,  1713.  Timothy  McCartley,  whose 
name  appears  on  the  land  records  as  McCarthey,  wit- 
nessed the  will  of  Jacob  Blangey  of  Kent  Island,  Queen 
Anne's  County,  dated  March  1,  1716,  probated  June  1, 
1719 ;  ^  and  in  the  will  of  Henry  Jennings,  rector  of  "Wil- 
liam and  Mary's  Parish  in  Saint  Mary's  County,  dated 
March  13,  1716,  he  directed  "that  the  debt  due  Cap- 
tain Mackartie  be  paid,"  and  he  also  mentioned  William 
and  Terrence  Sweeney  among  the  legatees.^"  Who  this 
"Captain  Mackartie"  was  I  am  unable  to  ascertain. 

In  Baltimore   County  the  name  also  appears  at  an 
early  date.     In  the  "Rent  Roll  of  Baltimore  County"  ^^ 

7  Probable  Records,  Lib.  VII,  fol.  377. 
SIbid.,  Lib.  VII,  p.  271. 
9IbU.,    Lib.   XV,    p.    143. 

10  Ibid.,   Lib.   XIV,   p.   302. 

11  Lib.   Ill,   p.   10. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  113 

there  is  an  entry  covering  a  survey  on  September  8, 1683, 
of  a  tract  of  land  patented  by  Robert  James  in  the  name 
of  ''Robin  Hood's  Forest,"  and  the  description  in  the 
survey  warrant  said  the  land  was  "part  in  possession 
of  Samuel  McCarty."  The  Will  of  Daniel  "Mecart" 
was  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  Wills  for 
Cecil  County  ^^  in  the  year  1702.  Dennis  MacCartie 
of  Baltimore  is  referred  to  as  "an  indigent  person" 
and  was  "imprisoned  for  debt"  in  Ann  Arundel  County, 
Md.,  but  according  to  the  "Minutes  of  the  House  of 
Delegates,"  he  "escaped  from  gaol  on  May  21,  1705." 
Denis  MacKartey  witnessed  the  will  of  William  Marratt, 
planter  of  Dorchester  County,  on  March  5,  1719  ;  "  John 
' '  Macartes ' '  was  a  witness  to  the  will  of  Anthony  John- 
son of  Baltimore  County  on  March  30,  1718,^*  and  Tim- 
othy Macarty's  name  appears  on  the  attestation  clause 
of  the  will  of  William  Watts  of  Talbot  County  on  April 
17,  1722.1^  In  the  muster  roll  of  Maryland  Colonial 
militia  organized  in  1746  for  an  expedition  to  Canada, 
the  names  of  John  and  Alexander  McCarty  appear,  with 
the  dates  of  enlistment  as  June  7  and  June  9,  1746, 
respectively.  Charles  McCartey  and  John  McCartey 
served  in  the  Somerset  County  militia  in  1747  and 
Charles  and  John  McCarty  appear  on  the  roster  of  a 
Talbot  County  militia  company  of  the  year  1748.  These 
may  have  been  the  same  men,  however,  Somerset  and 
Talbot  being  adjoining  Counties. 

The  "Rent  Roll  of  Frederick  County"  ^«  at  the  Land 
Commissioner's  office  contains  an  entry  of  a  grant  to 
William  Maccartie  on  February  27,  1755,  of  a  tract  of 
land  known  as  "Mountain  Glade,"  and  the  record  of 
conveyances  indicates  that  on  March  6,  1773,  one  Henry 

12  At  Elkton,  Md.  15  Will  Book   17,  p.   222. 

13  Will  Book   15,   p.   99.  16  Rent  Roll  No.   3,   fol.   129, 

14  Book   17,   p.    81. 


114  THE  McCarthys 

Hill  purchased  the  plantation  from  William  McCarty. 
Adam  MeCarty  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  Governor 
Sharpe  of  Maryland,  dated  Fort  Frederick,  June  28, 
1758,  as  "head  of  a  road  building  party  between  Fort 
Cumberland  and  Town  Hill  Creek."  ^^  "Con"  Mc- 
Carty was  a  resident  of  Annapolis  in  1774.  On  May 
25th  of  that  year  a  public  meeting  was  held  by  the 
people  of  the  town  "relative  to  the  action  of  the  British 
in  blocking  up  the  harbour  of  Boston."  A  protest  was 
drawn  up  "on  behalf  of  the  friends  of  American  liberty 
in  Annapolis"  and  among  the  residents  of  the  town  who 
signed  the  document  were  "Con"  McCarty,  Daniel  Du- 
lany,"  Edward  Dogan,  Thomas  McKean  and  John  Hara- 
gen. 

' '  Thomas  McCarty,  age  22,  Schoolmaster  from  South- 
wark,"  appears  in  a  list  of  "Emigrants  from  Eng- 
land ' '  ^®  who  sailed  from  London  * '  for  IMaryland ' '  in 
the  week,  January  9  to  January  16,  1774,  and  "Gilbert 
Carty,  age  21,  farmer,  from  Ireland,"  also  appears  in 
a  similar  list  of  emigrants  who  sailed  from  London  for 
Maryland  during  the  week,  April  10  to  April  17,  1775.2" 
James  McCarty  was  a  member  of  the  Revolutionary 
Committee  of  Harford  County  in  1775  and  his  name  also 
appears  in  a  company  of  Rangers  organized  in  that 
County  in  the  same  year.  "Flurrance  McCarty,  age 
21,"  is  mentioned  in  Frederick  County  in  1776  and 
James  MeCarty  was  registered  as  a  voter  in  that  County 
in  1796.2^     Among  the  numerous  Irish  names  in  the 

n  Archives  of  Maryland,  Vol.   16. 

18  Daniel  Dulany  is  one  of  the  most  lemarkable  men  mentioned  in 
early  Maryland  history.  He  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Delaney,  a  native  of 
Queen's  County,  Ireland,  who  emigrated  to  Maryland  about  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

19  In   New    England   Historic    Oenealogical   Register,   Vols.    62    to    66. 

20  IMd. 

21  Maryland  Records  compiled  hy   Dr.   Gauig  M.   Bruipbaiigb. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  115 

records  of  the  Register  of  Wills  for  Cecil  County,  either 
as  devisors,  executors  or  legatees  are: 

John  Carty  in  1764,  Jeremiah  McCarty  in  1782, 

Charles  Carty  in  1767,  Mary  McCarty  in  1782, 

Hannah  Carty  in  1767,         John  McCarty  in  1782. 

Very  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  people  of  the 
name  begin  to  appear  in  North  Carolina  records,  the 
first  having  been  Timothy  Maccarty  who  signed  as  wit- 
ness to  a  deed  dated  January  20,  1712,  between  Tredle 
Keefe  and  Robert  Patterson,^^  and  on  October  21,  1712, 
he  is  mentioned  in  a  deed  as  the  owner  of  lands  in 
Chowan  County.  As  "Tim  McCarty"  he  is  recorded  as 
appearing  in  Chowan  County  court  on  April  16,  1717, 
with  his  co-executor,  "William  Frost,  to  prove  the  last 
will  and  testament  of  William  Smith,  and  at  a  session 
of  the  court  held  "some  time  between  April  and  Oc- 
tober, 1718,"  Timothy  McCarty 's  own  will,  dated  July 
15,  1718,  was  "proved  by  the  oath  of  Arthur  Dugall, 
executor. ' '  ^^ 

The  next  appearance  of  the  name  in  North  Carolina 
records  was  when  "the  petition  of  Darby  McCarty" 
was  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  House  of  Assembly  on 
February  3,  1735.  The  purport  of  the  petition  was 
"that  Darby  McCarty  be  exempted  from  Public  Duty," 
and  that  the  application  was  granted  is  seen  from  an 
entry  in  the  record  which  contains  "an  order  that  the 
C"'^  Certifie  to  the  same. ' '  ^*  The  reason  for  the  re- 
quest is  not  stated  in  the  official  transcript  of  the  rec- 
ords as  published  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  but  since 
other  similar  petitions  are  recorded  wherein  the  appli- 
cants stated  they  were  serving  in  the  militia  in  the 

22  Land  Kecords  of  Chowan  County,   N.   C. 

23  Probate  Records  of  Chowan  County. 

24  Colonial  Becorda   of  North   Carolina,  Vol.   IV,    p.   128. 


116  THE  McCarthys 

wars  with  the  Indians,  it  is  probable  that  Darby  McCarty 
claimed  exemption  as  a  colonial  soldier.  His  name  was 
again  recorded  on  February  15,  1738,  when  there  was 
read  before  the  Assembly  ''the  petition  of  Darby  Mc- 
Carty on  behalf  of  his  son,  Dennis  McCarty,  Praying 
the  said  Dennis  might  be  exempt  from  all  Publick  Duties 
and  paying  Taxes,  "^s  it  is  evident  that  Dennis  Mc- 
Carty was  physically  unable  to  perform  such  "publick 
duties"  as  may  have  been  required  of  him,  since  the 
above-mentioned  petition  bears  a  notation  in  these 
words:  "The  same  granted  during  such  time  he  shall 
continue  infirm." 

On  March  21,  1743,  "the  petition  of  Darby  McCartie, 
praying  for  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Hyde 
County, ' '  2®  was  read  and  approved  by  the  Council  of 
North  Carolina  and  on  the  same  day  like  petitions  by 
people  named  Kearney,  McClendon,  Kennedy,  Carrol, 
Duggin,  Lynch  and  Kelley  were  also  passed  upon  by  the 
Council.  On  November  19,  1744,  Darby  McCarty  again 
appeared  before  a  Council  meeting  at  New  Bern  and 
presented  a  petition  praying  for  640  acres  of  land  in 
Hyde  County,  which  was  granted,  and  on  March  13, 
1746,  he  secured  a  further  grant  of  600  acres  in  the  same 
County,  and  on  this  occasion  his  application  was  read 
in  conjunction  with  similar  petitions  from  Daniel  Sulli- 
van, Daniel  Quillen  and  Bryan  Conner. 

George  McCarthy  is  on  record  as  the  patentee  of  300 
acres  of  land  in  Craven  County  on  November  27,  1744,^^^ 
and  as  George  "Maccarthy"  he  is  mentioned  in  the 
Council  Journals  under  date  of  December  4,  1744,  as 
"C^'"'  to  the  Committee  on  Claims  this  Session"  and  the 
Council  ordered  £25  to  be  paid  to  him  for  his  services 

25  Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  IV,  p.  390. 

26  Ibid.,   p.    628.  27  Ibid.,   p.    711. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  117 

as  such.^^  That  George  McCarthy  was  active  in  local 
politics  at  this  time  may  be  assumed  from  the  fact  that, 
under  "an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  appointing 
Road  Commissioners  for  the  various  Districts  and  Coun- 
ties of  North  Carolina" — (Chapter  5  of  the  Laws  of 
1745) — he  and  four  others  were  named  "Commissioners 
of  the  Roads  from  the  Town  of  New  Bern  to  the  Head 
of  Trent  River." -'^  Richard  McClure  was  "Clerk  to 
the  Committee  on  Public  Accounts"  and  Michael  Higgins, 
another  Gael,  was  in  the  public  service  in  the  same  year. 

About  1749,  we  find  the  North  Carolina  McCarthys 
dropping  the  historic  prefix  from  their  names;  as,  for 
example,  John  Carthey  and  George  Carthey,  Junior, 
each  of  whom  received  a  grant  of  400  acres  in  Craven 
County  on  April  6,  1749 ;  Andrew  Carthey,  400  acres 
in  Anson  County  on  September  29,  1749 ;  and  in  the 
next  year  John  and  George  Carthey  were  awarded  600 
and  800  acres  respectively  in  Anson  County.^**  In  the 
same  records  where  these  entries  appear  may  also  be 
seen  entries  covering  land  grants  to  people  named  Mc- 
Gee,  Higgins,  McKenney,  McManus,  Cohalan,  Lynch, 
McHenry,  McDonald,  McConnell,  Fitzjarrold,  O'Neal, 
McGuyre,  Gillespie,  McDowell,  0 'Berry  and  O'Quinn, 
showing  that  there  is  no  dearth  of  Irish  names  in  the 
Colonial  records  of  North  Carolina. 

In  the  probate  records  of  Hyde  County  there  is  an 
entry  showing  that  the  will  of  Bailey  McCarty,  dated 
March  5,  1751,  was  proved  on  September  3rd  of  the  same 
year,  and  among  the  legatees  and  executors  were  the 
decedent's  brother,  Dennis  McCarty,  his  wife,  Elenor, 
and  Thomas  Smith.  Dennis  McCarty 's  will,  dated  April 
6,  1758,  was  admitted  to  probate  in  the  June  term  of 

28  Council  Journals,  in  Colonial  Records  of  N.  C,  Vol.  IV,  p.  751. 

29  State  Records   of  North   Carolina,  Vol.   23,   p.   222. 

30  Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  IV,  p.  959. 


118  THE  McCarthys 

Court  of  the  year  1759.^^  James  Carthey  was  appointed 
"Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Anson  County"  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Council  at  New  Bern  on  April  1,  1751,^^  and 
"A  True  List  of  the  Militia  of  Craven  County  as  at 
October,  1745, ' '  ^^  contains  the  name  of  Michael  Mc- 
Carty. 

In  the  "Minutes  of  a  meeting  of  the  House  of  As- 
sembly" held  on  November  29,  1759,  the  following  entry 
appears:  "Mr.  Harris  laid  before  the  House  a  Cer- 
tificate from  the  County  Court  of  Granville  thereby 
Certifying  that  Cornelius  McCarty,  son  of  David  Mc- 
Carty,  is  a  very  infirm  person  and  recommending  him  to 
be  exempt  from  paying  Public  Taxes.  Ordered  to  be 
exempt  accordingly. 

"Matt.  Rowan,  P.  C." 

The  signer  of  this  order  was  Matthew  Rowan,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  and  afterwards  Governor  of  the 
Colony,  who  was  a  native  of  Carrickfergus,  Ireland,  as 
was  his  predecessor  in  office,  the  famous  Irish  economist, 
Arthur  Dobbs. 

An  Irishman  named  James  McCarthy  was  one  of  the 
early  teachers  of  the  youth  of  New  Bern,  N.  C.  In  the 
Colonial  Records  ^*  there  is  a  letter  from  Governor  Tryon 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,  dated  New  Bern,  February 
12,  1768,  in  which  the  Governor  said:  "The  bearer 
hereof,  Mr.  James  McCartney,  a  native  of  Ireland,  waits 
on  your  Lordship  for  orders  of  ordination.  I  am  in- 
duced to  be  an  advocate  for  him  with  your  Lordship 
in  consequence  of  the  warm  recommendations  I  received 
in  his  behalf  from  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly 

31  Abstracts  of  Wills  in  North  Carolina  Genealogical  and  Historical 
Register    for    1900-1901. 

32  Colonial   Records,    Vol.    IV,    p.    1243. 

33  State  Records,  Vol.   22,  p.   322. 

34  Vol.   VII.   p.    689. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  119 

of  this  Province,  under  whose  roof  he  lived  for  some 
time  in  the  character  of  tutor  to  his  children.  Mr.  Mc- 
Cartney was,  during  his  residence  in  New  Bern,  em- 
ployed as  an  Assistant  to  Mr.  Tomlinson  who  speaks 
handsomely  of  his  diligence  in  the  school  and  regularity 
of  life  out  of  it."  That  this  man's  name  was  McCarthy 
is  seen  from  a  reference  to  him  in  1767  as  "teacher  in 
the  Newbem  school, ' '  and  in  the  Colonial  Records  ^^ 
of  May  1,  1771,  he  is  referred  to  as  "Revd.  Mr.  Mc- 
Carty,  Chaplain  to  the  Army,"  and  "Revd.  Mr.  Mc- 
Carty  of  Granville  Parish,  Granville  County,  preached 
to  the  troops,  April  20, 1771."  ^^ 

Daniel  McCarty  is  recorded  on  March  25,  1771,  as  a 
member  of  the  Tryon  County  militia,^^  and  Florence 
McCarthy  appears  in  the  "Poll  Book  of  Wilmington" 
of  the  year  1780,  as  certified  to  by  the  Sheriff  of  New 
Hanover  County.^^  The  name  of  "Mrs.  McCartey"  ap- 
pears under  date  of  March  17,  1788,  as  having  been 
' '  killed  by  Indians  in  Hawkins  County. ' '  Several  Revo- 
lutionary soldiers  of  the  name  served  in  the  North  Caro- 
lina regiments  of  the  militia  and  of  the  Continental  Line, 
In  an  "Abstract  of  the  Army  Accounts  for  the  North 
Carolina  Line  settled  by  the  Commissioners  at  Halifax 
from  the  1st  of  September,  1784,  to  the  1st  of  February, 
1785,"^"  appear  these  entries  with  the  amount  of  pay 
due  to  each: 


Florence  McCarthy,  Lieutenant, 
William  McCarthy,  Sergeant, 
Miles  McCarthy, 
Stephen  McCarthy, 

36  Vol.  VIII,  p.  660. 

35  Ibid.,  Vol.   19,  p.  840. 

37  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  22,  p.   429. 
38 /bid.,  Vol.  15,  p.   237. 

39  In  Colonial   Records,  Vol.    17. 


L. 

S. 

D. 

360. 

5. 

2. 

60. 

15. 

8. 

185. 

5. 

8. 

97. 

4. 

0. 

120  THE  McCarthys 

In  addition  to  which  there  were  paid  to  Timothy  Mc- 
Carthy all  arrears  of  pay  due  to  fifty-seven  other  sol- 
diers, from  which  I  judge  him  to  have  been  an  officer,  al- 
though his  name  does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  North 
Carolina  muster-rolls  that  are  now  available.  Florence 
McCarthy  is  referred  to  as  "Deputy  Quarter  Master  at 
Wilmington"  in  transactions  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  December  13,  1785,*<>  and  "Timothy  McKarty  of  Cas- 
well County"  is  mentioned  in  the  minutes  of  a  meeting 
of  the  same  body  on  November  25,  1786.*^  On  Novem- 
ber 9,  1789,  there  is  an  entry  in  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  reading:  "Petition  of  Daniel  Mc- 
Carthey  received  from  the  Senate,"  and  the  record  fur- 
ther states  it  was  "endorsed  read  and  that  an  allow- 
ance be  made  to  him  (Daniel  McCarthey)  in  consequence 
of  a  wound  he  received  in  the  late  War  on  board  the 
Bellona  Brig  of  War  in  an  engagement  with  the  Mary 
of  London,  which  deprived  him  of  his  eyesight."  How- 
ever, a  Committee  of  the  House  recommended  "that  as 
no  provision  appears  to  have  been  made  by  Law  for 
the  maintenance  of  seamen  disabled  on  board  of  private 
vessels  and  as  the  Bellona  at  the  time  of  the  engagement 
aforesaid  was  neither  in  service  of  this  State  or  the 
United  States,  the  petition  was  rejected."*-  So  Daniel 
McCarthey,  in  his  infirmity,  was  thus  deprived  of  any 
allowance  in  recognition  of  his  services  to  his  country! 

In  the  burial  records  entered  in  the  church  register 
of  St.  Philip's  Parish,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  there 
appears  an  entry  reading :  ' '  Thomas  Macarty,  July  23, 
1732";  among  the  marriages  is  that  of  "William  Mac- 
Kartey  and  Ann  Dennis"  on  February  19,  1740,  and 
"Sarah  McCarty,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Anne 

40  State  Records;  Vol.  20,  p.   57. 

41  Ibid.,   Vol.    18,    p.    251. 

42  ibid..  Vol.   21,    p.   216. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  121 

McCarty,"  was  baptized  in  that  church  on  November 
27,  1741.  Michael  McKarty  and  Jane  McKarty  signed 
the  parish  register  of  the  Church  of  St.  James,  Santee, 
S.  C,  on  June  9,  1759,  as  witnesses  to  the  marriage  of 
Nicholas  Bryan  and  Mary  Williams.*^  At  that  time  the 
church  was  near  Echaw  Creek,  but  in  1768  it  was  re- 
moved to  a  little  place  known  as  Wambaw  Bridge  in 
Berkeley  County,  a  short  distance  from  Williamsburg. 
It  was  erected  for  a  colony  of  French  Huguenots  who 
first  settled  the  district,  but  between  1730  and  1740  num- 
bers of  Irish  people  began  to  locate  there  and  formed 
important  settlements,  and  while  the  majority  of  the 
names  in  the  parish  register  are  French,  there  are  also 
many  Celtic  names.  Among  them  are  noted  such  names 
as  Callahan,  Connor,  Cockran,  Dealey,  Dayley,  Egan, 
Fogartie,  Logan,  McCormick,  MackDowell,  Roche  and 
Sullivan,  besides  the  McKartys.  These  settlements  are 
mentioned  by  the  historians,  Lossing  **  and  Ramsay.*'' 
Lossing,  in  referring  to  this  district  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  calls  it  "a  hotbed  of  rebellion,"  and  it  is 
known  to  have  furnished  a  large  number  of  recruits  to 
the  brigades  of  Marion  and  Sumter.  Dennis  and  Alex- 
ander McCarty  of  the  Third  Regiment,  South  Carolina 
Line,  and  Jeremiah  and  Mathias  McCarty  of  the  First 
Regiment,  Provincial  troops  of  South  Carolina,  enlisted 
from  the  Irish  settlements  in  Georgetown  County,  which 
is  divided  from  Berkeley  County  by  the  Santee  River. 

The  Journals  of  the  Continental  Congress  show  that 
"A  Memorial  of  James  Pyne,  Captain,  and  Charles 
McCarthy,  Lieutenant,"  was  read  before  that  body  on 

43  Parish  Register  of  St.  James,  Santee,  kept  by  Rev.  Samuel  Fenner 
Warren,  published  in  South  Carolina  Historical  and  Genealogical  Mas/a- 
zine.  Vol.   15. 

44  Field  Book   of  the  Revolution. 

45  History  of  the  American  Revolution;  also  History  of  South  Carolina. 


122  THE  McCarthys 

July  22,  1780.^'  The  document  was  dated  July  18, 
1780,  and  was  an  application  for  appointment  as  officers 
of  the  Continental  Navy,  but  it  is  not  clear  that  either 
was  appointed  and  there  is  an  entry  in  the  Journals  on 
October  25,  1780,  stating  that  McCarthy  was  then  "en- 
gaged in  private  service. ' '  On  August  22,  1780,  a  ''  Pe- 
tition of  Charles  McCarthy"  was  read,*^  and  at  a  meet- 
ing of  Congress  held  on  September  28,  1780,  it  was 
"Ordered  that  a  warrant  issue  on  the  Treasurer  in  fa- 
vour of  Charles  McCarthj^,  for  twenty  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  in  full  payment  of  the  prin- 
cipal and  interest  of  a  set  of  exchange  drawn  by  Major 
General  Lincoln  on  the  President  of  Congress  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  for  which  sum  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars  the  said  Major  General  Lincoln  is  to  be  account- 
able."*® Who  this  Charles  McCarthy  was,  I  am  un- 
able to  determine,  but,  since  his  name  is  coupled  with 
that  of  Captain  Pyne,  who  was  from  South  Carolina, 
it  is  probable  that  he  also  was  from  that  Province. 

The  earliest  mention  of  people  of  this  name  in  the 
records  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia  is  under  date  of  April 
4,  1757,  when  Cornelius  McCarthy  and  James  Wemyss 
appeared  at  a  meeting  of  the  Governor  and  Council  and 
their  proposition  "to  repair  the  lighthouse  on  Tybee 
Island,"  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River,  was  ac- 
cepted.*^ McCarthy  was  a  carpenter  and  builder  at 
Savannah.  Fourteen  years  later,  or  on  January  25, 
1771,  a  long  "Memorial  of  Cornelius  McCarthy"  was 
read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Governor  and  Council  of 
Georgia  in  relation  to  the  building  of  a  new  lighthouse. 

46  The  Memorial  is   in   the   Papers   of  the   Continental  Congress ;    Docu- 
ment  No.   41,   VIII,   fol.    132. 

47  Ibid.,    Document    No.    42,    V,    fol.    209. 

<s  Journals   of   the    Continental    Congress;    Vol.    18,    pp.    873—874. 
49  Colonial  Records  of  Georgia,  Vol.   VII,   p.    507. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  123 

By  a  then  recent  Act  of  the  Assembly  a  sum  of  £3000 
was  appropriated  for  the  purpose,  and  in  his  "Memo- 
rial" McCarthy  said  that  since  it  was  he  who  built  the 
old  lighthouse,  he  knew  "it  would  stand  repairs  for 
many  years"  and  he  offered  "to  put  it  in  a  complete 
state  of  repair  for  £600.  "^'^ 

Cornelius  McCarthy  seems  to  have  been  a  substantial 
and  useful  citizen  of  the  town  of  Savannah,  and  is  on 
record  as  the  recipient  of  several  grants  of  land.  On 
April  5,  1757,  he  received  a  grant  of  a  lot  in  the  town 
of  Hardwicke ;  "  on  September  4,  1759,  he  petitioned 
"for  a  tract  of  500  acres  of  land  on  the  Great  Ogechee 
River  whereon  to  erect  a  saw  mill,"  and  on  November 
6th  following  he  stated  that  he  was  "in  want  of  some 
pine-barren  land  for  sawing  timber  for  building,"  and 
asked  for  "200  acres  at  the  head  of  land  granted  to 
Patrick  Brown  near  Augusta's  swamp."  Both  grants 
were  allowed  by  the  Council.^^  On  December  4,  1759, 
the  Governor  signed  a  grant  in  his  favor  for  lots  in 
Hardwicke  and  Savannah,^^  and  on  December  4,  1764, 
he  received  a  grant  of  "350  acres  in  Christ  Church 
Parish."^* 

As  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  Cornelius  McCarthy  had 
an  interesting  career.  It  was  he  who  built  "the  first 
County  jail  in  Chatham  County,"  Ga.,  and  by  a  strange 
turn  of  fate,  he  himself  was  the  first  person  to  be  in- 
carcerated in  the  jail,  having  been  arrested  on  a  charge 
brought  against  him  at  the  instance  of  the  Royal  Gover- 
nor of  Georgia  for  trying  to  induce  citizens  of  Savannah 
to  join  a  Revolutionary  company  which  had  been  form- 

50  Colonial  Records  of  Georgia,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  231-233. 

51  Ibid.,  Vol.   IV,   p.   523. 

02  Ibid.,   Vol.  VIII,   pp.   112-179. 
53  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  212. 
Bilbid.,    Vol.    IX,    p.    258. 


124  THE  McCarthys 

ing  across  the  river  in  South  Carolina!  As  a  soldier, 
his  name  first  appears  on  the  roll  of  Captain  John  Jen- 
kins' Company  of  South  Carolina  volunteer  militia 
raised  in  June,  1775,  but  in  October  following  Cornelius 
McCartey,  who  probably  was  the  same  man,  is  listed 
on  the  roll  of  Captain  Darius  Dalton's  company  of 
militia  raised  in  Prince  William  Parish,  S.  C.  How- 
ever, when  the  Second  South  Carolina  regiment  of  the 
Line  was  organized  McCarthy  joined  it  and  became  a 
sergeant,  and  during  the  war,  although  no  longer  a 
young  man,  he  performed  several  hazardous  enterprises 
as  a  scout  for  General  Francis  Marion.  An  incident  is 
related  of  him,  which,  while  amusing,  illustrates  the 
resourcefulness  of  this  Irish  soldier. 

There  was  a  time  when  Marion  was  in  a  very  bad  way 
for  ammunition  and  supplies.  The  English  army  had 
over-run  the  Carolinas,  and  it  was  at  that  time  that 
Marion  was  compelled  to  take  to  the  swamps  and  the 
woods.  He  heard  that  General  Nathaniel  Greene  was 
marching  southward  through  Virginia  to  take  the  Eng- 
lish in  the  rear,  and  so  he  made  up  his  mind  to  try  and 
effect  a  juncture  with  Greene.  The  man  whom  he  se- 
lected to  make  the  hazardous  trip  was  Sergeant  Mc- 
Carthy. He  performed  this  service  in  good  shape,  and 
one  hot  August  day  the  Sergeant  was  returning  alone 
through  the  woods,  very  near  where  he  thought  the 
camp  of  Marion  ought  to  be,  when  all  at  once  he  heard 
voices.  With  the  usual  caution  of  a  scout,  he  crept 
up  one  tree,  and  then  another,  and  another,  until  at  last 
he  discovered  in  a  clearing  in  the  forest  a  number  of 
men  lying  around  with  their  coats  off,  and  evidently 
in  perfect  safety,  for  the  English  had  possession  of  the 
country  at  the  time.  They  were  partaking  of  their 
noonday  meal.     At  the  edge  of  the  clearing,  where  it 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  125 

sloped  down  to  where  the  soldiers  were  lying,  their  arms 
were  stacked,  and  without  a  sentry.  McCarthy  dis- 
covered they  were  English  soldiers.  There  were  twenty- 
one  of  them  in  all — twenty  men  in  charge  of  an  Ensign. 
He  made  up  his  mind  that  he  needed  those  arms.  So 
he  crept  along  until  he  got  to  where  the  muskets  were 
stacked,  and  after  several  trips  took  them  all  back  into 
the  woods  and  buried  them  in  a  gully.  Then  he  marched 
boldly  out  into  the  clearing,  blew  a  sharp  whistle  and 
shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "Surround  them!  sur- 
round them!"  Immediately  the  English  soldiers  took 
alarm,  and  started  to  run  toward  where  their  rifles  had 
been,  but  McCarthy  came  forward  with  his  rifle  at  rest 
and  addressing  the  officer,  said,  "Now,  prudence  is  the 
better  part  of  valor.  The  woods  here  are  filled  with 
men.  You  are  completely  at  our  mercy.  The  men  of 
my  command  have  taken  your  rifles  away.  The  best 
thing  you  can  do  is  to  take  your  men,  and  do  it  quick, 
and  march  in  that  direction, ' '  pointing  to  a  path  through 
th,e  woods.  The  men  looked  at  the  officer  sheepishly,  and 
the  officer  looked  at  McCarthy,  and  seeing  that  he  was 
not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with,  he  determined  that  "pru- 
dence was  the  better  part  of  valor,"  so  he  gave  the  com- 
mand to  fall  in!  McCarthy,  keeping  a  safe  distance 
behind  and  threatening  to  kill  the  first  man  who  turned 
his  head  around,  marched  those  twenty-one  men  into 
the  camp  of  Marion!  McCarthy's  Captain  came  out 
of  his  tent  and  when  he  saw  all  the  English  soldiers, 
he  could  not  imagine  what  it  meant.  He  thought  at 
first  they  were  deserters.  But,  all  at  once  he  saw  Mc- 
Carthy, and  then  he  understood  the  situation.  He  broke 
into  a  fit  of  laughter,  and  said :  "In  the  name  of  God, 
Sergeant,  how  did  you  do  it?"  McCarthy  was  a  good 
soldier,  and  so  he  came  to  the  salute  and  in  a  rich  Irish 


126  THE  McCarthys 

accent,  said,  "Arrah,  Captain,  and  sure  that  same  was 
aisy !     Sure,  I  surrounded  them ! ' ' 

Of  another  Revolutionary  soldier  of  Savannah,  named 
Ebenezer  McCarty,  a  Georgia  historian  ^^  relates  the 
following  incident:  "On  the  second  of  August  (1775), 
Ebenezer  McCarty,  charged  with  enlisting  Georgia  re- 
cruits for  the  South  Carolina  regiments,  was,  by  Chief 
Justice  Stokes,  committed  without  bail  to  the  common 
jail  of  Savannah.  A  writ  of  habeas  corpus  having  been 
applied  for  and  denied,  the  citizens  assembled,  forced 
the  jail  and  liberated  the  prisoner.  Not  content  with 
this,  they  marched  through  the  town  with  drums  beating 
and  passed  the  residences  of  the  Governor  and  Chief 
Justice."  The  Governor  mentioned  this  incident  in  a 
letter  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  the  English  Secretary  of 
State,  on  August  7,  1775,  in  which  he  described  the  ac- 
tions of  the  people  as  ''unparalleled  insolence"  and  as 
an  illustration  of  ''the  situation  to  which  His  Majesty's 
government  is  reduced  in  the  Province  of  Georgia." 
And  all  because  of  the  fearless  patriotism  of  a  McCarthy, 
who,  in  all  probability,  was  a  descendant  of  an  "Exile 
from  Erin!" 

Among  the  petitions  for  grants  of  land  by  persons 
named  McCarthy,  the  following  are  mentioned  in  the 
Colonial  Records  of  Georgia : 

Petition  by  Florence  McCarthy  dated  May  3, 1763,  set- 
ting forth  that  he  "had  been  three  years  in  the  Province 
from  Bermuda,  and  had  no  land  granted  to  him  and  was 
desirous  to  obtain  land  for  cultivation,  having  a  wife 
and  two  children ;  therefore  praying  for  200  acres  at  the 
head  of  South  Newport, ' '  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  Coun- 
cil on  April  3,  1764,  a  grant  was  signed  by  the  Governor 
in  favor  of  Florence  McCarthy  for  "200  acres  in  Saint 

55  Charles  G.  Jonco  in  History  of  Georgia,  Vol.  II,   p.  204. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  127 

Andrews  Parish. ' '  ^^  Among  those  to  whom  ' '  Head 
Rights"  were  granted  by  the  Governor  and  Council 
between  1756  and  1759  are  recorded  Daniel,  Florence, 
Charles,  Henry  and  John  McCarty.  Daniel  McCarty's 
petition  for  a  land  grant  came  before  the  Council  in 
December,  1768,*^^  and  was  allowed,  and  on  the  same  day 
the  petition  of  Francis  Maccartan  was  also  read.  On 
November  6,  1770,  a  third  petition  on  behalf  of  Daniel 
McCarty  was  acted  upon  by  the  Council,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  was  allotted  ''200  acres  in  St.  Paul's  Par- 
ish." ^^  Jacob  McCarty  applied  "for  200  acres  of  land 
on  the  Uchee  Creek  in  St.  Paul's  Parish"  on  April  30, 
1770,  and  on  March  5,  1771,  the  Governor  signed  the 
grant  in  his  favor.^^  On  November  5,  1770,  a  like  grant 
was  awarded  to  John  McCarty.  There  are  also  recorded 
among  the  land  grants  in  Wilkes  County,  on  file  in  the 
County  Clerk's  office  at  Washington,  Ga.,  two  grants  in 
favor  of  Daniel  and  John  McCarty  between  1783  and 
1800,  in  recognition  of  their  services  as  soldiers  of  the 
Revolutionary  army.  Roger  McCarthy  is  mentioned  as 
* '  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Jones  County,  Ga. ' '  and  his 
name  also  appears  on  the  first  Grand  Jury  summoned 
in  that  County.^'' 

56  Colonial  Records  of  Georgia,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  54  and  165. 

57  Ibid.,  Vol.  X,  p.  691. 
oS  Jbid.,  Vol.  XI,   p.   180. 

59  Ibid..  Vol.  XI,  pp.  15  and  303. 

60  Historical  Collections  of  Georgia,  by   Rev.   Geo.  White,  p.   505 ;    New 
York,    1855. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   MC  CARTHYS   IN   LOUISIANA,    ILLINOIS  AND   KENTUCKY 

Chevalier  Charles  MacCarthy  came  to  New  Orleans  in  1731 — A 
valiant  soldier  of  France — Governor  of  the  "Illinois  Coun- 
try," under  the  French,  1755  to  1763 — MacCarthys  in  the 
French  Navy  in  the  American  Revolution — Three  ofiScers 
named  McCarty  served  under  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark  in 
the  conquest  of  the  Northwest  Territory — Colonel  M.  Mac- 
carty,  a  leading  citizen  of  New  Orleans — Dennis  McCarthy  of 
Lexington. 

It  was  not  from  Ireland  alone  that  we  find  Mac- 
Carthys coming  to  America,  but  also  from  France,  that 
historic  country  which  in  times  past  furnished  asylum 
to  many  thousands  of  the  "Exiles  from  Erin."  In  the 
earliest  established  regiments  of  Irish  troops  in  the 
service  of  France,  namely  those  of  General  Justin  Mac- 
Carthy (Lord  Mountcashel),  Colonel  Daniel  O'Brien 
(Viscount  Clare)  and  Count  Arthur  Dillon,  as  well  as 
in  all  subsequent  formations  of  the  Irish  Brigade  down 
to  the  Revolution  under  Louis  XIV,  the  MacCarthy 
name  appears  among  the  officers.  As  already  stated, 
Mountcashel  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  to 
receive  a  commission  from  King  Louis  as  Lieutenant- 
General  of  France,  entitling  him  to  command  all  the 
Irish  troops  taken  into  the  French  service,  and  for  many 
years  after  the  downfall  of  James  the  Second  the  Irish 
Brigade  was  maintained  and  strengthened  by  fresh  re- 
cruits arriving  from  Ireland.  Members  of  several 
branches  of  the  ancient  house  of  MacCarthy  flourished 
in  France  with  the  honors  of  French  nobility,  includ- 
ing various  Chevaliers  of  St.  Louis;  not  a  few  of  them 

128 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  129 

are  mentioned  among  men  of  literary  talent,  while  others 
of  the  family  won  distinction  in  the  military  and  civil 
services  of  Spain  and  Austria. 

One  of  the  Irish  emigres  to  France  early  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  was  Charles  MacCarthy,  whom  we  first 
hear  of  in  1731  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  as  a  Captain 
in  the  French  army,  in  which  year  he  was  sent  to 
Louisiana  in  charge  of  a  detachment  of  engineers.  Ac- 
cording to  a  biographical  account  of  him  in  the  collec- 
tions of  the  Illinois  Historical  Society  ^  he  was  born  in 
Ireland  in  the  year  1706,  and  Bossu,  the  French  traveler 
and  historian,  also  states  that  he  was  a  native  of  Ireland,^ 
and  it  is  evident  that  he  was  of  a  good  family,  since 
official  documents  relating  to  French  affairs  in  this  coun- 
try refer  to  him  as  "Chevalier  de  Maccarty"  and  also 
as  "Marquis  McCarthy."  He  was  also  known  as  "Mac- 
Carthy Mac  Taig, "  which  means  literally  "MacCarthy, 
the  son  of  Taig  or  Thaddeus. ' '  For  many  years  he  was 
stationed  at  New  Orleans  where  he  rose  to  the  rank 
of  Major,  and  from  a  number  of  authoritative  sources 
we  learn  that  he  was  an  important  colonial  official  and 
one  who  wielded  great  power  during  the  period  that  he 
represented  the  French  government  in  this  country. 

M.  Nicolas  Bossu,  in  the  celebrated  account  of  his 
travels  along  the  Mississippi  River  to  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Illinois,  relates  that  the  expedition  set  out  from 
New  Orleans  in  six  boats  on  the  20th  of  August,  1751, 
and  that  "M.  Macarty,  who  is  with  us,  has  been  ap- 
pointed Commandant  of  the  detachment  by  the  Court. ' '  ^ 
Bossu  states  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  old  Fort 

iVol.   I,   p.   532. 

2  A  gentleman  of  the  name  in  Washington,  D.  C,  who  made  a  study 
of  his  career,  informs  me  that  he  found  a  record  stating  that  Chevalier 
MacCarthy    was    a   native    of    Cork. 

SBossu's   Travels,   Vol.   I,   pp.   22-23. 


130  THE  McCarthys 

Chartres,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1752,  and  from  that 
time  until  1760  Chevalier  MacCarthy  was  in  command 
at  Fort  Chartres  and  of  all  the  French  troops  in  the 
''Illinois  Country,"  and  until  1763  he  was  Governor 
of  Illinois.  De  Eozier,  in  his  History  of  the  Early 
Settlements  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  states  that ' '  Cheva- 
lier de  McCarthy,  Major  of  Engineers,  with  troops  from 
France,  arrived  at  Fort  Chartres  in  the  latter  part  of 
1751,^  and  took  charge,  bearing  instructions  owing  to 
pending  difficulties  with  England  to  repair  the  fort  com- 
pletely, and,  to  protect  the  territory  for  France.  Mc- 
Carthy erected  nearly  a  new  fort,  and  when  finished 
about  1755  the  war  broke  out  between  France  and  Eng- 
land. "^ 

Edward  Gr.  Mason,  in  "Old  Fort  Chartres,"  also  says 
that  ''Chevalier  de  MaKarty  arrived  from  France  with 
a  few  companies  of  French  troops  in  the  autumn  of 
1751  under  orders  to  rebuild  the  citadel  of  the  Illinois 
Country,"  but  that  is  obviously  an  error,  since  Mac- 
Carthy had  been  commandant  at  New  Orleans  for  sev- 
eral years  prior  to  that  time.  "Other  detachments  fol- 
lowed, ' '  he  says,  ' '  until  nearly  a  full  regiment  of  French 
Grenadiers  answered  the  roll-call  at  Fort  Chartres. 
They  toiled  busily  to  transform  it  from  a  fortress  of 
wood  to  one  of  stone  under  the  skillful  guidance  of 
the  trained  officer,  whose  Irish  blood  as  well  as  his  French 
commission  made  hostile  preparations  against  Great  Bri- 
tain a  labor  of  love  to  him. "  ® 

4  The  date  named  by  Bossu,  March  28,  1752,  probably  is  the  more 
correct,  Bince  he  accompanied  the  expedition. 

5  History  of  the  Early  Settlements  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  by  Firmin 
de   Rozier,   p.    38;    St.   Louis,    Mo.,    1890. 

6  Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  by  Edward  Q.  Mason,  pp.  23—48. 
References  to  Chevalier  MacCarthy  may  also  be  found  in  Franjois-Zavier 
Martin's  History  of  Louisiana;  Vol.  I,  p.  321;  New  Orleans,  1827.  Also 
in  John  W.  Monette's  History  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  tha 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  Vol.  I,  p.   296;   New  York,    1846. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  131 

In  official  correspondence  concerning  the  French- 
English  war  MacCarthy  is  referred  to  frequently  by  both 
sides  and  these  documents  indicate  clearly  that  the 
French  Government  depended  much  upon  him  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  territory,  and  that  Fort  Chartres, 
which  he  made  his  headquarters,  was  the  most  important 
post  in  its  system  of  defenses.  This  fort  was  situated 
on  the  Mississippi  River  on  the  line  of  the  French  fron- 
tier at  Old  Kaskaskia,  a  short  distance  above  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Mississippi  Rivers  in  what 
is  now  Randolph  County,  Illinois.  Captain  Philip  Pitt- 
man,  who  visited  it  in  1766,  refers  to  it  in  his  History 
of  the  European  Settlements  on  the  Mississippi^^  as 
"the  best  built  fort  in  North  America,"  and  Joseph 
Wallace  ^  describes  Fort  Chartres  as  "  a  huge  structure 
of  masonry,  an  object  of  wonder  and  curiosity  to  all  who 
ever  beheld  it;  it  was  reared  at  an  estimated  cost  of 
over  five  millions  of  livres,  or  about  one  million  dollars.® 
It  was  so  nearly  completed  by  the  beginning  of  1756  that 
it  was  occupied  by  the  Illinois  Commandant  and  the  ar- 
chives of  the  local  government  were  deposited  therein." 

In  1757,  when  it  was  reported  that  the  English  con- 
templated to  descend  the  Tennessee  River  for  the  pur- 
pose of  attacking  the  French  posts  on  the  Mississippi, 
MacCarthy  sent  Lieutenant  Aubry  to  construct  a  fort 
on  the  Ohio  River  which  he  named  Fort  Ascension, 
"as  a  memorial  of  the  day  on  which  the  first  stone  was 
laid,"  but  in  history  it  became  known  as  Fort  Massac.^*^ 

7  Pp.  45-46,  London,   1770. 

s  History  of  Illinois  under  t^^  French  Rule,  pp.  313-314;  Cincinnati, 
1893. 

9  Mason,   in  Old  Fort  Chartres,  says  its  cost  was  "one  million  crowns." 

10  Illinois  Historical  Society  Collections,  Vol.  10.  Governor  John  Rey- 
nolds of  niinois,  who  saw  it  in  1802,  thus  refers  to  it  in  his  Memoirs: 
"It  is  an  object  of  antiquarian  curiosity,  the  trees,  undergrowth  and 
brush  are  mixed  and  interwoven  with  the  old  walls.  It  presented  the 
most    striking    contrast    between    a    savage    wilderness,    filled    with    wild 


132  THE  McCarthys 

*'An  account  of  the  Services  of  M.  Aubry,  Captain  of 
Infantry  in  the  army  of  the  King  in  Louisiana, ' '  ^^  says : 
"M.  de  Maearty,  Commander  for  the  King,  then  (May 
1,  1757)  received  certain  news  that  the  English  who 
had  large  settlements  up  the  Keraquis  River,^^  ^^pg 
preparing  to  come  down  to  enter  the  Belle  Riviere  ^^ 
and  from  there  into  the  Mississippi  with  the  design  of 
corrupting  the  savages  and  afterwards  taking  possession 
of  all  the  points  which  we  occupied  on  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi. To  oppose  these  projects,  the  success  of  which 
could  only  be  fatal  to  the  Colony  of  Louisiana,  M.  de 
Maearty,  Commandant  of  the  Illinois,  ordered  M.  Aubry 
to  depart  speedily  with  150  Frenchmen,  100  savages  and 
three  pieces  of  cannon  to  establish  a  fort  on  the  Belle 
Riviere  as  near  as  possible  to  the  Keraquis  River.  In 
consequence  of  these  orders,  M.  Aubry  departed  the  10th 
of  May,  and  after  having  travelled  over  a  large  extent 
of  country  without  meeting  a  single  Englishman,  he 
built  a  fort  conformably  to  the  instructions  of  M.  de 
Maearty  in  a  place  which,  by  its  position  and  elevation, 
put  the  French  in  a  position  to  oppose  the  attacks  of 
the  enemy  more  easily."  The  sites  of  these  old  forts 
are  still  objects  of  much  historic  interest,  although  it  is 
probable  that  few  Americans  are  aware  that  an  Irishman 
was  their  builder  and  that  he  governed  this  vast  terri- 
tory prior  to  its  conquest  by  the  English.^* 

beasts  and  reptiles,  and  the  remains  of  one  of  the  largest  and  strongest 
fortifications  on  the  Continent.  Large  trees  are  growing  in  the  houses 
which  once  contained  the  elegant  and  accomplished  French  officers  and 
soldiers." 

11  "French  Explorations"  in  Ills.  Hist.   Soc.   Collectiont ;  Vol.   I,  p.   168. 

12  The  Tennessee  River. 
IS  The    Ohio    River. 

14  It  is  an  interesting  historical  fact  that  a  countryman  of  Chevalier 
MacCarthy,  Count  Alexander  O'Reilly,  born  in  Ireland  in  1735,  became 
Governor  of  Louisiana  under  the  Spanish  in  1769.  See  Historical  Memoirs 
of  Louisiana  by  Benjamin  F.  French,  for  very  full  accounts  of  Count 
O'ReiUy. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  133 

As  a  result  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  proximity 
of  Fort  Chartres,  numerous  villages  and  settlements 
sprang  up  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  River;  most 
of  the  people  were  French  Catholics,  and  here  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  established  churches  and  schools,  and  under 
the  administration  of  the  popular  Franco-Irish  Governor 
the  settlements  thrived  and  the  people  lived  in  peace  with 
their  Indian  neighbors.  One  of  the  historians  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  in  describing  the  social  conditions 
among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  territory,  says:  ''If 
any  differences  arose  which  the  parties  could  not  settle, 
they  were  referred  to  the  arbitration  of  the  priest,  or 
in  the  last  resort,  to  the  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres, 
a  mighty  potentate  ruling,  in  name  at  least,  territories 
vaster  than  most  kingdoms,  representing  all  the  power 
and  wisdom  of  the  French  King  and  looked  up  to  by 
the  simple  settlers  as  the  perfection  of  all  human 
strength  and  judgment. ' '  ^^ 

Fort  Duquesne  on  the  Ohio  River  was  also  part  of 
the  French  system  of  defenses,  and  after  the  defeat  of 
Braddock  in  1755  this  fort  came  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  MacCarthy.  It  was  under  the  immediate  command 
of  Aubry,  but  in  1758,  when  Washington  attacked  it 
with  large  reinforcements  of  British  and  Colonial  troops, 
the  garrison  surrendered  and  the  fort  thenceforward 
became  known  as  Fort  Pitt.  That  Chevalier  MacCarthy 
had  large  forces  under  him  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that, 
in  1754  when  "Captain  de  Villiers  solicited  MacCarthy 
to  be  allowed  to  go  and  avenge  his  brother's  death," 
he  ascended  the  Ohio  River  to  attack  Fort  Necessity, 
and  when  marching  to  the  assault  the  Indian  outposts 
reported  that  "Villiers'  followers  were  as  numerous  as 

15  "Tlie  French   in   Illinois,"    in   Pioneers,   Preachers  and   People  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  by  Rev.  William  H.  Milburn ;  p.  138;  New  York,  1860. 


134  THE  McCarthys 

the  pigeons  in  the  woods.  "^®  The  French  commander 
is  referred  to  variously  in  Colonial  records  as  *'M,  de 
MaKarty,  Commandant  at  the  Illinois,"  ^^  as  ''Monsieur 
de  MacCarty,  Commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,"  ^^  and  in 
the  New  York  Colonial  Manuscripts  ^^  there  are  several 
letters  between  the  French  colonial  officials  in  1754  and 
1756  in  which  he  is  referred  to  as  ''M.  Maccarty"  and 
"  M.  de  MacKarty, ' '  one  of  which  is  an  interesting  com- 
munication addressed  to  "M.  de  MaKarty"  from  Mar- 
quis de  Vandreuil,  Governor-General  of  New  France.^" 
In  1760,  MacCarthy  was  succeeded  in  the  command 
of  Fort  Chartres  by  Captain  de  Villiers,  and  there- 
after he  continued  as  the  head  of  the  civil  and  military 
government  of  the  territory,  invested  with  powers  of 
almost  vice-regal  character.  Under  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
in  1763,  France  surrendered  to  England  all  her  terri- 
tory in  America  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  two 
years  later  the  British  army  took  possession  of  Fort 
Chartres.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  British  owed 
their  capture  of  the  fort  to  a  countryman  of  MacCarthy. 
Gaine  's  New  York  Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury  of  May 
19,  1766,  printed  the  "Resolutions  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  Freemen  of  the  Province  of  Penn- 
sylvania," in  which  they  expressed  their  "approbation 
of  the  conduct  of  George  Croghan,  Esq.,  Deputy  Su- 
perintendent of  Indian  affairs  under  the  Honourable 
Sir  William  Johnson,  Baronet,  who  in  pursuance  of  his 
Excellency's  Commands  (General  Gage),  by  his  exten- 
sive Influence  and  weight  with  the  Natives  amidst  the 
greatest  Difficulties,  under  the  Favour  of  Divine  Provi- 

16  The  History  of  Louisiana,  by  Francois-Zavier  Martin,  Vol.  I,  p.  324. 

17  In  Penna.  Archives,  2nd  ger.  Vol.  VI,   p.   346. 

18  The    Ohio    Valley   in    Colonial   Dayt,    by    Berthold    Fernow;    p.    180, 
Albany,   N.  Y.,  1890. 

19  Vol.   X. 

20  Now   Canada.  ' 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  135 

dence,  has  happily  reconciled  the  Minds  of  many  distant 
Nations  of  Indians  to  the  British  Interest  and  thereby 
obtained  with  their  Consent  a  Passage  for  His  Majesty's 
troops  to  Fort  Chartres,  which  has  at  length  enabled 
them  to  take  possession  of  that  important  Fortress  in 
the  Illinois  Country."  George  Croghan  was  a  native 
of  Sligo,  Ireland,  and  he  was  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
noted  Irishmen  that  came  to  the  Colonies;  and  the  fact 
is  also  of  some  interest  that  Sir  "William  Johnson,  the 
Colonial  Governor  under  whose  directions  he  acted  in 
this  affair,  was  a  native  of  Smithtown,  County  Meath, 
Ireland,  and  was  of  the  ancient  Irish  family  of  Mac- 
Shane.^i 

Instead  of  returning  to  France  after  the  war,  Mac- 
Cart  hy  retired  to  Point  Coupee  in  the  lower  Mississippi 
Valley,  west  of  the  river,  which  territory  still  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  French.  Here  he  established 
himself  as  a  trader  and  he  seems  also  to  have  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  fort  at  Point  Coupee,  since  one  M. 
de  la  Parine  was  appointed  to  that  post  in  1764  "to  take 
the  place  of  M.  de  MacCarty.""  j^  the  Jesuit  Re- 
lations there  is  an  account  of  the  banishment  of  the 
Jesuits  from  Illinois  and  Louisiana  and  of  their  long 
journey  of  450  leagues  to  New  Orleans,  written  by  Rev. 
Francois  Philibert  Watrin,  and  published  at  Paris  in 
the  year  1764,  in  which  he  relates  how  the  travelers  were 
entertained  at  the  hacienda  of  Chevalier  MacCarthy  at 
Point   Coupee.     Father  Watrin   states  that  when   "at 

21  The  MacShanes  resided  within  "Tlie  Pale,"  the  only  territory  in 
Ireland  fully  under  English  control  up  to  the  sixteenth  century.  Under 
the  operation  of  the  Penal  Laws,  all  Irish  families  resident  in  this 
territory  were  compelled  "to  adopt  English  surnames"  and  English  customs, 
manners,  dress,  etc.  Some  of  these  families  translated  their  Irish 
names  into  Avhat  tliey  meant  in  English  and  thus  the  MacShanes  took 
the  name,  "Johnson,"  from  "Mac,"  meaning  "the  son  of,"  and  "Shane," 
meaning    "John." 

22  Illinois    Historical    Society    Collections;    Vol.    X,    Page    185, 


136  THE  McCarthys 

seven  or  eight  leagues  from  New  Orleans,  they  reached 
the  estate  of  Monsieur  de  MacCarty,  former  Lieutenant 
of  the  King  in  that  City,  who,  by  his  kind  attentions 
recalled  to  their  remembrance  the  benevolence  he  had 
always  shown  at  Illinois,  where  he  had  been  Major- 
Commandant-General.  After  they  arrived  in  town  he 
gave  them  several  tokens  of  his  friendship, "  ^^ 

Chevalier  MacCarthy  did  not  long  enjoy  his  retire- 
ment, and  in  the  Journal  of  D'Ahadie,  Director-Gen- 
eral and  Civil  and  Military  Commander  of  the  Province 
of  Louisiana,^^  there  is  an  account  of  his  death  and 
of  his  burial  with  military  honors  at  New  Orleans,  on 
April  20,  1764.  "On  the  twentieth  (April)  M.  de  Ma- 
Carty,  former  Lieutenant,  died.  I  ordered  out  for  his 
funeral  a  convoy  of  all  the  troops  of  the  garrison,  about 
eighty  men,  and  a  cannon  was  fired  three  times  when 
the  body  left  the  house.  Four  officers  were  named  to 
carry  the  poll.  Although  these  honors  were  not  due  M. 
de  Macarty,  I  have  had  them  rendered  out  of  considera- 
tion for  his  family  and  his  memory."  In  1764,  the 
French  Government  conferred  upon  MacCarthy  the  post- 
humous honor  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  "as  a  reward 
for  his  fidelity  and  services." 

According  to  the  Journal  of  D'Ahadie,  Chevalier 
MacCarthy  was  a  man  of  family,  but  I  have  been  unable 
to  find  any  reference  to  his  marriage  or  to  his  descend- 
ants. One  of  the  Governors  of  Louisiana  under  the 
Spanish  from  1785  to  1791,  Don  Estevan  Miro,  member 
of  a  distinguished  family  of  Catalonia,  married  a  lady 
named  McCarthy  who  is  referred  to  by  Louisiana  his- 
torians as  "a  de  Macarty  of  a  noble  Irish  family  which 

23  Bcmnissement  des  Jesuites  de  la,  Louisiane,  in  The  Jesuit  Relations 
and  Allied   Documents;   Vol.    70,   p.   287. 

24  Reproduced    in    Illinois    Historical    Society    Collections,    Vol.    X. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  137 

had  followed  James  II  to  France. ' '  "  Gayarre  says 
that  she  was  a  native  of  New  Orleans,  so  we  may  assume 
that  Madame  Miro  was  a  daug:hter  of  Chevalier  Mac- 
Carthy.  Thirty  years  after  his  death,  on  November  29, 
1794,  his  nephew,  Florence  MacCarthy,  Lieutenant  in 
the  French  navy,  presented  a  petition  to  the  French 
Minister  of  Marine,  in  which  he  said  that  he  was  *'the 
son  of  Callaghan  de  MacCarthy  and  of  Dame  Marianne, 
also  by  birth  a  MacCarthy,"  and  stating  he  had  "made 
two  successive  voyages  to  America  to  obtain  an  equitable 
settlement  relative  to  a  small  inheritance  which  has  been 
in  suspense  for  thirteen  years,  which  belonged  to  his 
uncle,  a  Knight  of  St.  Louis,  who  died  in  1764  after 
forty  years  service  in  the  French  army."  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  "Knight  of  St.  Louis"  here  re- 
ferred to  was  Chevalier  MacCarthy, 

In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  there  was  a 
Colonel  A.  Maccarty,  a  prominent  citizen  of  New  Or- 
leans, who  may  have  been  a  descendant  of  the  Chevalier. 
In  a  famous  controversy  known  in  history  as  "The 
Batture  of  New  Orleans,"  between  the  United  States 
and  Edward  Livingston,  in  which  the  government  main- 
tained the  right  of  the  nation  to  the  use  of  the  beaches 
and  the  bed  of  the  Mississippi  River  adjacent  to  New 
Orleans,  Thomas  Jefferson  prepared  the  brief  for  the 
government  attorneys.  The  dispute  between  Livingston 
and  the  public  became  very  bitter  and  the  former  en- 
deavored to  maintain  his  position  by  force  of  arms,  but 
on  various  occasions  the  people  gathered  and  drove  off 
Livingston's  employes.  At  length  it  was  agreed  that 
the  people  appoint  a  representative  to  present  their  case 

25  History  of  Louisiana,  by  Charles  Gayarrg,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  391.  Also 
New  Orleans,  The  Place  and  the  People,  by  Grace  King,  p.  128,  New 
York,    1895. 


138  THE  McCarthys 

to  the  government,  and  in  his  brief  for  counsel  Jefferson 
stated  that  ' '  Colonel  MacCarty,  by  general  and  repeated 
acclamations,  was  nominated  an  agent  to  bear  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  a  statement  of  their  griev- 
ances and  that  the  Governor  would  recommend  the 
agent  to  the  government."  ^^  Much  of  this  controversy 
is  also  related  by  Gayarre,^^  and  from  him  we  obtain 
glimpses  of  the  prominent  place  in  the  politics  of  the 
City  of  New  Orleans  held  by  Colonel  Maccarty.  He 
was  one  of  ten  persons  selected  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  session  at  New  Orleans  on  November  4, 
1805,  from  whom  the  President  of  the  United  States 
was  to  form  ''a  Legislative  Council  of  five  for  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Louisiana,"  and  Colonel  MacCarty  was  one 
of  the  five  chosen  for  that  important  office.  There 
was  a  Lawrence  B.  Macarty  also  in  New  Orleans,  who 
in  1812,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Claiborne  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  State  of  Louisiana.  I  assume  that  these 
two  were  descendants  of  Chevalier  Charles  MaeCarthy. 
Several  references  to  Chevalier  IMacCarthy  describe 
him  as  "M.  de  Macarty  Mactique,"^^  and  in  this  con- 
nection it  is  noted  that  the  name  of  the  commandant 
of  Le  Magnifique,  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  French  fleet 
which  came  to  our  aid  in  the  Revolution,  is  described  as 
"Monsieur  Macarty  de  Mantique,"  which  suggests  the 
possibility  that  the  latter  was  a  son  of  "Macarty  de 
Mactique."  The  name  of  the  commander  of  Le  Mag- 
nifique was  Charles  MaeCarthy,  and  in  Burke's  Ge^ieral 
Armory  ^^  the  learned  Irish  heraldist  states  that  he 
was  descended  from  the  MaeCarthy  Reagh  branch  of  the 

26  The    Writings    of   Thomas   Jefferson,   Vol.    18,    pp.    24-25. 

27  History    of   Louisiana,   Vol.    IV. 

28  Dernieres  Annees  de  la  Louisiane  Frangais,  Villers  du  Terrage ;  p. 
103.  See  also  Colonial  Mobile  by  Peter  J.  Hamilton,  p.  568;  Boston 
and  New  York,  1910,  for  interesting  references  to  "Macarty  de  Mactique." 

29  p.   636. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  139 

family.  And,  since  it  is  known  that  Callaghan  Mac- 
Carthy,  the  father  of  the  Lieutenant  before  referred  to, 
was  of  the  MacCarthy  Reagh  branch,  it  is  clear  that  the 
naval  officer  and  the  former  Ffench  Governor  of  Illi- 
nois were  closely  related.  The  Captain  of  Le  Magnifique 
is  also  mentioned  by  Edward  Everett  Hale  in  his  Naval 
History  of  the  Bevolution.^'^  Hale  says  "there  exists 
within  reach  in  America  the  Ms.  journals  of  Maccarty, 
the  commander  of  one  vessel  of  D'Estaing's  fleet.  He 
was  transferred  to  the  America  in  Portsmouth  after  the 
loss  of  the  Magnifique  in  Boston  harbor.  I  have  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Journal  of  the  period  when  he  was  Cap- 
tain of  the  Magnifique  and  while  he  was  superintending 
the  completion  of  the  American  ships." 

Other  MacCarthys  who  served  in  the  French  Navy  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  who  doubtless  were 
descendants  of  Irish  exiles  to  France,  were  "Monsieur 
MacCarty,"  Ensign  on  Le  Conquerant;  Du  Fay  de 
Carty,  Ensign  on  Le  Magnifique,  and  Edward  Mac- 
Carthy, Lieutenant  under  the  famous  Captain  John  Paul 
Jones ;  and  among  the  officers  of  the  army  of  Rochambeau 
serving  in  this  country  was  "Monsieur  Mac  Carty." 
In  the  John  Paul  Jones  manuscripts  at  the  Library  of 
Congress  frequent  mention  is  made  of  Irish  military 
and  naval  officers  in  the  service  of  France,  and  of  other 
people  of  Irish  birth  or  blood,  who  took  part  in  the 
struggle  for  American  liberty.  In  these  papers  there 
is  a  letter  to  Jones  from  Chevalier  de  Fitz-Maurice,  a 
Captain  in  Walsh's  Irish  regiment  of  the  French  army, 
dated  Quimber,  France,  February  5,  1779,  recommend- 
ing "M.  Eugene  MacCarthy,"  and  one  month  later 
Lieutenant  Eugene  MacCarthy  himself  wrote  Jones  stat- 
ing that  he  desired  "to  make  a  Campaigne  .  .  .  under 

so  In   American  Antiquarian   Society   Proceedings,   Vol.   V. 


140  THE  McCarthys 

command  of  a  Gentleman  who  has  distinguished  himself 
by  his  Superior  Talents. "  It  is  evident  that  Lieutenant 
MacCarthy  was  appointed  to  the  position  he  sought, 
and  that  he  served  under  Captain  Jones,  for  in  a  letter 
from  "Comte  de  Walsh- S errant,  Colonel  of  the  Irish 
Eegiment  of  Marine  Artillery,  French  army,"  from 
Paimboeuf,  France,  on  June  14,  1779,  the  writer  said 
that  "the  reputation  of  Jones  in  Walsh's  regiment  is 
such  that  (James  Gerald)  0 'Kelly,  sub-lieutenant  of 
Grenadiers,  wishes  to  join  his  two  comrades  (Edward) 
Stack  and  (Eugene)  Mac  Carthy,  in  serving  under  his 
command,  and  feels  it  best  that  0 'Kelly  should  serve 
against  the  common  foe  wherever  he  wishes. ' '  And  since 
a  letter  to  Jones  from  Stack's  father,  dated  Paimboeuf, 
October  21,  1779,  refers  to  him  as  serving  as  "Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel of  Marines  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard," 
it  may  be  assumed  that  Lieutenant  MacCarthy  also 
served  in  the  same  ship. 

That  there  is  warrant  for  this  assumption  appears 
from  another  document  in  the  Jones  papers,  this  being 
"a  Certificate  regarding  Commodore  Jones"  dated  Paris, 
April  17,  1785,  signed  by  Eugene  Mac  Carthy,  then  a 
Captain  in  the  Regiment  de  Walsh.  This  document 
certified  that  "at  the  time  of  the  action  between  the 
Serapis  and  the  Bon  Homme  Bichard,  the  latter  vessel 
was  rendered  unseaworthy,  that  on  deciding  to  abandon 
her,  the  care  incidental  to  transporting  the  wounded  to 
the  Serapis  prevented  Jones  from  saving  his  personal 
effects  or  those  of  the  crew."  A  similar  certificate 
signed  by  Captain  Edward  Stack,  dated  Paris,  April 
19,  1785,  is  also  among  the  Jones  papers.  Captain 
MacCarthy  was  also  referred  to  by  Jones  in  a  letter 
dated  Paris,  July  18,  1785,  to  George  Washington  at 
Mount  Vernon,  sending  him  "certificates  as  to  candi- 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  141 

dacy  of  Eugene  Maccarty  for  membership  in  the  So- 
ciety of  the  Cincinnati. "  ^^ 

Three  officers  of  the  name,  who  are  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  the  fighting  in  Illinois  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  were  Captains  John  McCartey,  Richard 
McCarty  and  Richard  McCarthy.  The  only  reference 
to  the  former  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  is  in  the 
Draper  Manuseripts,^^  wherein  he  is  mentioned  as  "Cap- 
tain John  McCartey,  an  officer  of  the  Illinois  Bat- 
talion" ^^  ij^  ]^779  Captain  Richard  McCarty  was  of 
the  Virginia  branch  of  the  family  and  is  mentioned  in 
a  "Roll  of  Officers  and  Soldiers  who  were  allotted  lands 
in  Clark's  Grant  (Indiana)  for  services  under  Colonel 
George  Rogers  Clark  in  the  reduction  of  the  British 
posts  in  the  Illinois,"  and  on  April  22,  1784,  he  re- 
ceived a  grant  of  four  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Ken- 
tucky for  Revolutionary  services.  Among  other  soldiers 
to  whom  land  bounty  warrants  in  Kentucky  were  given  ^* 
for  Revolutionary  services  were : 

Charles  McCarty,  200  acres;  date  of  warrant,  April  22, 
1783. 

Peter  McCarthy,  200  acres;  date  of  warrant,  October  21, 
1783. 

James  McCartee,  100  acres;  date  of  warrant,  November  8, 
1784. 

Timothy  McCarty,  200  acres;  date  of  warrant,  July  11, 
1786. 

The  conquest  of  the  Illinois  territory  from  the  Brit- 
ish, one  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements  of  the  Revo- 

31  Naval  Records  of  the  American  Revolution,  p.  209 ;  published  by 
Library    of    Congress,    Washington,    1906. 

32  At  the   Wisconsin    Historical   Society. 

33  See  also  the  "George  Rogers  Clark  Papers"  in  Ills.  Hist.  Soc. 
Collections;  Vol.   8,   p.   353. 

34  Catalogue  of  Revolutionary  Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Virginia,  to  whom  Land  Bounty  Warrants  were  granted  by 
Virginia  for  Military  services  in  the  War  for  Independence,  from  official 
records   in  the  State   Land   Office  at  Frankfort,   Ky. 


142  THE  McCarthys 

lution,  was  carried  out  by  Colonel  Clark.  His  army 
was  made  up  chiefly  from  the  country  west  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  and  the  names  on  the  muster-rolls 
indicate  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  were  Irish, 
either  by  birth  or  descent.  William  H.  English,^^  author 
of  Conquest  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  says:  "had  it 
not  been  for  the  Irish  in  Clark's  command,  the  latter 
would  never  have  whipped  the  British  and  Indians ;  the 
Irish,  fresh  from  persecutions  in  the  old  country,  were 
very  bitter  against  the  English  and  were  of  great  help 
to  Clark. "  ^'^  In  his  own  written  account  of  the  expedi- 
tion Colonel  Clark  mentioned  among  his  valued  officers 
Captains  McCarty,  Quirk,  Carney  and  O'Hara,  "Cap- 
tain Montgomery,  a  gallant  Irishman,"  and  Lieutenant 
Dalton.  According  to  Judge  Lewis  Collins,  one  of  the 
historians  of  Kentucky,  Captain  Richard  McCarty  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Mason  County,  and  it  is 
probable  that  it  was  in  this  section  that  he  located  his 
grant.  It  is  also  stated  that  in  a  conflict  with  a  band 
of  Indians  near  the  River  Raisin  in  the  spring  of  1793 
Captain  McCarty  commanded  the  Kentuckians,  was 
taken  prisoner  and  led  into  captivity,  but  was  purchased 
from  the  Indian  chief  on  the  restoration  of  peace.  He 
and  a  Captain  Baker  are  said  to  have  been  the  only 
captives  to  escape,  the  others  having  all  been  toma- 
hawked. 

Captain  Richard  McCarthy  is  described  in  documents 
in  the  Canadian  Archives  ^^  as  a  "trader  from  this  post 
(Miehilimakinac),  August  15,  1778,  to  the  Illinois." 
The  place  here  mentioned  is  situated  in  the  northern 
peninsula  of  Michigan,  and  is  now  known  as  Mackinac. 

35  Mr.     English    was     Democratic     Candidate     for    Vice-President    with 
General  Winfield   Scott  Hancock  in   the   campaign  of   1880. 

ZQ  Journal  of  the  American  Irish  Historical  Society;  Vol.  3,  pp.  140-142, 
37  Series  B,  Vol.  96,  p.  6. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  143 

In  the  ''Record  Book  of  Colonel  John  Todd,"  the  iBrst 
Civil  Governor  of  Illinois,  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  there  appears  a  "License  for 
Trade"  permitting  ''Richard  McCarthy,  Gentleman,  to 
traffick  and  merchandise  with  all  the  liege  Subjects  and 
Friends  of  the  United  States  of  America,  of  what  nation 
soever  they  be,  and  to  erect  Factories  or  Stores  at  any 
convenient  place  or  places  he  shall  think  proper  within 
the  Commonwealth."  This  license  was  given  "under 
the  hand  and  seal  of  Colonel  John  Todd  at  Kaskaskia 
on  June  5,  1779,  in  the  third  year  of  the  Common- 
wealth, "^s 

It  appears,  however,  that  Captain  McCarthy  had  been 
a  trader  in  the  Northwest  Territory  as  early  as  1768 
and  he  is  mentioned  frequently  in  the  records  of  Cahokia, 
Illinois,  a  place  on  the  Mississippi  River  above  St.  Louis, 
famous  for  its  ancient  mounds.  In  the  Clark  manu- 
scripts now  in  the  Virginia  State  archives,  as  well  as 
in  the  "Journal  of  Major  Joseph  Bowman"  at  the  Li- 
brary of  Congress,  Captain  McCarthy  is  mentioned  as 
commander  of  "French  volunteers"  under  Colonel 
Clark,  and  De  Rozier,  in  his  account  of  the  recapture 
of  Vincennes  from  the  British,  refers  to  "one  company 
of  men  organized  at  Cahokia,  commanded  by  the  brave 
Chevalier  McCarthy."  ^^  Another  reference  to  him  in 
the  records  of  the  expedition  reads  as  follows:  "Cap- 
tain Richard  McCarty  was  a  trader  in  the  English  serv- 
ice up  to  the  time  of  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia.  He 
came  from  Canada  and  located  at  Cahokia.  He  was 
made  commandant  at  this  post  in  August  1779,  but  soon 
came  into  conflict  with  the  civil  authorities." 

38  See    Illinois    in    the    Eighteenth    Century,    by    Edward    G.    Mason; 

Chicago,   1876.  „.    .    .      .   ,r  „        i,      -o- 

39  History    of   the   Early    Settlements   of   the   Mi8s%ssipp%    Valley,   by   i  it- 

min   de   Rozier;    p.    13,    St.    Louis,    1890. 


144  THE  McCarthys 

In  1778,  he  was  "Clerk  of  the  Court  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Cahokia, ' '  the  local  governing  body  established 
by  Colonel  Clark,  and  many  of  the  documents  relating  to 
the  business  of  the  court  and  the  expedition  into  Illinois, 
all  in  the  French  language,  are  in  Captain  Richard  Mc- 
Carthy's handwriting.  One  of  them  is  dated  October 
29,  1778,  and  relates  to  ''the  prayer  of  Dominique 
O'Flanigan"  in  a  cause  against  a  French  settler  named 
Antoine  Harmand.  One  account  of  his  career  in  the 
Cahokia  records  conflicts  somewhat  with  the  foregoing. 
It  says  that  "Richard  McCarthy  came  from  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut.  He  was  living  in  Cahokia  before  1776 
and  built  a  mill  there  on  some  land  he  had  preempted. 
At  the  coming  of  Clark  he  joined  the  Illinois  Battalion 
and  took  part  in  the  Vincennes  expedition.  In  the  Fall 
of  1779  he  was  appointed  commandant  of  Fort  Bowman 
at  Cahokia  and  made  himself  very  unpopular  with  the 
inhabitants. ' ' 

While  this  account  says  he  "came  from  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut,"  there  is  little  doubt  of  its  inaccuracy, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Clark  and  Bowman  journals 
of  the  war  state  he  was  commander  of  "French  Volun- 
teers, ' '  and  the  further  fact  that  he  is  styled  ' '  Chevalier 
McCarthy"  and  that  he  was  appointed  "Clerk  of  the 
Court"  whose  proceedings  were  conducted  largely  in 
the  French  language.  In  my  opinion,  he  was  either  an 
Irishman  who  emigrated  to  France  and  thence  to  the 
French  settlements  in  Canada,  or  he  was  a  native  of 
France.  He  had  an  adventurous  career  as  trader  and 
soldier,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1781  we  are  told  "he  was 
killed  by  the  Indians  while  carrying  a  petition  from  the 
inhabitants  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia. ' '  ^° 

40  Cahokia    Records,    in    CoUectiona    of    the    Dlinois    Historical    Society. 
Some  of  his  adventures  are  also  related  in  the  Draper  collection  of  Clark 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  145 

Thomas  McCartliy  also  served  under  George  Rogers 
Clark,  and  in  1782  his  name  is  found  among  a  number 
of  discharged  soldiers  of  the  expedition  who  made  a 
settlement  on  Corn  Island  in  the  Ohio  River,  at  the  head 
of  the  falls  opposite  where  the  City  of  Louisville  now 
stands.*^  In  the  early  settlement  of  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, John.  Carty  is  mentioned.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1764,  emigrated  to  Kentucky 
shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  fought 
against  the  Indians  at  the  battle  of  Fallen  Timber  under 
General  Anthony  Wayne.  He  is  referred  to  by  a  local 
historian  as  ''one  of  the  most  respected  citizens  of  Lex- 
ington," and  as  "the  most  successful  Kentucky  merchant 
of  his  time,  a  man  of  remarkable  judgment  and  sagacity, 
generous  and  popular. ' ' 

Another  of  the  name,  Dennis  McCarthy,  also  settled 
in  Kentucky  some  time  after  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  Bishop  Spalding,  in  his  account  of  the 
early  Catholic  missions  in  Kentucky,  in  describing  the 
journey  of  two  French  priests,  Fathers  Badin  and  Bar- 
rieres,  who  were  sent  to  those  distant  settlements  by 
Bishop  Carroll,  relates  that  after  their  appointment  to 
the  mission  in  Kentucky  they  set  out  from  Georgetown, 
D.  C,  in  September,  1793,  walking  as  far  as  Pittsburg 
and  then  going  down  the  Ohio  in  a  flat  boat,  ministering 
on  the  way  to  the  people  of  the  scattered  settlements 
along  the  river.  On  their  arrival  at  Lexington  they  were 
received  with  open  arms  by  the  residents  of  the  little 
town,  where,  we  are  told, ' '  they  celebrated  the  first  divine 
service  held  in  Kentucky  at  the  house  of  Dennis  Mc- 

Mss;    now    in    the    Wisconsin    Historical    Library.     He    is    there    referred 
to    as    "Major    McCarty." 

41  Among  McCarthy's  companions  in  this  adventure  are  mentioned  ex- 
soldiers  named  Doyle,  Cochran,  Caghey,  Ryan,  Hynes,  Purcell,  Cunning- 
ham,  McCarland,   McManus  and   Sullivan. 


146  THE  McCarthys 

Carthy,  an  Irish  Catholic."  Father  Barrieres  pursued 
his  journey  to  New  Orleans,  but  the  encouraging  recep- 
tion given  to  the  priests  by  Dennis  McCarthy  and  his 
neighbors,  prompted  Father  Badin  to  settle  down  per- 
manently in  Lexington,  and  in  the  primitive  settlements 
clustered  here  and  there  in  the  valleys  and  foothills  of 
the  Kentucky  mountains  he  spent  twenty  years  caring 
for  the  Catholic  families  who  were  scattered  over  a  wide 
territory.  That  many  of  these  were  Irish  is  indicated 
by  the  large  number  of  old  Irish  Catholic  names  that 
appear  in  the  early  records  of  Kentucky. 

The  Dennis  McCarthy  here  referred  to  had  been  a 
soldier  in  the  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Stephen  Moylan,  enlisting  on  February  19, 
1777,  and  serving  to  the  end  of  the  war,  after  which  he 
continued  for  some  time  in  Moylan 's  employ  as  a  clerk. 
Three  McCarthys,  Dennis,  "William  and  Daniel,  served 
under  Moylan  in  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Dragoons 
and  their  names  may  be  found  in  the  muster-rolls  of  the 
regiment.*^  Colonel  Moylan  earned  considerable  distinc- 
tion as  commander  of  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania 
Dragoons,  better  known  as  " Moylan 's  Cavalry,"  and  at 
one  period  he  was  private  secretary  to  General  "Wash- 
ington. He  was  a  native  of  the  City  of  Cork,  Ireland, 
and  was  a  brother  of  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  that  diocese. 
Another  western  pioneer  of  the  name  was  John  McCarty, 
who  lived  at  the  "Byrd  Settlement"  on  Byrd  Creek, 
near  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri,  in  1799.^^ 

42  Pennsylvania  Archives;   5th   Ser.,   Vol.   II. 

43  History  of  Missouri,  by  Lewis  Houck;  Vol.  2,  p.  185;  Chicago,  1908. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   MC  CARTYS   IN   PENNSYLVANIA   AND   DELAWARE 

Early  settlers  in  Bucks  County — The  Irish  "redemptioners" — 
Large  immigrations  from  Ireland  of  the  old  Celtic  stock — 
McCartys  in  the  Colonial  Wars — McCartys  as  mariners — Cap- 
tain Daniel  McCarthy,  a  noted  sea-captain  of  his  time — 
Large  number  of  McCartys  recorded  as  land  owners  in  the 
eighteenth  century — Thomas  McCarthy  served  on  Washington's 
Body-Guard. 

The  present  State  of  Delaware  originally  was  part  of 
Pennsylvania  and  was  known  as  the  "Three  Lower  Coun- 
ties. "  In  an  official  document  ^  concerning  the  earliest 
period  of  the  history  of  this  territory  the  name  Mac- 
Carthy  appears,  in  the  person  of  Charlotte,  daughter 
of  Donogh,  Earl  of  Clan  Carthy,  who  married  Lord 
Delawarr  after  whom  the  State  and  the  Delaware  River 
were  named.  But,  the  earliest  permanent  settler  of 
the  name  in  Delaware  seems  to  have  been  one  Daniel 
MacCarthy  whose  name  appears  in  the  records  of  the 
Colony  four  years  before  William  Penn  entered  into  his 
famous  "League  of  Amity"  with  the  Delaware  Indians 
at  Shackamaxon,  Pa.,  in  1682.  In  the  records  of  the 
Court  of  New  Castle  County,^  the  name  of  "Daniel! 
MaKarty,"  as  the  plaintiff  in  an  action  at  law  against 
Jeremiah  Herrington,  is  entered  under  date  of  December 
3, 1678,  and  as  "Daniel  MacKerty"  he  figured  in  several 
other  suits  at  law  in  the  same  court,  and  at  a  session 
of  the  court  on  February  4,  1680,  "Daniel  MaKarty 's 

1  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York;  Vol.  XI, 
p.  163;  compiled  by  John  Romeyn  Broadhead  and  edited  by  Edmund  B. 
O'Callaghan. 

2  Published  by   the   Colonial   Society   of   Pennsylvania. 

147 


148  THE  McCarthys 

peticon"  for  a  grant  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  was 
passed  upon  and  approved.  A  Daniel  McCarthy  who  is 
mentioned  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives  ^  under  date  of 
October  10,  1683,  among  "persons  to  whom  warrants  for 
lands  in  Kent,  New  Castle,  and  Sussex  Counties,  Dela- 
ware, were  issued,"  doubtless  was  the  ''Daniell  Ma- 
Karty"  mentioned  in  the  court  records. 

In  other  Delaware  records  the  name  is  also  found,  as 
for  example,  "John  McKarty  of  Black  Creek  Hundred, 
New  Castle  County,"  who  made  his  will  on  December 
1,  1694,  appointing  his  wife,  "Mary  McKarta,"  his  exe- 
cutrix and  sole  beneficiary.*  And,  that  it  is  evident 
there  were  other  families  of  the  name  in  New  Castle 
County  in  the  eighteenth  century  is  shown  by  the  num- 
bez'  of  McCarthys  whose  marriages  are  recorded  in  the 
Parish  Registers  of  Holy  Trinity  Church  at  Wilmington. 
Elsa  MacKarty  was  married  in  that  church  to  Dennis 
Mackginley  on  August  10,  1735 ;  Robert  McCarthy  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Plate  in  1744,  and  Elizabeth  McCarty 
became  the  wife  of  John  Moore  in  October,  1745.  Others 
of  the  name  appear  in  the  marriage  records  of  this 
church  down  to  1774. 

In  "Trent's  Philadelphia  Business  Directory"  for  the 
year  1703  appear  the  names  of  Thomas  McCarty  and 
"John  MacKarty,  ye  barber."  This  seems  to  be  the 
earliest  date  on  which  people  of  the  name  are  recorded 
in  the  present  State  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  burial 
records  of  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing entries: 

"Rebecca  MacKarty,  wife  of  Timothy,  May  11,  1712." 
"Charles  MacKarty,  May  18,  1714." 
"Charles  McCarty,  February  4,  1733." 
"Sarah  McCarty,  October  2,  1746." 

3  2nd  Ser.,  Vol.  VII. 

4  Records   of  the   Register's   office   at  Wilmington,    Del. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  149 

Under  "Landholders  in  Philadelphia  County,  1734,'" 
one  Thomas  McCarty  is  listed  as  the  owner  of  a  tract  of 
land  in  Moorland  Manor,  and  among  his  neighbors  at  the 
time  were  Edward  Burke,  Richard  Reagan,  Andrew  Mc- 
Cleary,  Francis  McHenry  and  Patrick  Kelly.*  At  this 
early  period  it  is  evident  there  was  a  considerable  Irish 
settlement  in  this  part  of  Pennsylvania,  since  the  land 
records  of  Philadelphia  County  refer  to  places  named 
Limerick  and  Dublin,  and  even  before  Philadelphia  was 
laid  out,  part  of  the  land  within  the  City  limits  was 
known  as  "Lower  Dublin,"  and  the  Pennepack  River 
which  flows  through  that  district  was  known  as  ' '  Dublin 
Creek,"  and  in  1698  it  was  called  "Dublin  River"  in  a 
map  drawn  by  Thomas  Holme,  one  of  Penn's  Commis- 
sioners and  Surveyor-General  for  Pennsylvania/ 

Bucks  County  seems  to  have  attracted  many  of  the 
Irish  immigrants  arriving  via  the  Delaware  River  dur- 
ing the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  in 
the  early  records  of  that  section  of  the  State  their  names 
are  found  in  goodly  numbers.  At  a  place  called  Hay- 
cock Run  about  twelve  miles  north  of  Doylestown,  the 
County  seat  of  Bucks  County,  there  were  a  number  of 
McCartys,  evidently  relatives,  who  came  from  Ireland 
between  the  years  1730  and  1737,  and  some  of  their  de- 
scendants are  since  mentioned  among  the  conspicuous 
families  of  the  County.  The  earliest  reference  to  a  per- 
son of  the  name  in  this  region  is  in  the  New  Jersey  Ar- 
chives ^  under  date  of  October  25,  1733,  when  a  marriage 

5  In   Publications   of  the   Genealogical  Society   of   Pennsylvania.,   Vol.   I. 

6  Ihid. 

7  Holme  was  sent  to  Pennsylvania  by  William  Penn  in  1681,  charged 
■with  the  duty  of  selecting  a  site  for  a  City.  He  hadMived  in  various 
Irish  cities  and  according  to  a  long  account  of  him  in  Albert  Cook 
Myers'  celebrated  work.  Immigration  of  the  Irish  Quakers  into  Penn- 
sylvania, he  sailed  from  Waterford,  Ireland,  on  November  29,  1681. 
He  is  thought  to  have   been  a  native  of   Dublin. 

8  Second  Ser.,  Vol.  II. 


150  THE  McCAETHYS 

license  was  issued  in  New  Jersey  to  "Daniel  McCarty 
of  Bucks  County  and  Olive  Titus."  The  place  where 
the  license  was  issued  is  not  stated  in  the  Archives,  but 
in  all  probability  it  was  in  Warren  County,  directly 
across  the  Delaware  River  from  Bucks. 

By  a  deed  dated  March  11,  1737,^  Thomas  and  Rich- 
ard Penn,  for  a  consideration  of  £38,  15s.  and  "a  yearly 
rental  of  one-half  penny  per  acre,"  conveyed  250  acres 
of  land  in  Nockamixon  TQwnship,  Bucks  County,  to  Ed- 
ward McCarty,  and  in  describing  the  boundaries  of  the 
tract  the  deed  mentions  "the  lands  of  John  Durham 
and  Thomas  McCarty,"  which  indicates  that  the  latter 
was  already  a  settler  in  this  place.  There  is  another 
deed  on  record  in  Bucks  County  covering  a  second  tract 
of  250  acres,  sold  by  the  Penns  to  Edward  McCarty 
on  April  19,  1738,^"  and  in  the  same  records  there  is  a 
deed  dated  March  3,  1738,  from  Thomas  and  Richard 
Penn  to  Silas  McCarthy  for  215  acres  in  Nockamixon 
Township,  and  the  tax  lists  show  that  he  and  his  son, 
Carroll  McCarthy,  settled  on  these  lands.  Silas  Mc- 
Carthy is  mentioned  five  times  down  to  1749  in  the  Penn- 
sylvanm  Archives '^'^  among  "Warrantees  of  Land  in 
Bucks  County." 

The  earliest  recorded  marriage  in  Nockamixon  Town- 
ship was  that  of  Patrick  McCarthy  and  Catherine  Ann 
Sanders  on  February  14,  1743,  and  the  first  burial  re- 
corded there  was  that  of  "Catherine,  wife  of  Edward 
McCarthy. ' '  One  of  the  oldest  tombstones  in  the  burial 
ground  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Saint  John  the  Baptist 
at  Haycock  Run  bears  the  following  inscription:  "Here 
lies  the  remains  of  Unity  Casey,  wife  of  Nicholas  Mc- 

9  Warrantees   of  Land,   in  Penna.   Archives,   3rd    Ser.   Vol.   24,    p.    145. 

10  Ibid. 

11  Ibid. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  151 

Carty,  who  departed  this  life  the  first  day  of  June,  a.  d. 
1745,  aged  about  70  years,  R.  I.  P." 

James  McCarty  is  recorded  among  "Warrantees  of 
lands  in  Bucks  County"  under  date  of  April  15,  1746, 
and  again  on  December  31,  1750.  Among  the  settlers 
who  came  into  the  Township  of  Nockamixon  in  the  year 
1748  were  "Thomas  and  Patrick  McCarthy,  brothers, 
from  Ireland, ' '  ^^  who  located  on  Haycock  Run  on  a  tract 
of  500  acres,  and  in  course  of  time  the  records  of  grants 
and  conveyances  of  land  in  the  vicinity  show  that  they 
increased  their  holdings  considerably,  and  some  of  their 
descendants  still  occupy  a  portion  of  the  original  tract. 
Nearly  every  historian  of  Pennsylvania,  and  indeed  the 
historians  of  all  parts  of  the  Colonies,  insist  upon  say- 
ing that  the  early  emigrations  from  Ireland  comprised 
only  the  so-called  "Scotch-Irish"  element,  that  is  to 
say,  non-Catholics  of  original  Scotch  ancestry  from  the 
north  of  Ireland.  They  have  an  ulterior  purpose  that 
is  well  understood  in  thus  describing  these  people,  but 
the  truth  gradually  is  becoming  known,  not  only  as  to 
the  racial  origin  but  as  to  the  religious  affiliations  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  early  Irish  settlers. ^^  It  is  evi- 
dent that  at  this  early  period  there  were  large  settle- 
ments of  Irish  and  German  Catholics  in  Bucks  County, 
and  after  the  Rev.  Father  Schneider  came  there  on  a 
mission  from  the  Catholic  Church  of  Goshenhoppen, 
Pa.,  the  first  permanent  Catholic  mission  was  established 
in  the  house  of  Edward  McCarty  at  Haycock  Run,  and 
here  Father  Schneider  celebrated  the  first  Catholic  re- 
ligious services   in  that  part   of  the   countrJ^     Subse- 

12  History   of  Burk/i   County,  by   General   Davis. 

13  Readers  interested  in  this  subject  are  referred  to  my  book,  A  Hidden 
Phase  of  American  History,  a  work  which  is  the  result  of  twenty  years' 
researches    in   the    records    of    the    Colonial    and    Revolutionary    periods. 


152  THE  McCarthys 

quently,   the   mission  was  conducted   in  the  house   of 
Edward's  son,  Nicholas  McCarty. 

There  are  also  records  showing  that  Rev.  Mr.  Schnei- 
der baptized  the  children  of  a  number  of  the  Irish  set- 
tlers, and  among  these  are  recorded  the  baptism,  ''at 
Christian  Haug's  house  at  Tinicum,"  of  Nicholas  and 
Edward  McCarty,  sons  of  the  first-mentioned  Edward, 
on  May  27,  1742.  The  McCartys  recognized  early  the 
necessity  of  educating  the  youth  of  the  district,  and  it  is 
noted  that  one  of  the  provisions  in  the  will  of  Nicholas 
McCarty,  recorded  in  the  year  1766,  was  "for  the  school- 
ing of  his  children  until  the  youngest  was  eighteen  years 
of  age."  The  family  were  consistent  friends  of  public 
education  and  it  is  related  that  "the  first  school  in  this 
part  of  the  county  was  erected  near  Thomas  McCarty 's 
dwelling  on  lands  donated  by  him  for  that  purpose, ' '  ^* 
and  it  was  through  the  exertions  of  this  family  that  a 
Catholic  parochial  school  was  established  at  Nockamixon 
about  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  On  May  16,  1796, 
John  McCarty  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  executed  a  deed 
conveying  to  the  Rev.  John  Carroll,  Bishop  of  Baltimore, 
one  acre  of  land  in  Haycock  township,  "  f or  a  considera- 
tion of  encouraging  the  worship  of  God  and  for  the  fur- 
ther consideration  of  the  sum  of  five  shillings. "  ^^  On 
this  land  the  first  Catholic  Church  edifice  in  the  county 
was  erected  in  the  year  1798,  and  it  was  also  a  McCarty 
who  later  gave  the  ground  for  the  building  of  a  rectory. 
The  church  served  also  as  a  school  and  one  of  its  teachers 
in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  was  Philip  0  'Con- 
nell,  an  emigrant  from  County  Longford,  Ireland.  Most 
of  the  descendants  of  the  original  Bucks  County  settlers 
adhered  consistently  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  they  are 

14  History   of   Bucks    County,   by    General   Davis. 

15  Registry   of    Deeds,    Bucks   County;    Book   30,    fol.   210. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  153 

among  the  comparatively  few  American  families,  de- 
scended from  Catholic  immigrants  of  Colonial  days,  who 
have  clung  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers  despite  the 
vicissitudes  through  which  it  has  passed. 

Several  McCartys  from  this  neighborhood  served  in 
the  Continental  army  and  in  the  Pennsylvania  militia 
during  the  Revolution,  among  the  first  to  enlist  having 
been  Patrick  and  Thomas  McCarty  from  Haycock  Town- 
ship, whose  names  appear  on  the  rolls  of  Captain  Manus 
Yost's  company  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Foot  of  Bucks 
County  Militia,  commanded  by  Colonel  John  Keller. 
Thomas  was  then  only  sixteen  years  of  age  and  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1834  he  drew  a  pension  from  the 
United  States  government  for  revolutionary  services. 
Patrick  left  many  descendants,  and,  that  they  were  peo- 
ple of  courage  and  endurance,  is  seen  from  the  fact 
that  nearly  all  the  sons  in  the  family,  as  soon  as  they 
came  of  age,  struck  out  for  themselves  in  the  new  settle- 
ments which  began  to  spring  up  here  and  there  in  the 
Western  States  during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century, 
and  in  local  histories  we  find  occasional  references  to 
these  McCartys  among  the  farming  communities  and 
as  tradesmen  in  the  pioneer  towns  of  the  Middle 
West. 

One  of  Patrick  McCarty 's  sons,  Benjamin,  born  in 
Bucks  County  in  1763,  by  his  marriage  with  Mary  Small- 
wood  was  the  father  of  fourteen  children,  nine  of  whom 
married  and  brought  up  families,  and  whose  descend- 
ants are  now  living  in  various  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Michigan  and  Western  Pennsylvania.  Benjamin  is  on 
record  as  acquiring  a  plot  of  land  in  Northampton 
County,  Pa.,  on  July  24,  1815,^^  and  thirty  years  later 
he  removed  to  Northumberland  County  where  he  received 

16  Warrantees  of  Land,  in  Penna.  Archives;  Vol.  26,  p.  131. 


154  THE  McCarthys 

a  grant  of  20  acres  of  land,"  but  some  time  there- 
after he  removed  with  his  family  to  the  little  prairie 
town  aptly  named  Rolling  Prairie,  in  LaPorte  County, 
Indiana,  where  he  died  in  1828.  His  son,  Andrew,  set- 
tled in  Michigan  and  another  son,  James,  at  Xenia,  Ohio, 
in  1832,  at  that  time  a  frontier  settlement,  James  is 
described  by  the  historian  of  Green  County,  Ohio,  as 
"an  extensive  farmer  and  a  leading  and  active  man  in 
County  affairs."  His  son,  Charles  E.  McCarty,  was  an 
officer  of  Ohio  cavalry  in  the  Civil  War. 

Judge  William  M.  McCarty,  who  was  born  at  Brook- 
ville,  Franklin  County,  Indiana,  in  1816,  is  also  thought 
to  have  been  one  of  Patrick's  descendants.  He  is  men- 
tioned as  a  prominent  lawyer  at  Cincinnati.  When  the 
call  came  for  troops  on  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with 
Mexico,  he  raised  a  regiment  and  became  its  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  served  with  it  throughout  the  whole  war. 
This  regiment  was  highly  complimented  for  its  conduct 
at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista.  After  the  war  he  became 
a  State  Senator,  and  was  Judge  of  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  from  1850  to  1855,  and  in  1861  he  was 
chosen  United  States  Senator,  but  for  some  reason  did 
not  obtain  his  seat. 

In  Franklin  County,  Indiana,  history,  references  are 
also  made  to  Jonathan  McCarty,  and  although  he  is 
described  as  "General,"  I  am  unable  to  find  a  record 
of  any  military  officer  of  the  name.  One  account  says 
"he  was  born  in  Tennessee  of  Irish  extraction"  and 
another  that  "he  was  born  in  Virginia  on  August  3, 
1795,"  and  "was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  near 
the  village  of  Brookville,  Franklin  County."  His 
brother  was  Clerk  of  the  Court  and  while  assisting  in 
the  duties  of  that  office  he  studied  law  and  was  elected 

17  Penna.  Archives,  Vol.  25,  p.  258. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  155 

to  tlie  le^slature  from  Franklin  County.  Sometime 
thereafter  he  removed-  to  Connersville,  Fayette  County, 
where  he  was  the  first  clerk  of  the  courts,  serving  in 
that  capacity  until  1828.  In  1831  he  was  elected  to 
Congress,  serving  until  1837.  The  County  historian  saj^s 
of  him :  ' '  He  was  a  man  of  limited  scholastic  training, 
but  possessed  of  great  natural  powers,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  talented  men  of  Indiana  and  a  forceful  and 
eloquent  speaker."  ^^  There  is  another  family  of  the 
name  in  Tippecanoe  County,  Indiana,  although  it  does 
not  appear  that  these  were  of  the  same  immediate  fam- 
ily. The  first  of  the  name  in  that  section  was  William 
McCarty,  who,  when  a  very  young  man,  made  the  long 
journey  on  horseback  from  Cape  May  County,  New 
Jersey,  to  Indiana,  where  he  lived  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  A  local  historian  refers  to  him  as  "one  of  the 
brave  old  pioneers  of  Tippecanoe  County."  ^^  His  son, 
Flavius  Josephus  McCarty,  served  in  the  Fifth  Indiana 
Cavalry  and  had  a  brave  record  in  the  Civil  War. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Lancaster  family  of  Bucks 
County  shows  that  Thomas  McCarthy  was  married  to 
Phebe  Lancaster  in  the  year  1765,  but  there  is  nothing 
to  indicate  if  he  was  the  same  Thomas  McCarthy  who 
came  from  Ireland  with  his  brother  Patrick  in  1748. 
Thomas  and  Phebe  McCarthy  removed  to  Northampton 
County  where  eighteen  children  were  born  to  them,  and 
about  1790  they  removed  to  Muncy,  Pa.,  where  Thomas 
died  in  the  year  1804.  The  names  of  seven  McCartys 
appear  among  the  "Taxables"  at  Muncy  in  the  year 
1796.  The  records  of  the  births  of  this  remarkably 
large  family  of  children  are : 

18  Biographical  and  Genealogical  History  of  Wayne,  Fayette,  Marion 
and   Franklin   Counties;   Vol.    I,    p.    82,    Chicago,    1918. 

19  Biographical  Record  of  Tippecanoe  County,  Indiana,  p.  379;  Lewis 
•Publishing  Company,   Chicago,    1888. 


156 


THE  McCarthys 


Phebe,                    bom     August  2,  1766 

Samuel,                     * 

'        November  8,  1767 

Silas,                         ' 

'        November  3,  1768 

Sarah,                        * 

'        December  19,  1769 

Mary,                        * 

'        December  19,  1769 

John,                          * 

'        December  16,  1771 

John    (2nd),             ' 

May  6,  1773 

James,                       ' 

'         June  10,  1774 

Jane,                         * 

'        September  18,  1775 

Elizabeth,                  * 

'        September  17,  1776 

Thomas,                     ' 

March  8,  1778 

Job,                             * 

'        August  10,  1779 

Hannah,                     * 

'        February  22,  1782 

Benjamin,                 * 

*        July  20,  1783 

Martha,                     ' 

April  24,  1785 

David    Lancaster,    * 

'        December  13,  1787 

Jesse,                         ' 

'         April  10,  1789 

Lydia,                       * 

'        August  16,  1790. 

The  descendants  of  Thomas  and  Phebe  McCarthy  now 
reside  in  widely-separated  parts  of  the  country,  and 
according  to  the  Lancaster  genealogy,  sixty-two  pages 
of  which  are  occupied  by  MeCartys,  they  are  in  almost 
every  State  of  the  Union  and,  all  told,  ninety-three 
MeCartys  are  mentioned  in  the  Lancaster  genealogy. 
Another  Phebe  Lancaster  married  John  Murphy,  whose 
record  is  decidedly  interesting.  It  reads  thus :  ' '  Bom 
1763 ;  died  May  21,  1852 ;  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  the  town  of  Locke,  Cayuga  County,  New  York,  and 
resided  on  a  farm  of  200  acres;  served  his  country  in 
the  Revolutionary  war  in  Captain  Matchin's  Company 
and  in  Colonel  John  Lamb's  artillery;  was  present  at 
the  siege  and  surrender  of  Lord  Comwallis  at  York- 
town  and  continued  with  the  army  until  the  close  of  the 
struggle. ' '  ^° 

Usually,  the  colonial  immigrants  were  classified   as 


20  Oenecdogy  of  the  Lancaster  Family. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  157 

"passengers,"  "redemptioners"  or  "indentured  ser- 
vants." The  "passengers"  were  those  who  were  able 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  voyage  and  were  otherwise 
equipped  to  make  their  own  way  in  the  world  without 
becoming  a  charge  upon  the  country,  and  the  "redemp- 
tioners"  were  those  who,  being  unable  to  pay  their  own 
passage,  bargained  with  the  masters  or  owners  of  vessels 
to  dispose  of  their  "time"  to  the  planters  or  manu- 
facturers, and  when  they  had  "redeemed"  themselves, 
they  were  free  to  go  as  they  chose  and  work  out  their 
own  destinies.  As  to  the  third  class,  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  assume  that  by  "servants"  were  meant  do- 
mestic servants  only.  In  those  days  all  laborers,  ar- 
tisans, husbandmen,  tradesmen,  mechanics,  in  fact  all 
who  labored  with  their  hands,  were  classed  as  "ser- 
vants," and  instances  are  found  where  even  "manufac- 
turers" and  "schoolmasters"  were  so  designated!  And 
indeed,  it  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  conditions  then 
prevailing  that  the  "time"  of  some  of  the  Irish  immi- 
grant schoolmasters  brought  no  higher  price  than  that 
of  the  common  laborer!  The  term  "servants,"  there- 
fore, was  intended  and  used  in  its  broadest  sense,  and 
many  of  those  recorded  under  this  head  were  among  the 
most  useful  classes  that  came  to  the  Colonies,  for  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  what  the  country  needed 
most  at  that  time  were  people  inured  to  toil  and  who 
were  ready  to  meet  the  hard  tasks  that  confronted  the 
pioneers  in  a  new  and  undeveloped  country. 

"When  the  servants  were  illtreated  by  their  masters, 
as  was  frequently  the  case,  they  "ran  away"  and  sought 
new  fields,  and  in  the  colonial  newspapers  may  be  seen 
numerous  advertisements  for  runaway  servants  offering 
rewards  for  their  apprehension  and  return.  While  the 
"runaway  servants"  were  of  various  nationalities,   a 


158  THE  McCarthys 

great  many  of  them  were  Irish.  In  the  advertisements 
complete  descriptions  were  given  of  their  personal  ap- 
pearance, and  there  are  many  instances  where  the  fact 
that  "he  writes  a  good  hand,"  or  "he  speaks  good 
English,"  was  suggested  as  a  means  of  identifying  the 
"runaway."  And  there  are  even  cases  where  Irish' 
"servant  men"  or  "servant  lads"  were  described  as 
being  able  to  converse  in  several  languages,  usually 
English,  Gaelic,  French  or  Latin,  and  sometimes  Greek ! 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Gaelic  was  then  more 
widely  spoken  in  Ireland  than  English,  and  that  the 
youth  of  the  country  were  educated  mainly  in  their 
native  tongue,  an  Irish  boy  or  girl  able  "to  speak  good 
English"  or  "write  a  good  hand"  was  not  a  rarity,  and 
the  fact  that  such  a  large  number  of  them  came  to  the 
colonies  indicates  what  an  intelligent  class  Ireland  sent 
to  America  in  the  formative  period  of  the  country's 
history.  And  let  it  be  recorded  also,  that  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  these,  as  the  names  in  the  newspaper  adver- 
tisements clearly  indicate,  were  of  the  ancient  Celtic 
stock,  and  not  the  so-called  "Scotch-Irish"  or  "Anglo- 
Irishj"  An  examination  of  the  newspapers  will  at 
once  verify  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 

Among  those  advertised  for  in  the  Philadelphia  news- 
papers I  find  several  named  McCarthy.  For  example, 
Thomas  Martin  of  Uwchlan,  Chester  County,  Pa.,  ad- 
vertised in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  January  29, 
1751,  for  "a  runaway  Irish  servant  man  named  James 
McCarthy;  a  weaver  by  trade;  speaks  good  English; 
a  short,  well-set  fellow,  about  21  years  of  age."  Then 
follows  a  minute  description  of  James  McCarthy's  per- 
sonal appearance  and  an  offer  of  a  reward  of  forty  shill- 
ings for  his  return.  The  whereabouts  of  "Florence 
McCarty,  a  runaway  servant-man,  belonging  to  John 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  159 

Flannigan  of  Cecil  County,  Maryland,"  was  sought 
through  an  advertisement  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
of  September  14,  1752,  and  "Hugh  McCarty,  an  Irish 
servant  lad  about  19  years  of  age,"  who  was  "appren- 
ticed to  Thomas  Thorn  of  Chesterfield  Township,  West- 
New- Jersey,"  from  whom  he  had  "run  away,"  was  ad- 
vertised for  in  the  Pennsylvania  Chronicle  of  March 
13-20,  1769. 

In  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biog- 
raphy -^  there  is  a  long  list  of  ' '  Servants  and  Appren- 
tices Bound  and  Assigned  before  James  Hamilton,  Mayor 
of  Philadelphia,  1745,"  and  among  these  appear  the 
names  of: 

"Bryan  McCarty  from  Ireland" 
''Catherine  Cartliy  from  Ireland" 
"John  McCarthrey  from  Ireland." 

The  list  referred  to  is  one  of  the  most  striking  illus- 
trations of  the  racial  character  of  the  immigrants  enter- 
ing the  country  through  the  port  of  Philadelphia  at 
this  or  any  other  period  of  our  history.  It  contains 
the  names  of  866  persons  in  all,  divided  according  to 
countries  of  nativity  as  follows: 

From  Ireland   569 

From  Holland 42 

From  various  parts  of  America 31 

From  England   3 

From  Scotland   6 

From  East  Indies 3 

Persons  whose  native  countries  are  not  stated: 

Bearing  non-Irish  names   149 

Bearing  Irish  names   63 


Total 866 

Proportion  of  Irish 73% 

21  Vols.  30  to  32. 


160  THE  McCarthys 

The  full  names  of  all  of  these  people  are  given  and 
if  the  advocates  of  the  "Scotch-Irish"  theory  were  to 
examine  the  list,  it  would  prove  something  of  a  surprise 
to  note  the  racial  origin  of  the  'immigrants  from  Ire- 
land, ' '  as  indicated  by  their  names ! 

A  number  of  McCarthys  enlisted  in  a  Pennsylvania 
regiment  organized  for  service  in  the  Colonial  wars.  In 
1746  Governor  Thomas  of  Pennsylvania  ordered  that 
400  men  be  raised  for  an  expedition  to  Canada,  and  of 
327  men  recruited  in  the  three  "Lower  Counties"  (now 
the  State  of  Delaware)  in  July  and  August  of  that  year, 
55  per  cent,  were  recorded  as  "natives  of  Ireland." 
The  following  summary  showing  the  countries  of  nativity 
of  these  men  illustrates  the  eagerness  of  the  Irish  settlers 
to  fight  for  their  adopted  country,  and  when  we  consider 
the  fact,  which  the  record  shows,  that  all  were  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  that  they  were  occupied  mainly  in 
manual  toil,  it  may  be  assumed  that  they  were  excellent 
fighting  men  and,  doubtless,  rendered  good  service  to  the 
State. 

Bom  in  Ireland  180 

Bom  in  America  47 

Bom  in  England  39 

Born  in  Germany 27 

Born  in  Scotland  H 

Bom  in  West  Indies 2 

Born  in  Wales,  Denmark  and  Sweden,  one  each 3 

Countries  of  birth — Not  stated   IS 

Total     327 

Among  the  entries  which  appear  in  the  rosters  of  this 
regiment  are  the  following,  in  the  company  commanded 
by  Captain  William  Trent :  " 

22  Pennsylvania  Archives,   2nd   Ser.  Vol.   II,   and  5tli  Ser.  Vol.   I. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  161 

''John  McCarty,  private,  age  24,  born  in  Ireland,  enlisted 
June  30,  1746" 

"Cornelius  MeCarty,  private,  age  26,  born  in  Ireland,  en- 
listed July  10,  1746" 

"Bartholomew  MeCarty,  private,  age  22,  bom  in  Ireland, 
enlisted  August  7,  1746." 

Captain  Trent's  company  is  mentioned  by  Thackeray 
in  his  famous  story,  The  Virginians.  Its  strength  was 
115  men,  of  whom  fifty-two  are  recorded  as  "born  in 
Ireland,"  in  addition  to  which  there  are  five  other  dis- 
tinctive Celtic  names,  making  an  Irish  proportion  of 
fifty  per  cent.  In  Captain  John  Shannon's  company, 
organized  at  the  same  time  as  Captain  Trent 's  company, 
there  were  100  men  of  whom  fifty-one  were  "born  in 
Ireland,"  one  of  whom  was  "Thomas  Carty,  age  30, 
tailor,  enlisted  July  5,  1746,"  and  among  the  enlisted 
men  in  Captain  John  Deimer's  company  was  "Jeremiah 
McCartey,  age  25,  bom  in  Ireland,  enlisted  July  17, 
1746."-  In  Captain  John  Haslet's  company  in  the  Pro- 
vincial service  of  Pennsylvania,  organized  May  21,  1758, 
Jeremiah  McCarty  is  listed,  and  of  the  fifty-two  men 
comprising  the  company  thirty-two  are  down  as  "born 
in  Ireland,"  or  an  Irish  proportion  of  sixty-one  per  cent. 

A  large  number  of  Irishmen  were  in  command  of 
American  merchant  vessels  during  the  Colonial  and 
Revolutionary  periods,  and  in  American  annals  we  read 
numerous  references  to  Irishmen  who  were  trained  to 
the  sea,  and  the  journals  and  other  records  of  the  time 
bear  ample  testimony  to  the  fact  that  Irish  captains  and 
sailors  served  on  American  privateers  sailing  out  of 
every  port  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  These  "rovers  of 
the  sea"  rivalled  in  every  respect  the  native  American 
seamen.  They  were  ready  for  every  individual  hazard, 
whether  engaged  in  peaceful  commerce  or  in  raiding 


162  THE  McCarthys 

enemy  shipping  in  times  of  war,  and  one  is  struck  with 
surprise  at  the  apparently  endless  roll  of  British  ships 
which,  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  were  brought  into 
American  ports  with  rich  cargoes  of  food,  clothing,  arms 
and  ammunition  captured  by  those  clever  and  adventure- 
some American  privateersmen.  Much  of  the  naval  his- 
tory of  the  Revolution  centers  round  the  privateersmen 
and  it  seems  a  great  pity  that  no  one  of  our  well-known 
writers  of  "sea-stories"  has  taken  up  this  subject  se- 
riously, for  it  deserves  a  distinct  place  in  American 
history.  The  Irish  mariners  of  the  wars  of  Independ- 
ence have  left  a  record  in  America  that  is  well  worthy 
of  preservation  and  it  will  stand  as  an  imperishable 
monument  to  the  gallant  part  they  played  in  the  defense 
of  their  adopted  country.^^ 

Among  those  Irish  sea  captains  we  find  a  number  of 
McCarthys,  sailing  principally  out  of  Boston,  New  Lon- 
don, New  York  and  Philadelphia.  In  December  1740, 
the  arrival  at  Philadelphia  of  "Captain  Richard  Mc- 
Carthy in  the  Diana,  with  a  number  of  people  from 
Dublin,"  was  announced  in  the  Philadelphia  news- 
papers. In  Benjamin  Franklin's  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
of  October  19,  1749,  among  vessels  "entered  inwards" 
at  the  Philadelphia  Custom  House,  there  is  an  entry 
showing  that  "the  Brig'*  Dove,  Captain  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty, "  had  arrived  from  London  during  the  previous 
week,  and  in  the  same  issue  of  the  paper  there  are  five 
advertisements  announcing  that  certain  goods,  "just 
imported  by  Captain  McCartie  from  London  in  the 
Dove,"  were  for  sale  at  the  stores  of  William  and  David 
Mcllvaine,  James  Trotter,  Andrew  Elliot,  Henry  Har- 
rison and  Robert  Moore,  all  of  Philadelphia.     Some  of 

23  See  article  on  this  subject  in  Journal  of  the  American  Irish  Historical 
Society,  Vol.    17. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  163 

these  advertisements  were  repeated  in  various  issues  of 
the  Gazette,  and  in  the  Gazette  of  November  2nd,  Charles 
and  Alexander  Stedman,  Samuel  Burge,  John  Wallace 
and  Alexander  Hamilton,  all  Philadelphia  merchants, 
also  advertised  for  sale  numerous  articles  "just  im- 
ported in  the  Dove  by  Captain  Daniel  Macartie,"  and 
some  of  these  annoimcements  were  continued  in  the  paper 
all  through  the  months  of  November  and  December,  1749. 

From  these  advertisements  we  obtain  an  idea  of  the 
extent  and  importance  of  the  cargo  of  the  Dove,  since 
the  total  number  of  lines  in  all  nine  advertisements 
was  270,  and  Robert  Moore's  announcement  alone  con- 
tained sixty-two  lines  of  small  type  to  describe  the  goods 
imported  by  Captain  McCarthy,  "for  sale  at  his  store 
in  Front  Street,  Philadelphia."  Having  examined  the 
newspapers  published  in  the  cities  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board during  the  colonial  period,  I  am  in  a  position  to 
say  that  the  cargo  of  the  Dove  on  this  voyage  was  one 
of  the  most  important  imported  to  this  country,  and 
these  advertisements  indicate  that  the  vessel  commanded 
by  Captain  McCarthy  must  have  been  one  of  the  larg- 
est then  engaged  in  transatlantic  trade.  Under  the  head 
of  "Vessels  cleared  for  departure"  from  Philadelphia, 
the  Gazette  of  November  30, 1749,  announced  "the  Brig'* 
Dove,  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy,  for  Cork,  Ireland." 

The  next  appearance  of  his  name  in  the  public  prints 
was  when  the  Dove  arrived  in  the  Delaware  River  on 
July  30,  1750,  on  her  return  voyage  from  Cork,  and  the 
Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  August  2nd  printed  the  follow- 
ing interesting  advertisement:  "Just  arrived  from  Ire- 
land in  the  Brigantine  Dove,  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy, 
a  parcel  of  likely  servants  in  good  health,  among  whom 
are  husbandmen  and  tradesmen  of  sundry  sorts,  likewise 
some  women,  who  are  to  be  disposed  of  by  James  Pem- 


164  THE  McCarthys 

berton."  This  announcement  also  appeared  in  the  Ga- 
zette of  August  9th  and  16th,  1750,  and  this,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  the  vessel  lay  at  Philadelphia  for 
over  two  months,  indicates  that  the  human  freight  im- 
ported from  Cork  must  have  been  very  large,  since  it 
was  usual  to  retain  the  passengers  on  board  the  immi- 
grant ships  until  the  "time"  of  each  person  was  dis- 
posed of.  In  the  Gazette  of  October  11,  1750,  among 
vessels  "cleared  for  departure"  from  Philadelphia,  the 
"Brig'*  Dove,  Daniel  McCarthy,  for  Jamaica,"  is  listed. 
As  I  have  found  no  other  references  to  Captain  Mc- 
Carthy, I  am  unable  to  trace  further  the  career  of  this 
interesting  Irish  mariner  of  colonial  times,  but  it  may 
be  that  the  "Daniel  McCarthy  of  Dublin,"  whose  death 
was  announced  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  May  28, 
1752,  was  the  same  man.  However,  there  was  a  ' '  Daniel 
McCarty,  Master  of  the  Brig  Dolphin,  thirty  tons," 
registered  at  the  Philadelphia  Custom  House  under  date 
of  June  3,  1768,  and  a  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy  is 
mention  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  in  the  years  1771 
and  1773  as  commander  of  a  merchant  vessel  plying  out 
of  Philadelphia. 

Among  the  commanders  of  vessels  registered  at  the 
Philadelphia  Custom  House,  and  plying  out  of  that  port, 
as  recorded  under  "Ship's  Registers"  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Archives,^*  were :  Justin  McCarthy,  Master  of 
the  sloop  Hihernia,  30  tons,  registered  October  25,  1766 ; 
Charles  McCarthy,  Master  of  the  brig  Helena  and  Mary, 
100  tons,  registered  June  3,  1774,  and  John  McCarty, 
Captain  of  the  brigantine  Comet,  14  guns,  in  the  service 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Navy  in  1776.  A  number  of  sailors 
and  marines  also  served  on  vessels  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Navy  in  the  Revolution.     Patrick  McCarty  enlisted  as  a 

24  2nd  Ser.,  Vol.  XI. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  165 

private  of  marines  on  tlie  armed  boat  Bace  Horse  on  May 
1,  1776 :  Timothy  McCarty  joined  the  crew  of  the  same 
boat  on  June  12,  1777,  and  on  July  7,  1777,  Daniel  Mc- 
Carty enlisted  as  a  marine  on  the  Race  Horse.  Jeremiah 
McCarty  enlisted  as  a  seaman  on  the  ship  Montgomery, 
April  2,  1776,  and  on  August  1st  following  he  was 
"promoted  to  boatswain,"  and  Patrick  McCarthy  en- 
listed March  19,  1776,  as  a  marine  on  the  same  vessel. 
Another  Patrick  McCarthy  was  discharged  on  March  8, 
1777,  from  the  ''Putnam  Floating  Battery."  John  Mc- 
Carty joined  the  armed  boat  Thunder  on  May  6,  1777, 
and  was  recorded  "drowned  May  13,  1777."  Thomas 
McCarty  served  as  a  private  on  the  Warren:  enlisted 
May  1,  1776;  discharged  August  21,  1776.  Jeremiah 
McCarty  was  then  boatswain  of  the  vessel  and  James 
McCarty  was  its  boatswain  after  December  1st,  1776. 
John  McCarty  enlisted  as  a  private  on  the  General  Wash- 
ington on  October  3,  1775,  and  on  February  14,  1776, 
Daniel  McCarthy  was  enlisted  as  a  marine  on  the  armed 
boat  Camden.  John  McCarthy  of  Philadelphia  was  ap- 
pointed Mate  of  the  ship  Columbia  on  June  22, 1781.  A 
Daniel  McCarthy  is  also  recorded  as  "private  in  Captain 
Robert  Mullan's  Company  of  Marines,"  with  date  of 
enlistment  August  10,  1776.  This  was  largely  an  Irish 
company,  judging  from  the  names  of  the  men,^^  and 
were  raised  and  commanded  by  Robert  Mullan,  proprie- 
tor of  a  tavern  in  Water  Street,  Philadelphia.  John 
Carty,  marine,  enlisted  on  the  Bull  Dog  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Navy  on  November  17,  1776. 

No  better  evidence  can  be  found  in  support  of  the 
assertion  that  large  numbers  of  Irish  families  settled 
in  Pennsylvania  in  colonial  days  than  the  names  of  these 
people  recorded  as  patentees  of  lands  in  that  Province 

25  In  Pennsylvania  Archives,  2nd  Ser.,  Vol.  15. 


166  THE  McCarthys 

and  State.  These  names  are  enumerated  in  the  oflficial 
publications  known  as  the  Pennsylvania  Archives,  and 
the  vast  number  of  old  Irish  names  appearing  in  these 
Archives,  beginning  with  the  early  years  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  furnish  a  clear  indication  that  the  immi- 
grants from  Ireland  were  comprised  of  all  classes  of 
the  population  and  that  they  came,  not  only  from  the 
Province  of  Ulster,  but  from  all  parts  of  the  Kingdom. 
Among  these  a  number  of  McCarthys  are  listed  as  "War- 
rantees of  Land"  and  "Taxables,"  and  in  the  muster 
rolls  of  the  soldiers  who  fought  in  the  Colonial  and 
Revolutionary  wars,  and  the  land  records  show  that 
people  of  the  name  were  owners  of  property  in  four- 
teen different  Counties  of  the  State  prior  to  the  year 
1800. 

Many  of  these  Irish  immigrants  settled  in  Chester 
County,  and  indeed  so  numerous  are  the  names  of  these 
people  and  their  descendants  in  the  land  and  church 
records  of  this  part  of  the  State  that  it  would  seem  as 
if  nearly  every  well-known  Irish  family  had  one  or  more 
representatives  in  this  region  prior  to  the  Revolution. 
Chester  County  is  noted  for  the  large  number  of  men 
recruited  there  for  the  Continental  army  and  militia, 
and  among  these  appear  a  number  of  McCarthys.  The 
earliest  mention  of  a  McCarthy  in  the  land  records  of 
Chester  County  is  that  of  Andrew,  who  received  a  patent 
for  one  hundred  acres  of  land  on  March  9,  1748,  and 
again  on  December  12,  1754,  and  in  1750  John  and  James 
McCarty  received  grants  of  fifty  acres  each  in  the  same 
vicinity.  Patrick  McCarty  was  also  a  land  owner  in 
Chester  County,  since  his  name  appears  in  the  tax  lists 
of  the  year  1753,  and  Cornelius  McCarty 's  name  is  en- 
tered in  the  land  records  as  of  September  30,  1757,  as 
the  patentee  of  one  hundred  acres  in  Chester  County. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  167 

Daniel  McCarty  appears  four  times  in  the  year  1753 
as  the  patentee  of  lands  in  Northampton  County. 

Among  the  "Taxables"  enumerated  in  the  "Provin- 
cial Papers,  containing  the  Provincial  and  State  Tax 
Lists, ' '  ^^  and  the  years  in  which  they  are  first  recorded 
appear  an  unusual  number  of  persons  of  this  name,  of 
whom  the  following  is  an  exact  list : 

Year  First 
Name  County  Recorded 

Edward  McCarty    Bucks    1737 

Silas  McCarty   Bucks    1737 

Thomas  McCarty    Bucks     1746 

Andrew  McCarty    Chester    1748 

Silas    McCarthy    Bucks     1749 

John  McCarty   Chester    1750 

James  McCarty  Chester    1750 

Patrick   McCarty    Chester    1753 

John  McCarty   Chester    1753 

Daniel   McCarty  27    Northampton    1753 

Cornelius  McCarty   Chester    1757 

Benjamin   McCarty    Chester    1765 

Patrick  McCarty    (2nd)    Chester    1765 

John  McCarty   Chester    1766 

Thomas  McCarty    Chester    1766 

Edward  McCarty    Philadelphia 1769 

James  McCarty   Northampton    1770 

Nathaniel   McCarty    Bedford   1773 

Nicholas   McCarty    Bucks     1773 

Neal  McCarty    Chester    1774 

Henry  McCarty   Chester    1774 

William  McCarty   Philadelphia  1774 

Duncan   McCarty    Philadelphia 1774 

Isaac  McCarty  Chester    1774 

John  McCarthey   Armagh  Township    1778 

Cumberland 
John  McCarthy   Derry  Township 1778 

Cumberland 

Dennis  McCarty    Philadelphia  1779 

Edward  McCarty    Bucks     1779 

26  In  Pennsylvania  Archives,   3rd   Ser.,   Vol.   24. 

27  Four  separate  grants. 


168 


THE  McCAKTHYS 


Name 

Daniel  McCarty    

Jonathan  McCarty    .  .  . 

Charles  McCarty 

Isaac  McCarty   

Bartholomew  McCartie 

Dugan  McCarty    

Felix  McCarty   

John  McCarty 


Year  First 
County  Recorded 

Chester    1779 

Chester    1779 

Cumberland    1770 

Philadelphia 1779 

Cumberland    1779 

Chester    1780 

Bucks     1780 

Chester    1781 

Paul  McCarty    Washington    1781 

John  McCart    Washington    1781 

John  McCarthy   Washington    1781 

Nicholas  McCarty   Bucks     1781 

Dennis  McCarty    Philadelphia 1781 

John  McCarthy   Berks   1781 

Patrick  McCarthy Northumberland    1781 

Arichibald  McCarty    Cumberland    1782 

Dennis   McCarty    Cumberland    1782 

John  McCarty   Cumberland    1782 

Hugh  McCarthey    York    1782 

John  McCarty    Philadelphia 1783 

Robert  McCarty    Westmoreland    1783 

John  McCarty    Westmoreland    1783 

Samuel  McCarty   Westmoreland    1783 

Adam  McCarty    Westmoreland    1783 

Daniel   McCarty    Westmoreland    1783 

Daniel  McKarty    Bedford   1784 

David  McCarthey    Northumberland    1784 

Dennis   McCarty    Fayette    1785 

David  McCarty    Fayette    1785 

Adam  McCarty    Fayette    1785 

John  McCarty    Fayette    1785 

Nathaniel   McCarty    Fayette    1785 

James  McCarthy   Northumberland    1785 

Laughlin  McCarthy    Northumberland    1785 

Daniel  McCartee   Northampton    1785 

William   McCartee    Northampton    1785 

Thomas   McCarty    Northampton    1785 

Joseph   McCarty    Chester    1785 

John  McCarthy   Washington    1786 

John  McCarty    Northampton    1786 

Benjamin  McCarty   Northampton    1786 

Elizabeth  McCarty   Northampton    1786 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  169 

Year  First 
^«"*«  County  Recorded 

James  McCarty   Northampton    1786 

Thomas  McCartie    Northampton    1786 

Samuel  McCarty   Fayette    1786 

David  McCarty   Westmoreland    " !  1786 

John  McCarty   Cumberland    1787 

Henry    McCarty    Huntingdon    1788 

Michael   McCarthy    Northampton    1788 

James  McCarthy   Northampton    1788 

Silas  McCarty   Northampton    1789 

William  McCarty    Northampton 1790 

Samuel  McCarty   Northampton    1792 

Philip  McCarty   Northampton 1794 

Very  little  information  as  to  these  people  seems  to 
be  available,  and  in  the  few  cases  where  they  are  men- 
tioned at  all  in  the  town  and  county  histories  there  is 
only  mere  passing  reference  to  them.  What  a  rare  op- 
portunity presents  itself  here  for  a  person  who  may  be 
seriously  interested  in  the  story  of  the  American  Mc- 
Carthys, for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  data  as 
to  the  history  of  these  people  could  be  obtained  by  a 
thorough  and  systematic  search.  The  John  McCarthy 
of  Washington  County  mentioned  in  this  list  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  that  district,  having  emigrated 
from  Ireland  in  1773  when  a  very  young  man,  locating 
at  the  head  of  Cherry  Run  Valley  in  Robinson  town- 
ship. Here  he  settled  down  to  pioneer  life  in  the  for- 
est, erected  a  log  house  and  stockade  and  ever  after- 
wards made  the  place  his  home.  He  is  described  by  the 
County  historian  as  "an  energetic,  hard-working  pioneer 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  he  had  made  extensive 
improvements ' '  to  his  original  grant.^^  He  acquired  con- 
siderable land  in  Washington  County  which  he  divided 
among  his  five  sons,  Timothy,  John,  James,  Samuel  and 

^^28  Hweorz/  of  Washington  County,  Pa.,  by  Boyd  Cumrine;   Philadelphia, 


170  THE  McCarthys 

Eobert  McCarthy.  Among  his  neighbors  in  Robinson 
Township  are  mentioned  people  named  McCormick,  Mc- 
Bride,  McGehan,  McDowell,  McGug^n,  McCarroll,  Mc- 
Conaughey  and  McCloskey.  Adjacent  to  McCarthy's 
land  was  Cherry  Fort,  erected  in  1774.  It  was  built 
to  withstand  a  formidable  attack,  and  here  in  times  of 
danger  the  McCarthy  and  neighboring  families  fled  for 
protection  against  the  Indians.-^  One  of  John  Mc- 
Carthy's grandsons,  Dr.  Henry  D.  McCarthy,  was  a 
noted  western  educator.  He  was  bom  in  "Washington 
County  in  1822  and  taught  for  some  years  at  the  "West 
Alexander,  Pa.,  academy  under  Dr.  John  McCloskey, 
after  which  he  took  charge  of  an  academy  at  Morris- 
town,  Ohio.  At  his  own  expense,  he  went  on  a  tour  of 
the  country,  visiting  schools,  lecturing  at  institutions 
and  laboring  in  the  cause  of  education  generally.  About 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  he  went  to  Kansas  and 
opened  a  school  at  Leavenworth,  then  a  frontier  settle- 
ment, surmounting  obstacles  and  difficulties  which  would 
have  overcome  many  less  resolute  men,  but,  on  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  he  volunteered  and  rose  to  the 
command  of  his  company.  After  the  war  he  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  organization  of  the  public  school 
system  of  Kansas  and  was  the  founder  and  editor  of  an 
Educational  Journal  which  had  wide  circulation  and 
influence. 

In  "A  Return  of  the  number  of  houses,  names  of 
owners,  and  number  of  men,  women  and  children  at 
Fort  Pitt,^*'  April  14,  1761,"  extracted  from  a  manu- 
script entitled  "The  Correspondence  of  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Henry  Bouquet,  1757-1765,"  ^^  appears  the  name 
of  Patrick  McCarty.     Patrick  had  served  as  a  soldier 

29  Frontier  Forts  of  Pennsylvania;  Vol.   II,   p.  429;   Harrisburg,   1916. 

30  Now   Pittsburg. 

31  In  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography;  Vol.  VI,  p.  344. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  171 

in  the  Colonial  "War  and  was  in  an  expedition  com- 
manded by  Bouquet.  Thomas  McCarthy  was  "one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  States  to  treat  with  the 
Indians  at  Fort  Pitt  in  1776  for  a  Treaty."  ^^  He  was 
called  by  the  Indians  Moskomoge,  meaning  ''the  Fish 
Hawk."  This  Thomas  McCarthy  also  had  the  distinc- 
tion of  serving  on  Washington's  famous  Body-Guard. 
His  military  record  shows  that  on  January  14,  1776,  he 
enlisted  for  three  years  from  Newtown,  Pa.,  in  Captain 
George  Lewis'  troop  of  Colonel  George  Baylor's  Third 
Regiment  of  Continental  Dragoons  and  was  "assigned 
May  1, 1777,  to  the  Cavalry  of  the  Commander-in-Chief's 
Guard.  "^3 

In  examining  the  records  from  which  the  foregoing 
items  are  extracted,  it  is  with  considerable  interest  that 
one  notes  the  constant  recurrence,  not  only  of  the  Mc- 
Carthy name,  but  of  numerous  other  old  Irish  names. 
These  official  entries,  in  themselves,  show  that  the  Mc- 
Carthys played  a  certain  part  among  the  pioneers  of 
the  "Keystone  State"  in  the  tilling  of  the  soil  and  the 
development  of  its  business,  yet  it  is  strange  that  but 
few  of  these  people  receive  any  credit  from  the  historians 
or  are  mentioned  at  all  among  the  pioneer  settlers.  It 
is  not  only  in  the  tax  lists  that  these  names  appear,  but 
in  connection  with  land  transactions  of  all  kinds  and  the 
everyday  business  of  life,  and  while  these  prosaic  records 
furnish  no  information  to  indicate  what  the  history  of 

32  Penn.  Mag.  of  History  and  Biography,  Vol.  V,  p.   584. 

33  Among  those  who  served  in  the  Commander-in-Chief's  Guard  were : 
Connor        Robert  Finley  .James  Hughes         Thomas  McCarthy- 


Solomon  Daly  William  Garret  John  Kenney  Denis  Moriarty 

William  Darrah  William  Gill  William  Kernahan  Andrew  O'Brien 

Charles  Dougherty  Thomas  Gillen  John  Leary  William  O'Neill 

George  Dougherty  Hugh  Hagerty  Willi.im  Logan  William  Reiley 

James  Dougherty  William  Hennessey  Michael  Lynch  Michael  Sutton 

William  Dunn  Thomas  Hickey  William  McCown  William  Roach 

Jeremiah  Driskel  Thomas  Holland  James  McDonald  William  Mclntire 
James  Dady 


172  THE  McCarthys 

these  people  may  have  been,  one  has  only  to  consult  the 
Pennsylvania  Archives  to  obtain  an  idea  of  the  great 
number  of  Irish  families  who  settled  in  that  Province  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  which  explains  why  such  a  large 
proportion  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Line  were 
of  old  Irish  stock. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   MC  CARTHYS  IN   NEW   YORK   AND   NEW    JERSEY 

Large  number  of  men  of  the  name  appear  in  the  muster-rolls  of 
Colonial  troops  and  the  Land  Papers  of  New  York — The  New 
York  marriage  and  probate  records — ^The  McCarty  families  of 
Albany — The  exploit  of  Timothy  Murphy  at  the  battle  of 
Saratoga — The  old  merchants  of  New  York — Dr.  D.  B.  Mc- 
Cartee,  a  distinguished  scholar — McCarthys  in  the  New  Jersey 
probate  records — Revolutionary  soldiers. 

The  first  of  the  name  mentioned  in  New  York  records 
was  Dennis  McCarthy.  In  the  "Court  Minutes  of  New 
Amsterdam"  the  following  entry  appears:  "Att  a 
Court  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  held  at  New  Yorke 
by  his  Mayest^®^  Authority  the  24th.  day  of  October, 
1671,"  ''Dennis  McKarty  P'*  v/s  Thomas  Edwards,  M"" 
of  the  Ketch  Society,  Def*,  The  P'*  declares  that  the 
Def  is  Indebted  unto  him  for  Cutting  &  Chipping  of 
Logwood  the  summe  of  Five  pounds  sterling  and  craves 
Judgem*  for  the  same  ag^*  the  DefV'  and  the  Court 
ordered  the  defendant  to  pay  the  amount  with  costs. 
Again,  at  "A  Mayor's  Court  held  in  New  Yorke  the  14th. 
of  November,  1671,"  the  case  of  "Samuel  Hall  Pit  v/s 
Denys  McKarty  Deft"  came  up,  but  the  record  says: 
"the  Pit  defaut"  and  "the  Court  ordered  that  a  Non- 
suit should  be  entred  agst  the  PI*  to  pay  Cost. ' '  ^  The 
next  appearance  of  the  name  in  New  York  records  was 
that  of  "Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Boston"  under  date  of 
October  7,  1677.  It  is  evident  that  a  family  of  the 
name  was  in  the  City  of  New  York  as  early  as  1710, 

1  The    Records    of    New    Amsterdam,    1653-1674,     edited    by    Berthold 
Fernow;  Vol.  VI,  pp.  338  and  344,  New  York,   1897. 

173 


174  THE  McCarthys 

as  may  be  seen  from  a  list  of  marriages  solemnized  at 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  which  includes  the  mar- 
riage of  "Dennis  Makharty  and  Elizabeth  Reedt"  on 
December  14,  1710.^'*  "Caerty"  was  another  peculiar 
twist  given  to  the  name  by  the  Dutch  Dominee  who 
baptized  "Wilhelmus,  daughter  of  William  Murfie  and 
his  wife,  Annatje  Van  Ekle,"  at  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  of  New  York  on  December  10,  1718,  ''Geesji 
Caerty,  wife  of  Owen  Carthey  or  McCarthey,"  was  one 
of  the  sponsors  at  this  Irish-Dutch  christening.  One 
Hugh  MeCarty  was  an  early  resident  of  Long  Island 
and  evidently  came  over  as  a  "  redemptioner, "  accord- 
ing to  a  clause  in  the  will  of  Joseph  Sackett  of  New- 
town, Queens  County,  dated  September  20,  1719,  which 
reads:  "I  leave  to  my  son  John  the  time  Hugh  Me- 
Carty has  to  live  with  me  by  his  indenture. ' '  ^ 

A  family  of  the  name  is  on  record  in  Albany  County 
as  early  as  1736.  On  March  7th  of  that  year  "Pieter 
or  Patric  Maccarty  of  Half  Moon"  married  Greefje 
Rhee,  and  there  is  an  entry  of  his  second  marriage  in 
1742  to  Anna  .  .  .  and  among  the  baptisms  at  the  Dutch 
Church  at  Albany  were  "Philip,  son  of  Pieter  or  Patrik 
Macarty"  on  January  8,  1736,  and  "Catharine,  daug- 
ter  of  Patrick  and  Anna  Macarty"  on  February  6,  1743.' 
John  Macarty  seems  also  to  have  been  at  Albany  or  vi- 
cinity, but  the  only  mention  of  his  name  I  can  find  is  the 
record  of  the  baptism  of  "Elizabeth,  child  of  John 
Macarty  and  Anna  Dorson"  on  February  14,  1748.* 
The  marriages  of  Dennis  McCarty  and  Nancy  Homes 

la  Marriage    records  published    by    New    York    Oenedlogicdl    and    Bio- 
graphical Society. 

2  Abstracts  of  Wills,  Lib.  IX,  fol.  9,  in  Vol.  XXVI,  New  York  His- 
torical  Society   publications. 

3  Genealogies  of  the  First  Settlers  of  the  Aricient  County  of  Albany, 
by    Jonathan    Pearson,  p.    77 ;    Albany,    1872. 

4  Hid. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  175 

and  of  Timothy  McCarty  and  Rebecca  Patin,  on  Febru- 
ary 21,  1780,  and  February  15,  1787,  respectively,  are 
also  recorded  at  Albany.^ 

In  the  New  York  newspapers  of  the  Colonial  period 
may  be  seen  occasional  advertisements  of  "Lists  of  Let- 
ters remaining  in  the  Post  office  at  New  York  before 
the  Posts  came  in."  In  all  cases  the  residences  of  the 
addressees  were  not  mentioned,  presumably  because  they 
were  unknown,  and  among  the  advertisements  under  this 
head  which  were  printed  in  issues  of  the  New  York 
Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury  of  the  dates  named  were 
letters  addressed  to 

Ann    McCarty  August  10,  1754 

Mary  McCarty  July  7,  1755 

Neil  McCarty  July  19,  1773 

Margaret  McCarty  March  6,  1775 

Thomas  McCarty  March  6,  1775 

The  muster-rolls  of  the  troops  raised  in  the  Province 
of  New  York  for  service  in  the  Colonial  wars  contain 
a  surprisingly  large  number  of  Irish  names,  and  in 
those  companies  where  the  Captains  or  recruiting  officers 
took  down  the  nativity  of  the  men  it  is  seen  that  a  large 
proportion  of  these  Irish-named  soldiers  were  natives  of 
Ireland,  and  that  most  of  them  were  in  the  prime  of  life 
and  therefore  physically  fitted  to  render  good  service  to 
the  country.  The  original  muster-rolls  were  transcribed 
by  the  New  York  Historical  Society  and  were  reproduced 
in  that  Society's  publications,^  and  from  this  source  I 
have  taken  the  following  items,  covering  soldiers  named 
McCarthy  who  were  recruited  in  various  parts  of  the 
Province  for  the  French-English  War : 

Owen  McCarty  and  John  Karty  in  company  of  volun- 
teers mustered  in  at  the  City  of  Albany  June  4,  1755, 

5lbi4.  6  Vol.  XXIV. 


176  THE  McCarthys 

and  serving  at  Lake  George  in  October,  1755,  under 
Captain  Edward  Matthews. 

Matthew  McCarty  appears  in  roll  of  Captain  Has- 
brook  's  company  of  troops  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
DeLancey,  raised  in  1758. 

Thomas  McCarty,  age  50,  bom  in  Ireland,  labourer; 
and  Lawrence  McCarty,  age  33,  born  in  Ireland,  miner, 
in  company  of  men  raised  in  the  City  and  County  of 
New  York  by  Captain  George  Brewerton.  Date  of  en- 
listment April  16,  1759.  Another  Lawrence,  surname 
recorded  as  "McCarth,"  age  22,  born  in  Ireland,  miner, 
enlisted  on  April  30,  1759,  in  Capt.  A.  Saylor's  company 
of  Colonel  Michael  Thodey's  regiment. 

Thomas  Carty,  age  20,  bom  in  Ireland,  mariner,  en- 
listed in  Captain  George  Brewerton 's  New  York  Com- 
pany on  April  26,  1759. 

Alexander  McCarthy,  bom  in  Scotland,  enlisted  in 
company  of  men  mustered  for  the  City  of  New  York 
by  Captain  Bamaby  Byrne,  March  24,  1760. 

Hugh  McCarty,  age  20,  born  in  Ireland,  labourer,  in 
roll  of  men  raised  in  Queen's  County  in  April,  1760; 
served  under  Lieutenant  Edward  Burke  in  company 
commanded  by  Captain  Daniel  Wright. 

Jeremiah  McCarthey  served  in  Captain  Richard  Rea's 
company  raised  in  Albany  County  in  1761. 

Darby  McCarty,  age  28,  born  in  Ireland,  labourer,  in 
roll  of  Captain  Livingston's  company  raised  in  Albany 
County  in  May,  1760. 

Owen  McCarty,  age  26,  bom  in  Ireland,  mariner, 
served  under  Lieutenant  Constantine  O'Brien  of  Cap- 
tain Abraham  Deforeest's  company,  raised  in  the  City 
of  New  York.     Date  of  enlistment  May  6,  1760. 

Charles  McCarty,  enlisted  in  May,  1760,  in  Captain 
Viele's  company  raised  in  Dutchess  County. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  177 

Patrick  Carty,  age  32,  born  in  Ireland,  labourer,  in 
roll  of  men  raised  in  Queen's  County  by  Captain  George 
Dunbar.     Date  of  enlistment  April  1,  1760. 

William  McCarthy,  age  30,  bom  in  Ireland,  sailor, 
in  roll  of  "men  raised  in  the  Province  of  New  York 
for  the  expedition  against  Canada  under  command  of 
Captain  Francis  Thodey. ' '  Date  of  enlistment  June  11, 
1760. 

Thomas  McCarty,  age  42,  bom  in  Ireland,  labourer,  in 
roll  of  men  raised  in  Albany  County  by  Captain  Stephen 
Schuyler.     Enlisted  May  3,  1760. 

Hugh  McCartee,  age  26,  born  in  Ireland,  stone  cutter, 
mustered  into  Captain  William  Gilchrist's  company 
raised  in  Westchester  County,  May  13,  1760. 

John  McCarty,  age  36,  born  in  Ireland,  labourer,  en- 
listed April  29,  1760,  in  Captain  James  Clinton's  com- 
pany raised  in  Ulster  County.  This  man's  name  is 
also  recorded  as  "John  Mchearty." 

Thomas  McCarty,  age  44,  born  in  Ireland,  butcher, 
in  roll  of  men  raised  in  Albany  County  by  Captain 
Christopher  Yates.     Enlisted  May  19,  1761. 

Thomas  McCarty,  age  21,  born  in  Ireland,  cooper,  in 
roll  of  men  raised  in  Queens  and  Westchester  Counties 
by  Captain  George  Dunbar.  Date  of  enlistment,  June 
17,  1761. 

William  Carty,  age  26,  bom  in  New  England,  labourer, 
in  roll  of  men  raised  in  Albany  County  by  Captain  John 
Van  Veghten,  of  the  Second  New  York  Regiment.  En- 
listed May  28,  1761. 

David  McCarthy,  drummer  in  Captain  Peter  Harris' 
Dutchess  County  company.     Enlisted  May  28,  1761. 

Alexander  McCarty,  in  Captain  Lents'  company  of 
Albany  County  troops,  enlisted  July  2,  1761. 

Charles  MeCartery,  age  27,  born  in  Ireland,  mariner. 


178  THE  McCarthys 

served  in  Captain  Piatt's  Company  of  Suffolk  County, 
mustered  in  1761. 

Alexander  McCarthy,  served  in  Captain  James  Clin- 
ton's company  of  Ulster  County,  mustered  in  June  20, 
1762. 

Jeremiah  MeCarty,  age  30,  born  in  Ireland,  sawyer, 
in  roll  of  men  mustered  in  at  Albany  May  17,  1762, 
for  Captain  Cornelius  Van  Denbigh. 

John  McCarthy  enlisted  December  25,  1763,  in  a  com- 
pany under  Lieutenant  Joseph  Fitzpatrick,  mustered  in 
at  New  York  on  January  6,  1764. 

Thomas  McCarty,  served  as  Lieutenant  under  Captain 
Barnaby  Byrne,  in  a  company  of  Provincials  mustered 
in  at  New  York,  May  9,  1764. 

In  the  "Land  Papers"  at  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  at  Albany,  among  soldiers  entitled  to  grants 
of  land  for  military  services  in  the  Colonial  wars,  a 
large  number  of  Irish  names  appear.  Under  date  of 
January  19,  1765,  there  is  a  "Certificate  of  Captain 
James  Grant  that  John  McCarthy  served  as  a  corporal 
in  the  40th  Regiment,"  for  which  he  was  entitled  to 
a  grant  of  land.  A  "Return  of  Survey"  for  Charles 
McCarty  and  others,  "late  privates  in  the  80th  Regiment, 
of  a  tract  of  800  acres  on  the  East  side  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  Albany  County"  (now  Shelburne,  "Vermont), 
appears  under  date  of  July  20,  1765,  and  on  March  3, 
1766,  John  McCarty  and  John  Sullivan,  describing  them- 
selves as  "late  sergeants  in  the  40th  Regiment,"  peti- 
,tioned  for  "a  grant  of  750  acres  of  land  on  the  east 
side  of  Lake  Champlain  in  Albany  County."  On  Au- 
gust 19, 1766,  Thomas  McCarty  and  five  others  petitioned 
"for  800  acres  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  Hudson's 
River  in  Ulster  County,"  and  the  "Petition  of  John 
McCarty  for  200  acres  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY         179 

River  in  Albany  County,"  accompanied  by  a  certificate 
that  "he  served  as  a  drummer  in  the  80th  Regiment,"  is 
dated  November  11, 1768.  On  September  24, 1771,  there 
was  entered  a  "Return  of  Survey"  for  John  McCarty 
* '  for  200  acres  of  land  on  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River 
in  Albany  County  near  the  Cater 's  Kill." 

John  McCarthy  and  Finley  McCarty  of  New  York 
City  appear  in  the  "Poll  List  on  Election  for  Assembly, 
February,  1761."  I  find  references  to  three  men  named 
McCarthy  having  been  "murdered"  at  different  places 
in  the  Province  of  New  York.  In  the  New  York  Gazette 
and  Weekly  Post-Boy  of  September  10,  1750,  there  is 
an  account  of  a  "Coroner's  Inquest  on  the  Body  of  one 
Thomas  McCarthy  in  this  City,  who  died  the  Tuesday 
before  of  some  Wounds  he  received  the  1st  of  August  last 
in  a  Scuffle  with  a  Boatman,  when  it  was  brought  in 
Wilful  Murder."  The  Providence  (R.  I.)  Gazette  of 
February  4,  1764,  referred  to  the  death  of  "Thomas 
McCarthy,  who  was  Killed  by  a  highwayman  at  Cow 
Neck,  Long  Island,"  and  in  the  "Calendar  of  His- 
torical Manuscripts"  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  under  date  of  March  7,  1764,  there  is  a  copy  of 
a  proclamation  issued  "for  the  arrest  of  Joseph  Corn- 
wall and  Richardson  Cornwall  of  New  York,  Shop- 
keepers, charged  with  the  murder  of  Timothy  McCarthy, 
of  New  York,  Merchant,  who  were  concealed  at  the 
house  of  Henry  Sands,  in  Nassau  Island." 

In  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were 
a  number  of  families  named  McCarthy  in  Orange  County, 
chiefly  at  Minisink  in  the  Town  of  Deer  Park.  Minisink 
was  the  Indian  name  for  a  large  district  now  embraced 
partly  in  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  and  partly  in  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  on  Sussex  County  records  of  the 
year  1758  James  McCarty  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the 


180  THE  McCarthys 

pioneer  settlers^  The  earliest  reference  to  a  person  of 
the  name  was  the  marriage  of  James  McCarty  and  Lisa- 
beth  Mey  in  the  Reformed  Church  at  Deer  Park  on  June 
15,  1746,  and  the  next  appearance  of  the  name  was  when 
Sarah  McCarty  became  the  wife  of  Joseph  Bacon  at  the 
same  Church  on  July  8,  1753.  From  that  time  forward, 
down  to  the  end  of  the  century,  the  name  occurs  fre- 
quently in  the  marriage  and  baptismal  records,  as  will 
be  noted  from  the  extracts  appended  hereto,  which  have 
been  taken  from  the  collections  of  the  New  York  Genea- 
logical and  Biographical  Society.  One  of  the  ancient 
churches  of  the  town  of  Deer  Park  is  at  a  place  called 
Walpeck  and  its  records  show  that  a  large  number  of 
McCartys  were  married  and  baptized  there  during  the 
early  years  of  the  last  century. 

The  records  of  the  Deer  Park  Churches  afford  an  in- 
sight to  the  way  surnames  became  changed  in  America, 
and  they  serve  as  an  explanation  of  the  reason  why  so 
many  old  American  families  of  the  present  day  of  Irish 
descent  now  bear  apparently  non-Irish  names.  Among 
several  curious  entries  which  appear  in  the  baptismal 
register  of  the  Reformed  Church  at  Deer  Park  are: 
' '  James,  three  years  old,  son  of  Hugh  Maccate  and  Mary 
McCann,"  and  ''Stephen,  six  years  old;  Huwe,  four 
years  old;  and  Maragriet,  one  year  old;  children  of 
Stephen  Maccate  and  Nancy  Gibbons,"  all  baptized  on 
March  26,  1764.^  One  would  hardly  suspect  Hugh  and 
Stephen  "Maccate"  to  have  been  MacCarthys,  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  their  marriages  to  Mary  McCann 
and  Nancy  Gibbons  are  so  recorded.  In  the  same 
records  the  name  is  also  rendered  "Charty,"  "Mc- 
Charty"  and  "McKarter,"  as  for  instance:  James  Mc- 

7  New    Jersey    Calendar    of    Wills,    in    New    Jersey   Archives,    5th    Ser. 
Vol.  20. 

8  New    York   Oenecdogical    and   Biographical   Record,   Vol.    43. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  181 

Carty  was  a  witness  at  the  baptism  of  "Jacobus,  son  of 
Christopher  Decker  and  his  wife,  Mariea  McKarter," 
July  9,  1777,  and  "William  M.  Charty"  and  "Elizabeth 
M.  Charty"  were  sponsors  for  "Andries,  son  of  Christo- 
pher Decker  and  his  wife,  Maria  McCharty"  on  April 
29,  1772.  In  other  entries  the  names  of  the  "Chartys" 
are  spelled  "McCarty"  and  also  that  of  "Mariea  Mc- 
Karter" or  "Maria  McCharty."  There  is  no  mention 
whatever  of  these  people  in  Orange  County  histories, 
notwithstanding  that  there  have  been  several  families 
of  the  name  there  since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

The  Registry  of  Deeds  for  New  York  County  contains 
the  following  entries:  deed  from  Charles  McCarthy  to 
James  Logan  and  others,  dated  October  30,  1765 ;  ^  deed 
from  Thomas  and  Mary  McCarthy  to  Robert  Spier,  dated 
May  1,  1798,i<>  and  deed  from  John  Schanck  to  Thomas 
McCarty,  dated  May  2,  1797."  Among  persons  of  this 
name  who  appear  in  New  York  probate  records  are  the 
following : 

John  McCarthey,  witness  to  will  of  Thomas  Hepworth 
of  New  York  City,  April  22,  1758. 

George  McCarty,  witness  to  will  of  Jacob  Stone  of 
Beekman,  Dutchess  County,  February  15,  1773. 

Cornelius  McCarthy,  witness  to  will  of  Joshua  Bishop 
of  Phillipsburgh,  Westchester  County,  August  23,  1775, 
and  Cornelius  McCarty,  possibly  the  same,  witness  to 
will  of  Benjamin  Farmington  of  Mile  Square,  West- 
chester County,  April  4,  1779. 

Thomas  McCarthy,  witness  to  will  of  Michael  O'Dell 
of  Westchester  County,  July  22,  1782. 

John  McCarty,  "Clerk. in  hospital,"  died  intestate 

9  Liter  37,   p.  463.  n  Liber  54,  p.  493. 

10  Liber   57,    p.   488. 


182  THE  McCarthys 

and  Letters  of  Administration  granted  to  George  Stan- 
ton on  September  15,  1782. 

Charlotte  McCarthy,  wife  of,  David  McCarthy,  one 
of  the  beneficiaries  under  the  will  of  John  Barclay, 
Mayor  of  the  City  of  Albany,  dated  June  20,  1783. 

Charles  McCarthy  "  and  Jonathan  Sullivan,  witnesses 
to  will  of  Gibbon  Bourke,  merchant  of  New  York,  dated 
March  2,  1788.  Among  the  legatees  mentioned  were 
John  and  Marie  Sullivan,  Thomas,  John,  Margaret  and 
Michael  Bourke,  and  "the  Catholic  Church  of  St. 
Peter's." 

James  "McCardy"  appointed  one  of  the  executors  of 
the  will  of  John  Barkley  of  Montgomery,  Ulster  County, 
dated  September  4,  1786. 

Timothy  McCarty,  witness  to  will  of  John  Peters  of 
New  York  City,  May  18,  1791. 

Duncan  McCarty,  witness  to  will  of  James  Lakerman 
of  New  York,  January  16,  1793. 

Charles  McCarty,  witness  to  will  of  James  Farrell  of 
New  York,  June  14,  1794. 

Thomas  McCarty,  cooper  of  New  York,  died  intestate 
and  Letters  of  Administration  granted  to  his  wife,  Mary, 
December  29,  1798. 

John  McCarty  was  one  of  the  signatories  to  the  '  *  Asso- 
ciation Pledge"  of  1775,  by  which  the  people  of  Orange 
County  pledged  their  allegiance  to  the  patriot  cause,^^ 
and  it  is  noted  that  among  those  who  signed  the  Pledge 
from  the  little  town  of  Cornwall,  where  John  McCarty 
resided,  were  a  goodly  Irish  representation,  consisting 
of  the  following : 

12  Charles    McCarthy    signed    as    -witness    to   ten    New   York   Wills   prior 
to    1800,    from    which    it   is    assumed    that   he   was    a    lawyer. 

13  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts  relating  to  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution,  published    by   the    Secretary   of    State;    Vol.    I,    p.    13. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY        '  183 

Thomas  Sullivan,  Matthew  Sweeny,        Maurice  Hearen, 

John  Kelly,  Thomas  Lynch,  Lewis   Donovan, 

Michael  Kelley,  Francis  Bourke,  John   McKelvey, 

Hugh  McDonnel,  William  McLaughlin,  John    McClughin, 

Patrick   O'Day,  Patrick    McDonall,      Patrick  Ford. 

Patrich  Cashaday,  Patrick  McLaughlin, 

Another  of  the  name,  John  McKarty,  appears  as  one 
of  the  "Associators  at  Kingston,  Ulster  County,  May 
and  June,  1775. "  "  A  similar  pledge  was  entered  into 
by  patriots  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  accordance 
with  a  "General  Association  adopted  by  the  Freemen, 
Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New  York 
on  Saturday  the  29th  of  April,  1775,  and  transmitted 
to  all  the  Counties  of  the  Province,"  and  among  the 
nearly  250  Irish-named  signatories  to  this  historic  docu- 
ment, as  shown  in  Force's  American  Archives,^^  appear 
the  names  of  Bartholomew  Carty,  John  McCarty  and 
John  McKarty. 

David  McCarty  was  a  man  of  some  prominence  at  Al- 
bany before  the  Revolution.  The  ''Journal  of  the  New 
York  Legislative  Council"  ^^  shows  that  on  March  9, 
1775,  he  was  recommended  to  the  Governor  for  an  ap- 
pointment as  Justice  of  Albany  County.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  Albany  County 
during  the  Revolution  and  appears  also  to  have  served 
in  the  field,  and  from  1793  until  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  General  of  State  troops.  According  to  American 
Ancestry,^^  he  came  from  Ireland  to  Albany  prior  to 
1771,  and  in  that  year  he  married  Charlotta  Coeymans, 
granddaughter  of  Pieter  Coeymans,  the  founder  of  a 
wealthy  Dutch  family,  and  through  this  marriage  David 

14 /bid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  30. 

15  4th   Ser.  Vol.   Ill,   pp.    582-619. 

16  See  Calendar  of  HMorical  Manuscripts,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State;  ed.  by  O'Callaghan,  p.  832. 

17  Vol.  I,  p.  54;  edited  by  Joel  Munsell,  Albany,   N.  Y. 


184  THE  McCarthys 

McCarty  came  into  possession  of  portion  of  the  lands 
comprised  in  the  old  Coe>Tiians  patent.  On  April  14, 
1776,  McCarty  signed  himself  as  "of  the  Manor  of 
Rensselaer"  in  a  "Recommendation  for  Sheriff  and 
Clerk  of  Albany. "  ^^  In  1792  he  is  mentioned  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature  and  later  as  a  Judge  of  Albany 
County.^®  He  died  in  1812,  His  son,  David,  born  in 
Albany  in  1782,  was  a  State  Senator  in  1826  and  Judge 
of  Albany  County.  Another  David  McCarty  of  Coey- 
mans,  who  was  bom  in  1808,  was  Colonel  of  the  110th 
Regiment  of  New  York  State  Militia.  Still  another 
family  of  the  name  lived  in  Rensselaer  County.  In 
American  Ancestry  there  is  a  reference  to  George  Mc- 
Carthy, born  at  Greenbush  in  1775,  who  was  a  son  of 
Timothy  McCarthy  (and  Rebecca  Patten)  who  was 
"born  in  County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica."-'' Among  the  early  settlers  at  Lansingburgh, 
Rensselaer  County,  about  1771  Hugh  McCarty  is  men- 
tioned.^^ 

There  was  a  John  McCarty  at  Albany,  probably  of 
the  same  family  as  David,  who  is  mentioned  as  furnish- 
ing supplies  for  the  use  of  the  American  troops  during 
the  Revolution.  In  the  "Journal  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  of  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress"  there  is 
an  entry  under  date  of  March  3,  1777,  showing  that 
"James  Magee,  one  of  the  persons  appointed  by  the 
Committee  by  their  resolution  on  the  ninth  of  October 
last,  to  purchase  clothing  of  different  kinds  in  the 
County  of  Albany  for  the  use  of  the  troops  raised  in 
this  State,"  was  furnished  with  goods,  valued  at  £102. 

IS  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts;   Vol.   I,   p.   324. 

19  New    York    Genealogical   d;   Biographical   Record,   Vol.    33. 

20  American  Ancestry,   Vol.    I,   p.    54.  v      tw       a     t 

21  History  of  the  Seventeen  Towns  of  Rensselaer  County,  by  Dr.  A.  J. 
Weise. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  185 

19s.  6d.,  for  the  use  of  the  Third  Battalion  of  New  York 
Continental  troops,  by  John  McCarty  of  Albany.  The 
earliest  deed  for  lands  in  Oswego  County,  recorded  at 
the  County  Clerk's  office,  was  made  by  William  Cock- 
bum  and  Isaac  Davis,  as  attorneys  for  Dennis  McCarthy 
and  Matthew  Whalen,  covering  "lots  in  the  Military 
Tow^iship  of  Hannibal,"  The  deed  is  dated  August 
18,  1790,  and  described  McCarthy  and  Whalen  as  "sol- 
diers of  the  Revolution"  and  the  lots  as  having  been 
granted  to  them  for  their  services  as  such.^^ 

At  Johnstown,  N.  Y.,  there  were  a  number  of  Irish 
and  Highland  Scotch  settlers  prior  to  1773,  and  among 
them  were  families  named  McCarthy,  Moriarty,  Byrne, 
Doran,  Sadlier,  Egan,  Lafferty  and  Daly,  some  of  whom 
are  referred  to  by  a  local  historian  as  "the  aristocratic 
foreign  element. ' '  -^  These  people  were  induced  to  emi- 
grate from  Ireland  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  "Governor 
of  the  Indians  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Mississippi 
River,"  who  was  himself  a  native  of  County  Meath, 
Ireland,  and  was  a  descendant  of  the  Irish  family  of 
MacShane.  An  Irishman  named  Wall,  also  from  Meath, 
was  the  schoolmaster  of  the  settlement.  According  to 
the  historian  of  Fulton  County,  "Saint  Patrick's  Par- 
ish was  formed  at  Johnstown  in  1773,  whose  clergyman 
was  Rev.  John  McKenna,  an  Irish  Catholic  priest,  who 
was  educated  at  Louvain  University."  He  is  described 
as  "the  first  resident  Roman  Catholic  priest  in  this 
State  after  the  Jesuit  missionaries  among  the  Mohawks 
nearly  a  century  before."  ^*  A  number  of  Irish  people 
were  members  of  "Saint  Patrick's  Lodge  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,"  founded  at  Johnstown  in  1766,  of 
which  Sir  William  Johnson  was  the  first  "Master"  and 

22  Onondaga  County  Transcribed  Records,  Vol.  I,  p.   1. 

23  History   of  Fulton   County,   N.   Y.,   by   Frothingham,    p.    242. 
24 /bid.,  p.   237. 


186  THE  McCarthys 

Michael  Byrne,  a  native  of  Wicklow,  Ireland,  was  "Jun- 
ior Warden. ' '  John  McCarthy  was  Master  of  the  Lodge 
in  1797.  At  Rhinebeck,  Dutchess  County,  one  Daniel 
McCarthy  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  ''active  and  influ- 
ential citizens"  of  the  town.  A  local  historian  says  that 
"when  Colonel  Livingston  returned  home  from  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  he  brought  with  him  two  old  soldiers 
of  the  Revolution,  named  Henry  Doyle  and  Daniel  Mc- 
Carthy.    McCarthy  became  a  miller,  and  no  family  did 

more  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  town  and  village  than  the 

McCarthys."  24a 

At  Saratoga,  a  place  famous  not  only  for  its  springs  but 
as  the  scene  of  Burgoyne's  surrender,  we  find  an  Irish- 
man named  McCarthy  in  possession  of  the  ground  over 
which  the  fiercest  struggle  was  fought  during  the  battle 
which  proved  to  be  the  turning  point  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  It  will  be  of  interest  to  recall  in  this  connec- 
tion an  incident  which  happened  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga, 
related  by  Lossing  in  his  Field  Booh  of  the  Revolution. 
The  main  force  of  the  enemy  under  Burgoyne  was  under 
the  command  of  General  Fraser,  "the  brains  of  the 
British  Army."  "The  gallant  Fraser  was  the  direct- 
ing soul  of  the  British  troops  in  action,  and  his  skill  and 
courage  were  everywhere  conspicuous.  When  the  lines 
gave  way,  he  brought  order  out  of  confusion;  when 
regiments  began  to  waver,  he  infused  courage  into  them 
by  voice  and  example.  He  was  mounted  on  a  splendid 
iron-gray  gelding;  and  dressed  in  the  full  uniform  of 
a  field  officer,  he  was  a  conspicuous  object  for  the  Amer- 
icans. It  was  evident  that  the  fate  of  the  battle  rested 
upon  him  and  this  the  keen  eye  and  sure  judgment  of 
Morgan  perceived.  In  an  instant  his  purpose  was  con- 
ceived, and,  calling  a  file  of  his  best  men  around  him, 

24a  Historic   Old  Rhinebeck,  by   Howard  H.  Morse. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  187 

he  said,  as  he  pointed  toward  the  British  right,  'That 
gallant  officer  is  General  Fraser.  I  admire  and  honor 
him,  but  it  is  necessary  he  should  die;  victory  for  the 
enemy  depends  upon  him.  Take  your  stations  in  that 
clump  of  bushes  and  do  your  duty.'  Within  five  min- 
utes Fraser  fell,  mortally  wounded.  As  soon  as  Fraser 
fell,  a  panic  spread  along  the  British  line.  .  .  .  The 
whole  line  gave  way  and  fled  precipitately  within  the 
entrenchments  of  the  Camp."  So  ended  the  battle  of 
Saratoga,  in  a  victory  for  the  Americans.  The  name 
of  the  rifleman  who  killed  General  Fraser  was  Timothy 
Murphy.  Afterwards  he  accompanied  General  Sullivan 
in  his  expedition  against  the  Indians  in  Central  and 
Western  New  York,  and  many  stories  are  told  of  Mur- 
phy's prowess  as  a  rifleman  in  the  fighting  in  that  terri- 
tory against  the  savage  allies  of  the  British. 

The  owner  of  the  house  in  which  General  Fraser  died 
was  John  McCarthy,  who  also  leased  the  land,  which 
was  at  a  place  known  as  Wilbur's  Basin  near  the  Hudson 
River.  On  this  farm  were  several  hills  or  large  knolls 
and  on  the  seizure  of  the  place  by  the  enemy  prior  to 
the  battle,  they  erected  entrenchments  on  these  hills 
facing  the  river  in  preparation  for  the  coming  struggle. 
What  became  of  John  McCarthy,  history  does  not  re- 
cord, but  a  local  historian  informs  us  that  ''the  first 
owner  of  the  farm  house  was  John  McCarty,  who  ran 
away  from  home  in  Limerick,^^  Ireland,  to  avoid  marry- 
ing a  girl  whom  his  parents  had  selected  for  him.  In 
1765  he  leased  a  farm  at  Wilbur's  Basin  from  Philip 
Schuyler,  on  which  are  the  three  hills  fortified  by  Bur- 
goyne  and  on  one  of  which  General  Fraser  was  buried. 

25  It  is  an  interesting  fact  also  that  "the  first  white  men  known  to 
have  visited  Saratoga  Springs,"  Michael  and  Nicholas  McDonald,  brothers, 
were  from  Limerick,  Ireland.  (See  Anderson's  History  of  Saratoga.) 
The  inscription  on  the  stone  over  the  grave  of  Michael  McDonald  on 
the  west  bank  of  Ballston  Lake  verifies  this  fact. 


188  THE  McCarthys 

The  lease  called  for  one-tentli  of  the  produce  as  rental 
and  the  original  parchment  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Edwin  D.  Wilbur  of  Wilbur's  Basin,  a  descendant  of. 
John  McCarty."26 

In  the  City  of  New  York  people  of  the  name  are  men- 
tioned at  various  times.  John  McCarty  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Essex  County  in  the  year  1764.^^  He 
was  one  of  a  number  of  pioneers  brought  there  by  Wil- 
liam Gilliland  from  the  City  of  New  York  in  that  year.^^ 
Thomas  McCarty  was  admitted  a  "Freeman"  of  New 
York  by  the  City  Council  on  August  4,  1769,  and  John 
McCarty  was  made  a  "Freeman"  of  the  City  on  July 
23,  1784.-"  "Cornelius  McCarty,  peruke-maker  of  New 
York,"  is  so  mentioned  in  Holt's  New  York  Journal 
or  General  Advertiser  for  July  1,  1773,  and  in  the  New 
York  Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury  of  August  16,  1773, 
Samuel  Auchmuty  advertised  for  sale  the  time  of  "an 
Irish  servant  man  named  James  Carthy,  about  16  years 
of  age."  Among  a  number  of  poor  people  who  were 
compelled  to  leave  New  York  in  August,  1776,  when  the 
British  army  took  possession  of  the  City,  and  who  went 
to  Bedford,  Westchester  County,  and  applied  to  the 
Committee  of  Safety  for  relief,  were  three  women  named 
Mary  McCarthy,  Elizabeth  Maguire  and  Sarah  O'Far- 

2G  From   The   Story   of  Old  Saratoga,,   by   John   Henry   Brandow. 

27  Calendar  of  Land  Papers  at  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  compiled 
by    O'Callaghan. 

28  Gilliland  was  a  native  of  Armagh,  Ireland.  He  had  a  most  inter- 
esting career  in  New  York,  as  schoolmaster,  merchant,  colonizer,  and 
Revolutionary  patriot.  See  Winslow's  History  of  the  Champlain  Valley 
and  Journal  of  the  American  Irish  Historical  Society,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  231. 
Among  those  who  accompanied  Gilliland  and  McCarty  from  New  York  in 
their  journey  to  Lake  Champlain  in  1764  were: 

Tliomas   Carroll  Michael  Keough  Daniel    Moriarty 

Christopher    Dongan  Dennis    Hall  Peter    Sullivan 

John    Brady  William   McAuley  Thomas   McCauley 

Cornelius    Hayes  John    Connelly  John    Sullivan 

29  See  Collections  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  volume  for  1885. 

30  Journals   of   the  N.   Y.    Provincial    Congress,    Vol.    II,   p.   339. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  189 

In  New  York  annals  late  in  the  eighteenth  century 
are  found  references  to  three  merchants  of  the  name, 
who,  according  to  all  indications,  ranked  among  the 
prominent  business  men  of  the  time.  Dennis  McCarthy 
was  in  the  wholesale  grocery  business  and  also  conducted 
a  number  of  retail  stores,  and  Barrett  says  in  his  Old 
Merchants  of  New  York  '^  that  he  was  the  father-in-law 
of  Dominick  Lynch,  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants  in 
New  York  in  his  day.^^  Dennis  McCarthy  was  asso- 
ciated with  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Dr.  William  J.  Mac- 
Neven  and  other  refugees  from  Ireland  after  the  Re- 
bellion of  1798,  and  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  Hiber- 
nian Provident  Society,  organized  in  New  York  in  the 
year  1801  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  distressed  Irish  im- 
migrants, and  which  continued  to  exercise  its  benevo- 
lence for  many  years.  He  was  an  early  member  of  the 
Society  of  the  Friendly  Sons  of  Saint  Patrick  and  a 
New  York  newspaper  described  him  as  ''president  of  an 
association,  a  very  numerous  and  highly  respectable  com- 
pany who  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  Saint  Patrick 
at  the  Shamrock  Hall"  on  March  17,  1817.^=^  Barrett 
says  that  Dennis  McCarthy  was  a  very  successful  man 
and  that  for  several  years  after  his  death  his  wealth  was 
the  subject  of  litigation  among  his  relatives  in  the  New 
York  courts. 

Peter  McCarty  was  one  of  the  firm  of  ''Peter  McCarty 
and  Company,"  merchants  and  vendue  masters  at  121 
"Water  Street,  which  firm  continued  in  business  up  to 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  The  time  of  his  arrival 
here  is  unknown,  but,  that  it  was  at  an  early  date  is 
shown  by  the  record  of  his  marriage  in  New  York  to 

31  Vol.   II,   p.   242,    and  Vol.   IV,   p.    56. 

32  Dominick    Lynch    was    a    native    of    Galway,    Ireland. 

33  The    New    York    Columbian,    March    18,    1817. 


190  THE  McCarthys 

Ann  Kean  on  March  16,  1762.^*  Barrett  speaks  of  him 
as  "the  father  of  a  family  of  lovely  daughters,  one  of 
whom,  Augusta,  married  Jacob  Little,  one  of  the  finan- 
cial pillars  of  New  York."^^  Another  Peter,  whose 
name  is  spelled  frequently  in  the  public  records  "Mc- 
Cartee,"  and  whose  descendants  continued  to  use  that 
form  of  the  name,  is  also  mentioned  by  Barrett  as  "a 
famed  Swamp  man  in  his  day, ' '  ^^  that  is,  he  was  a 
leather  merchant  in  the  district  then  and  still  known  as 
"The  Swamp."  He  also  was  very  successful  and  as 
late  as  1815  he  was  an  Alderman  of  the  City  of  New 
York.  Robert  McCartee,  who  was  bom  in  New  York 
in  1791,  doubtless  was  his  son.  Originally,  he  was  a 
lawyer  but  became  a  clergyman  and  in  1822  he  is  men- 
tioned as  "pastor  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Church," 
whose  congregation  at  that  time  was  comprised  mostly 
of  Presbyterian  immigrants  from  Ireland,  and  accord- 
ing to  an  account  of  his  career,^^  he  seems  to  have  been 
a  verv^  prominent  clergyman  in  his  day.  His  son,  Dr. 
D.  B.  McCartee,  was  a  noted  Oriental  scholar.  He  was 
a  practicing  physician  in  New  York,  but  in  1843  he  went 
to  China  and  was  United  States  Consul  at  Ningpo  and 
was  also  Judge  of  the  "mixed  court"  at  Shanghai.  He 
had  a  remarkable  career  in  China  and  Japan  and  at  one 
time  was  a  professor  in  the  Imperial  University  at  Tokio, 
and  was  Secretary  of  the  Chinese  Legation  there.  His 
writings  on  Asiatic  history,  linguistics,  natural  science, 
medicine  and  politics  in  the  publications  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  the  American  Oriental  Society  and 
other  associations  have   been  numerous   and   valuable. 

34  Marriage   Licenses   recorded   at  office   of  the    Secretary   of   State,    Vol. 
IV,   p.    75. 

sa  Old   Merchants   of  New    York;    Vol.    IV,    p.    244. 

36  Ibid.,   Vol.    I,   p.    260. 

37  In   Appleton's    Cyclopedia  of   American   Biography;   Vol.    IV,    p.    77. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  191 

His  religious  writings  in  Chinese  are  still  widely  cir- 
culated and  read.^^ 

Charles  McCarthy  was  also  one  of  New  York's  mer- 
chants in  the  early  years  of  the  last  century,  but,  that  he 
was  a  resident  of  the  City  before  that  time  is  indicated 
by  his  marriage  to  Deborah  Hutchings  on  April  5, 
1794,^''  and  in  1805  he  is  mentioned  as  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  the  Friendly  Sons  of  Saint  Patrick.  The 
names  of  several  other  McCarthys  appear  in  the  early 
Directories  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  in  the  Direc- 
tory of  the  year  1801  William  McCarty  is  listed  as 
"United  States  Consul  to  the  Isle  of  France." 

One  of  the  leading  American  lawyers  of  his  day  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century  was  Samuel  Nelson, 
who  was  born  in  Washington  County,  N.  Y.  He  was 
the  son  of  John  Rogers  Neilson  ^'^  and  Jane  McCartee, 
his  wife,  both  natives  of  Ireland  who,  in  1760,  came 
with  a  colony  of  Irish  immigrants  from  County  Monag- 
han  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Salem,  Washington 
County.  In  1823,  Samuel  Nelson  was  appointed  Circuit 
Judge;  a  few  years  later  he  was  Associate  Judge,  and 
in  1831  he  became  Chief  Justice  of  the  New  York  Su- 
preme Court.  In  1845  he  became  a  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  and  resigned  twenty- 
five  years  later  on  account  of  his  great  age.  He  was 
a  very  eminent  jurist  and  adjudicated  upon  many  of 
the  most  difficult  questions  of  national  and  constitutional 
law.*i 

Among  "Heads  of  Families"  in  Montgomery  County, 

38  76td.,  Vol.  IV. 

39  New   York    Weekly  Museum. 

40  Tlie  name  was  changed  to  Nelson  by  his  children.  The  Irish  name, 
Neilson,  is  a  corniption  of  O'Neill  or  MacNeill.  One  of  the  Neilsons, 
Samuel,    was  the   founder  of   the   Society   of   United    Irishmen   in   1791. 

41  See  account  of  his  career  in  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical 
Record;   Vol.   V.,   p.   46. 


192  THE  McCarthys 

in  the  First  Census  of  the  United  States  (1790),  John, 
George,  Michael  and  Timothy  McCarthy  are  listed,  and 
John  McCarty  is  referred  to  in  1793  as  an  Adjutant 
in  Veeder's  brigade  of  Montgomery  County  militia. 
The  "Minutes  of  the  Council  of  Appointment"  in  the 
records  at  Albany  show  that  John  McCarthy,  who  is 
therein  described  as  "Brigade  Major  and  Inspector  of 
Militia,"  was  appointed  "first  Judge"  on  March  6, 
1809,  and  a  New  York  weekly  newspaper  *-  in  the  year 
1811  referred  to  "John  McCarty,  the  first  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Mont- 
gomery." There  is  no  mention  of  any  of  these  Mc- 
Carthys in  histories  of  Montgomery  County,  and  en- 
quiries addressed  to  people  acquainted  with  local  his- 
tory and  tradition  bring  forth  no  reliable  information. 
Among  others  enumerated  as  "Heads  of  Families"  in 
the  Census  of  1790,  are :  Jeremiah  McCarthey  and  Dan- 
iel McCarty,  both  of  the  town  of  StephentowTi,  Darbin 
(Darby)  McCarty  of  Rensselaerwyck,  David  McCarty 
of  Watervliet,  Dennis  McCarty  of  Hoosick,  John  Mc- 
Carty of  Saratoga,  Neil  McCarty  of  Duanesburgh,  and 
William  McCarty  of  Ballston,  all  in  Albany  County 
as  then  constituted.  Others  listed  by  the  Census  enu- 
merators as  "Heads  of  Families"  were  Daniel  McCarty 
of  Beekman,  Dutchess  County;  Charles  McCarty  of 
Canaan,  Columbia  County;  John  McCarty  of  Claverack 
in  the  same  County;  John  McCarty  of  Kingston,  Ulster 
County;  John  McCarty  of  Middletown,  Ulster  County, 
and  Thomas  McCarty  of  New  Cornwall,  Orange  County. 
One  of  the  best  known  citizens  of  Orleans  County, 
N.  Y.,  during  the  first  decade  of  the  last  century  was  a 
Captain  McCarty.  "When  the  second  war  with  England 
began  the  citizens  of  the  town  of  Gaines  assembled  and 

42  The   Shamrock, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  193 

elected  McCarty  to  lead  them  in  their  defense  of  the 
settlements  and  he  is  listed  among  the  American  officers 
taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Queenston  on  October 
27,  1812/^  He  was  released  in  exchange  for  an  English 
officer  and  it  is  evident  he  rejoined  his  comrades,  since 
he  is  noted  for  his  daring  capture  of  the  British  soldiers 
who  burned  the  town  of  Lewiston  in  December,  1813.  A 
New  York  soldier  of  the  name  who  fought  at  Lewiston 
was  William  McCarthy,  who  enlisted  at  Utica  in  the 
Sixth  regiment  of  United  States  Infantry  and  he  is  men- 
tioned among  the  wounded  in  the  hospital  at  Lewiston 
in  1813.-*  Another  William  McCarthy  served  as  Cap- 
tain in  a  volunteer  corps  of  three  companies  organized 
in  New  York  City  for  the  War  of  1812,  as  appears  from 
an  order  dated  ''Headquarters,  New  York,  17th.  day, 
November,  1812."  Still  another  of  the  New  York  Mc- 
Carthys, Charles,  is  mentioned  among  the  "Americans 
imprisoned  at  Halifax  in  the  War  of  1812. ' '  He  served 
as  a  seaman  on  the  privateer.  Science,  when  captured 
by  the  English  warship.  Emulous,  on  August  24,  1812. 
In  the  years  1683  and  1685  a  considerable  body  of 
Irish  settlers  located  at  Cohansey  in  Salem  County,  and 
in  the  adjoining  counties  of  Gloucester  and  Camden, 
New  Jersey,  among  whom  were  people  bearing  such 
names  as  Carty  or  McCarthy,  Sullivan,  Sweeney,  Fitz- 
gerald, Leahey,  Hurley,  Healy,  Lynch,  Dunn,  Conron, 
Caffrey,  Flanagan,  Dwyer,  O'Donoghue,  and  so  on.  In 
the  "West  Jersey  Records"*^  they  are  described  as 
"from  Tipperary  County  in  Ireland,"  but,  that  it  would 
appear  some  were  also  from  Waterford,  or  that  other 
colonists  afterwards  came  from  that  part  of  Ireland,  is 
seen  from  the  fact  that  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  this 

43  See   Oenealoaical   Exchange,   Vol.    X,    p.    79. 

44  Ihid.,  Vol.  V,  p.   8. 

45  Liber   B,    part   2,    published   by   the    New    Jersey    Historical    Society. 


194  THE  McCarthys 

part  of  New  Jersey,  Waterford  in  Gloucester  County, 
was  so  named  in  the  year  1695  after  the  City  of  the 
same  name  in  Ireland.*^ 

In  the  "East  Jersey  Records  of  Deeds,"  ^^  under  date 
of  December  21,  1696,  there  is  an  entry  of  a  conveyance 
from  "Tege  alias  Timothie  Cartie  to  John  Molleson, 
both  of  Piscataway,  for  five  acres  of  meadow  land,"  and 
in  a  deed  for  certain  lands  adjoining  his,  dated  June 
27,  1694,  he  is  described  as  "Tege  Cartee."  It  would 
appear,  however,  that  a  family  of  the  name  was  in 
New  Jersey  even  before  this  time.  John  McCarty  and 
Ann  Harmon  of  "Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  were  granted  a  mar- 
riage license  by  the  Province  of  New  York  on  July  9, 
1684,  and  although  the  license  was  recorded  in  New 
York  it  is  evident  that  the  bridegroom  was  a  resident 
of  New  Jersey,  since  he  is  described  in  the  record  as 
"John  Mccarty  of  Piscataway."**  Dennis  McCarty 
signed  as  witness  to  the  will  of  Matthias  Lane  of  Middle- 
town,  Monmouth  County,  N.  J.,  on  June  27,  1729,*^  and 
in  the  accounts  of  the  executors,  Cornelius  Lane  and 
C.  Scank,  as  filed  in  court,  the  name  of  Daniel  McCarthy 
appears  among  a  number  of  creditors  of  the  estate. 
Daniel  McCarthy  is  also  mentioned  in  the  New  Jersey 
Archives  ^^  in  "an  account  of  money  paid  from  the 
estate  of  John  and  Ann  Gordon."  There  is  no  reference 
to  the  date,  but  it  follows  an  entry  of  the  year  1729. 

"Dennis  McCarthy  of  the  Town  and  County  of  Bur- 
lington, Yeoman,"  died  intestate  and  on  August  6,  1737, 
letters  of  administration  to  his  estate  ^^  were  granted  to 

46  Reminiscences  of  Old  Gloucester,  by  Isaac  Mickle. 

47  Liber  F.,  p.  245,  published  as  part  of  the  Archives  of  New  Jersey 
by   the    N.    J.    Hist.    Soc. 

48  Colonial    Manuscripts    of   New    York;    Vol.    34,    p.    28. 

■i9  New  Jersey  Calendar  of  Wills;  Lib.  B,  fol.  214,  in  New  Jersey 
Archives;    1st    Ser.    Vol.    23. 

50  1st  Ser.,  Vol.  23. 

51  New   Jersey   Probate   Records,    Lib.    IV,    p.    110. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  195 

his  brother-in-law,  Benjamin  Butterworth,  whose  mar- 
riage to  Ann  McCarthy,  sister  of  Dennis,  is  on  record 
at  Burlington  under  date  of  January  18,  1736.  There 
is  a  place  called  McCartyville  in  Burlington  County, 
noted  for  many  years  for  its  extensive  paper  mills,  which 
in  all  probability  was  named  for  a  descendant  of  Dennis 
McCarthy.  Another  Dennis  McCarthy  signed  as  wit- 
ness to  the  will  of  Thomas  Wright  of  Salem  County  on 
January  11,  1745,^^  and  the  inventory  of  the  estate  of 
Stacey  Beakes  of  Trenton,  dated  November  30,  1745, 
mentioned  the  "obligations  of  Archabel  McCarty,"  and 
"Archibald  McCarty 's  account"  was  filed  in  court  on 
March  11,  1755.^^ 

"Dennis  McCarty  of  Gloucester  County"  died  in- 
testate, and  "John  McCarty  of  Gloucester  County,  Yeo- 
man," was  appointed  administrator  on  March  19,  1746, 
and  his  valuation  of  the  property  of  the  deceased  was 
fixed  at  £41.  Os.  9d.^*  In  the  accounts  rendered  by  the 
administrator  of  the  estate  of  Benjamin  Runion  of  Som- 
erset County — letters  of  administration  granted  March 
3,  1747 — Daniel  McCartey  was  mentioned.  Thomas 
Bates  was  granted  letters  of  administration  to  the  estate 
of  Owen  McCarty  of  Gloucester  County  ^^  on  May  6, 
1748,  and  in  the  inventory  he  valued  the  estate  at  £20. 
3s.  Od.  The  will  of  Burgess  Hall  of  Bordentown  was 
dated  September  27,  1748,  and  among  those  indebted 
to  the  deceased,  as  shown  by  the  accounts  of  the  executor, 
were  Matthew  McCarty  and  Oliver  Carty.^^  In  the 
inventory  of  the  estate  of  George  Williams  of  Shrews- 
bury, filed  in  Monmouth   County  Court  on  June  12, 

52  New  Jersey  Probate  Records,  Lib.  V,  p.  182. 

53  Ibid.,   Lib.  V,   p.   264. 

54  Gloucester    Wills,    336    H. 

55  Ibid.,    336   H. 

56  New  Jersey  Calendar  of   WUls;   Lib.  VI,  p.   313. 


196  THE  McCarthys 

1751,  James  McCarty  is  included  among  a  number  of 
debtors  and  creditors  of  the  deceased.^^  It  is  clear  from 
these  items,  and  from  the  entries  covering  "New  Jersey- 
Marriage  Licenses"  in  the  'Archives  of  the  State,  be- 
ginning as  early  as  1733,  that  there  were  several  separate 
and  distinct  families  of  the  name  in  the  Western  part 
of  New  Jersey  at  this  early  period ;  but,  as  to  the  history 
of  these  people,  there  seems  to  be  no  way  of  determining 
now  and  all  efforts  to  secure  further  data  have  been 
unavailing. 

James  McCarty  is  mentioned  in  the  Pennsylvania  Ga- 
zette of  June  8,  1758,  as  a  settler  at  Minnisink,  Sussex 
County,  and  according  to  the  Pennsylvania  Chronicle 
of  March  13-20,  1769,  ''Hugh  McCarty,  an  Irish  serv- 
ant lad,  about  19  years  of  age,"  was  apprenticed  to 
"Thomas  Thorn  of  Chesterfield  Township,  West-New- 
Jersey.  ' ' 

Others  of  the  name  are  mentioned  in  the  Revolution- 
ary records  of  New  Jersey.  For  example,  Dennis  Mc- 
Carty was  a  Sussex  County  militiaman  in  1775  and 
afterwards  served  in  the  Fourth  Battalion,  Second 
Establishment  of  State  troops;  Hugh  McCarty  served 
in  a  Somerset  County  militia  regiment;  another  Hugh 
McCarty  was  a  soldier  in  Captain  Ten  Eyck's  company 
of  the  First  Establishment  of  State  troops  and  after- 
wards in  the  Continental  Line;  Isaac  Carty  was  a  ser- 
geant of  the  Second  Battalion,  Second  Establishment; 
William  Carty  served  in  a  Battalion  of  militia  from 
Salem  County  and  also  in  the  Continental  army,  and 
among  the  men  belonging  to  an  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  com- 
pany of  militia  who  "enlisted  as  volunteers  in  order 
to  take  the  ship  Blue  Mountain  Valley  on  January  2, 

57  New  Jersey  Probate  Records;   Lib.  D,  p.   174. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  197 

1776,"  was  Thomas  McCarty.  Clark  McCarty  was 
"Forage  Master  of  New  Jersey  troops"  throughout  the 
Revolution  and  John  MeCartey  was  "Commissary  of 
Hides  and  Assistant  Commissary  of  Issues"  in  the  New 
Jersey  Line.  These  items  show  that  the  McCarthys 
were  settled  in  widely  separated  parts  of  New  Jersey  be- 
fore and  during  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  "Fran- 
cis McCarthy,  son  of  Captain  Francis  McCarthy,"  is 
mentioned  in  the  Parish  Church  records  of  Rockaway, 
Morris  County,  N.  J.,  in  1781.  Evidently,  the  elder 
McCarthy  was  a  sea-captain,  since  the  records  say  he 
was  ' '  lost  at  sea. ' ' 

Several  soldiers  of  the  name  appear  in  the  muster- 
rolls  of  the  New  Jersey  regiments  in  the  War  of  1812, 
among  them  Artis  or  Arthur  McCarthy,  whose  regiment 
is  not  stated;  Aaron  McCarthy,  of  the  First  Light 
Dragoons ;  Aaron  McCarty  of  the  New  Jersey  Corps  of 
Artillery  and  Michael  McCarty  of  the  2nd  New  Jersey 
Detailed  Militia.  Thomas  Carty  enlisted  in  the  3rd  Ar- 
tillery and  Isaac  Carty  served  in  Capt.  Anthony  Gale's 
New  Jersey  Detachment,  and  afterwards  on  the  Amer- 
ican frigate  Chieriere  until  the  close  of  the  war.  And 
in -the  war  with  Algiers  in  1815,  Isaac  Carty  also  served 
on  the  Gueriere  under  Lieutenant  Joseph  L.  Kulin  and 
was  discharged  at  Boston  in  1819  upon  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  service.  For  some  strange  reason  that 
does  not  appear,  one  of  the  New  Jersey  McCartys  seems 
to  have  been  untrue  to  his  name  and  race,  since  the  name 
of  Duncan  McCarty  is  included  in  a  list  of  twenty-seven 
persons  in  Middlesex  County,  against  whom  "inquisi- 
tions were  found  in  August,  1778,  for  having  either 
joined  the  ai-my  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  or  have 
otherwise  offended  against  the  form  of  their  allegiance 


198  THE  McCarthys 

to  this  State.  "^^  Later,  on  February  1,  1779,  Duncan 
McCarty's  name  appears  in  a  list  of  persons  in  Middlesex 
County  whose  property  was  attainted. 

58  New   Jersey   Archives;    2nd    Ser.   Vol.    II. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   MAC  CAETYS   IN   MASSACHUSETTS 

The  Celtic  element  in  New  England — Thaddeus  MacCarty,  a  lead- 
ing merchant  and  property  owner  of  Boston,  1664-1705,  men- 
tioned frequently  in  the  Provincial  records — Captain  Thomas 
MacCarty,  mariner — Charles  and  Thomas  MacCarty  in  the 
Kevolution  in  New  England,  1689 — Adventurous  career  of 
Captain  Thaddeus  MacCarty — Rev.  Thaddeus  MacCarty  of 
Worcester,  a  patriot  of  the  Revolution — Florence  MacCarty,  a 
large  proprety  owner  at  Boston  and  Roxbury 

If  the  statements  of  New  England  historians,  as  to 
the  racial  origin  of  the  early  immigrants,  were  to  be 
accepted  without  question,  we  would  be  compelled  to 
believe  that  all  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  section  of  the 
country  in  the  seventeenth  century  were  of  English  blood 
and  that  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  population  were  of  that  class.  Some  his- 
torical writers  assert  that  Massachusetts  was  "more  Eng- 
lish than  any  English  Shire,"  and  that  the  people  of 
Boston  especially  were  "of  purer  English  blood  and 
more  unmixed  in  race  than  those  of  any  locality  in  old 
England."  Whether  these  statements  were  made  with 
deliberate  intent  to  deceive,  as  has  so  often  been  said, 
or  that  they  were  the  result  of  the  failure  of  the  his- 
torians to  examine  the  records,  is  immaterial;  the  fact 
is,  that  while  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  undoubt- 
edly were  of  English  descent,  a  vast  number  of  people 
of  other  races  were  resident  in  New  England  in  Colonial 
times.     This  is  amply  proven  by  the  names  which  are 

found  in  the  records  of  the  time. 

199 


200  THE  McCAKTHYS 

As  to  the  Celtic  element  in  New  England,  it  is  true 
that  the  social  and  political  conditions  in  Colonial  days 
were  a  serious  deterrent  to  the  settlement  of  immigrants 
from  Ireland,  especially  those  of  Catholic  faith;  but, 
notwithstanding  this,  a  great  number  of  names  of  the 
most  distinctive  and  obvious  Irish  origin  appear  in  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centurj^  records  of  nearly 
all  the  towns  and  settlements  in  the  Colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  The  old  Celtic  patronj-mics  are  readily 
recognizable,  and  there  can  be  no  mistaking  the  nation- 
ality of  the  people  who  bore  such  names.  It  may  rea- 
sonably be  supposed  that  the  majority  of  these  people 
were  "redemptioners"  or  "servants"  who  were  forced 
into  exile  by  the  alien  rulers  of  the  "Old  Land";  yet, 
some  of  these,  or  their  children,  in  time  rose  above  their 
lowly  surroundings  and  are  numbered  among  the  sub- 
stantial people  of  their  respective  localities.  But,  others 
unquestionably  were  voluntary  expatriates  who  crossed 
the  sea  at  their  own  expense,  on  the  chance  that  the 
conditions  in  the  colonies,  even  among  those  who  de- 
spised the  Irish  on  account  of  their  race  and  religion, 
could  be  no  worse  than  they  were  at  home.  Among  both 
classes  we  find  a  number  of  McCarthys. 

The  first  of  the  family  at  Boston  seems  to  have  been 
Thaddeus  MacCarty,  whose  name  found  a  place  in  the 
town  records  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries  ago. 
When  the  will  of  Elkanah  Gladman,  merchant  of  Boston, 
dated  February  8,  1664,  was  filed  in  Suffolk  County 
court  house  on  November  23,  1664,  the  inventory  in- 
cluded "Thaddeus  Macartye"  as  one  of  a  number  of 
persons  indebted  to  the  estate.^  In  the  Granary  Burial 
Ground  on  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  there  is  a  stone  over 

1  Probate  records  of  Suffolk  County,  quoted  in  New  England  Historic- 
Oenealogical  Register;  Vol.   16,   p.  50. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  201 

the  grave  of  Charles,  the  eldest  son  of  Thaddeus  Mae- 
Carty,  the  inscription  on  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Vive  Memor  Lethi 

Here  lyeth  Interr'd  ye  Body  of 

Charles  Maecarty 

Son  of  Thadeus  and  Elizabeth  Maecarty 

aged  18  years,  wanting  7  days.  Deceased 

ye  25  of  October  1683" 

In  the  town  books  of  Boston  there  is  an  entry  of  the 
birth,  on  March  21,  1666,  of  "Francis,  son  of  Thaddeus 
and  Eliza  MacCarty,"  and  of  Thaddeus,  son  of  the  same 
parents,  on  September  12,  1670.  They  also  had  a  son 
named  Samuel,  recorded  as  born  at  Roxbury,  "9th.  mo. 
8rd.  day,  1675,"  and  two  daughters  born  at  Boston,  Mar- 
garet MacCarty  on  February  25,  1676,  and  Catherine 
MacCarty  on  January  23,  1679. 

"Thaddeus  Macartie"  appears  among  the  "officers 
chosen  for  the  year  insuinge  at  a  publique  meetinge 
of  the  inhabitants  of  this  towne"  held  on  March  13, 
1674.2  As  "Thade  Maecarty"  he  is  recorded  as  "Town 
Constable  of  Boston"  in  1683,  while  in  a  record  of  a 
lawsuit,  in  which  Ephraim  Turner  was  the  plaintiff, 
tried  before  the  "Court  of  Assistants  of  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,"  in  the  year  1680,  the  name  of  the 
defendant  is  written  down  "thaddews  micarter."  On 
this  matter  of  the  spelling  of  names,  in  New  England 
annals  there  are  many  curious  examples  of  the  orto- 
graphical  ideas  of  the  custodians  of  public  records,  and 
there  is  no  more  striking  illustration  of  this  than  the 
case  of  Thaddeus  MacCarty.  The  spelling  of  names 
in  those  days  was  not  regarded  as  a  matter  of  any  im- 
portance and  it  is  amusing  to  note  the  vicissitudes  which 

2  Boston  Town  Books,  Vol.  VII,  p.  86. 


202  THE  McCarthys 

certain  names  had  to  undergo  from  the  whims  of  clergy- 
men, town  officers,  court  clerks,  registrars  of  wills  and 
deeds  and  other  keepers  of  public  records.  This  is  espe- 
cially noticeable  in  the  case  of  Irish  names.  The  public 
officials  generally  were  of  English  or  Dutch  descent,  and 
as  many  of  the  Irish  names  sounded  strangely  in  their 
ears  and  the  newcomers  used  the  old  Gaelic  pronouncia- 
tion,  the  town  clerks  and  others  wrote  them  down  phonet- 
ically or  as  best  suited  their  fancy,  which  often  resulted 
in  the  most  ludicrous  name  formations,  and  cases  are 
noted  where  the  recorded  name  bore  hardly  any  resem- 
blance to  the  original.  In  the  pursuit  of  historical  re- 
search, the  caprices  of  town  clerks  and  other  officials 
in  their  manner  of  spelling  names  are  often  a  source 
of  trouble  and  vexation.  And  to  a  person  acquainted 
with  the  ancient  Gaelic  nomenclature,  it  is  really  tragical 
to  see  the  way  in  which  historic  Irish  patronymics  were 
literally  "butchered"  in  the  records,  especially  when  we 
consider  that  in  most  cases  the  descendants  of  these 
people  accepted  and  used  the  changed  names. 

In  the  Boston  tax  lists  of  the  year  1674,  among  the 
"names  of  psons  ratable"^  as  certified  to  by  Thomas 
Bingley,  Constable,  there  is  an  entry  reading  ' '  Tad  Me- 
cartour,"  and  in  still  another  list,  "Theodeus  Mecarter" 
and  "John  Stacey,  his  (Maccartys)  servant.""  In  an- 
other part  of  the  same  record  there  is  an  entry  reading : 
"Mr.  Carroll  at  Micarter's,"  ^  the  explanation  of  this 
being  that  "Mr.  Carroll,"  the  person  assessed  for  taxes, 
was  a  "lodger"  at  Thaddeus  MacCarty's  house.  In  the 
tax  lists  of  1676  he  is  recorded  as  "Thaddeus  Macartie"; 
in  1681,  "Thadeus  Macktie";  in  1683,  "Thade  Ma- 
carty";  in  1687,  "Thadeus  Macarty";  in  1688,  "Thad- 

8  Boston    tax   lists,    in    Town   Books,    Vol.    I,    p.    43. 
4  Ibid.,   p.    47. 
6jbid.,  p.   7a. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  203 

deus  Mockarty";  in  1691,  "Thadeos  Macarty";  in  1692, 
"thadews  micarty,"  and  in  1695,  "Thaddeus  Mac- 
Karta."  After  that  time  the  recording  clerks  invaria- 
bly wrote  down  the  name  ' '  Maccarty, ' '  although  in  later 
years  some  of  Thaddeus'  descendants  spelled  their  name 
''Maccarity"  and  "Meearte,"  doubtless  because  it  was 
written  in  that  way  in  public  records  and  probably  they 
wished  to  preserve  the  spelling  so  as  to  conform  to  wills 
and  deeds  and  other  legal  instruments.  A  glance  at  the 
tax  records  for  the  year  1687  indicates  that,  at  that  early 
day,  Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  a  fairly  substantial  man. 
In  that  year  there  were  only  sixty-two  persons  in  Bos- 
ton who  were  taxed  £50.  or  over;  the  average  tax  per 
person  was  £69.  and  the  amount  assessed  against  Mac- 
Carty was  £20.  for  his  house  and  £30.  for  his  business, 
or  £50.  in  all.« 

As  far  as  time  would  permit,  I  have  searched  for 
some  information  concerning  the  early  life  of  Thaddeus 
MacCarty,  but  without  success,  and  while  he  is  men- 
tioned by  several  historians  and  genealogists  of  Massa- 
chusetts none  of  them  offer  any  suggestion  as  to  his 
antecedents,  his  place  of  birth  or  the  time  of  his  arrival 
in  the  colonies.  Naturally,  I  assume  that  he  was  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland  and  I  hardly  think  there  can  be  any 
doubt  about  it.  A  statement  by  Mr.  James  Savage,  a 
former  president  of  the  New  England  Historic  and 
Genealogical  Society,  that  he  was  bom  in  the  year 
1640  ^'  is  confirmed  by  a  notice  of  his  death  in  the  Boston 
News-Letter  in  1705,  and  by  the  inscription  on  his  tomb- 
stone in  the  Granary  Burial  Ground,  and  while  it  is 
evident  that  Savage  also  was  unable  to  find  trace  of  his 

6  List  of  Taxables  in  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  by  Justin  Winsor; 
Vol.   II,   pp.   7-8. 

7  Genealogical  Dictionary  of  the  First  Settlers  of  New  England,  by 
James  Savage;   Vol.   Ill,   p.   139, 


204  THE  McCarthys 

early  life  and  antecedents,  I  do  not  think,  in  view  of 
the  obviously  Celtic  origin  of  the  name,  that  he  was 
justified  in  saying  that  "the  Maccartys  are  of  unknown 
descent. ' '  ®  However,  Savage  may  not  have  intended 
to  say  that  the  MacCartys  are  not  of  Irish  descent,  but 
that  the  immediate  forebears  of  the  Boston  pioneer  were 
unknown  or  could  not  be  traced. 

Strange  to  say,  Thaddeus  MacCarty  is  not  mentioned 
at  all  where  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  him.  It 
is  true  that  Savage  mentions  him,  but  with  scant  re- 
spect, since  he  dismisses  him  with  a  few  lines,  and 
Justin  Winsor  also  seems  to  have  regarded  him  as  of  no 
importance,  for  in  his  great  work  of  more  than  2500 
pages  he  fails  to  give  him  even  casual  notice,  and  the 
only  appearance  of  his  name  in  Winsor 's  History  of 
Boston  is  when  it  is  included  in  lists  of  other  early  resi- 
dents of  the  town,  from  which  it  could  not  very  well  be 
eliminated.  Nor  does  the  name  appear  among  the  "Pio- 
neers of  Massachusetts"  in  the  elaborate  work  under 
that  title  written  by  the  New  England  historian.  Rev. 
Charles  Henry  Pope,  and  although  some  of  Thaddeus' 
descendants  are  mentioned  in  the  genealogies  of  several 
of  the  pioneer  families  of  Massachusetts  with  which  they 
were  connected  by  marriage,  no  member  of  the  MacCarty 
family  in  New  England  seems  to  have  had  sufficient 
pride  in  their  history  to  "write  up"  their  genealogy. 

My  judgment  is  that  the  progenitor  of  the  original 
MacCarty  families  in  Massachusetts  was  Thaddeus  of 
Boston,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  came  to  this 
country  in  one  of  the  many  ship-loads  of  Irish  "re- 
demptioneTs ' '  who  were  transported  from  Ireland  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.     While  such  records 

8  Jbid, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  205 

as  those  of  the  General  Court,  the  Court  of  Assistants 
of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  Plymouth 
Colony  records,  early  land  grants,  town  books,  etc.,  con- 
tain references  to  many  of  those  Irish  "redemptioners," 
only  comparatively  few  of  them  are  mentioned  by  name, 
and  among  these  Thaddeus  MacCarty  does  not  appear. 
Nor  is  there  any  entry  of  his  marriage  in  the  records  of 
marriages  solemnized  in  the  town  of  Boston. 

It  is  seen  that  at  the  time  his  name  first  appears  in 
Massachusetts  records  (1664)  he  was  twenty-four  years 
old,  and  it  is  probable  he  married  in  that  year,  since 
his  first  child  was  born  in  1665.  Prendergast  ^  has  shown 
from  English  and  Irish  records  that  a  great  number  of 
boys  and  girls  of  tender  age  and  many  of  them  of  the 
best  families  were  transported  from  Ireland  to  the  Colo- 
nies during  the  period,  1651  to  1655,  so  that  it  is  possible 
Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  a  resident  of  Boston  before 
1664.  If  he  came  to  this  country  as  a  "  redemptioner " 
and  had  to  work  his  way  up  from  that  lowly  station,  he 
must  have  been  a  youth  of  uncommon  attainments  for 
the  time,  since  it  appears  that  he  was  established  as  a 
"shopkeeper"  at  Boston  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and 
there  is  no  indication  of  his  having  been  at  any  time  in 
' '  service ' '  or  that  his  business  was  carried  on  in  partner- 
ship with  any  other  person.  When  an  immigrant  of 
his  name  and  race  could  achieve  such  success  in  busi- 
ness as  to  own  his  own  sailing  ships,  and  he  appears  side 
by  side  with  other  historic  characters  of  the  time,  we 
can  well  imagine  that  the  position  occupied  by  Thaddeus 
MacCarty  in  the  town  of  Boston  was  one  of  no  small 
importance. 

However,  it  may  be  an  error  to  assume  that  either 

9  Cromwellian  Settlement  of  Ireland. 


206  THE  McCarthys 

Thaddeus,  or  the  Florence  MacCarty  hereinafter  re- 
ferred to,  was  of  the  "redemptioner"  class,  for  it  is 
observed  that  some  of  the  noted  families  of  McCartys 
who  were  in  Virginia  at  this  time  also  bore  the  Christian 
names,  Thaddeus  and  Florence,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  McCartys  were  of  the 
same  immediate  family  in  Ireland.  Irish  histories  and 
genealogical  works  show  how  very  popular  these  names 
were  among  the  MacCarthys  of  the  direct  line  of  descent 
from  the  great  MacCarthy  family  of  Munster,  and  as  we 
know  that  the  Virginia  branches  were  descended  from 
the  MacCarthys  of  Cork  and  Kerry,  it  may  not  be  assum- 
ing too  much  to  say  that  Thaddeus  and  Florence  of 
Boston  were  natives  of  some  part  of  the  County  of  Cork 
or  Kerry.  And,  in  this  connection,  it  is  also  noted  from 
the  will  of  Charles  McCarthy  of  East  Greenwich,  R.  I., 
dated  February  18,  1682,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Kin- 
sale  in  the  County  of  Cork.^° 

The  fact  that  Thaddeus  of  Boston,  in  his  later  years 
used  as  his  seal  the  arms  and  crest  which  were  an  exact 
counterpart  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  Earl  of  Clan- 
earthy,  in  itself  indicates  that  he  was  descended  from 
that  noble  family.  This  information  I  have  obtained 
from  the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Society, 
which  published  an  account  of  the  ''Seals  from  the 
Jeffries  Collection  of  Manuscripts"^^  in  the  possession 
of  the  descendants  of  David  Jeffries,  for  many  years 
Treasurer  of  the  City  of  Boston  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. This  collection  shows  that  Thaddeus  MacCarty 
used  in  his  seal  the  arms  and  crest  of  the  MacCarthy 
family  of  Ireland  in  the  direct  line  from  MacCarthy 
Mor: 

10  See  page  267.  ii  Vol.  31. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  207 

Arms:  arg.  a  stag  trippant. 

Crest:  an  arm  erect  grasping  a  sword  impaling  a  lizard. 

Motto:  Forti  et  fideli  nihil  difficile?-^ 

But,  whether  Thaddeus  MacCarty's  advent  in  Amer- 
ica was  in  the  modest  role  of  a  "  servant ' '  to  some  Puri- 
tan planter,  or  that  he  came  over  as  *'a  gentleman  emi- 
grant of  means, ' '  as  some  few  of  the  Irish  settlers  about 
this  time  are  described,  seems  immaterial,  for  his  name 
alone  warrants  our  including  him  among  the  pioneer 
Irishmen  of  New  England.  He  appears  with  such  fre- 
quency in  Massachusetts  records  of  the  last  quarter  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  especially  in  connection  with 
deeds  and  conveyances  of  real  estate,  that  I  must  assume 
he  was  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  his  day  in 
the  town  of  Boston.  And  in  support  of  that  assump- 
tion, I  find  from  the  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society  ^^  that  in  the  year  1691  ''Mr.  Thomas 
Brindley  and  Mr.  Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Boston"  acted 
as  "sureties  on  the  bond  of  John  Usher,^*  Treasurer  of 
New  England."  The  amount  of  security  is  not  named, 
but,  the  fact  of  his  selection  as  bondsman  for  so  im- 
portant an  official  stamps  him  as  a  man  of  considerable 
prominence  and  substance. 

In  Robert  N.  Toppan's  account  of  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph,^^  Thaddeus  MacCarty  is  mentioned  several  times, 
and  among  the  documents  reproduced  in  this  great  work 
there  is  a  letter  dated  June  7,  1684,  to  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, signed  by  Joseph  Dudley  and  Thaddeus  "Mae- 
Karty."     This  letter  may  also  be  found  in  the  Collec- 

12  Another  branch  of  the  family  had  as  its  motto:  Ex  arduis  perpetuum 
momen,    and   still   another  branch :    Fortis   ferox    et    celer. 

13  4th.  Ser.,  Vol.   II,   p.   304. 

14  This    John    Usher    was    of   the    same    family    as   the    celebrated   Arch- 
bishop Usher. 

15  Published  by  the   Prince   Society  of  Boston,   in  seven  volumes. 


208  THE  McCarthys 

tions  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,^"  and  al- 
though it  is  clear  that  it  referred  to  a  suit  at  law  in 
which  the  government  of  the  Colony  was  a  party,  there 
is  nothing  to  indicate  why  MacCarty  signed  it ;  but,  the 
mere  fact  that  he  joined  Dudley  as  a  signatory  strength- 
ens the  assumption  that  Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  one  of 
the  important  men  of  his  day  in  New  England.  While 
the  signature  is  spelled  "MacKarty,"  it  is  noted  that 
Thaddeus  signed  his  will  twenty-one  years  later  "Mac- 
Carty." Randolph  and  Dudley  both  occupied  impor- 
tant posts  in  the  Colonial  Government.  Randolph  was 
Surveyor-General  of  Massachusetts,  and  Dudley  was 
Commissioner  of  the  United  Colonies,  1677  to  1681 ; 
Agent  to  England,  1682;  President  of  New  England, 
1684;  Chief  Justice,  1687;  Chief  Justice  of  New  York, 
1690  to  1693 ;  and  Governor  of  Massachusetts  from  1702 
to  1705. 

A  further  indication  that  this  American  Irishman 
must  have  occupied  a  prominent  station  in  Boston's 
early  days  is  the  fact  that,  in  conjunction  with  four 
other  citizens  of  the  town,  he  is  mentioned  by  th*^  famous 
Governor  Thomas  Dongan  ^^  of  New  York  in  a  leiter  to 
the  "Lord  President,"  dated  "N.  Y.  September  ye  18th. 
1685,"^*  as  well  as  in  a  similar  communication  from 
Matthew  Plowman  of  New  York  to  Edmund  Randolph 
of  Boston,  dated  November  9,  1688.^^  And,  as  an  evi- 
dence that  his  business  transactions  carried  him  far 
afield,  "Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Boston"  is  mentioned 
in  New  York  records  under  date  of  October  7,  1677,  in 

16  4th.   Ser.,   Vol.  VIII,   p.   484. 

1"  Governor  Dongan  was  a  native  of  Castletown,  County  Kildare, 
Ireland.  After  his  return  from  America  he  succeeded  to  the  title  and 
estates  of  his  father,  the  Earl  of  Limerick. 

IS  Colonial   Manuscripts   of    New    York;    Vol.    Ill,    p.    365. 

19  Toppan's    Edmund    Randolph;    Vol.    IV,    p.    252. 


21 
Ir 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  209 

connection  with  the  settlement  of  certain  accounts  with 
parties  in  the  Province  of  New  York.-" 

Among  the  transactions  in  which  he  appears  is  that 
of  "Surety  to  the  Towne  for  Benjamin  Smeade,  bel- 
lowes  maker,  and  his  family"  on  September  25,  1682, 
and  on  September  25,  1683,  he  and  Samuel  Shrimpton 
became  ' '  Sureties  to  the  Towne  for  Samuel  Boulter,  Tay 
and  his  family.  "^^  On  October  1,  1683,  he  acted  as 
surety  on  a  bond  of  £100  given  by  Robert  Mason  and 
William  Barefoote  "for  the  proper  administration  of 
the  estate  of  Sylvester  Herbert  of  Great  Island,"  ^^ 
and  on  August  18,  1686,  one  William  Ardell  executed 
a  conveyance  to  Thaddeus  MacKarty  covering  "the 
Ketch  Rose  then  on  a  voyage  to  Barbados,  and  one-half 
of  the  pink.  Blessing,  then  on  a  voyage  to  Holland. ' '  ^^ 
Thomas  Brattle,  Treasurer  of  the  Town  of  Boston,  exe- 
cuted a  deed  to  Thaddeus  MacCarty  on  July  20,  1694,2^ 
and  William  Mumford  and  wife  conveyed  lands  and 
buildings  in  Boston  to  Thaddeus  MacKarty  by  deed 
dated  July  23,  1697.-*'  On  March  5,  1701,  according 
to  the  records  of  the  General  Court  of  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Thaddeus  MacCarty  signed  a  "peti- 
tion for  a  bankrupt  law,"  with  forty-four  other  per- 
sons in  Boston.-^ 

He  seems  to  have  owned  much  land  and  house  prop- 
erty in  Boston  and  vicinity  and  also  was  part  owner 
of  lands  along  the  Merrimack  River,  in  what  is  now 

20  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts,  in  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
ed.   by   Edmund   B.    O'Callaghan. 

21  This  was  Colonel  Samuel  Shrimpton,  a  prominent  and  wealthy  mer- 
chant of  Boston,  owner  of  Noddle's  Island,  now  East  Boston,  which  he 
purchased   in   1670. 

22  Boston  Town  Books. 

23  Provincial   Papers   of   New   Hampshire. 

24  Suffolk  Deeds,  Vol.   14,   fol.   26.  ' 

25  Ibid.,  Vol.   16,   fol.   378. 

26  Ibid.,  Vol.  14,  fol.  371. 

27  History   of  Boston,  by   Samuel  G.   Drake;   p.   518. 


210  THE  McCarthys 

the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  in  the  vicinity  of  Law- 
rence and  Lowell.  One  of  the  largest  land  transactions 
in  which  his  name  figures  was  a  tract  laid  out  on  the 
Merrimack  for  prospective  settlers  about  the  year  1687. 
In  the  New  Hampshire  State  Papers  ^^  there  is  a  copy  of 
a  deed  dated  April  15,  1686,  by  which  "Thaddeus  Mac- 
Carty  of  Boston,  Merchant,  with  John  Usher  and  Charles 
Lidgett,  also  Merchants  of  Boston,"  purchased  from 
"Robert  Tufton  Mason,  Proprietor  of  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire,"  a  tract  of  land  described  as  ''lying 
and  being  on  ye  Westerly  side  of  the  River  of  Merri- 
mack, beginning  at  the  East  End  of  Souhegennock  River 
where  the  same  issues  into  Merrimack  aforesaid,  and 
thence  running  up  Westward  along  the  s^  Sou  River 
six  English  miles  and  a  half,"  etc.  This  deed  was  re- 
corded in  the  Registry  of  Deeds  of  Suffolk  County  on 
November  10,  1686.29 

Among  the  "persons  in  Boston  who  took  the  Oath  of 
Allegiance  administered  by  Gouvernour  John  Leverett 
on  November  11,  1678, ' '  were  Thaddeus  MacKarty,  Jere- 
miah Conoway,  John  Dowgin,  Richard  Talley,  Phillip 
Mullen,  John  Mackemoryn,  Michael  Dalton,  Samuel 
Kelly,  John  Couney,  Dennis  MackDaniel,  Thomas  Heam, 
Thomas  Sexton,  Cornelius  White  and  Matthew  Collins, 
and  it  is  also  of  interest  to  note  that  on  April  21,  1679, 
Governor  Samuel  Bradstreet  administered  the  oath  to 
Bryan  Murphey,  Bartholomew  Sutton,  John  Gill,  Wil- 
liam Dempsey  and  John  Casey.  On  the  same  date 
Jonathan  Casey,  Samuel  and  William  Garey,  and  Peter 
O 'Kelly  also  took  the  oath  at  Roxbury  and  William 
MackKenny  and  John  Mackanah  at  Hingham,  Mass. 

28  Vol.  29,  pp.  138-141. 

29  Liber  I,  pp.  27-32. 

30  Boston  Town  Books,  Vol.   29. 


30 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY         211 

I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  majority  of  these  were 
Irishmen. 

Many  references  to  Thaddeus  MacCarty  are  found  in 
the  ''Annals  of  King's  Chapel,"  Boston,  and  in  the 
history  of  "The  Military  Company  of  the  Massachu- 
setts," now  known  as  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Ar- 
tillery Company.  In  fact,  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  King's  Chapel  and  was  present  at  its  first  meeting 
on  June  15,  1686,3i  ^^^  ^^^^j.  ^j^te  of  March  24,  1688, 
the  following  "warrant"  by  Governor  Edmund  Andros 
appears  in  the  Massachusetts  records:  "Pursuant  to  a 
Resolve  in  Council,  I  hereby  appoint  and  authorize  you, 
Captain  Anthony  Howard,  Captain  "William  White  and 
Mr.  Thaddeus  MacKarty,  to  ask  and  receive  the  free 
and  voluntary  contributions  of  any  of  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  Town  of  Boston  towards  the  building  and  erect- 
ing of  a  House  or  Place  for  the  service  of  the  Church 
of  England."  ^^  His  name  is  spelled  in  the  church 
records  "Maccartie,"  "MacKerty"  and  "Mackarty," 
according  to  the  ortographical  ideas  of  the  different 
Ministers.  In  1689,  we  find  him  subscribing  the  sum 
of  £7.  10s.  toward  the  church  funds  and  on  "Wednesday, 
8th.  Aprill,  1694,  being  Easter  week,  at  a  ilieeting  then 
held,  Mr.  Thaddeus  MacKarty  and  Francis  Foxcroft 
were  elected  Church  Wardens  for  ye  Yeare  ensuing. ' '  ^^ 
Both  were  reelected  on  March  26,  1695,  and  in  1699, 
1703  and  1705  Thaddeus  was  a  Vestryman  of  the  parish. 
Thaddeus  MacCarty  is  mentioned  in  the  records  of  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  among  "the 
new  members  recruited,  1681-2,"^*  as  well  as  another 

31  Annals   of   King's   Chapel,   by   Henry   Wilder   Foote;    Vol.    I,    p.    76. 

32  The  Andros  Tracts,  published  by  Prince  Society,  Boston;  Vol.  II, 
p.  45;  Boston,  1869.  Also  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Collections; 
3rd.   Ser.  Vol.   I,   p.   84. 

33  Annals   of   King's   Chapel,   Vol.   I,    p.    114. 

3i  History  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  by  Oliver 
Ayer  RoberU,  Vol.  I,  p.   264 ;   Boston,   18 .  . 


212  THE  McCarthys 

soldier  named  Charles  MacCar-ty,  who  was  "badly 
wounded  in  the  expedition  against  Quebec  in  1690."  ^^ 
Thaddeus  is  described  by  the  historian  of  the  Artillery 
Company  as  "a  shopkeeper"  and  as  ''holding  a  town, 
office  in  Boston  in  1674,"  and  it  is  evident  that  he  con- 
tinued as  a  member  of  "Captain  Allan's  Company"  of 
the  artillery,  for  several  years,  since  "Thaddeus  Mc- 
Cartei"  is  so  mentioned  in  the  Town  Books  under  date 
of  August  6,  1698.='*' 

He  appears  to  have  been  interested  at  one  time  in 
some  business  enterprise  with  an  Irishman  named  Ed- 
ward Mortimer,  and  both  are  mentioned  in  the  "Journal 
of  John  Dunton, "  "  an  Englishman  who  came  to  Massa- 
chusetts in  1685.  In  this  "Journal"  Dunton  referred 
to  several  prominent  persons  in  Boston  whom  he  met, 
among  them  "Mr.  Maccarty"  and  "Mr.  Mortimer,  who 
came  from  Ireland,  an  accomplished  merchant,  a  person 
of  great  modesty  who  could  answer  the  most  abstruse 
points  in  algebra,  navigation  and  dialling."  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  "Mr.  Maccarty"  here  referred  to  was 
Thaddeus.  Edward  Mortimer  is  mentioned  in  the  Town 
Books  of  Boston  of  the  year  1678  as  "an  Irishman"  and 
as  a  member  of  the  fire  engine  company  in  that  year, 
and  his  name  appears  in  the  Boston  tax  lists  of  the 
year  1695. 

The  Boston  News-Letter  of  June  18-25,  1705,  con- 
tained this  announcement:  "On  Monday  the  18th.  in- 
stant Dyed  Mr.  Thaddeus  Maccarty  of  this  Town,  Mer- 
chant, aged  65  years."  He  was  buried  in  the  Granary 
Burial  Ground  at  Boston,  and  in  that  ancient  graveyard, 
where  rest  the  remains  of  such  historic  figures  in  Amer- 

35  Genealogical    Dictionary    of    the    First    Settlers    of   New    England,    by 
James   Savage;    Vol.   Ill,    p.    139. 

36  Vol.    29,   p.    2. 

37  Published  by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society ;  2nd.  Ser.  Vol.  II. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  213 

ican  history  as  John  Hancock,  Paul  Revere,  Peter  Fan- 
euil,  Samuel  Adams,  Robert  Treat  Paine,  James  Otis, 
Governor  James  Sullivan  and  many  others,  may  be  seen 
the  grave  of  Thaddeus  MacCarty  and  a  stone  bearing  an 
inscription,  reading: 

"Here  Lyes  ye  Body  of 

Thadeus  Maccarty 

Aged  65  Years  and  6  Months 

Desesed  June  ye  18,  1705" 

His  will  is  recorded  at  the  Registry  of  Probate  for 
Suffolk  County,  Mass.^^  The  document  seems  to  be  en- 
tirely in  his  own  handwriting  and  probably  was  pre- 
pared by  himself,  and  it  is  interesting  not  only  as  in- 
dicating that  he  was  a  religious  person,  but  as  an  in- 
dication of  the  confidence  he  placed  in  his  wife,  to  whom 
he  bequeathed  ''the  residue  and  remainder  of  my  real 
and  personal  estate  .  .  .  not  doubting  but  she  will  take 
care  prudently  to  manage  and  dispose  of  what  shall 
remain  for  the  best  and  utmost  advantage  of  my  chil- 
dren." The  following  is  a  verbatim  copy  of  it,  secured 
from  the  probate  records: 

*'In  the  Name  of  God  Amen  I  Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Boston 
in  New  England  Shopkeeper  being  weak  in  Body  but  of  Sound 
mind  and  disposing  memory  (thanks  be  therefore  given  to  Al- 
mighty) Doe  make  this  my  last  will  and  Testament  as  fol- 
loweth. 

"Imprimis  I  commit  my  Soul  into  the  hands  of  my  Almighty 
Creatour  trusting  through  the  merrits  of  my  Saviour  Christ 
to  obtain  the  remission  of  my  Sins;  my  body  to  the  Earth  to 
be  decently  and  providently  Interrd;  and  as  for  my  wordly 
Estate  after  my  Debts  paid  and  funeral  expences  discharged 
I  do  hereby  give,  devise  &  bequeath  unto  my  Dear  and  loveing 
Wife  Elizabeth  the  residue  and  remainder  of  my  real  and 
personal  Estate  to  her,  her  heires  and  assigns  forever,  not 

38  Vol.  16,  p.  24. 


214  THE  McCarthys 

doubting  but  she  will  take  care  prudently  to  mannage  and  dis- 
pose of  what  shall  remain  for  the  best  and  utmost  advantage 
of  my  children.  And  I  do  hereby  revoke  all  former  Wills 
by  me  heretofore  made  and  appoint  my  sd  Wife  to  be  Sole 
Executrix  of  this  my  last  Will. 

"In  Witness  whereof  I  published  the  same  and  set  to  my 
hand  and  seal  this  Twenty  fourth  day  of  May  Anno  Domini 
Seventeen  hundred  and  five. 

"Thaddeus  MacCarty  (seal) 
"Signed,  Sealed  published  and  declared  by  the  Testator  in 
presence  of  us  "Christopher  Ealby 

"William  Crow 
"John  Ballentine" 

•  If  further  testimony  were  vs^anted  in  support  of  the 
statement  that  Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  a  person  of  im- 
portance among  his  tovmsmen,  it  is  furnished  to  us  by 
the  signatories  to  the  attestation  clause  of  his  will. 
Christopher  Kilby  was  a  Boston  merchant  and  is  men- 
tioned frequently  in  local  records,  and  in  all  probability 
Kilby  Street  in  Boston  was  named  for  him.  William 
Crow  was  one  of  three  committeemen  who  were  ap- 
pointed in  March,  1677,  to  distribute  to  the  township 
of  Plymouth  its  proportionate  share  of  ' '  The  Irish  Dona- 
tion" of  1676,  contributed  by  the  people  of  Ireland 
"for  the  relieffe  of  such  as  are  Impoverished,  Distressed 
and  in  Necessitie  by  the  late  Indian  War, ' '  ^^  John 
Ballentine  was  a  Captain  of  the  Artillery  Company  of 
which  Thaddeus  and  Florence  MacCarty  were  members, 
and  a  description  of  him  says  "he  was  a  prominent  man 
of  affairs  in  Boston,  which  town  he  represented  in  1726, 
and  in  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, ' '  ^° 

39  Old  Colony  Records  in  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Society's 
Register,  Vol.  II,  pp.  245-250.  The  "Irish  Donation,"  or  "The  Irish 
Charity"  as  it  is  also  called  in  the  Old  Colony  records,  was  sent  from 
Ireland  .  to  Boston  in  the  ship  Katherine,  which  sailed  from  Dublin  on 
or  about  August  17,  1676.  For  accounts  of  this  historic  incident  and 
its  importance  at  the  time  to  the  people  of  New  England,  see  Register 
above  mentioned;  also  A  Hidden  Phase  of  American  History,  by  the  author. 

40  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Register,  Vol.  VI,   p.   371. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  215 

Thaddeus  MacCarty's  wife  survived  him  and  con- 
tinued to  live  in  a  brick  house  in  Brattle  Square,  which 
the  family  had  occupied  for  many  years,  but  in  a  great 
fire  in  Boston  on  October  2,  1710,  which  threatened  the 
destruction  of  the  town,  several  houses  in  Brattle  Square 
were  ''blown  up  in  order  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
flames,"  among  them  that  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  MacCarty. 
The  owners  petitioned  the  town  for  reimbursement  for 
their  losses,  and  at  ''A  meeting  of  Her  Majesty's  Jus- 
tices of  the  Town  of  Boston"  on  October  20,  1710,  Mrs. 
MacCarty  was  ' '  allowed  the  Summe  of  Sixty  pounds  for 
the  damage  done  to  her, ' '  *^  After  the  building  was 
repaired,  it  became  known  as  ''the  White  House"  *^ 
because  it  was  painted  white,  and  there  is  a  record  in 
the  year  1711  showing  that  "Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thad- 
deus MacKarty  of  Boston,"  sold  to  Arthur  Savage 
"land  on  the  westerly  side  of  Brattle  Square,  Boston, 
with  the  house  standing  thereon."  This  house  was  the 
residence  of  Arthur  Savage  until  his  death  in  1735, 
and  in  his  will,  dated  December  10,  1733,  he  described 
it  as  his  "Mansion  House  in  Brattle  Square,"  together 
with  a  house  and  land  adjoining.  It  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  William  Bollan,  son-in-law  of  Governor 
Shirley  of  Massachusetts,  and  subsequently  by  the  fa- 
mous John  Adams  when  he  first  removed  to  Boston  from 
Braintree.*^ 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  MacCarty  is  mentioned  in  the  Town 
Books  of  the  year  1716  as  a  resident  of  Brattle  Street, 
and  her  death  seven  years  later  at  the  age  of  eighty-two, 
was  mentioned  in  this  curious  manner  in  the  "Diary  of 

41  Town  Books,  Vol.   XI,   p.   151. 

42  Oddly  enough,  when  the  Executive  Mansion  at  Washington  was  re- 
paired and  painted  white  after  its  partial  destruction  by  the  British  in 
the  year   1814,    it  became   known   popularly   as    "The   White   House." 

43  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  Vol.  I,  p.  85. 


216  THE  McCarthys 

Jeremiah  Bumstead "  **  of  Boston  under  date  of  June 
8,  1723:  "About  ye  7  or  8  Day  Mrs.  Mecarty  and  her 
Daughter  Catte  dyed  and  buryed  together  on  ye  10 
Day,"  and  their  graves  may  be  seen  in  the  Granary 
Burial  Ground  at  Boston,  with  two  separate  tomb- 
stones bearing  the  names  of  Elizabeth  and  Katharine 
Maccarty.  Under  date  of  May  7,  1724,  there  is  an  entry 
in  the  Suffolk  County  probate  records  showing  that 
Judge  Samuel  Sewall  appointed  Caleb  Lymon,  Jacob 
Royall  and  Benjamin  Simpson,  ''Commissioners  with 
full  power  to  receive  and  Examine  all  Claims  of  the 
Several  Creditors  of  Elizabeth  Maccarty,  late  of  Boston, 
Widow,  deceased,"  whose  "estate  is  Represented  to  be 
Insolvent  and  not  Sufficient  to  pay  her  just  Debts." 
However,  the  records  of  Middlesex  County  indicate  that 
three  years  later,  or  on  July  31,  1727,  Thaddeus  Mac- 
Carty  was  granted  letters  of  administration  to  "the 
estate  of  Mrs.  Eliza  Maccarty,  late  of  Boston,  died 
intestate. ' '  These  letters  were  issued  in  connection  with 
"some  Lands  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,"  which  were 
"committed  to  Thaddeus  Maccarty  of  said  Boston,  Mar- 
riner,  and  he  hath  given  Bond  in  one  Thousand  Pounds 
with  John  Greenough  of  same  place,  Shipwright, 
Surety." 

There  was  a  Thomas  MacCarty  of  Boston,  described 
as  a  "mariner,"  who  in  all  probability  was  a  relative 
of  Thaddeus,  but  whose  connection  with  that  family  I 
am  unable  to  establish.  Among  the  ' '  Letters  of  Samuel 
Sewall, ' '  *^  Judge  of  the  Massachusetts  General  Court, 
is  one  dated  "Xr.  23,  1695,"  in  which  he  referred  to 
"Captain  Thomas  Maccarty  of  Boston,"  and  in  a  letter 
dated  July  31,  1696,  Sewall  referred  to  the  supposed 

44  In  New  England   Historic-Genealogical   Register,   Vol.    15. 

45  In  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Collections,  6th.  Ser.  Vol.  I, 
p.  158, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  217 

''death  of  Captain  MacCarty,  whose  ship  was  said  to 
have  foundered  at  sea. ' '  However,  the  ' '  Diary  of  Sam- 
uel Sewall"  mentions  "Captain  Thomas  MacCarty"  as 
at  Boston  in  the  year  1697. 

Besides  this  Thomas  MacCarty,  whose  relationship, 
if  any,  to  Thaddeus  and  Florence  cannot  be  ascertained, 
it  is  clear  there  were  other  people  of  the  name  at  Boston. 
The  appended  extracts  from  Massachusetts  vital  records 
show  that  in  January,  1683,  Mary  MacCarty  married 
Joseph  Hunscot  at  Boston ;  Elizabeth  MacKarta  married 
Thomas  Bridgewater  on  April  7,  1696,  and  "Kathrane 
Maccarty"  signed  as  witness  to  a  bond  dated  November 
6,  1694,  filed  in  the  Bristol  County  Probate  Court  on  be- 
half of  Mary  Davis  and  Phillip  Taber,  as  administra- 
tors of  the  estate  of  Phillip  Taber,  deceased.*^     None 
of  these  are  believed  to  have  been  daughters  of  Thaddeus 
or  Florence  and  since  the  birth  of  neither  Mary,  Eliza- 
beth nor  "Kathrane"  MacCarty  appears  in  the  vital 
records,  it  may  be  that  they  were  of  the  family  of  the 
mariner.  Captain  Thomas  MacCarty,  and  that  they  came 
with    him    to    this    country    from    Ireland.     However, 
among  some  old  tomes  on  trade  of  the  years  1696-1698 
on  file  in  the  State  Archives,  there  are  several  bills 
covering  purchases  of  goods  by  Thaddeus  MacCarty, 
and  one  of  these,   dated  October  14,   1697,  bears  an 
acknowledgment  signed  ''Mary  Macarty"  and  a  prom- 
ise by  her  to  pay  the  amount  to  John  Helden,  Thad- 
deus MacCarty 's  creditor.     This  indicates  that  she  was 
some  relation  of  Thaddeus. 

There  are  two  Thomas  MacCartys  mentioned  in  Massa- 
chusetts records  of  this  period,  viz.— the  Captain  Thomas 
before  alluded  to  and  Thomas  who  was  a  student  at 
Harvard  College  in  the  year  1689.     In  the  New  England 

46  The  Mayflower  Descendant;   Vol.   XVI,   p.   229. 


218  THE  McCarthys 

Historic-Genealogical  Register '^'^  under  the  year  1691, 
there  is  a  "List  of  Harvard  Graduates"  and  among 
the  names  is  Thomas  Macearty,  and  in  May,  1694,  his 
name  is  included  as  a  contributor  in  the  sum  of  £2. 
toward  a  fund  to  purchase  pews  for  Kings'  Chapel.^^ 
Although  I  can  find  no  record  of  his  birth,  I  assume 
he  was  a  son  of  Thomas  MacCarty,  the  sea  captain,  since 
neither  Thaddeus  nor  Florence  had  a  son  named  Thomas. 
That  Thomas  MacCarty,  Junior,  was  a  spirited  youth 
and  took  a  forward  part  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Andros 
government  in  the  year  1689,  known  as  ' '  The  Revolution 
in  New  England,"  is  clear  from  references  to  him  that 
appear  in  histories  of  the  event.  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
had  been  "King's  Deputy  in  the  Province  of  New  York" 
for  several  years,  but  in  1686  King  James  commissioned 
him  "Governor  of  his  Royal  Dominion  of  New  Eng- 
land," which  included  all  the  territory  from  the  Dela- 
ware River  to  Nova  Scotia,  superseding  Dongan,  the 
famous  Irish  Governor  of  the  Province  of  New  York. 
On  December  20,  1686,  Andros  arrived  in  Boston  and 
assumed  the  government  of  the  Province. 

In  the  History  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
written  by  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  Province,  published  at  Boston  in  1766,  Andros  is 
accused  of  "corruption  in  office"  and  his  subordinates 
are  charged  with  "extortion,"  with  the  levying  of  ex- 
cessive and  unnecessary  taxes  and,  having  come  to  Massa- 
chusetts possessed  of  an  inordinate  "land  hunger,"  they 
"put  titles  and  property  in  jeopardy"  by  their  illegal 
actions.  Andros  is  also  accused  of  arming  the  Indians, 
unfriendly  to  the  English,  who  in  1688  had  begun  a  new 
war  against  the  English.     A  curious  side  light  is  thrown 

47  Vol.   32,  p.   233. 

48Anno/»  of  King's  Chapel,  by  Henry  Wilder  Foote;  Vol.  I. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  219 

upon  the  occurrences  of  the  time  in  a  pamphlet  printed 
at  Boston  in  1691,*^  entitled  "The  Revolution  in  New 
England  Justified,"  by  Edmund  Rawson  and  Samuel 
Sewall,  in  which,  among  the  testimony  brought  in  at 
an  investigation  of  the  Andros  government,  there  is 
included  "the  testimony  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Graves 
and  John  Rutter,  taken  at  Boston  on  January  28,  1689. ' ' 
These  witnesses  testified  that  they  had  been  "informed 
by  Solomon  Thomas,  an  Indian,"  that  "when  the  fight 
at  the  Eastward  should  be  ...  if  the  English  get  the 
day,  in  the  Spring  the  French  and  Irish  would  come 
to  Boston,"  which  "was  the  first  place  to  be  destroyed 
and  after  that  the  country  towns  would  be  all  won." 
Which  shows  that  even  to  the  American  Indians  the 
Irish  people  were  not  unknown ! 

The  "Revolution  in  New  England"  took  place  in 
1689  and  Andros  and  his  subordinate  officials  were 
thrown  into  prison,  but  the  Governor  escaped  and  took 
refuge  in  Rhode  Island.  About  this  time  Thomas  Don- 
gan,  the  deposed  Governor  of  New  York,  had  gone  to 
Rhode  Island  where  his  cousin,  another  Thomas  Don- 
gan,  or  Dungan,  a  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  As- 
sembly, resided,  and  it  was  suspected  that  Andros  and 
the  Dongans  would  try  to  effect  a  juncture  with  the 
Indians  and  place  themselves  again  in  power.  Great 
alarm  was  felt  as  to  what  might  happen,  and  when  five 
young  men  from  Boston  turned  up  suddenly  in  New 
York  Governor  Leisler  at  once  suspected  them  as  emis- 
saries from  Andros  and  that  the  dreaded  Andros  him- 
self was  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Whatever  the  na- 
ture of  the  enterprise  was,  the  histories  of  the  period 
do  not  disclose  and  there  seems  to  be  nothing  on  record 

49  Republished   in    1793.     See   Force's   Collections   of  Historical  Tracts; 
Vol.  IV. 


220  THE  McCarthys 

concerning  it;  but,  as  a  participant  in  it  we  find  a 
spirited  and  adventurous  member  of  the  fighting  race 
of  McCarthy.  Among  the  documents  reproduced  in 
Hutchinson's  history  there  is  a  letter  from  Leisler,  dated 
New  York,  September  3,  1689,  to  Governor  Bradstreet 
of  Massachusetts,  in  which  he  said: 

''The  escape  of  Sir  Edmund  and  his  arrival  at  Rhode 
Island,  where  Colonel  Dongan,  did,  the  same  day,  land 
some  of  his  people,  and  himself  not  far  off,  caused  a 
jealousy  in  us  of  a  bad  design.  In  this  interim  of  time 
arrived  here  Mr.  John  Emerson,  John  Leverett,  William 
Brattle,  Thomas  McCarty  and  John  Perry,  from  the 
ferry;  after  watch  set  in  the  night,  well  armed  and  as 
reported,  went  into  a  tavern,  where  doors  and  windows 
were  shut,  a  man  on  horseback  was  despatched  post  out 
of  the  town,  made  us  all  believe  them  of  Sir  Edmund's 
people,  and  he  himself  not  far  off.  I  sent  for  the 
strangers,  of  whom  I  demanded  a  pass;  they  said  they 
had  one,  but  lost  it ;  they  knew  nobody  but  Major  Brock- 
hoist  and  Captain  Locker,  two  known  papists,  whereby 
I  suspected  them  to  be  really  of  Sir  Edmund's  people 
and  beat  the  drum."  Leisler  then  related  how  he  had 
his  soldiers  search  the  house  where  the  strangers  from 
Boston  lodged,  and  finding  from  their  letters  and  papers 
that  they  were  " disapprovers  of  our  actions,"  he 
"alarmed  the  town"  and  "got  immediately  500  men 
courageously  «.rmed,  and  while  the  committee  read  the 
letters,  I  sent  out  parties  to  search  for  strangers,"  etc. 
Leisler  went  on  to  say  that,  finding  nothing  "against 
their  characters,"  he  "released  the  said  gentlemen."  ^° 

A  footnote  in  Hutchinson's  work  ^^  says  "the  first 
four  persons  named  in  Leisler 's  letter  (Emerson,  Lev- 

50  The  History  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  by  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson;    Vol.   I,   p.   392;    Boston,    1766. 

51  Ibid.,  p.  393. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  221 

erett,  Brattle  and  McCarty),  belonged  to  the  College 
at  Cambridge."  What  became  of  Thomas  MaeCarty 
and  his  companions  in  New  York  after  their  release  is 
not  related,  but  it  is  evident  that  they  were  permitted 
to  return  to  Boston,  since  MaeCarty 's  death  is  recorded 
there  in  the  year  1698.  All  of  his  companions  in  the 
enterprise  became  men  of  prominence  in  New  England 
affairs. 

Several  references  to  this  incident  may  be  seen  in 
O'Callaghan's  "Documentary  History  of  New  York."  ^^ 
In  a  letter  to  Robert  Treat,  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
dated  August  28,  1689,  Leisler  also  said  the  "five 
strangers"  from  Boston  "knew  but  papists  in  this 
toune,"  and  in  an  affidavit  of  one  Bartholomew  Le  Roux 
concerning  the  affair,  taken  before  Leisler  on  September 
25,  1689,  the  affiant  stated:  "We  had  certain  informa- 
tion that  there  was  Eighty  or  a  hundred  men  coming 
from  Boston  &  other  places  that  were  hunted  away, 
no  doubt  not  for  their  goodnes  &  that  there  were  several 
of  them  Irish  and  Papist  &  the  Governor  had  designed 
to  take  them  in  the  fort  y*  which  they  would  not  suffer. 
That  a  good  part  of  the  soldiers  that  were  in  the  fort 
already  were  papist  and  that  they  (the  Governor  and 
his  people)  thought  themselves  not  secure,"  etc.  As 
is  well  known,  Governor  Dongan  was  a  Catholic  and 
during  his  term  of  office  he  was  instrumental  in  bringing 
several  Irish  Catholics  to  New  York.  Possibly,  some  of 
these  were  the  "Irish  and  Papist"  referred  to  in  the 
above  quoted  document,  and  since  Andros  himself,  al- 
though a  Protestant,  favored  the  Catholics,  and  it  is 
known  there  were  Catholics  residing  in  Rhode  Island 
at  the  time,  in  all  probability  they  were  among  the 
"Eighty  or  a  hundred  men  coming  from  Boston  and 

62  Vol.    II. 


222  THE  McCarthys 

other  places  that  were  hunted  away,"  and  that  their 
purpose  in  coming  to  New  York  was  to  try  and  wean 
away  from  the  royal  cause  the  "papist"  soldiers,  "a 
good  part"  of  whom,  doubtless,  were  Irishmen. 
Whether  or  not  Thomas  MacCarty  and  his  companions 
had  any  connection  with  these  men  does  not  appear. 

Savage  refers  to  one  Charles  Maecarty  who  was  "badly 
wounded  in  the  expedition  against  Quebec  in  1690." 
In  "the  expedition  against  Quebec"  under  Sir  William 
Phips,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts,  the  Colo- 
nial government  despatched  several  warships  and  bodies 
of  troops  raised  mainly  in  Middlesex,  Worcester  and 
Suffolk  Counties,  and  among  the  latter  was  a  body  of 
men  known  as  "The  Boston  Regiment,"  as  well  as  "The 
Military  Company  of  the  Massachusetts,"  both  under 
the  command  of  John  Walloy  of  Boston.  From  the 
meager  accounts  of  it  that  have  been  published,  we  learn 
that  the  attempt  to  land  troops  was  futile  and  disastrous, 
since  the  French  artillery  on  the  heights  commanded  the 
approaches  to  the  city,  and  the  ships  were  compelled  to 
return  to  Boston  without  accomplishing  the  object  of 
the  expedition.  A  Charles  MacCarty  was  a  member  of 
one  of  Walley's  companies  and  this  undoubtedly  was 
the  soldier  referred  to  by  Savage,  but  as  there  was  an- 
other Charles,  son  of  Thaddeus  MacCarty,  who  died  on 
October  25,  1683,  it  is  clear  there  were  two  of  the  same 
name  in  Boston.  This,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  no 
details  of  the  career  of  the  adventurous  youth,  Thomas 
MacCarty,  have  been  ascertained  beyond  those  already 
alluded  to,  indicates  the  probability  that  there  is  some 
interesting  material  about  this  family  in  Massachusetts 
records  which  has  not  yet  been  discovered. 

Although  Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  a  member  of  the 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  223 

Artillery  Company  at  this  time,  and  Florence  MacCarty 
was  also  a  member  of  a  military  company,  there  is  noth- 
ing to  indicate  that  they  were  interested  in  the  success 
of  the  movement  against  the  French,  and  it  is  highly  im- 
probable on  account  of  their  age  that  they  took  part  in 
the  expedition.  It  is  not  unlikely,  however,  that  Captain 
Thomas  MacCarty  had  some  part  in  it,  since  the  papers 
of  Samuel  Sewall,  already  quoted,  show  that  he  was 
in  active  service  as  master  of  a  vessel  several  years 
later,  and  it  may  be  supposed  also  that  Thomas  Mac- 
Carty, Junior,  after  his  return  from  New  York,  joined 
the  expedition.  Mr.  John  Henry  Edmonds,  State  Ar- 
chivist, in  his  Captain  Thomas  Pound,  Pilot,  Pirate, 
Cartographer  and  Captain  in  the  Royal  Navy,^^  repro- 
duces from  the  original  record  in  the  Massachusetts 
archives  a  copy  of  ''An  Account  of  the  Fight  between 
the  Rose  ffrigatt  and  a  ffrench  Man  of  War  off  of  Cape 
Sables,"  which  occurred  on  the  24th  of  May,  1690. 
The  Rose  was  an  English  ship  in  the  service  of  the 
colonies,  stationed  in  Boston  harbor  for  several  years, 
and  was  engaged  in  the  expedition  against  the  French, 
and  among  her  crew  were  several  young  men  from 
Boston.  The  "Account  of  the  Fight"  quoted  by  Ed- 
monds gives  a  list  of  the  casualties  in  this  action,  and 
among  the  wounded  on  the  Rose  was  "Mr.  Macarty's 
man  Michael,"  who  "lost  his  arm."  There  is  nothing 
to  identify  "Mr.  Macarty"  with  certainty,  but  it  is 
clear  that  one  of  the  three  MacCartj^s,  Thaddeus,  Flor- 
ence or  Captain  Thomas,  was  here  referred  to  and  that 
the  "man  Michael"  was  a  sailor  in  his  employ;  but,  in 
the  absence  of  definite  information  on  the  point,  for 
the  present  his  identity  remains  in  obscurity.     Mr.  Ed- 

53  Published  by  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts;  Vol.  20,  pp.  82-83. 


224  THE  McCarthys 

monds'  assumption  is  that  the  ''Mr.  Macarty"  referred 
to  was  Captain  Thomas. 

References  to  people  of  the  name  turn  up  in  the  most 
unexpected  quarters,  and  with  little  or  nothing  to  in- 
dicate to  the  searcher  what  relationships  may  have  ex- 
isted between  these  various  McCarthys.  In  the  ' '  Papers 
of  Edmund  Andros,  Royal  Gouvernour  and  President 
of  Massachusetts,"  one  Daniel  MacKarty  is  mentioned 
under  date  of  January  22,  1687.  These  papers  cover 
the  period,  December  20,  1686,  to  April  22,  1687,  and 
were  published  by  the  American  Antiquarian  Society, 
and  one  of  the  items  noted  therein  is  "the  petition  of 
Daniel  MacKarty,  setting  forth  that  he  had  been  a  pris- 
oner in  his  ma'''^^  Gaol  in  Boston,  haveing  been  charged 
with  felony,"  etc.  The  document  stated  that  he  "was 
tryed  and  acquitted  by  his  Jury  but  was  kept  in  Prison 
for  his  fees,"  and  on  the  hearing  of  the  petition,  at  "A 
Meeting  of  the  Councill  at  Boston  in  New  England  on 
Saturday  the  22  of  January  1686"  (1687),  it  was  "Or- 
dered that  upon  payment  of  his  fees  he  (Daniel  Mac- 
Karty) be  forthwith  discharged  according  to  Law."^* 
Who  this  Daniel  MacKarty  was,  or  what  was  his  fate 
or  fortune  after  his  release,  there  is  now  no  way  of 
ascertaining,  but  it  is  probable  that  he  was  one  of  the 
many  Irish  "redemptioners"  who  are  known  to  have 
been  in  New  England  at  this  period. 

Thaddeus  MacCarty  (2nd),  son  of  Thaddeus  (1st), 
was  a  merchant  and  shipowner  at  Boston  and  is  de- 
scribed by  Lincoln  in  his  "History  of  Worcester,"  as 
"an  experienced  commander  and  skillful  navigator  in 
the  merchant  service."  For  many  years  he  followed 
the  sea  in  command  of  his  own  vessel  and  his  name 

54  Androa  Papers,   in   American   Antiquarian   Society   publications ;    Vol. 
13,    p.    248. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  225 

occurs  frequently  in  the  shipping  records  published  in 
the  Boston  News-Letter  among  masters  of  vessels  trading 
between  Boston  and  the  Islands  of  the  West  Indies  and 
the  port  of  London,  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  At  that  period,  no  occupation  was 
more  hazardous  than  that  of  a  seaman,  and  in  the  news- 
papers are  found  many  references  to  the  pirates  who 
roved  the  sea  plundering  merchant  ships,  robbing  and 
maltreating  the  crews  and  passengers  and  in  some  cases 
setting  fire  to  the  vessels  and  marooning  the  crews  in 
isolated  islands  along  the  coasts.  The  Boston  News- 
Letter  published  several  accounts  by  New  England  sea- 
captains  of  their  encounters  with  pirate  ships,  and  news 
from  other  countries  published  in  the  newspapers  was 
often  six  or  seven  months  old  because  of  the  fact  that 
American  vessels  had  to  put  into  other  ports  in  order 
to  escape  the  pirates. 

Captain  MacCarty  and  his  crew  are  numbered  among 
the  victims  of  the  sea-robbers.  In  the  News-Letter  of 
October  10-18,  1723,  there  is  an  account  "which  came 
hither  by  way  of  Rhode  Island,"  of  ''the  capture  of 
Captain  Thaddeus  MacCarty,  his  vessel  and  crew,  by  a 
French  pirate  of  12  guns  and  24  hands  as  they  were 
bound  for  Jamaica,  leaving  the  Master  and  Men  ashore, 
but  carrying  away  the  boy  and  vessel."  It  is  evident 
that  he  made  his  way  to  Boston,  but  that  his  luck  did 
not  attend  him  for  long,  for  only  eight  months  after  this 
incident  Captain  MacCarty  again  fell  in  with  the  pi- 
rates on  the  high  seas.  The  News-Letter  of  July  9-16, 
1724,  published  a  long  "account  from  Virginia"  relat- 
ing to  "a  Spanish  pirate  ship  flying  British  colours," 
which  captured  several  vessels,  one  of  which  taken  off 
Cape  Charles  on  June  5th,  was  the  brigatine.  Prudent 
Hannah,  of  Boston,   commanded   by   Captain   Thomas 


226  THE  McCarthys 

Mousell,  bound  for  Virginia.  This  account  said, 
"Smith,  the  pilot  of  the  Spaniard,  told  Mousell  they 
had  taken  two  New  England  brigantines,  Maecarty  and 
Burrington. ' '  A  despatch  from  New  York  published  in 
the  News-Leiter  of  July  16-23,  said  that  the  pirate  had 
been  captured  and  that  four  of  her  crew  had  been  tried 
at  Lewes,  Del.,  and  sentenced,  to  death. 

For  some  time  thereafter  Captain  MacCarty  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  shipping  records,  and  it  was  not  until 
November,  1724,  that  his  name  again  appears  among 
masters  of  vessels  trading  out  of  Boston.  The  News- 
Letter  of  November  12-19,  1724,  announced  that  Cap- 
tain Thaddeus  MacCarty  was  registered  at  the  Boston 
Custom  House  ' '  outward  bound  for  Jamaica, ' '  and,  that 
his  experiences  with  the  pirates  did  not  deter  him  from 
the  pursuit  of  his  chosen  business,  is  seen  from  the  fact 
that  his  name  is  mentioned  occasionally  in  the  shipping 
records  down  to  the  year  1728.  His  marriage  to  Mary 
Greenough  is  recorded  at  Boston  as  of  June  14,  1716, 
and  the  births  of  three  of  their  children,  Thaddeus, 
Elizabeth  and  John,  are  recorded  in  the  Town  Books 
between  1721  and  1724.  His  name  is  also  mentioned 
as  one  of  a  number  of  dissatisfied  worshippers  at  the 
North  Church,  Boston,  who  met  on  November  14,  1717, 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  new  church  which  they 
called  the  "New  Brick  Church.  "^^  As  "Thade' 
Mecharty"  he  was  appointed  "Assessor  for  the  year 
ensuing"  at  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen  on  March  13, 
1726,  and  according  to  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone 
in  the  Granary  Burial  Ground,  he  died  on  February  22, 
1729,  and  Letters  of  Administration  were  granted  to 
"Mary  Maecarty,  wife  of  Thaddeus,  Admx.,"  on  March 
18th  of  that  year,  and  in  the  papers  on  file  among  the 

55  History  of  Boston,  by  Samuel  G.  Drake ;  p.  558. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  227 

probate  records  he  is  styled  "Capt  Thaddeus  Maccarty 
of  Boston,  Mariner."  His  estate  was  appraised  at  the 
sum  of  £1477.  14s.  6d.^« 

As  already  stated,  Thaddeus  MaeCarty  was  the  father 
of  Charles,  Francis  and  Samuel,  besides  Thaddeus 
(2nd),  and  two  daughters,  Margaret  and  Catherine. 
Charles  died  in  1683  and  Catherine  in  1723;  Margaret 
married  Amos  Angier,  schoolmaster  of  Boston,  on  May 
20,  1708 ;  but  there  seems  to  be  nothing  on  record  con- 
cerning Francis  and  Samuel.  However,  a  sea  captain 
of  the  name,  and  possibly  more  than  one,  is  referred  to 
several  times  in  the  New  York  and  Boston  newspapers 
down  to  the  year  1739,  although  there  is  no  mention  of 
their  given  names,  and  since  so  many  of  the  MacCartys 
followed  the  sea,  it  is  possible  these  mariners  were  the 
sons  of  Thaddeus  (1st).  As  an  example  of  the  diflfi- 
culty  of  establishing  the  identity  of  the  various  Mac- 
Cartys whose  names  appear  in  public  records,  Thaddeus 
Maccarty  is  mentioned  as  "  one  of  the  non-resident  pro- 
prietors of  Dunstable,  Mass.,"  in  1733."  This  could 
not  have  been  Captain  Thaddeus,  since  he  died  in  1729, 
and  the  only  conclusion  is  that  his  son,  Thaddeus  (3rd), 
was  the  person  here  referred  to,  although  he  was  only 
twelve  years  old  in  1733.  There  is  no  mention  of  Thad- 
deus Maccarty  in  the  town  records  of  Dunstable,  al- 
though there  were  several  families  named  McArthey  and 
McCarthy  there  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century, 
but  these  were  not  descendants  of  Thaddeus  because 
the  vital  records  of  the  town  show  they  came  from  Ire- 
land. 

Thaddeus  MaeCarty  (3rd),  son  of  Captain  Thaddeus, 
the  Boston  merchant  and  shipowner,  was  born  in  Bos- 

56  Probate  Records  of  Suflfolk  County,  Mass. 

57  New   England   Hiatoric-Genealogical   Register;   Vol.    50,    p.    307. 


228  THE  McCarthys 

ton  on  July  18,  1721,  and  was  a  famous  Protestant 
divine  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  In  his  youth  he 
followed  the  sea  with  his  father,  but  relinquished  that 
occupation  and  decided  to  study  for  the  ministry.  He 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1739,  and  in  a  "List 
of  individuals  who  may  he  justly  regarded  as  the  prin- 
cipal Literati  of  New  England,  who  flourished  about 
the  beginning  of  the  last  (eighteenth)  centurj^"  which 
I  find  in  the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical 
Register,^^  appears  the  name  of  "Thaddeus  Maccarty, 
Student  at  Harvard  College."  The  next  appearance  of 
his  name  is  on  a  muster-roll  dated  Boston,  November 
11,  1741,  of  officers  on  the  "Snow,  Prince  of  Orange, 
Edward  Tyng,  Master,"  where  he  is  listed  as  "Chap- 
lain. ' '  The  period  of  his  service  on  board  the  vessel  was 
from  April  4,  1741,  to  November  11  of  the  same  year 
and  an  entry  opposite  his  name  reads  that  he  was 
"charged  with  use  of  province  arms  222  days."^® 

In  1742,  when  only  twenty-one  years  old,  he  became 
pastor  of  a  church  at  Kingston,  Mass.,  but  five  years 
later  he  took  charge  of  the  Congregational  church  at 
Worcester,*"*  where  he  officiated  for  thirty-seven  years 
until  his  death  on  July  20,  1784.  He  was  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  the  Revolutionary  cause ;  he  took  a  prominent 
part  in  town  and  county  affairs  and  is  seen  to  have 
passed  through  the  trials  and  hardships  of  the  time  with 
the  fortitude  becoming  an  ardent  patriot.  When  the 
alarm  from  Lexington  was  received  at  Worcester,  a  com- 
pany of  110  men  was  organized  in  that  town  and  we 
find  a  member  of  the  MacCarty  family  taking  a  promi- 
nent part  in  this  historic  event.     "In  a  short  time  the 

58  Vol.   VI,   pp.   189-199. 

59  Massachusetts  Archives;  Vol.   91,  p.   353. 

60  The    Worcester    Book,    by    Franklin    P.    Rice,    Worcester    Society    of 
Antiquity,    1884. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  229 

minute  men  were  paraded  on  the  green  under  Captain 
Timothy  Bigelow  and  after  fervent  prayer  by  Rev,  Mr. 
Maccarty,  they  took  up  the  line  of  march, ' '  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1775.  Rev.  Thaddeus  MacCarty  is  mentioned 
no  less  than  ninety-nine  times  in  the  town  records  of 
Worcester  between  1754  and  1784  and  his  sons,  Thad- 
deus and  William,  also  appear  frequently  in  the  same 
records,  showing  that  they  were  among  the  substantial 
citizens  of  the  town.  Rev.  Thaddeus  MacCarty  is  de- 
scribed as  "one  of  the  most  scholarly  men  in  New  Eng- 
land in  his  day,"  and  he  is  referred  to  frequently  in 
Massachusetts  history  as  an  intimate  friend  of  John 
Adams.  He  married  Mary  Gatcomb,  the  daughter  of 
a  Welsh  immigrant,  on  September  3,  1743.  To  this 
union  were  born  fifteen  children  whose  names  are  found 
in  the  baptismal  records  of  Worcester,  as  follows: 

Thaddeus  MacCarty,  born  July  29,  1744 

John  MacCarty,  born  August  16,  1745 

Thaddeus  MacCarty  (2nd.)  born  December  19,  1747 

Thomas  MacCarty,  bom  September  24,  1749 

Mary  MacCarty,  born  October  30,  1750 

John  MacCarty    (2nd.)    born  January  10,  1752 

Elizabeth  MacCarty,  bom  January  7,  1753 

Samuel  MacCarty,  bora  March  23,  1755 

Thomas  MacCarty   (2nd.),  bora  December  5,  1755 

Francis  MacCarty,  bora  September  28,  1756 

Nathaniel  MacCarty,  bom  July  10,  1758 

William  MacCarty,  bora  July  19,  1759 

Lucy  MacCarty,  born  June  25,  1760 

Lucretia  MacCarty,  bom  July  15,  1762 

Francis  MacCarty   (2nd.),  bom  August  8,  1763 

In  the  cemeteries  at  Worcester  may  be  seen  the  graves 
of  a  number  of  MacCartys,  and  in  the  old  burial-ground 
on  "The  Common"  there  is  a  stone  over  the  grave  of 
Rev.  Thaddeus  MacCarty,  the  inscription  on  which  reads 
as  follows: 


230  THE  McCarthys 

"Beneath  this  stone  are  deposited  the  remains  of  the  Revd. 
Thaddeus  MaeCarty  for  37  years  Pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Worcester.  Through  the  course  of  his  Ministry  he  uniformly 
exhibited  an  example  of  the  peaceable  and  amiable  virtues 
of  Christianity.  Under  a  slow  and  painful  decline  he  dis- 
covered an  ardent  love  to  his  Master  by  a  cheerful  attention 
to  his  service  and  at  the  approach  of  death  he  patiently  sub- 
mitted in  tlie  full  hope  of  a  glorious  Resurrection  from  the 
Grave.  In  testimony  of  his  fidelity  the  people  of  his  charge 
erected  this  Monument. 

"Obiit,  July  20,  1784" 

Thaddeus  MaeCarty  (4th),  son  of  Rev.  Thaddeus, 
was  a  noted  Massachusetts  physician  in  Revolutionary 
times.  "We  are  told  '*he  was  a  man  of  good  education 
and  skilled  in  his  profession  and  was  the  first  physician 
at  Fitchburg,  where  he  located  in  the  year  1772.""^ 
The  town  historian  relates  that  "the  smallpox  broke  out 
in  1776,  causing  terrible  ravages  through  a  large  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  and  Dr.  Thaddeus  MaeCarty  estab- 
lished a  hospital  on  Buck  Hill  where  he  labored  in- 
cessantly to  alleviate  the  pains  of  those  who  were  suffer- 
ing." He  is  said  to  have  wrought  "wonderful  cures." 
Dr.  MaeCarty 's  brother,  Nathaniel,  was  "the  first  post- 
master at  "Worcester,"  according  to  the  inscription  on 
his  tombstone  in  the  Mechanic  Street  burial-ground  at 
that  place.  He  was  a  merchant  for  some  years  at  Peter- 
sham where  he  acquired  a  fortune,  and  we  are  told  "he 
lived  in  one  of  the  stateliest  houses  in  "Worcester  where 
Brinley  Hall  later  stood. ' '  ®^  For  some  years  he  was 
Treasurer  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  and 
when  he  died  in  the  year  1831  he  left  the  Society  a  cash 
bequest  to  carry  on  its  work.  Another  brother,  "William 
MaeCarty,  was  an  officer  in  Colonel  Bigelow's  Massa- 
chusetts regiment  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  "at  a 

61  Torrey's  History  of  Fitchburg,  Mass. 

62  American   Antiquarian   Society ;    Vol.    V,    p.    130. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  231 

meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  Town 
of  Worcester"  on  March  3,  1783,  he  was  elected  Town 
Clerk.«3 

Thaddeus  MacCarty  (5th)  was  a  Massachusetts  law- 
yer of  some  prominence.  In  the  New  Hampshire  State 
Papers ^*  there  is  a  reference  to  him  reading :  "Samuel 
Ackley  resigns  from  his  position  as  Judge  of  the  County 
Court,  July  12,  1791,  and  recommends  Thaddeus  Mac- 
carty  as  his  successor." 

Next  to  Thaddeus  MacCarty  (1st)  Florence  Mac- 
Carty was  the  most  prominent  person  of  the  name  in 
Boston's  early  days  and  his  name  appears  frequently  in  • 
the  ''Minutes  of  the  Meetings  of  the  Selectmen  of  the 
Town  of  Boston;"  but,  as  in  the  case  of  Thaddeus,  there 
is  nothing  said  as  to  his  place  of  birth  or  his  antecedents. 
Nor  is  there  anything  on  record  to  indicate  his  relation- 
ship to  Thaddeus  MacCarty.  He  was  a  provision  dealer 
and  contractor  at  Boston  in  1687,  and  in  1693  he  is  on 
record  as  the  purchaser  of  several  parcels  of  land  in 
that  town  and  at  Roxbury.  As  ' '  Florence  Mackarta ' '  his 
name  appears  in  the  Town  Books  of  March  30,  1693, 
when,  with  Samuel  Bill  and  Henry  Brightman,  he  made 
application  to  the  Selectmen  "desiring  leav  to  build  a 
Slaughter  hous  on  Peck 's  Wharf e. "  «^  In  the  same  year 
he  was  elected  "Town  Constable,"  and  again,  at  "a 
meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  Boston," 
held  on  March  22,  1697,  "Mr.  Flor  Maccarty  was  chosen 
Constable  for  ye  year  ensuing. ' '  ^^ 

As  in  the  case  of  Thaddeus,  his  name  was  recorded  in 
several  curious  ways  in  the  Boston  tax  lists,  and  some 
examples   of   these   entries   are:     "Florence    Charty," 

03  Worcester  Town  Records,  p.  428. 
«4Vol.   18,   p.  835. 
65  Town  Books,  Vol.  VII,  p.  214. 
6«  Ibid.,  p.   227. 


232  THE  McCarthys 

taxed  in  1687;  "fflorance  Mecarte,"  taxed  in  1688; 
''Florence  Mac  Karty,"  in  1691,  and  "Florence  Me-, 
cliarte's  Est"  (estate)  was  taxed  at  Salem  in  the  year 
1700."  A  "List  of  the  Names  of  all  the  Males  above 
16  years  of  Age  Taken  in  Major  Townsend's  Camp, 
August  1698, "  ®^  includes  the  name, ' '  Florence  Micarta, ' ' 
and  while  this  would  indicate  that  he  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Thaddeus  by  joining  the  Massachusetts  Mili- 
tary Company,  his  name  does  not  appear  in  its  muster- 
rolls.  As  "Florence  Mecarta"  his  name  is  recorded  in 
a  "Petition  of  Boston  Inhabitants  in  1696  that  the  law 
relating  to  building  with  brick  be  repealed, ' '  ^'^  and  on 
July  27,  1702,  he  acted  as  ' '  Surety  for  Anthony  Blount 
to  be  admitted  as  an  Inhabitant, ' '  ^°  and  on  July  9, 
1703,  he  and  John  Bennet  executed  a  bond  as  sureties 
for  Benjamin  Gallop,  "guardian  to  the  children  of 
Nathaniel  Alden  of  Boston,  deceased. ' '  '^^ 

About  1700  he  was  the  possessor  of  a  large  tract  of 
land  which  he  turned  into  a  stock  farm,  and  according 
to  a  description  of  the  tract,  "it  contained  sixty  acres 
and  lay  between  Hawthorne  Street  and  "Walnut  Avenue 
on  both  sides  of  Washington  Street,  extending  from 
Cedar  on  the  north  to  Marcella  on  the  south."  "  Prior 
to  1710,  he  lived  in  Brattle  Square,  Boston,  but  in  that 
year  he  purchased  the  "  Alcock  Mansion"  at  what  is  now 
said  to  be  the  comer  of  Ellis  and  Hawthorne  Streets, 
where  he  lived  until  his  death.  He  also  owned  the  land 
which  is  now  the  southwest  comer  of  State  and  Congress 
Streets,  and  in  1712  it  is  referred  to  as  "Maccarty's 
Comer."     Evidently,   there  was  another  "Maccarty's 

67  Salem  tax   lists,   Vol.   IV,   p.    15,   in   Genealogical   Quarterly   Magairie. 

68  Town  Books,  Vol.   X,  p.   89. 

09  New    England    Historic-Oenelogical    Register;    Vol.    16,    p.    85. 

70  Town  Books,  Vol.  XI,  p.  1. 

71  Suffolk    Court    Files,     Lib.    15,    fol.     175. 

72  Report  of  Record  Commissioners,  Vol.  34. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  233 

Corner"  in  Boston,  as  appears  from  an  order  issued  by 
the  Selectmen  at  a  meeting  held  on  May  3,  1708,  direct- 
ing that  "the  Streets,  Lanes  and  Alleys  of  this  Town 
as  they  are  bounded  and  named  be  accordingly  recorded 
in  the  Towne  Booke,  w***  are  as  followeth."  Then  fol- 
lows a  list  of  "the  Streets,  Lanes  and  Alleys,"  among 
which  were  several  ' '  Corners, ' '  one  of  which  was  ' '  Mac- 
cartyes  Comer  in  King  Street."  Half  Square  Court, 
Boston,  is  described  in  the  year  1732  as  "from  Mac- 
carty's  Corner  turning  into  Pudding  Lane""  (about 
what  has  since  been  the  City  Exchange),  and  in  1743 
"Maccarty's  Corner"  was  referred  to  as  "the  comer  of 
King  Street  and  Leverett's  Lane."  His  homestead  and 
gardens  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  were  known  as 
"the  Maccarty  farm,"  and  until  recent  years,  were  so 
referred  to  in  deeds  and  conveyances  concerning  lots 
and  holdings  in  that  part  of  the  City  of  Boston.  "The 
Maccarty  farm ' '  was  divided  into  building  lots  and  sold 
in  the  year  1830.^" 

In  1691  it  is  evident  that  one  Joseph  Newell  executed 
a  mortgage  to  Florence  MacCarty  on  some  property  in 
Roxbury.  In  the  "Acts  and  Resolves  of  the  Province 
of  Massachusetts  Bay"  of  the  year  1715  the  following 
petition  is  entered:  "Richard  Coomes  and  Hebshibah, 
his  wife,  prayed  the  equity  of  Redemption  of  an  Estate 
in  Roxbury  mortgaged  in  the  year  1691  to  Florence  Mac- 
Carty, late  of  Boston,  Butcher,  by  their  Father,  Joseph 
Newell,  Deceased."  The  petition  was  heard  at  a  session 
of  the  Council  in  Boston  in  June,  1715,  when  it  was 
voted  "that  the  Pef"  ought  to  have  the  Equity  of  Re- 

7 S  History    of  Boston,   by    Samuel    Gardner    Drake;    p.    468. 

74  The  "Maccarty  farm"  is  mentioned  in  Francis  S.  Drake's  History 
of  the  Town  of  Roxbury.  Drake  says  that  the  "mansion"  in  which 
Florence  MacCarty  lived  was  still  standing  at  the  time  he  was  compiling 
his    town    history    in    1878,    although    greatly    altered. 


234  THE  McCarthys 

demption  inasmuch  as  the  Mortgage  made  to  Florence 
Maccarty  by  Joseph  Newell  Father  of  the  Petitioners 
(Richard  Coomes'  wife)  was  not  recorded  until  April 
7,  1714.  And  that  they  be  impower'd  to  file  a  Bill  for 
their  Rights  of  Equity  of  Redemption  in  the  next  Court 
of  Law  proper  to  hear  the  same."  On  December  16, 
1715,  the  petition  was  decided  in  their  favor  by  the  Court 
in  Boston.'^^ 

Besides  his  large  holdings  in  Boston  and  Roxbury,  he 
also  owned  lands  and  houses  at  Salem.  In  the  Registry 
of  Deeds  for  Essex  County  at  Salem  there  is  a  record 
of  a  purchase  by  "Florence  Maccarty  of  Boston,  Slaugh- 
terer," of  a  house  and  lot  at  Salem  from  one  John 
Cromwell  on  March  17,  1698,  for  £120."^  On  November 
28,  1701,  he  purchased  a  house  at  Salem  from  Hannah 
Cromwell,  and  on  April  7,  1707,  Elizur  Keysor  of  Salem 
conveyed  to  Florence  MacCarty  a  house,  barn  and  land 
at  that  place."  In  the  "Salem  Commoners'  Records" 
of  the  year  1702  he  is  named  ' '  Florence  Mccarty, ' '  and 
"Flowrence  Maccarter"  is  recorded  as  "the  owner  of 
Crumel's  houses"  in  1713.  As  Florence  of  Boston  died 
in  the  year  1712,  the  "Flowrence  Maccarter"  here  re- 
ferred to  must  have  been  his  son. 

As  Florence  "Maccartie"  he  is  mentioned  by  the 
New  England  historian,  Drake,  among  eleven  prominent 
persons  in  Boston  who  met  in  that  town  on  June  15, 
1686,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  "the  first  Society 
for  Episcopal  worship  in  New  England."  Savage  also 
mentions  him  in  his  "Genealogical  Dictionary  of  the 
First  Settlers  of  New  England."  He  gives  1686  as 
the  earliest  period  when  his  name  was  recorded  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and  states  that  he  was  "one 

■!5  Council   Records;    Vol.    IX,    pp.    443    and    468. 

7G  Registry   of   Deeds,    Essex  County;   Book   13,   fol.   213. 

77  Ibid.,   Book  20,   fol.    27. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  235 

of  the  founders  of  the  first  Society  for  Episcopal  wor- 
ship in  New  England,"  but  it  is  clear  that  he  was  a 
resident  of  the  town  for  many  years  before  that  time, 
and  it  seems  proper  to  assume  that  he  was  there  as  early 
as  Thaddeus,  who  is  first  mentioned  in  the  records  of 
the  year  1664.  One  historical  writer  says  that  Florence 
was  ' '  a  son  of  Thaddeus, ' '  but  as  he  offers  no  authority 
for  that  statement,  and  as  there  is  no  record  of  any 
son  of  Thaddeus  named  Florence,  I  am  constrained  to 
disregard  it,  and  my  own  opinion  is  that  they  were 
brothers  and  in  all  probability  they  came  together  to  this 
country  from  Ireland. 

Florence  MacCarty  was  married  three  times.  By  his 
first  wife,  Elizabeth,  he  had  three  children  whose  births 
are  recorded  in  the  Town  Books  ^®  as  follows : 

Elizabeth,    daughter   of   Florence    and    Elizabeth   Maccarty, 

December  25,  1686 
Thomas,  son  of  Florence  and  Eliza  Maccarty,  February  5, 

1688 
William,  son  of  Florence  and  Eliza  Maccarty,  February  3, 

1689 
The  death  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Florence,  is  recorded 
under  date  of  July  6,  1696,  and  on  August  24,  1697, 
he  married  Sarah  Nework,  by  whom  he  had  three  daugh- 
ters, the  record  of  whose  births  thus  appears  in  the 
Town  Books:  ^^ 

Sarah,  daughter  of  Florence  and  Sarah  MacKarty,  May  13, 

1698 
Esther,  daughter  of  Florence  Mackartey  and  Sarah,  his  wife, 

July  21,  1701 
Margaret,   daughter  of  Florence  Mackartey   and   Sarah,   his 

wife,  March  29,  1702 
On  January  8,  1706,  he  married  Christian  Dobbins  by 
whom  he  had  two  sons,  Florence  and  William.     The 

78  Vol.  IX.  79  Vols.  IX  and  XXIV. 


236  THE  McCarthys 

births  of  several  of  his  children  are  entered  in  the  vital 
records  of  Dorchester  as  indicating  that  he  lived  for 
some  time  in  that  town.  He  died  at  Roxbury  on  June 
13,  1712,  and  on  May  31,  1714,  letters  of  administration 
to  his  estate  were  granted  to  his  widow.  Christian  Mac- 
Carty,  and  his  son  "William,  and  the  record  shows  that 
the  estate  which  was  appraised  at  £2922.  10s.  8d.  as 
''divided  and  set  off,"  one-third  to  the  widow  and  two- 
thirds  among  the  children,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  Sarah, 
Esther  and  William.  This  William  MacCarty  was  a 
shipmaster  and  merchant  at  Boston  and  was  part  owner 
of  several  fine  vessels  trading  with  the  West  Indies. 

The  first  William  MacCarty,  son  of  Florence  and 
Elizabeth,  is  mentioned  several  times  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  Selectmen  of  the  town  of  Boston  between  1735  and 
1750,  as  showing  that  he  continued  the  business  estab- 
lished by  his  father.  Under  "New  Inhabitants  admitted 
by  ye  Sel'men,"  William  Maccarty  joined  Luke  Verdey 
and  Thomas  Phillips  as  "suretyes"  on  August  28,  1716,^" 
and  on  March  15,  1725,  he  was  chosen  one  of  six  con- 
stables for  the  town  of  Boston. ^^  ''Mr.  William  Mac- 
carty, Victualler"  petitioned  the  Selectmen  on  March 
18,  1735,  "for  Liberty  to  sell  his  meat  in  the  Market 
Place"  and  was  "Advised  to  Erect  a  Stall  upon  the 
Platform  near  the  Market  Place  laid  there  last  Summer 
for  that  purpose,  in  order  to  Sell  his  Meat  therein. ' '  ^^ 
And  that  it  is  evident  there  was  some  opposition  to  his 
securing  this  privilege  is  clear  from  an  entry  in  the 
Town  Books  of  April  9,  1735.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Se- 
lectmen on  that  date  "Mr.  Savell  is  Directed  to  make  a 
strict  Inquiry  in  order  to  find  out  the  Person  or  Persons 
who  overthrew  a  Frame  Erected  by  Mr.  William  Mac- 

80  Town  Books,  Vol.  31.  82 /bid..  Vol.  31,  p.  269. 

81  Ibid.,  Vol.  8,  p.  195, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  237 

carty  on  the  Platform  near  the  Market  on  Dock  Square 
the  last  night."  On  May  25,  1735,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  citizens  and  freeholders  in  Faneuil  Hall,  his  name 
is  listed  for  a  subscription  of  £15  among  a  number  of 
inhabitants  of  the  town  who  subscribed  for  a  fund  "to 
erect  a  Workhouse  wherein  to  Employ  Idle  and  Indigent 
belonging  to  the  Town, ' '  and  five  years  later  he  is  seen 
in  a  controversy  with  the  Selectmen  over  a  proposition 
to  make  certain  changes  in  his  lot  and  residence  in  Half 
Square  Court.  The  inscription  on  his  tombstone  in 
Copp's  Hill  burial-ground  at  Boston  says  he  died  on 
January  27,  1756,  and  "Letters  of  Administration  to 
the  estate  of  William  Maccarty,  late  of  Boston,  Vic- 
tualler," were  granted  on  December  16,  1757,  and  his 
son,  ' '  Thomas  Maccarty,  Merchant, ' '  was  appointed  Ad- 
ministrator by  Governor  Thomas  Hutchinson. 

The  fugitive  references  herein  quoted  from  the  Town 
Books  of  Boston  and  other  early  records  indicate  clearly 
that  the  MacCartys  were  among  the  active  and  enter- 
prising business  men  of  the  town  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  if  a  more  extensive  search  were  made  in  the 
old  records,  data  could  be  secured  which  would  form  the 
basis  of  a  highly  interesting  story  of  the  careers  of  the 
American  descendants  of  these  "Exiles  from  Erin." 
There  was  every  reason  for  according  them  a  place  in 
Massachusetts  history,  yet  the  historians  are  peculiarly 
silent.  In  the  voluminous  work  of  the  New  England 
historians.  Dr.  William  Richard  Cutter  and  William 
Frederick  Adams,^'  entitled  ' '  Genealogical  and  Personal 
Memoirs  relating  to  the  Families  of  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts," and  in  a  similar  work  by  the  same  authors 
dealing  with  Middlesex  County,  there  is  absolutely  no 
mention  of  the  MacCartys,  as  if  such  a  family  never 

83  Eight  volumes  of  nearlj'  6000  pages. 


238 


THE  McCarthys 


resided  in  tlie  State !  Besides  the  descendants  of  Thad- 
deus,  Florence  and  Thomas,  it  is  certain  also  there  were 
other  families  of  the  name  in  Boston  and  vicinity  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  the  rec- 
ords do  not  disclose  what  their  relationship  to  these 
three  may  have  been.  This  is  shown  by  the  entries  in 
the  Parish  Registers  of  marriages  of  persons  of  the  name, 
and  as  none  of  these  are  recorded  among  the  births  as 
children  of  either  Thaddeus,  Florence  or  Thomas  Mac- 
Carty,  or  their  sons,  it  is  a  fair  assumption  that  they 
were  immigrants  from  Ireland  or  possibly  were  the  chil- 
dren of  immigrants  whose  names  are  not  on  record. 
Some  instances  of  these  are  the  following  marriages,  all 
recorded  in  the  Boston  Town  Books.^* 


Mary   Maccarty 
Sarah    Maccarty 
Mary   Maccarty 
Mary   Maccarty 
Mary   Maccarty 
Anne   Maccarty 
Eleanor  McCarty 
Elizabeth    Maccarty 
Margaret    McCarty 
Jeremiah    McCarty 
Mary   Maccarty 
Mary   Carty 
Elizabeth    McCarty 
Michael    McCarty 
Elizabeth    McCarty 
Katharine  McCarty 
Timothy   McCarty 
Eliza    McCarthey 
Margaret  Maccarty 
Margaret  Maccarty 
Mary   Maccarty 
James    McCarty 
Elizabeth   Maccarty 


and  Matthew  Hole 

and  Thomas    Foster 

and  Jeremiah   Philbrick 

and  Thomas    Marshall 

and  Ebenezer  Bridge 

and  Edward    Oliver 

and  John    Popeland 

and  William    Bennet 

and  John    Rush 

and  Elizabeth  Brooks 

and  Edward   Fox 

and  Caleb    Hacker 

and  James     Pritchetfc 

and  Mary   Peninton 

and  John    Hutchinson 

and  Richard    Barry 

and  Mercy    Swain 

and  Patrick  Corkerry 

and  James   Kanney 

and  Thomas    Marshall 

and  Tliomas    Cahill 

and  Elizabeth    Montgomery 

and  Joseph   Dunnel 


December  23,  1708 
January   5,    1712 
December    25,    1712 
March    23,    1718 
March    19,    1729 
December    19,    1734 
December    5,    1735 
July  6,   1736 
December  2,  1736 
January    7,    1738 
February  6,   1738 
April  27,   1738 
April    7,    1739 
May  21,    1739 
April   28,    1740 
June  24,  1740 
December    1,    1740 
March   24,    1741 
December  27,  1743 
March   5,    1746 
June    9,    1746 
December  25,   1749 
August   28,    1756 


Besides  these,  there  is  an  entry  reading  that  John 
McCarty  and  Christian  McLoud  of  Dorchester  ' '  declared 
their  intentions"  on  July  11,  1738,  but  the  marriage  was 
' '  forbid. ' '     There  seems  to  be  no  way  of  identifjdng  the 


84  Vol.  28. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  239 

various  MacCartys  above  listed,  and  as  far  as  I  can  find, 
there  is  no  mention  of  them  or  their  parents  in  any  other 
New  England  records  or  in  the  town  or  county  histories. 
So  that,  this  list  in  itself,  will  serve  as  an  indication 
of  the  incompleteness  of  this  account  of  the  various 
American  families  of  the  name. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    MAC  CAETYS    OF    MASSACHUSETTS    (cOntinUed) 

The  descendants  of  the  pioneer  MacCartys  in  New  England — The 
McCarthys  of  Salem  and  other  Massachusetts  towns — Mc- 
Carthys as  soldiers  in  the  Colonial  wars — Captain  Daniel  Mc- 
Carthy, one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Marine  Society  of 
Boston — Daniel  McCarthy,  merchant  and  Revolutionary  pa- 
triot of  Roxbury — McCarthys  recorded  as  arriving  from  Ire- 
land before  the  Revolution — A  large  number  of  people  of  the 
name  appear  in  Massachusetts  records. 

There  are  many  other  references  in  New  England 
town  records  to  people  of  this  name  at  later  periods 
than  the  foregoing,  although  it  is  clear  that  all  of  them 
could  not  have  been  descended  from  either  of  the  Bos- 
ton pioneers,  the  given  names  of  these  people  being  in 
themselves  an  indication  that  they  were  not  of  this  im- 
mediate family.  Most  of  the  other  McCarthys  were  im- 
migrants from  Ireland  who  came  to  New  England  at 
various  times  during  the  eighteenth  century.  While 
the  descendants  of  the  Boston  pioneers  were  numerous, 
they  scattered  all  over  the  country  and  in  some  instances 
the  male  line  is  seen  to  have  died  out.  For  instance, 
although  Rev.  Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Worcester  was  the 
father  of  fifteen  children,  the  town  historian  shows  that 
there  lived  of  his  posterity  in  the  New  England  States 
in  1862  only  one  grandchild,  two  great  grandchildren 
and  three  great-great-grandchildren  of  the  name.  Ac- 
cording to  the  genealogical  records,  numerous  daughters 
of  the  MacCartys  became  the  wives  of  descendants  of 
some  of  the  oldest  settlers  in  New  England  and  many 

prominent  families  of  to-day  can  claim  the  distinction 

240 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY         241 

of  having  the  "blue  blood"  of  the  ancient  Irish  family 
of  MacCarthy  coursing  through  their  veins. 

The  McCarthys  -were  pretty  well  scattered  through 
New  England.  Apparently,  the  first  of  the  name  was 
William,  who  is  recorded  among  "persons  who  owned 
lands  at  Salem  prior  to  1661,"  ^  and  no  doubt  the  "Wil- 
liam Carty"  who  was  summoned  as  a  juror  at  Salem  in 
1672  was  the  same  man.  There  is  no  further  reference 
to  him,  nor  any  indication  that  he  left  descendants,  al- 
though one  "John  Mackartee"  seems  to  have  been  at 
Salem  in  1700,  since  his  name  so  appears  in  the  tax  lists 
of  the  town  for  that  year.  And,  as  will  be  noted  from 
the  references  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  records,"  "John 
MackCartey  of  Salem ' '  took  out  letters  of  administration 
to  the  estate  of  his  son,  Andrew,  who  died  at  Newport 
in  the  year  1703  or  1704.  Although  no  further  infor- 
mation as  to  these  people  seems  to  be  now  obtainable 
beyond  the  bare  references  to  them  in  the  public  records, 
it  is  believed  that  both  were  sea-faring  men. 

That  there  was  a  large  family  of  the  name  at  Salem 
appears  from  entries  in  the  parish  registers  quoted  in 
the  ' '  Historical  Collections  of  the  Essex  Institute, ' '  ^ 
of  which  the  following  are  verbatim  copies :  ' '  John 
Mecarter  or  Mecartey  and  Rebecka  Meacham  were 
maryed  the  27th.  of  January,  1674;  theire  son  John 
borne  the  13th.  January,  1675 ;  daughter  Rebecka 
borne  4th.  12  mo,  1677 ;  son  Jeremiah  borne  9th.  7th. 
mo.  1679 ;  Peter  borne  1st.  9th.  mo.  1681 ;  Andrew  borne 
6th.  June,  1684 ;  James  bom  17th.  9th.  mo.  1686 ;  Isaac 
bom  3rd.  June,  1689 ;  Rebecka  bom  the  second  daughter 
6th.  February,  1690. ' '  In  the  same  records  from  which 
these  names  are  taken  may  be  seen  references  to  William 

1  See  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Register;  Vol.  VII,  p.  152. 

2  At  page  268.  3  Vol.  II,  p.  298. 


242  THE  McCarthys 

Obrien,  Bryant  0 'Dougherty  and  "Francis  Roache,  a 
native  of  Ireland, ' '  who  were  residents  of  Salem  between 
1669  and  1683.  "John,  Jeremiah,  Peter,  Andrew  and 
James  Makarta,  sons  of  Rebecca  Makarta,"  were  bap- 
tized in  the  First  Church  at  Salem  on  November  16,  1687, 
and  "Isack,  son  of  John  Macarta,"  was  baptized  in  the 
same  church  on  September  21,  1689.* 

"John  McCartey,  a  dyer,"  came  from  "Warren,  Rhode 
Island,  to  Salem  in  1699  and  settled  there,  and  "John 
Mccarty, ' '  who  probablj^  was  a  son  of  John  and  Rebecca 
Mecartey,  above  mentioned,  is  referred  to  in  Salem  rec- 
ords of  1702  as  "a  property  owner"  in  that  town.^ 
William  Maccarty  with  other  inhabitants  of  Salem 
signed  a  petition  on  June  29,  1713,  requesting  "that  a 
meeting  of  the  proprietors  be  summoned. ' '  °  Marj^  Mac- 
carty became  the  wife  of  Ebenezer  Fisher  at  Dedham, 
Mass.,  on  June  2,  1718,'^  and  Ruth  Maccarty  and  John 
Smith  were  married  at  Wrentham,  Mass.,  on  May  18, 
1721,^  indicating  that  there  were  families  of  the  name 
at  these  places,  although  neither  the  local  historians  nor 
the  public  records  of  these  towns  make  any  mention  of 
them.  The  inventory  of  the  estate  of  "Thomas  Mc- 
Cordy,  late  of  Dedham,  deceased,  taken  19th.  April, 
1758,"  appears  in  the  Suffolk  County  court  files  and 
it  is  probable  that  this  "McCordy"  was  a  McCarthy. 
Another  of  the  name,  James,  lived  at  Dedham,  since  the 
probate  records  show  that  letters  of  administration  for 
the  estate  of  "James  McCordy,  late  of  Dedham,"  were 
granted  to  "Thomas  Kilpatrick  of  St.  George  in  the 
County  of  York,  Gent'n,"  on  April  14,  1758. 

4  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII,  p.   126. 

5  Essex  Antiquarian. 

0  New   England  Hisloric-Genealogical  Register;   Vol.  VI,   p.   152. 

7  Boston  Town  Records,  Vol.  28,  p.  308. 

8  Ihid.,  p.  321. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  243 

From  the  "Vital  Records  of  Newbury,  Mass.,"  among 
marriages  solemnized  in  Queen  Anne's  Episcopal  chapel 
at  that  place,  the  following  entry  is  taken:     "William 
McCarthy  of  Kingsale,  Ireland,  mariner,  and  Margaret 
Pulsafer  of  Boston,  married  June  25,  1729."     No  Mc- 
Carthys appear  in  the  birth  or  death  records  of  the  town 
of  Newbury,  and  as  the  local  historian  fails  to  make 
any  mention  of  people  of  the  name,  there  is  nothing 
to  indicate  whether  William  and  Margaret  McCarthy 
made  the  place  their  home,  or  what  their  history  may 
have    been.     "Robert    Mackerdey    or    McCarthy"    was 
"admitted  to  the  Church  (at  Hanover,  Mass.),  on  July 
6,  1728,"  and  "James  McCarty  and  Elizabeth  Smith, 
both  of  Hanover,"  were  married  on  August  9,  1732.^ 
"Dan"  MacKarty,  Constable,  28s.  2d.",  is  one  of  the 
items  of  indebtedness  mentioned  in  the  inventory  of  the 
estate  of  John  Trask  of  Salem  when  his  will,  dated  No- 
vember 11,  1729,  was  filed  in  the  Essex  County  probate 
court   on  May  20,  1730.^°     "James  McCarty 's  estate" 
was  taxed  at  Charlestown  in  the  year  1730  and  again  in 
1734,1^  gj-^(^  Ijig  gon^  John  INIaccarty,  was  taxed  at  that 
place  in  1730  and  under  the  name  of  "John  Maccordy" 
in  1737.    Another  John  McCarty  appears  in  the  Charles- 
town  tax  lists  between  1770  and  1773.     It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  these  McCartys  were  descendants  of  the  Bos- 
ton pioneers,  since  the  name  of  William  G.  McCarthy, 
son  of  Thaddeus  (3rd)  is  also  entered  in  the  Charles- 
town  tax  lists.     He  settled  at  that  place  after  his  mar- 
riage to  Hannah  Soley  at  Billerica,  Mass.,  on  December 
28,  1785. 

9  History  and  Records  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  at  Hanover, 
Mass.,  by  Lloyd  Vernon  Briggs. 

10  Trask  Genealogy,  in  New  Eng.  Hiat.-Geneal.  Register;  Vol.  55,  p.  330. 

11  The  Genealogies  and  Estates  of   Charlestown,  by  Thomas   B.   Wyman; 
p.    642;    Boston,    1879. 


244  THE  McCarthys 

Thomas  McCarty  appears  in  the  Charlestown  records 
of  the  year  1740  as  "  a  stranger, ' '  and  evidently  he  diedl 
in  that  year,  for  on  December  1,  1740,  the  Selectmen 
ordered  "that  the  Towne  pay  the  expenses  of  his  fu- 
neral. ' '  ^^  There  also  seems  to  have  been  a  family  of 
the  name  at  Leicester,  Mass.  In  the  ''Journal  of  Revd. 
Daniel  Shute,"^^  chaplain  in  the  expedition  to  Canada 
in  the  French-English  war,  he  relates  an  account  of 
his  journey  and  states  that,  on  his  arrival  at  Leicester 
on  October  17,  1758,  he  "took  some  refreshment  at 
Mr.  McCarty 's."  In  the  marriage  register  of  Glou- 
cester, Mass.,^*  there  is  an  entry  of  the  marriage  of 
"Esther  Maccarty,  daughter  of  Thomas  Maccarty,"  to 
Epes  Sargent  of  Salem,  son  of  William  Sargent,  an 
immigrant  to  the  Cape  Cod  Peninsula  prior  to  1678.  No 
date  is  mentioned,  but  as  the  date  of  her  death  is  given 
as  July  1,  1743,  we  may  assume  that  Thomas  Mac- 
carty was  a  very  early  settler  in  this  ancient  New 
England  fishing  village.  The  Boston  Evening  Post  of 
December  13,  1762,  in  announcing  the  death  of  Epes 
Sargent  at  Salem  at  the  age  of  72,  said  he  had  been 
"for  many  years  a  noted  merchant  of  that  town," 
and  one  of  the  local  historians  says  that  "the  family 
took  high  rank  in  mercantile  and  literary  life  from  the 
first.  "^^ 

A  number  of  soldiers  of  the  name  served  in  the 
Massachusetts  regiments  engaged  in  the  French  and 
Indian  wars,  among  them  Richard  Macarty,  Thomas 
McCarthy,  John  McCarty,  John  McCarthy,  Denis  Mac- 
carty,   Dennis    McCarthy,    Alexander    McCarty    and 

12  The  Genealogies  and  Estates  of  Charlestown. 

13  In  Essex  Institute  Historical  Collections;  Vol.  XII,  p.   151. 

14  Published  by  the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical   Society. 

15  History  of  Qlouceater,  Mass.,  by  James  P.  Pringle;  p.  50,  Gloucester 
1892. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  245 

Florence  McCarthy.  The  ubiquitous  Irishman  turns 
up  frequently  in  references  to  the  Colonial  wars,  so 
it  is  not  surprising  to  find  McCarthys  fighting  on  both 
sides  in  the  French-English  war.  In  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  May  12,  1748,  and  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post 
of  May  23  of  the  same  year  there  is  an  account  of  a 
fight  between  a  Boston  vessel  and  a  French  privateer 
commanded  by  a  Captain  Maccarty.  This  account 
reads:  "Sunday  last  arrived  here  (Philadelphia)  the 
Snow,  Molly  and  Sally,  Captain  Perry,  from  Barbadoes. 
In  the  Passage  she  met  with,  engaged  and  took  the  ship 
Aurora,  Captain  Maccarty,  from  Mississippi  to  Cape 
Francois,  which  vessel  is  also  safe  arrived  in  this  Port. 
The  Engagement  lasted  about  an  Hour  and  a  Quarter, 
in  which  time  Captain  Maccarty  had  one  man  killed  and 
several  wounded.  Unluckily  for  the  captors.  Captain 
Maccarty,  having  touched  at  the  Havannah,  put  some 
Chests  of  Money  he  had  on  board  into  a  Frigate  of  36 
Guns,  likewise  bound  for  the  Cape."  No  mention  is 
made  as  to  what  became  of  Captain  Maccarty  and  his 
crew  of  forty  men,  but  in  all  probability  they  were  re- 
leased, since  the  war  between  France  and  England  was 
terminated  in  July,  1748. 

The  earliest  appearance  of  the  above  named  Richard 
Macarty  is  his  signature  to  a  receipt,  which  I  found  in 
the  Massachusetts  Archives,  dated  Boston,  August  27, 
1740,  ''given  by  said  Macarty  for  £5.  received  of  Capt 
Steuart  in  full  for  bounty,"^"  but  as  to  where  or  how 
long  he  served  is  not  stated  in  the  record.  Thomas 
McCarthy  appears  in  a  list  of  Massachusetts  soldiers 
dated  March  8,  1747,  endorsed  "Mr.  Hubbard's  account 
of  money  paid  prisoner  from  Canada,"  ^^  and  in  a  "List 

ia  Massachusetts  Archives;  Vol.  91,  p.  335B. 
nibid.;  Vol.  92,  p.  54A. 


246  THE  McCarthys 

of  the  prisoners  that  came  in  the  Flag  of  Truce  from 
Quebec,"  published  in  the  Boston  Weekly  Evening-Post 
of  August  24,  1747,  the  name  of  Thomas  McCarthy  is 
listed  among  171  men  belonging  to  a  New  England  regi- 
ment which  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  Cape 
Breton,  in  1745.  They  were  taken  captive  by  the  French 
and  carried  into  Quebec  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  were 
brought  back  to  Boston  in  exchange  for  French  pris- 
oners, arriving  at  Boston  on  August  16,  1747.^^ 

The  two  Johns  were  in  a  Lancaster  company  and  their 
names  appear  among  the  men  mustered  in  at  that  place 
for  the  French-English  war;  and,  since  the  names  are 
listed  in  the  roll  at  the  same  time,  it  is  assumed  they 
were  different  men.  They  served  in  the  expedition  to 
Nova  Scotia  in  1755  and  at  Lake  George  three  years 
later,  and  among  others  in  the  Lancaster  company  were 
soldiers  named  Larkin,  Dunn,  McFadden,  McBride, 
Geary,  Powers,  McLong,  Butler,  Flynn,  Redmond,  and 
Malone,  as  well  as  soldiers  named  Henderson,  Russell 
and  Spear,  all  recorded  as  "bom  in  Ireland,""  That 
John  McCarthy  reenlisted  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  his 
name  is  entered  as  a  "private  in  Captain  Aaron  Wil- 
lard  's  company ' '  in  1759,  with  the  date  of  enlistment  as 
April  2nd  and  the  period  of  his  service  up  to  November 
30th  of  the  same  year,  serving  ' '  at  the  Westward. ' '  His 
name  again  appears  in  a  muster-roll  of  the  company 
dated  "Boston,  February  28,  1760, "^^  and  it  is  evident 
that  he  continued  to  reside  at  Lancaster  after  the  war, 
since  the  town  books  under  date  of  February  21,  1761, 

18  Among  the  prisoners  were  New  England  soldiers  named  McNally, 
Maddin,  Ryan,  Donahew,  Mahaner,  Kenny,  Tobin,  Donovan,  Powers, 
Farrel,  Harrow,  Kelly,  Magra,  Larey,  Mallaley,  Curren,  McClure,  New- 
gent,  Cummings,  Dailey,  Doyl,  Dogan,  Macquire,  McCoo  (probably  Mc- 
Hugh),   several  of  whom  were  described   as   "from  Ireland." 

19  "Captain's  Orderly  Book"  and  "Journal  of  Colonel  John  Winslow," 
in  Military  Annals   of  Lancaster,  Mass.,  by  Henry   S.   Nourse. 

20  Maatachusetts  Archives;  Vol.  97,  p.  398. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  247 

contain  an  entry  reading:  "John  McCarthy  of  Lan- 
caster entered  his  Intentions  of  Marriage  with  Wid'' 
margaret  macf arland  of  said  Lancaster, ' '  and  in  a  "  List 
of  Marriages  consummated  by  Revd.  Tim"  Harrington" 
appears  a  record  of  the  marriage  of  "John  McCarthy 
and  Margaret  McFarling,  both  of  Lancaster, ' '  on  March 
16,  1761. 

Denis  Maccarty  appears  on  a  descriptive  list  of  Major 
James  House's  company  of  Colonel  Joseph  Dwight's 
regiment  raised  * '  for  intended  expedition  against  Crown 
Point  under  John  Winslow,  Commander-in-Chief."  On 
the  muster-roll  his  age  is  given  as  26 ;  birthplace,  Ire- 
land; residence,  Warren  (Mass.)  ;  occupation,  labourer; 
rank,  private.  The  company  was  returned  as  mustered 
in  at  Boston  on  May  6,  1756,  and  the  record  gives  us 
the  interesting  information  that  "said  Maccarty  fur- 
nished his  own  blanket. ' '  ^^  The  same  name,  and  prob- 
ably the  same  man,  is  on  a  list  dated  July  22,  1756,  of 
"soldiers  enlisted  or  impressed  out  of  the  2nd.  Bristol 
County  regiment  for  the  expedition  against  Crown  Point 
as  returned  by  Col  Thomas  Gilbert."  Denis  was  "re- 
ported as  belonging  to  Rehoboth"  (Mass.)^"  and  on  April 
4,  1758,  we  find  him  sworn  in  on  a  muster-roll  at  Boston 
in  Captain  William  Arbuthnot's  company  after  service 
at  Fort  William  Henry.  The  other  Dennis  McCarthy 
also  enlisted  in  Captain  Arbuthnot's  company,  and  his 
name  also  appears  in  the  roll  of  Captain  Joel  Bradford's 
company  on  February  18,  1757.  He  was  ranked  as 
"Corporal"  and  his  residence ' was  given  as  Taunton. 
Fort  William  Henry  was  invested  on  August  3rd  and 
capitulated  on  August  9th,  1757,  and  Dennis  McCarthy 
was  "reported  killed,  August  6th,"  probably  in  action. 

21  Muster  rolls,  in  Massachusetts  Archives;  Vol.  94,  p.   181. 

22  Ibid.;  pp.  256  and  272. 


248  THE  McCarthys 

Denis  Maccarty  is  not  mentioned  in  the  histories  of 
the  towns  of  Warren  and  Rehoboth,  and  the  only  men- 
tion of  Dennis  McCarthy  in  the  history  of  the  town  of 
Taunton  is  where  his  name  is  included  among  the  Colo- 
nial soldiers  who  enlisted  from  that  town.-^  However, 
in  the  town  records  of  Rehoboth  there  is  an  entry  of 
the  marriage  of  "Dennis  IMackmarty  of  Newport  and 
Susanna  Perry  of  Rehoboth"  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  on 
January  14,  1719.  In  all  likelihood  "Mackmarty"  was 
meant  for  "McCarthy."  The  town  of  Rehoboth  is  on 
the  Providence  River  opposite  Providence,  and  that  part 
of  the  town  known  as  Seekonk  is  noted  as  the  place  where 
Roger  Williams  made  his  settlement  in  the  year  1636. 
Among  the  births  at  Rehoboth  were  "Susanna  Mc- 
Cartye"  on  June  10,  1740;  "Rebeccah  McCartye"  on 
January  14,  1742,  and  "Rachall  McCartye"  on  March 
7,  1743,  all  recorded  as  the  children  of  "Charles  and 
Rachall  McCartye."  "Susannah  McCarty  of  Rehoboth 
and  William  Love  of  Coventry,  R.  I.,"  and  "Rebecca 
McCarty  of  Rehoboth  and  William  Bishop  of  Wood- 
stock" declared  their  "intentions"  (of  marriage)  on  No- 
vember 5,  1761,  and  January  14,  1770,  respectively, 
and  the  McCarty  name  appears  on  the  vital  records  of 
the  town  as  late  as  1830. 

Alexander  McCarty  appears  in  a  muster-roll  dated 
Boston,  February  3,  1761,  of  a  company  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Thomas  Cowdin;  rank,  private,  resi- 
dence, Freetown  (Massachusetts),  and  that  he  was  on 
active  service  is  shown  by  this  entry  on  the  roll:  "Re- 
ported   110    miles    travel    allowance    to    go    home 


24 


"  25 


23  History  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  by  Dr.  Samuel  H.  EUery;  p.  427,  Syracuse, 
N.   Y.,   1893. 

24  Rehoboth    Vital    Records,    compiled    by    James    W.    Arnold;    pp.    236 
and  476;   Providence,   R.  I.,  1897. 

25  Massachusetts  Archives;  Vol.  99,  p.  18. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  249 

' '  Florence  MeCarty  of  Boston ' '  served  in  Captain  John 
Johnson's  company  of  Colonel  Winslow's  regiment  in 
1754  "for  the  defense  of  the  Eastern  frontiers."  The 
muster-roll  is  dated  Boston,  November  8,  1754,  but  he  is 
shown  as  entering  the  service  on  June  12th.  of  that  year 
and  is  listed  on  the  roll  as  a  ''centinel."  In  January, 
1760,  he  served  in  Captain  Samuel  Peck's  company, 
where  he  is  listed  as  a  sergeant,  serving  until  November 
20th,  and  in  the  remarks  on  the  roll  opposite  his  name 
appear:  "endorsed  company  up  St.  Lawrence  River," 
which  is  a  clear  indication  that  he  was  in  the  expedition 
organized  for  the  capture  of  Quebec,  although  the  City 
capitulated  in  1759.  Another  of  the  name,  Florence 
McCarthy,  appears  on  a  muster-roll  dated  Boston,  No- 
vember, 1758,  of  officers  and  men  serving  on  board  the 
Massachusetts  ship,  King  George,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Benjamin  Hallowell,  Jr.  He  is  listed  as  a  seaman, 
and  entered  the  service  on  March  24th,  (probably  1758). 
He  is  recorded  as  a  resident  of  Boston.-® 

In  the  vital  records  of  the  town  of  Medford  ^^  there 
is  an  entry  taken  from  the  register  of  the  First  Parish 
Unitarian  Church  at  that  place,  of  the  baptism  of 
"Eleoner  Macordy,  daughter  of  one  Macordy,  Irish," 
under  d,ate  of  March  23,  1729,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  man's  proper  name  was  McCarthy.  Another 
entry  in  the  same  records  says  that  "John  McCordy 
and  his  wife,  Mary,"  came  to  Medford  from  Wobum 
"about  May  16,  1755,"  and  although  they  seem  to  have 
settled  down  as  permanent  residents,  being  recorded  as 
' '  tenants  of  William  Falkner, ' '  they  were  ' '  warned  out '  * 
by  the  selectmen  on  December  1,  1755.^^  Evidently,  this 
place  had  some  attractions  for  the  McCarthys.    John 

26  Massachusetts  Archives,  Vol.  96,  p.  249. 

27  Page  96. 

Zilown  Records,  in  Medford  Historical  Register;  Vol.  VIII,  p.  42. 


250  THE  McCarthys 

McCarthy  came  to  Medford  from  Boston  on  December 
3,  1760,'^  and  Daniel  McCarthy,-  Jr.,  arrived  in  town 
from  Concord  on  "about  July  1,  1762,"  and  was 
"warned  out"  January  1,  1763.''°  No  further  informa- 
tion as  to  these  people  seems  to  be  now  obtainable  and 
as  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  town  history  of  Med- 
ford, it  is  probable  that  they  did  not  long  remain  in  the 
place. 

The  general  lack  of  details  in  the  Colonial  records  ren- 
ders it  a  difficult  matter  to  differentiate  between  persons 
of  the  same  name  when  the  names  appear  in  the  early  rec- 
ords of  the  same  locality.  For  example,  in  the  Town 
Books  of  Boston  there  is  an  entry  covering  a  declaration 
of  "Intentions  of  Marriage"  by  Daniel  McCarty  and 
Nelly  Finnicey  on  August  5, 1742,  and  under  date  of  Jan- 
uary 9,  1743,  the  marriage  of  Daniel  McCarty  and  Lucre- 
tia  Darby  appears ;  while,  the  vital  records  of  the  town  of 
Medford  show  that  Daniel  McCarthy  and  Mavy  Floyd 
were  married  at  that  place  on  March  23,  1746,^^  and  in 
the  parish  register  of  the  local  church  his  name  is  en- 
tered "Captain  Daniel  McCarthy."  There  is  no  other 
reference  to  the  first  two  Daniels,  but  to  the  last-men- 
tioned two  daughters  were  born  at  Medford,  Mary  Mc- 
Carthy on  July  21,  1747,  and  Margaret  McCarthy  on 
July  11,  1749.  Both  children  died  in  infancy  and  their 
gravestones  may  be  seen  in  the  Salem  Street  cemetery 
at  Medford.  Captain  McCarthy,  in  all  probability,  was 
master  of  a  New  England  merchant  vessel  trading  with 
the  West  Indies,  since  such  an  officer  is  mentioned  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  time.  For  instance,  among  the  mas- 
ters of  vessels  registered  at  the  Boston  Custom  House 
as  having  "Cleared  for  Departure  for  West  Indies,"  as 

29  Town  Records,  p.  15. 

30  Ibid. 

31  Medford,  Mass.,  Vital  Records ;  p.  261. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  251 

reported  in  the  Weekly  News-Letter  of  March  10,  1748, 
as  well  in  the  Evening  Post  of  May  14,  was  ''Captain 
McCarthy."  It  is  safe  to  say  that  all  three  Daniels 
above  mentioned  were  different  persons,  and  that  they 
were  natives  of  Ireland,  since  there  is  no  entry  of  the 
birth  of  any  Daniel  McCarthy  in  Massachusetts  records. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  Captain  McCarthy  was  an 
active  and  prominent  man  in  his  chosen  business,  since 
his  name  appears  as  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the 
Marine  Society  of  Boston  incorporated  at  a  session  of 
the  Massachusetts  Court  on  January  25,  1754.  An  entry 
in  the  Council  records  of  December  17,  1755,  indicates 
that  he  was  master  of  a  vessel  called  the  Rehecca.  In 
that  month  Thomas  Boylston,  merchant  of  Boston,  pe- 
titioned the  Massachusetts  Court  * '  for  a  Licence  to  send 
in  the  Brig*°®  Rebecca,  Daniel  Maccarty,  Master,  to  the 
Bay  of  Honduras,  one  hundred  Barrels  of  Provisions 
with  the  other  part  of  the  Cargo,  he  giving  Bond  as 
usual."  At  its  session  on  December  18,  the  Council 
"impower'd  the  Commissioner  of  Import  or  his  Deputy 
to  take  Bond  of  One  Thousand  Pounds  Sterling  of  the 
Pef  for  Sureties  for  landing  or  disposing  of  the  same 
at  the  Bay  aforesaid ;  and  that  the  Master  or  Chief  Offi- 
cer of  the  said  Vessel  on  his  Return  make  Oath  that 
said  Provisions  were  landed  or  disposed  of  as  aforesaid, 
and  on  taking  said  Oath  his  Bond  be  cancelled." 

The  marital  troubles  of  Daniel  McCarthy  were  aired 
in  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1757.  One  of  the  Acts  of  the  Court  passed  on  that  date 
was  entitled:  "An  Act  for  dissolving  the  Marriage  of 
Daniel  McCarthy  with  Mary  McCarthy."  On  the  hear- 
ing of  a  petition  for  the  annullment  of  his  marriage, 
on  the  ground  of  his  wife's  unfaithfulness,  the  record 
shows  that  the  prayer  was  granted  by  "a  Decree  of  His 


252  THE  McCarthys 

Majesty's  Council  made  and  passed  on  Friday  the  tenth 
day  of  June  1757. ' '  ^^  The  decree  permitted  him  to 
marry  again,  and  in  all  probability  this  was  the  same 
Daniel  McCarthy  who  married  Mary  Floyd  at  Medford 
on  March  23,  1746,  and  whose  second  marriage  to  Anne 
Savage  at  the  Brattle  Street  church,  Boston,  appears 
under  date  of  February  1,  1759.  In  this  record  he  is 
described  as  of  Bedford,  Mass.,  occupation,  mariner. 

The  Town  Books  of  Boston  mention  several  other  peo- 
ple of  the  name.  Jeremiah  and  Callahan  Maccarty  were 
appointed  "Ticket  Porters"  by  the  Selectmen  and  gave 
"Security  according  to  Law  for  their  good  Behaviour 
in  said  Office,"  on  April  21,  1742,  and  September  7, 
1743,  respectively.'^^  At  a  town  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall 
on  March  11,  1750,  William  MacCarty  was  appointed 
by  the  same  body  "one  of  the  Clerks  of  the  Market," 
and  on  March  13,  1753,  he  was  chosen  "Constable  for 
the  year  ensuing. ' '  There  is  also  an  entry  in  the  Select- 
men's  records  showing  that  Thomas  Maccarty  was  ap- 
pointed a  "pay  Constable  for  the  year  ensuing"  on 
March  12,  1753.^'^  "Elect"  Maccarty,  William  O'Neil 
and  William  Byrne,  members  of  the  crew  of  the  priva- 
teer, Defiance,  of  Newport,  R.  I.,  are  so  mentioned  in  the 
Boston  Town  Books  of  the  year  1756.  In  a  list  ot 
"property  owners  at  Boston  who  suffered  losses  in  the 
great  fire  on  March  20,  1760,"  Thomas  McCarthy  is 
mentioned  as  having  "sustained  a  loss  of  £139.  6s.  8d. 

32  Engrossment  bill,   in  Massachusetts  Archives;   Vol.   IX,  p.   418. 

33  There  were  seventeen   "Ticket  Porters"    appointed  on  April  21,    1742, 
whose   n>\mes    were : 

Jeremiah    Maccarty  John   Whaland  Patrick   Goffe 

Robert    McMillion  Richard    Furnace  Robert  Wood 

Paul    Bryan  Thomas    O'Bryan  Patrick  Bourke    (2d) 

Patrick    Bourke  John    Keeffe  Philip   Jones 

Timothy   Harney  Edward    Kelly  Thomas    Phelan 

James    Collins  Samuel    Sharp 

34  Town  Books,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  229. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  253 

to  real  estate,  "^^  and  on  February  20,  1767,  Thomas 
Maccarty  was  one  of  a  large  number  of  the  freeholders 
and  inhabitants  who  petitioned  "the  Gentlemen  Select- 
men of  the  Town  of  Boston  &  her  Majesty's  Justices  of 
the  Peace,"  praying  "that  a  very  Commodious  Street 
may  be  laid  out"  to  take  the  place  of  "Paddy's  Alley" 
which  was  "burnt  out  during  the  great  fire"  in  that 
town  on  tlie  3rd.  of  February,  1767. 

Among  the  Irish  immigrants  recorded  as  arriving  at 
Boston  I  find  Michael  McCarty  in  the  year  1765  and 
Austin  and  Thomas  McCarty  and  Daniel  Carty,  all  of 
whom  arrived  in  "the  Brig  Wilmott  from  Cork,  Ire- 
land," on  November  15,  1766,^®  as  well  as  William  Mc- 
Carty, Sallie  McCartie  and  Terence  and  Edward  Mc- 
Carty in  "the  Ann  and  Margaret  from  Ireland"  on 
October  14,  1767."  In  the  passenger  list  of  "the  sch 
Sally  from  N.  Providence,  Abner  Holmes,  Master," 
which  arrived  at  Boston  in  August,  1765,  "Mr.  McCarty, 
a  Trader,"  was  listed,  and  another  entry  in  the  Town 
Books  also  recorded  the  arrival  at  Boston  on  August  28, 
1768,  of  "Mr.  McCarty,  a  Trader,"  in  "the  Sloop, 
DolpMn,  from  Halifax. ' '  ^^  Still  another  entry  in  the 
records  says  that  "Thomas  McCarty,  a  servant  inden- 
tured to  Messrs.  Creed  &  CoUis,  merchants  of  Boston," 
arHved  in  the  schooner.  Speedwell,  from  St.  Croix  on 
November  15,  1766.     In  the  same  record  where  these 

35  Town  Boohs,  Vol.  XXIV.  Among  those  who  suffered  losses  in  this 
fire  were  Michael  Carroll,  Patrick  Burke,  George  Glyn,  James  Dalton,  Sarah 
Larkin,  John  and  Sarah  McNeal,  Bartholomew  Killeran  and  Patrick  Kelley. 

36  Among  the  passengers  on  the  Wilmott  who  came  from  Cork  to  Boston 
on  this   voyage  were   people   named: 

Sullivan  Kelley  Swaney 

Conner  Manning  Twohey 

Quirk  Hagge'rty  Bourke 

Ryan  O'Daniel  McNamara 

Dalton  Fitzgerald  Coghlin 

37  Port  Arrivals — Emif/rants,  in  Town  Books;  Vol.  XXIX. 

38  Town  Books,  Vol.  XXIX,  p.  267. 


Murphy 

Brett 

Mahony 

Lawler 

Shannahan 

OarroU 

Hayes 

Keeflfe 

Welch 

Kahaven 

<Juinlan 

254  THE  McCarthys 

entries  appear  there  is  an  item  under  "Port  Arrivals 
— Emigrants,"  with  the  date  August  15,  1768,  of  the 
arrival  of  ''William  McCartey,  a  Marriner,"  and  al- 
though he  arrived  on  board  "the  Sloop,  Sally,  from 
Grenada,"  the  presumption  is  that  he  came  from  Ire- 
land. One  of  the  passengers  on  "the  Snow,  Catherine, 
from  Glasgow,"  which  arrived  in  Boston  on  August  29, 
1768,  was  Sally  McCarty  who  "went  from  Boston." 
In  the  Town  Books  under  date  of  November  21,  1768, 
there  is  also  a  list  of  "fishermen  from  Newfoundland" 
who  came  to  Boston  in  the  schooner,  Hampton,  and 
among  the  names  listed  are  Edward  and  Terence  Mc- 
Carthy. 

In  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of  July  5,  1762,  among 
masters  of  vessels  registered  at  the  Custom  House  as 
"Cleared  Out,"  there  is  an  entry  showing  that  a  "Cap- 
tain McCarthy"  had  sailed  "for  Amsterdam"  during 
the  previous  week,  and  the  issue  of  that  paper  of  May 
23,  1763,  announced  the  arrival  at  Boston  of  "Captain 
McCarthy  in  a  ship  from  Holland,  but  last  from  Ire- 
land. ' '  There  is  no  further  mention  of  him  in  the  news- 
papers about  this  time,  but  when  we  consult  "The  Min- 
utes of  the  Meetings  of  the  Selectmen  of  Boston,"  we 
find  that ' '  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy,  Master  of  the  ship, 
Sally,  from  Kingsale  in  Ireland,"  appeared  before  the 
Selectmen  on  May  21,  1763,  and  "upon  Examination 
declared  he  left  said  place  the  23rd.  March  and  this 
Day  arrived  at  Nastasket  Road. ' '  ^^  Information  had 
reached  the  Selectmen  that  the  Sally  "had  sickness  on 
board"  and  Captain  McCarthy  was  called  on  to  report 
upon  the  condition  of  his  passengers.  He  is  also  men- 
tioned in  the  New  York  newspapers  as  commander  of 
a  merchant  man  and  in  the  Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury 

33  Town  Books;  Vol.  XIX,  p.  264. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  255 

of  August  18,  1766,  there  is  an  account  of  ''Captain  Mc- 
Carthy who,  in  a  large  ship  belonging  to  the  port  of 
Boston,  arrived  at  Barbadoes."  I  have  no  doubt 
that  all  of  these  items  referred  to  the  same  identical 
person. 

In  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of  February  16,  1766, 
there  is  an  advertisement  bearing  the  caption : 

''IMPORTED  BY  DANIEL  McCARTHY      ' 

and  to  be  sold  at  his  house  in  Union  Street 

between  the  Sign  of  the  Cornfields  and  the  Mill  Bridge." 

Then  follows  a  detailed  description  of  the  goods  for 
sale,  which  included  silks,  satins,  broglios,  laces,  Persian 
cloths,  ribbons,  trimmings,  fans,  shoes,  gloves,  muslins, 
cambrics,  lawns,  gauzes,  calicoes,  Irish  linens  and  checks, 
thread,  worsted,  hose,  china,  glass  and  delph  ware,  and 
kitchen  utensils  in  great  variety.  It  was  one  of  the 
longest  advertisements  in  the  paper  and  was  repeated  in 
every  issue  down  to  the  5th.  of  May,  1766.  I  am  unable 
to  find  any  reference  to  Daniel  McCarthy  in  Boston 
records  or  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time  to  indicate  that 
he  was  engaged  in  business  as  a  merchant,  but,  from  the 
fact  that  the  goods  were  to  be  sold  "at  his  house,"  and 
not  at  his  shop  as  merchants  usually  announced  in  their 
advertisements,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  the  mariner 
before  referred  to  and  that  he  brought  the  merchandise 
from  abroad  to  be  sold  to  Boston  merchants.  That  he 
was  an  Irishman  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  there  is 
no  entry  in  the  vital  records  prior  to  this  time  of  the 
birth  of  any  person  named  Daniel  McCarthy. 

An  entry  in  the  minutes  of  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen 
on  December  21,  1768,  says:  "Mr.  Savage,  one  of  the 
Town  Collectors,  presents  Captain  f Daniel)  McCarthy 
for  one  of  his  Bondsmen  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 


256  THE  McCarthys 

Trust,"*"  and  this  is  followed  by  an  entry  reading: 
''Approved,  Captain  McCarthy,  as  Bondsman  for  Abra- 
ham Savage."  Under  date  of  November  20,  1771,  he  is 
thus  referred  to  in  the  Totvn  Books:  "Daniel  Maecarty, 
Mariner,  and  Archibald  McNeil  were  accepted  by  the 
Selectmen  as  Bondsmen  for  Abraham  Savage,  Collector 
of  Taxes, ' '  *^  which  fact  indicates  that  he  was  a  sub- 
stantial citizen.  In  his  will  he  is  described  as  "of  Bos- 
ton in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  in  the  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  Mariner."  The  instrument  is  dated  Oc- 
tober 8,  1772,  and  under  its  provisions  he  bequeathed 
his  "whole  Estate,  Real  and  Personal,"  to  his  wife, 
Anna,  "to  be  employed  for  her  Support  and  for  the 
Maintenance,  Support  and  Education  of  my  Children 
in  such  a  manner  as  in  her  discretion  shall  seem  meet ; ' ' 
and  upon  her  death  or  marriage,  he  directed  that  his 
estate  be  divided  into  three  shares,  one  of  which  was 
to  go  to  his  son,  Daniel,  and  one  each  to  his  daughters, 
Anna  and  Elizabeth. *- 

Among  the  "Resolves  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts"  in  the  State  Archives  at  Bos- 
ton, I  have  found  an  interesting  document  concerning 
one  Daniel  McCarthy  of  Roxbury  and  his  kinsman, 
Calahan  McCarthy.  It  is  a  petition  dated  April  14, 
1779,  and  reads  as  follows :  "To  the  Hon'^'^  Council  & 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  The  Petition  of  Daniel  McCarty  humbly  Showeth 
that  Calahan  McCarty,  a  Native  of  Ireland  and  never 
an  Inhabitant  of  America,  a  near  Relation  of  y'"  Peti- 
tioner was  prevail 'd  on  by  some  of  the  Inhabitants  of 
Antigua  to  go  on  Board  the  Privateer  lately  taken  by  the 
Hazard,  &  is  now  a  Prizoner  on  Board  y^  Guardship  in 

40  Town  Books,  Vol.  XX,  p.  38. 

41  Ibid.,  Vol.  23. 

42  Probate  Records,  Suffolk  County,  Mass. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  257 

the  Harbour  of  Boston.  That  your  Petitioner  urged  by 
Humanity  towards  y^  young  Man  humbly  requests  Leave 
from  your  Honours  to  take  the  Prisoner  to  y'"  Petitioners 
House  in  Roxbury,  at  which  place  your  Petitioner  will 
come  under  any  Bonds  to  keep  him  under  such  Restric- 
tions as  your  Honours  may  order,  and  see  him  forth- 
coming whenever  your  Honours  shall  see  fit  to  order 
him  to  be  exchanged,  &  as  in  Duty  bound  shall  ever 
pray. 

Daniel  McCarthy. 
Roxbury,  April  14th,  1779." 

Immediately  under  the  entry  of  the  Petition  appears 
the  following  ' '  Resolve ' '  passed  by  the  General  Assembly 
on  April  16,  1779:  ''On  the  Petition  of  Daniel  Mc- 
Carthy praying  that  Calahan  McCarthy  a  Prisoner  on 
board  the  Guard-Ship  may  be  admitted  to  come  on  Shore 
to  the  House  of  the  Petitioner.  Resolved  that  the  prayer 
of  the  Petition  be  granted  and  that  the  Commissary 
of  Prisoners  be  &  hereby  is  directed  to  permit  the  said 
Calahan  McCarthy  to  come  on  shore  on  his  Parole  that 
he  will  not  do  or  say  anything  prejudicial  to  this  or 
any  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  provided  that 
the  Petitioner  Daniel  McCarthy  gives  Bonds  of  One 
Thousand  pounds  with  two  Sureties  of  Five  hundred 
pounds  each  to  the  Treasurer  of  this  State  that  the  said 
Calahan  McCarthy  shall  not  depart  the  House  &  limits 
of  the  Farm  of  the  Petitioner  at  Roxbury  except  to 
attend  Public  Worship  on  Sabbath  Days  and  will  see 
him  forthcoming  when  call  'd  for  to  be  exchanged. ' ' 

The  document  bears  the  signatures  of  John  Avery, 
Deputy,  and  John  Pickering,  Speaker,  and  of  sixteen 
members  of  the  Council,  but  there  is  no  further  mention 
in  the  record  of  Calahan  McCarthy. 


258  THE  McCarthys 

There  were  two  Revolutionary  soldiers  named  Daniel 
McCarthy  credited  to  the  town  of  Roxbury,  both  re- 
corded in  the  Massachusetts  muster-rolls.  "Daniel  Mc- 
Carthy, Senior,  bom  in  Ireland,"  enlisted  at  Roxbury 
and  his  name  appears  in  the  Continental  army  pay  ac- 
counts showing  service  from  January  1,  1777,  to  Sep- 
tember 19,  1777,  in  Captain  Job  Sumner's  company  of 
Colonel  John  Greaton's  Massachusetts  regiment.  An 
entry  concerning  him  in  the  pay  accounts  says,  that  he 
was  "reported  killed  September  .  .  .  1777,"  and  as  the 
last  day  of  his  service,  September  19,  1777,  was  the  date 
of  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was 
in  that  memorable  fight  that  the  Irish  soldier  gave  up 
his  life.  Another  Daniel  INIcCarthy,  also  of  Roxbury 
and  also  recorded  as  "bom  in  Ireland,"  appears  in  a 
"return  of  men  raised  to  serve  in  the  Continental 
army,"  dated  Boston,  January  19,  1777.  He  also  served 
in  Captain  Sumner's  company  and  was  "engaged  for  the 
Town  of  Roxbury"  for  three  years  and  was  mustered 
out  December  31,  1779.  These  two  probably  were  father 
and  son.  Evidently,  the  Daniels  of  this  family  were  in 
no  way  scarce  in  that  vicinity,  since  there  were  two 
others  of  the  name  soldiers  of  the  Revolution.  "Daniel 
McCarty,  residence  Chariest  own, "  served  in  Colonel 
Bond's  Massachusetts  regiment  in  1775,  and  "Daniel 
McCarty  of  Boston"  served  on  the  frigate,  Hague,  under 
Captain  John  Manley  in  1783. 

The  Daniel  McCarthy  who  petitioned  the  General 
Assembly  could  not  have  been  either  of  the  Daniels  of 
Roxbury  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  since 
the  petition  is  dated  April  14,  1779,  and  the  document 
clearly  indicates  that  the  petitioner  then  lived  on  his 
farm  at  Roxbury,  while  one  of  the  Revolutionary  sol- 
diers was  killed  in  1777  and  the  other  continued  to  serve 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  259 

until  December  31,  1779.  There  is  no  indication  in  the 
records  of  the  General  Assembly  that  the  conditions  re- 
quired for  the  release  of  Calahan  McCarthy  were  com- 
plied with;  yet,  since  Daniel  McCarthy  was  asked  to 
give  security  in  so  large  a  sum  as  one  thousand  pounds, 
he  must  have  been  regarded  as  a  man  of  considerable 
means.  An  **  Honor  Roll  of  Massachusetts  Patriots 
Heretofore  Unknown,  being  a  list  of  Men  and  Women 
who  loaned  money  to  the  Federal  Government,  1777- 
1779,"  published  in  the  year  1899  by  the  Massachusetts 
Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution, 
contains  the  name  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  this  was  the  Daniel  who  interested  himself 
in  the  welfare  of  his  kinsman,  Calahan  McCarthy. 

That  he  continued  to  reside  at  Roxbury  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  "the  estate  of  Daniel  McCarty"  was 
taxed  at  that  place  in  the  year  1782,  and  at  the  session 
of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  held  in  January, 

1791,  Daniel  McCarthy  was  one  of  fifteen  petitioners 
"praying  compensation  may  be  made  them  for  lands 
lost  in  running  the  line  between  this  Commonwealth 
and  the  State  of  New  York. ' '  The  basis  of  the  petition 
was,  that  in  the  year  1771  a  tract  of  1980  acres  "belong- 
ing to  a  grant  of  land  made  to  the  proprietors  of  Gro- 
ton"  fell  within  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  peti- 
tioners claimed  that  980  acres  of  this  grant  were  sold 
to  them  by  the  proprietors  of  Groton.     On  January  24, 

1792,  the  Court  granted  the  petitioners  a  quid  pro  quo 
by  directing  "that  the  Committee  on  the  subject  of  un- 
appropriated land  in  the  County  of  Lincoln  be  &  are 
hereby  impowered  to  convey  &  confirm  to  the  said  pet  'rs 
such  a  quantity  of  the  unappropriated  land  in  either  of 
the  four  Eastern  Counties  in  the  Commonwealth  as  the 
Committee  shall  estimate  be  worth  £245."     Daniel  Mc- 


260  THE  McCarthys 

Carthy  was  possessed  of  fifty  acres  of  the  tract  above 
referred  to  and  the  deed  of  conveyance  is  on  record  in 
Middlesex  County  under  date  of  June  14,  1774. 

The  name  of  Anna,  widow  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  ap- 
pears in  the  Roxbury  tax  lists  of  the  year  1793,  and  by 
deed  dated  February  1,  1794,  ''Anna  McCarthy  of  Rox- 
bury in  the  County  of  Norfolk,  Executrix  of  the  last 
Will  and  Testament  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  dec'd,  in  con- 
sideration of  £141  6s.  8d.  paid  by  William  Rice  of  Sud- 
bury, Middlesex  County,  Gentleman,"  conveyed  to  said 
Rice  "all  her  Right,  Title,  Interest  or  Estate"  in  "the 
foregoing  Deed,  described  Land  and  the  Bond  thereon 
referred  to.'.'  This  deed  was  recorded  at  Cambridge, 
Middlesex  County,  on  February  26,  1794. 

"Mary  McCarthy,  a  poor  person  in  distressed  circum- 
stances and  not  an  Inhabitant  of  any  Town  in  this  Prov- 
ince," is  so  mentioned  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Selectmen 
of  the  Town  of  Boston  on  August  8,  1770,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 20th.  of  the  same  year  she  applied  to  the  Select- 
men "for  some  assistance  in  her  return  to  Canada  by 
land,"  when  it  was  "voted  that  she  have  Six  Dollars 
advanced  to  her  on  Province  account."*^  In  a  list  of 
twenty-three  "Taveners  and  Retailers"  of  whom  twelve 
were  women,  authorized  by  the  Selectmen  on  August  17, 

1774,  Mary  MeCarty  was  ' '  approbated  by  the  Selectmen 
to  Retail  at  her  Shop  on  Fore  Street  North  End, ' '  **  and 
still  another  entry  in  the  Toivn  Books  on  February  3, 

1775,  reads:  "Mary  McCarty  received  £1  4s.  out  of 
the  Mrs.  Brooker  bequest"  (for  poor  and  indigent 
widows  of  Boston).  Daniel  Maccarty  is  mentioned  in 
the  Town  Books  in  1771  as  "a  poor  stranger"  whose 
distress  was  relieved  by  order  of  the  Selectmen.     One 

43  Town  Books,  Vol.  23,  p.  67. 

44  Town  Books,  Vol.  23,  p.  225. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  261 

Dennis  McCarty  came  to  America  as  a  soldier  in  Bur- 
goyne's   army,   but   in   1781   he   settled   at   Northfield, 
Mass.,  where  he  lived  for  many  years,  and  the  vital 
records  of  that  town  show  that  he  married  Keziah  Jen- 
nings in  1810.*^     A  Massachusetts  soldier  of  the  name 
served  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  he  could  hardly  have  been 
the  Northfield  Dennis  McCarty.     Another  Massachusetts 
soldier  of  the  War  of  1812  was  William  McCarty,  son  of 
William  McCarty  who  as  a  youth  of  sixteen  marched 
from  Worcester  in  the  Lexington  Alarm  of  April  19, 
1775.     In  all  probability,  he  was  a  son  of  Thaddeus  and 
was  the  Revolutionary  officer  before  mentioned.     On  Jan- 
uary 12,  1812,  William  McCarty,  Jr.,  married  Elizabeth 
Harris,  daughter  of  Thomas  Harris,  a  member  of  Wash- 
ington's  famous  Body-Guard. 

Thomas  McCarty,  a  merchant  of  Roxbury,  is  men- 
tioned in  the  probate  records  of  Suffolk  County.  On 
October  26,  1783,  letters  of  administration  were  granted 
to  "Sarah  McCarty  of  Roxbury  in  the  County  of  Suf- 
folk, widow,  administratrix  of  the  estate  of  Thomas  Mc- 
Carty, late  of  Roxbury,  merchant,  deceased,  intestate," 
etc.,  and  "Samuel  Sumner  of  Roxbury,  Gentleman,  and 
Jacob  Hasey  Butman  of  Dorchester,  all  in  the  County 
of  Suffolk,  became  bound  with  the  said  Sarah  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  her  trust."  On  November  11, 
1783,  Sarah  McCarty  presented  an  inventory  of  the 
estate  amounting  to  £125  10s.  lOd.  On  the  petition  of 
"Daniel  Sargent  of  Boston,  Guardian  of  Margarett  Mc- 
Carty and  Mary  McCarty,  minors,"  the  Massachusetts 
court  on  February  26,  1795,  resolved  "that  the  said 
Daniel  Sargent  be  empowered  to  sell  the  undivided  half 
part  of  the  dwelling  house  and  land  (mentioned  in  his 
petition)  for  the  most  the  same  will  fetch  at  public  or 

45  History  of  Northfield,  Mass. 


262  THE  McCarthys 

private  sale."  Margaret  and  Mary  McCarty  were  the 
daughters  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  McCarty.  Among 
"Heads  of  Families"  in  the  1790  census  of  the  City 
of  Boston  a  number  of  McCarthys  appear,  and,  that 
people  of  the  name  continued  to  emigrate  from  Ireland 
to  New  England  in  the  early  years  of  the  last  century,  is 
seen  from  the  following  names  taken  from  a  list  of 
''Passengers  to  America,  1803  and  1804,"  published  in 
the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Register :  **' 

"James  McCarty,  age  26,  Clerk  from  Dublin" 
"James  MeCarty,  age  25,  Farmer  from  Wexford" 
"Samuel  McCarty,  age  25,   Labourer  from  Armagh." 

46  Vols.  60  and  61. 


CHAPTER  X 

MC  CARTHYS  IN   CONNECTICUT,  RHODE  ISLAND,   MAINE, 
NEW  HAMPSHIRE  AND  VERMONT 

Owen  McCarty,  an  early  settler  at  New  London — Charles  Mc- 
Carthy, a  founder  of  the  town  of  East  Greenwich,  R.  I. — 
Timothy  McCarty  of  Newport — His  marriage  connections — 
The  McCartys  of  Block  Island — The  Irish  settlements  on  the 
Kennebeck  River — The  historic  town  of  Cork,  Maine — Timothy 
McCarthy,  a  New  Hampshire  pioneer — McCarthys  in  the  naval 
service  of  the  Revolution — McCarthys  appearing  in  the  Vital 
Records  of  New  England  towns — McCarthys  as  American  busi- 
ness and  professional  men  and  in  the  literary  field. 

The  first  of  the  name  in  Connecticut  evidently  was 
Owen  McCarty,  whose  name  was  recorded  in  the  Town 
Books  of  New  London  under  ''New  Inhabitants  that 
appear  between  1670  and  1700."  He  was  a  resident 
of  the  town  in  1693.^  Among  early  Connecticut  mar- 
riages recorded  at  Fairfield  are  those  of  Ann  McCarty 
and  James  Adair  on  October  18,  1744,  and  Elizabeth 
McCarty  and  Ebenezer  Couch  on  July  29,  1761.^  One 
William  McCarty  evidently  was  a  resident  of  Hartford, 
since  his  name  appears  in  the  probate  records  of  the 
town  ^  on  July  6,  1747,  as  witness  to  an  agreement  cover- 
ing settlement  of  the  estate  of  Joseph  Thompson.  Wil- 
liam McCarty,  who  is  mentioned  in  Stiles'  Ancient 
Windsor  *  as  witness  to  the  will  of  William  Thomson  of 

1  So  mentioned  in  History  of  New  London,  by  Frances  M.  Caulkins ; 
p.    265,    New    London,    1852. 

2  From  Early  Connecticut  Marriages  aa  found  in  the  Ancient  Church 
Records. 

3  Vol.    IV,   p.   42. 

4  Vol.  II,  p.  754. 

263 


264  THE  McCarthys 

Windsor  in  1747,  and  "William  McCarty  who  witnessed 
the  will  of  Samuel  Thompson  at  Ellington,  Conn.,  on 
July  5,  1747,^  may  have  been  the  same.  A  "William 
McCarty  also  appears  in  the  vital  records  of  the  town 
of  Wethersfield.  John  McCarty  and  Mary,  his  wife, 
had  children,  John,  William  and  Nancy,  bom  to  them 
at  Norwich  between  1765  and  1769.®  The  son,  John, 
probably  was  the  ''Captain  John  McCarty,  commander 
of  the  ship,  Sally,  of  Norwich,"  who  is  mentioned  in  the 
town  history  of  Norwich  as  having  sailed  from  that  place 
in  January,  1799,  for  the  West  Indies.  We  are  told 
"The  Sally  sank  in  September,  1800,  with  a  cargo  of 
salt  at  her  dock  in  Liverpool. ' '  ^ 

James  McCarty  with,  other  inhabitants  of  Colchester, 
Conn.,  signed  a  memorial  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
May,  1774,  ''praying  to  be  made  a  distinct  ecclesiastical 
society  ...  to  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of 
Antioch."  ^  Charles  Barney  McCarthy  was  another  in- 
teresting individual  who  is  mentioned  in  Connecticut  his- 
tory. The  historian  of  the  town  of  Wallingford  states 
that  "he  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  came  to  America  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  (eighteenth)  century  and 
found  his  way  to  Wallingford,  a  peddler  of  small  articles 
of  dry  goods.  In  a  few  years  he  was  enabled  by  his 
industry  and  success  in  business  to  build  and  stock  a 
store  with  dry  goods  and  groceries.  He  invested  largely 
in  real  estate  and  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  He  had 
a  son,  Dr.  Charles  Barney  McCarty,  a  physician  in 
Yalesville,  and  three  daughters."^  Jeremiah  McCartie 
served  as  a  Revolutionary  soldier  from  New  Milford 

5  Ibid.,   Vol.   II,    p.    345. 

e  Vital    Records    of    Norwich,    Conn. 

7  History    of   Norwich,    Conn.,   by    Frances    M.    Caulkins;    pp.    498-499. 

8  Public    Records    of    Connecticut,   Vol.    14. 

9  History   of   Wallingford,   Conn.,  by   Dr.   Charles   H.    S.    Davis. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  265 

and  Thomas  McCartee  is  mentioned  in  "the  Lexin^on 
Alarm  List"  of  that  town  in  1775,  and  in  the  crew  of 
the  Continental  frigate,  Confederacy,  recruited  at  Nor- 
wich, when  that  vessel  was  captured  by  an  English  war- 
ship off  the  Capes  of  Virginia  in  April,  1781,  I  find  the 
name  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  with  other  sailors  and  marines 
named  Hayes,  Powers,  Haley,  McMullen,  Ryan,  Court- 
ney, Connel,  Carrick,  Hagan,  Healey,  Mooney  and  Sulli- 
van. 

In  Rhode  Island  are  also  found  traces  of  people  of 
this  name  at  a  very  early  period.  At  a  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  held  at  Newport  in 
the  month  of  May,  1677,  an  "order"  was  passed  "that 
a  certain  tract  of  land  in  some  convenient  place  in  the 
Narragansett  country  shall  be  laid  forth  into  one  hun- 
dred acre  shares,  with  the  house  lots  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  so  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony  as 
stand  in  need  of  land,  and  the  General  Assembly  shall 
judge  fit  to  be  supplied."  Under  this  Act  5000  acres 
were  laid  forth,  five  hundred  of  which  were  reserved 
for  a  town  to  be  known  as  East  Greenwich,  the  remain- 
ing 4500  acres  "to  be  divided  in  fifty  equal  shares  or 
great  divisions. ' '  This  grant  was  made  to  a  company  of 
forty-eight  settlers,  chiefly  in  recognition  of  their  serv- 
ices in  the  war  with  the  Narragansett  Indians  known  in 
history  as  "King  Phillip's  War."  One  of  these  forty- 
eight  settlers  was  Charles  McCarthy,  whose  name  is  also 
spelled  in  Rhode  Island  records  Macarte,  Macarta, 
Macarty  and  Makarte,  while  the  same  surname  borne 
by  other  early  Rhode  Islanders  is  spelled  Maccartee  and 
McCartie.  It  is  quite  probable  that  Charles  McCarthy 
participated  in  the  Indian  war,  although  I  fail  to  find 
his  name  on  any  lists  of  Colonial  soldiers  of  the  time 
or  in  Bodge 's  History  of  King  Phillip's  War,  1675- 


266  THE  McCarthys 

1676 .^'^  That  he  was  a  native  of  Ireland  appears  to 
be  quite  certain  from  his  will,  dated  February  18,  1682, 
which  was  reproduced  in  part  in  the  Narragansett  Histo- 
rical Register."  He  seems  to  have  died  shortly  after 
1682,  since  the  will  was  entered  in  the  town  records  of 
the  year  1684. 

In  the  ' '  Minutes  of  a  Meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
held  at  Newport  on  May  5,  1679,"  he  was  recorded  as 
"Charles  Mecarte,"  and  is  there  referred  with  two  others 
as  "freemen  of  the  towne  of  East  Greenwich"  who  "are 
admitted  freemen  to  this  Colony."  Charles  McCarthy's 
will  is  a  curious  and  interesting  document,  written,  as 
it  was,  in  the  peculiar  style  and  phraseology  of  the 
time.  The  opening  clause  reads:  "Unto  all  Christian 
people  unto  whome  these  pents  (presents)  may  com  know 
yee  that  I  Charles  Macarte  now  of  the  towne  of  Est  gren- 
wich  in  the  Colony  of  Rhod  Island  and  providence  plan- 
teteons  Being  in  perfact  memory  but  weake  in  body  doe 
meake  this  my  lastt  will  and  testiment."  It  is  evident 
that  he  was  unmarried  and  had  no  relatives  this  side  of 
the  water,  for  he  named  John  Spencer,  Junior,  his  "law- 
ful heir"  and  bequeathed  to  him  his  "house  and  Land  or 
Lands  in  this  Towne,"  and  directed  that  John  Spencer, 
Sr.,  and  Richard  Dunn  act  as  Guardians  to  John  Spen- 
cer, Jr.  "to  teak  care  that  my  will  be  parformed." 
All  told,  he  named  thirteen  persons  as  the  legatees  of  his 
real  and  personal  property.  He  left  to  "John  Gerard, 
a  poor  Countryman  of  mine,  three  bushels  of  come  to 
be  paid  to  him  presently  after  my  desese." 

A  passage  in  the  will  makes  it  clear  that  Charles 
McCarthy  had  been  a  resident  of  the  Island  of  St.  Chris- 
tophers prior  to  his  coming  to  Rhode  Island,  and  that  he 

10  Of  the  soldiers  who  fought  in  this  war,  110  bore  unmistakable  Irish 
names. 

11  For  April,   1891. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  267 

had  a  brother  that  went  from  Ireland  to  Spain,  whence 
he  returned  home  after  the  wars.  From  Kinsale  his 
brother  wrote  him  at  St.  Christophers,  on  the  supposition 
that  Charles  was  still  there,  urging  him  to  return  to 
Ireland.     This  passage  reads: 

"I  have  a  letter  that  came  from  my  Brother  from  Kinsale 
after  his  return  from  Spaine  Being  fersed  (forced)  from 
home  in  the  war  in  which  Letter  he  sent  for  mee  home;  but 
the  troubles  in  Cristifars  at  that  time  fersed  mee  from  thence 
to  New  England  and  soe  hee  herd  not  of  mee  nor  I  of  him. 

...  I  will  that  that  Letter  with  another  within  it  is  be 
sent  unto  him  with  a  letter  to  signifie  unto  him  how  it  hath 
been  with  mee  since  and  when  and  where  I  end  my  dayes." 

From  this  it  may  be  assumed  that  Charles  McCarthy 
of  Rhode  Island  was  a  native  of  Kinsale  and  that  he  was 
of  the  same  family  as  the  Virginia  and  Massachusetts 
McCartys  elsewhere  mentioned  in  this  book.  At  what 
time  he  left  Ireland  for  St.  Christophers  is  unknown, 
as  is  also  the  date  of  his  settling  in  Rhode  Island,  but 
about  that  period  there  were  great  numbers  of  Irish 
people  in  the  "West  Indies,  driven  there  by  the  orders  of 
Cromwell.  In  the  Island  of  St.  Christophers  alone, 
in  1650,  there  were  three  thousand  Irish  Catholics  whom 
the  Revd.  John  Destriche,  a  Catholic  priest,  visited  dis- 
guised as  a  trader  and  for  whom  he  is  said  to  have  con- 
ducted religious  services  in  the  depths  of  the  forest. 
They  were  persecuted  by  the  English  officials  of  the 
Island  because  of  their  religion,  as  a  result  of  which  the 
Irish  colony  was  dispersed  in  course  of  time,  and  we  read 
in  Virginia  records  of  numbers  of  Irishmen  and  Irish- 
women arriving  in  that  Colony  and  in  New  England 
during  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It 
is  not  at  all  improbable,  therefore,  that  Charles  Mc- 
Carthy of  Rhode  Island  had  in  mind  this  persecution 


268  THE  McCarthys 

and  enforced  exile  when  he  referred  in  his  will  to  "the 
troubles  in  Cristifars." 

A  family  of  the  name,  and  possibly  more  than  one, 
located  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  at  a  very  early  date. 
Timothy  McCarty,  a  mariner,  was  at  that  place  in  1700 
and  the  probate  records  of  Newport  ^^  of  the  year  1703 
or  1704  indicate  that  letters  of  administration  to  "the 
estate  of  Andrew  MackCartey  late  of  Salem,  deceased, 
who  lately  arrived  here,"  were  granted  to  "his  father, 
John  MackCartey  of  Salem."  That  Timothy  McCarty 
was  a  man  of  some  local  prominence  is  indicated  by  his 
marriage  connections.  His  marriage  to  Elizabeth  "Wil- 
liams, daughter  of  John  Williams,  a  merchant  of  Boston 
and  Newport,  and  who  in  1687  was  Attorney-General 
of  Rhode  Island,  is  on  record  at  Block  Island  under  date 
of  November  21,  1700.  This  John  Williams  was  a  son 
of  Nathaniel  Williams  of  Boston,  who  was  closely  con- 
nected by  marriage  with  Governor  Bradstreet.  Timothy 
and  Elizabeth  McCarty  had  three  sons,  Daniel,  Thomas 
and  Joseph,  and  a  daughter,  Althea,  whose  names  ap- 
pear with  different  spellings,  one  branch  of  the  family 
having  changed  the  name  to  "Carty. "  The  marriage 
register  of  New  Shoreham,  Block  Island,  shows  that 
Daniel  Carty  and  Elizabeth  Trimm  were  joined  in  wed- 
lock at  that  place  on  July  28,  1721,  and  the  births  of 
their  children,  Catherine  and  Daniel,  also  appear  in 
the  "Vital  Records  of  Rhode  Island,"  ^^  on  December 
29,  1723,  and  May  26,  1726,  respectively.  Timothy  Mc- 
Carty also  appears  in  these  records,  but  his  name  is 
given  erroneously  as  "Timothy  Morey,"  doubtless  be- 
cause of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  written  in  the 

12  The  original  records  are  at  the  Newport  Historical  Society,  but 
are  in  very  bad  condition  owing  to  their  having  been  sunk  off  New 
York   during   the   Revolution. 

13  Compiled  by   James   N.   Arnold;    1st   Ser.   Vol.   IV. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  269 

original  record.  Daniel  Carty  was  a  resident  of  the 
Island  as  late  as  1742,  since  his  name  is  entered  in  the 
tax  lists  of  that  year,  but  thereafter  he  disappears  from 
the  records,  having  removed  to  Westerly,  R.  I.,  at  which 
place  later  members  of  the  family  are  mentioned. 

Timothy  McCarty  's  other  sons  are  mentioned  in  ' '  The 
Genealogical  Dictionary  of  Rhode  Island"^*  in  an  ac- 
count of  the  Guttredge  family  of  Newport  and  Block 
Island.  In  the  will  of  Robert  Guttredge,  dated  Decem- 
ber 12,  1718,  probated  June  27,  1723,  the  testator  named 
among  the  legatees  his  ''grandson,  Thomas  Mccarty," 
and  to  his  ''grandsons,  Paulsgrove  and  John  Williams, 
Robert  Sands  and  Joseph  Mccarty,"  he  left  "all  the 
rest  of  his  estate."  Ann,  the  mother  of  Elizabeth  (Wil- 
liams) McCarty,  and  widow  of  John  Williams,  married 
Robert  Guttredge  and  by  the  peculiar  method  of  re- 
ferring to  relationships  in  wills  and  deeds  in  those  days 
Robert  Guttredge  described  the  two  sons  of  Timothy  and 
Elizabeth  McCarty  as  his  "grandsons." 

Block  Island,  formerly  called  New  Shoreham,  and 
now  part  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  lies  about  twenty 
miles  off  the  mainland  from  Newport,  and  here  the 
Guttredge,  Sands,  Williams  and  other  families  are  men- 
tioned among  the  land  owners  about  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Joseph,  son  of  Timothy  Mc- 
Carty, inherited  a  small  part  of  the  Guttredge  and  Wil- 
liams properties  and  no  doubt  it  was  about  this  time 
that  he  and  his  brothers,  Daniel  and  Thomas,  removed 
to  the  bleak  island  off  the  Rhode  Island  coast  which  was 
then  inhabited  largely  by  a  tribe  known  as  the  Manisses 
Indians.  In  examining  the  headstones  over  the  graves 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  Island,  I  have  noticed  some 
bearing  the  name  of  Sands  and  Guttredge,  but  no  Mc- 

14  Edited  by  John  Osborne  Austen;   Albany,   N.  Y.,    1887. 


270  THE  McCarthys 

Cartj^s,  and  only  one  of  Daniel  Carty's  children  appears 
in  the  existing  church  records  of  the  Island,  Catherine 
Carty,  who  married  James  Stafford  of  the  village  of  New 
Shoreham  on  July  18,  1746. 

In  the  parish  registers  of  Trinity  Church  at  Newport 
are  recorded  the  marriages  of  Eleanor  McCarty  and 
John  Martin  on  March  21,  1744,  and  of  Judith  McCarty 
and  Edward  Mitchell  on  October  28  of  the  same  year, 
and  it  is  probable  that  Eleanor  and  Judith  McCarty 
were  daughters  of  the  Newport  sea-captain,  Timothy 
McCarty.  Dennis  and  William  McCarty  settled  at 
Warren,  Rhode  Island,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
and  the  will  of  Dennis,  dated  April  30,  1756,  is  found 
in  the  probate  records  of  that  town  under  date  of  No- 
vember 7,  1757.  Like  the  McCartys  of  New  Hampshire 
hereinafter  alluded  to,  Dennis  McCarty,  of  Warren, 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  colonial  wars,  and  in  the 
preamble  to  his  will  he  stated  that  he  had  been  "en- 
gaged in  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point."  He  seems 
to  have  had  no  relatives,  since  he  divided  his  property 
including  a  sum  of  £402  among  several  "beloved 
friends"  in  the  town  of  Warren. 

There  was  another  Dennis  McCarty  at  Bristol,  Rhode 
Island,  who  died  at  that  place  in  1760,  who  also  served 
in  the  French-English  war  in  1755.^^  William  and 
Margaret  McCarty,  who  are  listed  among  "the  early 
inhabitants  of  Bristol"  in  1774,  are  thought  to  have  been 
his  only  children. 

The  Dennis  McCartys  of  Warren  and  Bristol  were  not 
the  only  Rhode  Island  soldiers  of  the  name  who  served 
in  the  French  and  Indian  war.  The  names  of  John 
and  Benjamin  McCarthy  are  on  the  roll  of  Captain  John 

15  From  a  statement  by  Miss  Virginia  Baker,  a  descendant  of  Dennis 
McCarty,  in  Journal  of  the  American  Irish  Historical  Society;  Vol.  VI, 
pp.    59-60. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  271 

"Whiting's  Rhode  Island  company  in  1757,  and  among 
other  soldiers  in  the  same  company  were  David  and  Law- 
rence Carroll,  Joseph  Dunn,  Benjamin  KeUey,  Charles 
Mahane  and  Daniel  Byrne,  and  "William  Sheehan  was 
Lieutenant  of  the  Company  in  1759.  Owen  McCarthy 
served  on  the  privateer,  George,  of  Newport  in  1758  and 
in  the  crew  of  this  vessel  we  find  men  named  John  Burke, 
Michael  Callahan,  Edward  Doyle,  Peter  Farrell,  James 
Lynch,  Thomas  McGivar  and  Humphrey  Sullivan.  Ed- 
ward McCarthy  enlisted  at  Newport  for  the  campaign  of 
1762  and  William  McCarthy  served  in  Colonel  Rose's 
Rhode  Island  regiment  in  the  same  year.^^^ 

In  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  two  sepa- 
rate colonies  of  Irish  people  located  in  that  part  of  the 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  now  embraced  in  the 
State  of  Maine.  They  settled  chiefly  in  the  section  bor- 
dering on  the  east  of  the  Kennebeck  and  south  of  the 
Eastern  River,  in  Lincoln  and  Sagadohac  Counties,  and 
in  after  years  this  district  furnished  large  quotas  of  men 
to  the  patriot  ranks  in  the  war  for  American  independ- 
ence. In  the  year  1640,  one  Christopher  Lawson  ac- 
quired from  the  Indians  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the 
Kennebeck  and  named  it  "Ireland,"  and  in  1717  "Rob- 
ert Temple  of  Cork  purchased  the  Lawson  plantation  and 
settled  it  with  families  from  Cork  in  Ireland  and  it  still 
retains  the  name  of  Ireland.""  Temple  himself  gave 
an  account  of  this  project  in  a  letter  dated  Charlestown, 
Mass.,  April  17,  1753,  addressed  to  "The  Plymouth 
Proprietors, ' '  and  a  copy  of  this  document  may  be  read 
in  a  quaint  little  book  entitled  A  Defence  to  the  Be- 

15a.  List  of  Rhode  Island  Soldiers  and  Sailors  in  the  old  French  and 
Indian  War,  1755-1762,  compiled  from  the  original  rolls  at  the  Rhode 
Island   Historical  Society,   by   Howard   M.   Chapin;    Providence,    1918. 

16  1400  Dates  of  the  Town  and  City  of  Bath,  Maine,  by  Levi  P. 
Lemont.  Also  Maine  Historical  Society  Collections;  2nd  Ser.  Vol.  IV, 
p.    240. 


272  THE  McCarthys 

marks  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  published  in  Boston 
in  1753,  Temple  stated  that  in  1717  he  "chartered  two 
large  Ships  and  in  the  next  year  three  more  Ships  to 
bring  Families  from  Ireland  in  order  to  carry  on  the 
Settlement,  in  consequence  of  which  several  Hundred 
People  were  landed  in  Kennebeck  River,  some  of  which 
or  their  Descendants  are  Inhabitants  there  to  this  day." 
He  relates  that  "we  gave  the  name  of  Cork"  to  a  dis- 
trict near  the  junction  of  the  Kennebeck  and  Eastern 
Rivers,  where  some  of  the  Irish  families  were  settled, 
but  in  1722  the  place  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  and 
Temple's  dreams  went  up  in  the  smoke  caused  by  the  fires 
of  the  savages,  and  the  little  community  was  soon  dis- 
persed. Some  removed  to  Pennsylvania  and  others  to 
Derry,  N.  H.,  and  others  scattered  toward  Georgetown 
and  the  neighboring  settlements  in  Lincoln  and  York 
Counties,  Maine.  Much  interesting  information  regard- 
ing these  primitive  Irish  settlements  may  be  obtained 
from  the  Massachusetts  Archives^'^  in  the  Collections 
of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  and  in  an  account  of 
"The  Lost  Town  of  Cork,  Maine,"  in  the  Journal  of 
the  American  Irish  Historical  Society.^^ 

Among  those  who  came  in  these  early  Irish  immigra- 
tions to  Maine  it  is  evident  there  were  a  number  of 
MacCarthys,  and  the  name  is  found  in  the  vital  records 
of  towns  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  although  nothing 
is  now  known  of  their  history.  The  local  historians 
make  hardly  any  reference  to  them,  and  their  descend- 
ants, if  any  remain  in  that  territory,  evidently  have 
been  lacking  in  that  family  and  racial  pride  which  has 
prompted  the  descendants  of  people  of  other  races  to 
place  their  story  on  record.     The  first  appearance  of 

17  Vol.  XXIX,  pp.  57  to  63  and  p.  68. 

18  Vol.  XIII. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  273 

the  name  in  the  public  records  was  when  "Thaddeus 
Makerty"  was  recorded  as  a  witness  to  a  deed  dated 
February  27,  1684,  covering-  the  sale  of  a  tract  of  land 
in  York  County.^^  There  cannot  be  much  doubt  that 
this  was  the  Thaddeus  MacCarty  of  Boston  already 
alluded  to.  Thomas  Maccarty  appears  in  the  same 
records  as  witness  to  a  deed  dated  January  6,  1706, 
between  James  Russell  and  John  Smith,  covering  a  con- 
veyance of  lands  known  as  Martyn's  Point  on  Casco 
Bay.2° 

Among  "Marriages  in  Kittery  solemnised  by  Revd. 
John  Newmarch,"  ^^  there  is  an  entry:  "John  Mackar- 
trie  and  Mary  Starrett"  under  date  of  November  26, 
1723,  and  that  a  family  of  the  name  was  also  at  Scar- 
boro,  Maine,  is  shown  by  the  record  of  the  marriage 
at  that  place,  on  June  21,  1736,  of  Alice  MacCarty  and 
Samuel  Winch.  From  a  "Book  of  Entry  of  Intentions 
of  Marriage  in  Georgetown"  ^^  it  is  noted  that  "Timothy 
Roak  and  Margrate  McCarty"  were  joined  in  wedlock 
on  August  19,  1747,  and  in  at  least  one  case  in  Maine 
the  name  was  changed  to  "McCordy."  Among  the 
births  recorded  at  Bristol  and  Bremen,  Me.,  between 
1760  and  1779  there  are  nine  children  of  "John  and 
Anna  McCordy,"  and  Ruth  McCordy  and  Daniel  Sally 
were  married  at  Bremen  on  January  1,  1779.  John 
McCarthy  and  Mary  Miller  were  married  in  the  Second 
Church  at  Falmouth  (now  Portland)  Maine,  on  April 
21,  1768;  "Mr.  McCartey  and  Widow  Daley,  both  of 
Gardinerstown, "  entered  into  the  bonds  of  matrimony 

19  York,   Maine,   Records;   Book  VI,    fol.   27;    Maine   Historical   Society, 
1892. 

20  Ibid.,   Vol.   VII,   p.    78. 

21  Id   Maine  Genealogist   and  Biographer,  Vol.   I. 

22  Maine   Historical   Society    publications,    Vol.    III. 


274  THE  McCarthys 

at  Halloweli,  Maine,  on  September  18,  1771 ;  ^^  and  in 
a  list  of  "Persons  who  had  children  baptised  in  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Scarborough, ' '  -*  there  is  an 
entry  reading:  "Jane  Harrison,  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  McOaprtey,  September  26,  1773." 

John  McCarty  and  Owen  Madden  were  appointed 
executors  of  the  will  of  James  Moloney  of  Saint  George's, 
Lincoln  County,  dated  June  20,  1781,^^  and  John  Mc- 
Carty's  will  was  recorded  on  February  5,  1789,  in  the 
name  of  "John  McCarter  of  St.  George's."  He  named 
as  legatees  his  son,  John,  and  daughters,  Mary,  Eliza- 
beth, Margaret,  Martha  and  Jane  McCarty.  The  his- 
torian of  the  towns  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  Maine,  states 
"the  first  settlement  in  Westport  is  said  to  have  been 
made  by  Florence  McCarty  at  McCarty 's  Cove  on  the 
east  shore. "  ^^  No  date  is  given,  but  a  Florence  Mc- 
Carthy is  mentioned  as  "one  of  the  earliest  settlers  at 
Wiscassett,  Maine,  in  1786,"  and  a  person  of  the  name 
is  mentioned  in  the  Town  Register  of  Georgetown  among 
•a  number  of  other  Irish  settlers.  Florence  McCarty  and 
Margaret  Cockrin  were  married  at  Pownalborough, 
Maine,  on  January  28,  1787.  It  is  possible  that  all  four 
of  these  items  refer  to  the  same  identical  person.  One 
Joseph  LlcCarthy,  a  resident  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  also 
figures  among  the  early  settlers  in  Maine.  His  name 
appears  /as  one  of  the  signers  to  a  petition  to  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts,  dated  at  Haverhill  Jan- 
uary 6,  1762,  "for  permission  to  settle  on  lands  between 
the  Passamaquoide  and  St.  Croix  Rivers.""  The  lo- 
cation of  these  lands  would  be  in  what  is  now  the  most 

23  Extracts   from   Town  Books   of   Halloweli,   in   Maine   Genealogist  and 
Recorder,  Vol.   I. 
2ilbid.,   Vol.    II. 

25  Probate   Records  of  Lincoln  County. 

26  Johnston's   History   of   the   Towns   of  Bristol   and  Bremen,  Maine, 

27  Massachusetts   Archives, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY         275 

easterly  section  of  Maine  on  the  New  Brunswick  border. 
There  was  a  Philip  Cartey  at  Exeter,  New  Hamp- 
shire, as  early  as  1667,  who,  doubtless,  was  of  the  Mac- 
Carthy  family.  By  deed  dated  April  27,  1667,  John 
Sinkler  of  Exeter  and  his  wife,  Mary,  conveyed  to 
Philip  Cartey  fifteen  acres  of  land  at  that  place  and 
the  deed  was  filed  in  court  on  October  8,  1667.^^  In 
the  records  of  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  Phillip  Cartey 
and  Dennis  Seahone  are  mentioned  under  date  of  June 
24,  1667.  "Teague  Drisco  of  Exiter"  conveyed  to 
Phillip  Cartey  ten  acres  of  land  at  Exeter,  described  as 
''bounded  by  land  formerly  Jeremiah  Conaw's  ye  most 
way  and  land  ye  towne  gave  Cornelius  Lary."  The 
deed  was  acknowledged  before  Samuel  Dalton,  Commis- 
sioner, on  December  10,  1674,  and  is  recorded  in  Nor- 
folk County.^^  No  one  having  any  knowledge  of  Irish 
names  will  dispute  the  correctness  of  the  assumption 
that  "Teague  Drisco"  was  an  Irishman  named  Teague 
Driscoll,  for  indeed  the  pronomen,  "Teague,"  ^"  at  once 
stamps  him  as  an  Irishman.  And  it  is  also  probable 
that  Dennis  Seahone  and  Cornelius  Lary  were  fellow- 
countrymen  named  respectively  Sheehan  and  Leary. 
That  Cornelius  Lary  was  an  Irishman  is  verified  by  the 
New  England  historian,  Dr.  George  T.  Little,  who,  in 
referring  to  the  military  records  of  some  of  his  descend- 
ants, who  served  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
wars,  states  "the  fact  is  indisputable  that  the  Lary 
family  were  patriots  and  of  the  fighting  blood  that  has 
been  the  gift  of  Celtic  ancestry. ' '  All  four  of  these  New 
England  pioneers  are  listed  among  the  one  hundred  or 
more  colonial  soldiers  of  Irish  names  who  served  in 
King  Phillip's  War  in  New  England  in  1675-1676,  and 

28  See    Essex    Antiqua/rian ;    Vol.    VI,    p.    134. 

29  Ibid.,  Vol.  XII,  p.   182. 

30  Irish   for   ThaddeuB. 


276  THE  McCarthys 

Philip  Cartey,  Cornelius  Lary,  Jeremiah  Conaugh, 
Teague  Drisco  and  James  Higgins  are  also  listed  among 
"Persons  who  paid  Rates  in  Exeter  in  1680."  ^^ 

Esther  Maccarty  signed  as  witness  to  "articles  of 
apprenticeship"  filed  in  New  Hampshire,  dated  Janu- 
ary 10,  1716,  by  which  Richard  Whitehom  ' '  bound  him- 
self to  George  Brownell  of  Boston,  Schoolmaster,"  who 
undertook  "to  teach  him  writeing,  reading,  syphering 
and  to  cause  him  to  be  instructed  in  the  arte  or  mistery 
of  a  cooper. ' '  ^^  This  George  Brownell  was  one  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin's  early  tutors. 

One  McCarthy  is  mentioned  in  the  New  Hampshire 
State  Papers  as  a  settler  at  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  in  1739. 
John  Carty  signed  a  "petition  to  the  General  Court  to 
form  a  Parish"  with  other  inhabitants  of  Epping,  N.  H., 
on  January  15,  1741,  and  John  Carty,  possibly  the  same, 
enlisted  as  a  soldier  for  the  colonial  war  in  Captain 
Abraham  Trefithin's  New  Hampshire  company,^^  date 
of  enlistment  May  7,  1746 ;  and  as  a  petitioner  for  lands 
he  appears  under  date  of  January  11,  1748.^*  "Jerry 
Carty"  served  in  Colonel  Moore's  New  Hampshire  regi- 
ment at  the  capture  of  Louisburg,  Cape  Breton,  in  1745, 
and  in  the  French-English  war,  1755-1760,  among 
ninety-nine  soldiers  from  New  Hampshire  bearing  dis- 
tinctive Celtic  names,  who  served  at  Crown  Point  and 
in  other  expeditions,  are  found  such  names  as  John, 
Daniel  and  Jeremiah  Carty  and  Joseph  McCarthy. 

John  McCarthy  is  mentioned  in  the  State  Papers  as 
one  of  the  grantees  of  Thornton,  N.  H.,  under  the  char- 
ter for  the  organization  of  the  town  dated  July  6,  1763.^^ 

31  Provincial   Papers   of  New   Hampshire,   Vol.    I,    p.   426. 

32  State    Pavers    of   New    Hampshire ;    Vol.    17,    p.    748. 

33  76a.,  Vol.    18,   p.   427. 
Zilhid.,   Vol.   27. 

35 /bid..  Vol.   25,   p.   576. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  277 

This  town  was  named  in  honor  of  Matthew  Thornton, 
Colonel  of  a  New  Hampshire  militia  regiment  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  and  a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Thornton  was  a  native  of  Limerick,  Ire- 
land. In  1773  John  McCarthy  joined  with  Matthew 
Thornton,  Robert,  John  and  William  Gilmore,  David 
and  James  McKean,  Roger  Magrath  and  others  in  a 
petition  to  the  New  Hampshire  General  Assembly  "for 
changing  the  County  lines. ' '  ^° 

In  the  genealogy  of  the  Gale  family  of  Sanbornton, 
N.  H.,^^  there  is  an  account  of  "John  Gale,  the  earliest 
settler  of  the  name  in  the  town,"  who  married  Susan 
McCarthy  at  Exeter,  N.  H.  No  date  is  given,  but  John 
Gale  and  his  wife  lived  at  Sanbornton  in  1768,  and  he 
is  mentioned  in  County  records  of  the  years  1771-1772 
and  in  1778  they  moved  to  New  Boston,  N.  H.,  where 
John  Gale  died  in  1802.  The  town  historian  states: 
"Of  Susan  McCarthy's  father  there  is  the  following 
romantic  legend  among  her  descendants  in  this  vicinity : 
that  he  was  sent  from  Ireland  when  a  boy  by  his  aunt 
who  wished  to  secure  a  large  property  which  he  was 
to  have  inherited.  His  parents  had  died  and  she  con- 
signed him  to  a  sea-captain  to  be  taken  to  parts  unknown. 
He  was  finally  left  at  Exeter  where  he  had  married  and 
could  not  return,  when  his  aunt,  having  learned  of  his 
destination,  repented  on  her  death-bed  and  sent  for 
him."  In  the  genealogy  of  the  Huckins  family  of 
New  Hampshire  ^^  it  is  shown  that  Eunice  Gale  Mc- 
Carthy, a  daughter  of  Daniel  McCarthy,  was  bom  at 
Sanbornton  on  July  29,  1797,  and  that  on  August  18, 
1821,  she  became  the  wife  of  Daniel  Huckins,  then  of 

3«  Ibid.,    Vol.    18. 

37  In  History  of  Sanbornton,  by  Rev.  M.  T.   Runnels ;  Vol.  II,   Boston, 

1881. 

38  In   New   England  Eiatoric-Qenealogieal   Register,  Vol.    69. 


278  THE  McCarthys 

Bangor,  Maine.  The  indications  are  that  the  Daniel 
McCarthy  here  mentioned  was  a  son  of  the  young  Irish 
exile  and  that  the  period  of  the  Mter's  arrival  in  New 
Hampshire  was  about  the  year  1745. 

The  activities  of  one  Timothy  McCarthy  in  the  devel- 
opment of  new  towns  and  settlements  in  New  Hampshire 
are  noted  from  an  examination  of  the  State  Papers.  For 
example,  he  is  recorded  as  one  of  the  ' '  original  grantees ' ' 
of  the  towns  of  Colebrook,  Dryden  and  Fairfax,  and  his 
name  appears  on  the  original  charters  of  these  towns 
dated  June  26,  1762,  June  27,  1762,  and  August  18, 
1763,  respectively.^^  However,  I  cannot  find  a  Tim- 
othy McCarthy  as  a  permanent  settler  at  any  of  these 
places  and  it  is  my  impression  that  he  was  a  surveyor 
employed  to  lay  out  the  towns,  although  the  fact  that 
he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  "original  grantees"  of 
each  of  these  towns  makes  it  fairly  certain  that  he  was 
interested  financially  in  their  beginnings.  One  Charles 
McCarty  was  a  resident  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  in  1775 
and  his  name  appears  in  the  muster-roll  of  Colonel 
John  Stark's  regiment  on  August  1st  of  that  year. 
John  McCarty  of  Londonderry  also  enlisted  in  the  same 
regiment  in  1779  and  it  is  of  some  interest  to  note  that 
in  the  rolls  of  this  regiment  also  appear  such  names  as 
Kelley,  Callahan,  Egan,  McGrath,  McClary,  McMurphy, 
McLaughlin,  McNeil,  McCrillis,  McGaffey,  McShannon, 
McDuffie,  McConnel,  Burke,  Broderick,  Moore,  Casey, 
Dwyer,  Roach,  Nealey,  Walsh,  Connor,  Lyons,  Powers, 
Nevins,  Collins,  Dalton,  Taggart,  Lynch,  Ryan  and 
O'Neill.  This  regiment  saw  considerable  active  service, 
beginning  with  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  at  the  siege  of 
Boston,  at  Ticonderoga,  in  Washington's  retreat  through 

39  State   Papers  of  New  Hampshire,  Vols.   24   and  26. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  279 

New  Jersey,  at  Trenton,  Princeton  and  other  engage- 
ments. 

A  Timothy  McCarthy  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  or- 
iginal patentees  of  Milton,  Vermont,  on  the  east  shore 
of  Lake  Champlain,  under  the  charter  for  the  organ- 
ization of  the  town  dated  June  18,  1763,  signed  by  Gov- 
ernor Bennington  Wentworth.  He  appears  among  the 
early  settlers  at  that  place  prior  to  the  Revolution.*" 
Another  of  the  name  in  Vermont  was  Hugh  McCarty, 
one  of  the  earl}^  settlers  at  Arlington.  He  w'ag  a  sol- 
dier of  the  Revolution  and  in  the  Council  Records  of 
Vermont  under  date  of  October  11,  1781,  there  is  a 
petition  by  Hugh  McCarty  praying  for  relief,  followed 
by  a  resolution  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  directing 
the  Treasurer  "to  pay  to  Hugh  McCarty  ten  pounds, 
which  money  was  granted  to  him  by  the  General  As- 
sembly in  October  last  on  account  of  his  being  a  pris- 
oner among  the  British  in  Canada  the  year  past. ' '  *^ 

At  least  three  of  the  name  were  masters  of  New  Eng- 
land privateers  during  the  Revolution.  From  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  until  its  close  the  towns  along 
the  New  England  coast  were  largely  engaged  in  priva- 
teering and  many  are  the  stories  of  daring  and  adven- 
ture that  are  told  of  the  "Yankee  privateersmen "  who 
preyed  on  British  commerce,  and  brought  into  American 
ports  numerous  prizes  of  war,  the  cargoes  of  which  fur- 
nished important  and  seasonable  supplies  for  the  Con- 
tinental army.  Not  a  few  of  the  hardy  commanders 
of  American  privateers  during  the  two  wars  for  inde- 
pendence were  Irishmen,  and  in  the  fugitive  references 
that  I  have  found  to  the  personnel  of  their  crews,  it  is 
also  seen  that  they  had  in  their  command  many  a  patriot 

40  Rann's    History    of   Chittenden,    Yt. 

41  Council  Records   of  Vermont,  Vol.   II. 


280  THE  McCarthys 

son  of  "the  fighting  race.""  A  Captain  McCarthy  of 
Boston  was  master  of  a  privateersman  during  the  early- 
years  of  the  Revolution.  I  believe  him  to  have  been 
identical  with  the  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy  before  men- 
tioned as  commander  of  the  ship  Sally,  trading  out  of 
Boston. 

Among  New  England  mariners  who  made  New  Lon- 
don their  home  port  during  the  Revolutionary  period, 
and  who  are  mentioned  as  masters  of  vessels  chartered 
as  privateers,  were  Captains  Richard  McCarty  and  John 
McCarthy,  who  in  all  probability  were  brothers.  Very 
little  is  known  of  Captain  Richard,  but  we  are  told  that 
"he  was  wrecked  on  May  17,  1779,  in  a  snow-storm  off 
Plum  Island  (Newburyport,  Mass.),  and  himself  and 
his  crew  of  six  persons  were  lost.  '"^^  In  the  ' '  Narrative 
of  John  Hempstead"  relating  to  the  destruction  of  New 
London  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  name  of  Cap- 
tain John  McCarthy  is  mentioned  as  being  "on  the 
hunt  for  a  tory,"  and  it  would  appear  that  he  was  en- 
gaged in  this  diversion  during  one  of  his  visits  to  his 
home  port.  He  was  master  of  the  Black  Princess,  and 
from  an  announcement  of  his  capture  printed  in  the 
New  York  Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury  of  December 
17,  1781,  we  may  safely  assume  that  the  reputation  of 
the  gallant  Irish  captain  was  not  unknown  to  his  enemies. 
This  account  reads:  "Her  Majesty's  Frigate,  the 
Medea,  Captain  Duncan,  on  her  passage  from  the  Chesa- 
peake took  the  Black  Princess  of  24  twelve  pounders 
and  170  men,  commanded  by  the  noted  McCarty." 

In  a  "  list  of  Americans  committed  to  old  mill  Prison, 

42  See    Journal    of    the    American    Irish    Historical    Society     (Vol.    17) 
for    an    account    of    the    many    Irish    sea-captains    of    the    Revolutionary 

period. 

43  History  of  New  London,   Conn.,  by   Frances   Caulkins,   p.   540 ;    New 

London,    1852.  i 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  281 

England,  during  the  War,"  reproduced  by  the  New 
England  Historic-Genealogical  Society/*  there  appears 
the  name  of  "Captain  Edward  McCarty  of  the  Black 
Princess,  taken  October  11,  1781,"  but  it  is  probable 
that  this  refers  to  Captain  John  McCarthy,  since  there 
is  no  mention  of  an  "Edward  McCarty"  in  the  service 
of  any  of  the  naval  establishments  of  the  Colonies. 
After  the  war,  Captain  John  McCarthy  continued  in 
the  merchant  service  and  his  name  appears  several  times 
in  shipping  records  as  commander  of  New  England  ves- 
sels. He  died  on  a  voyage  from  the  West  Indies  to  New 
London  in  the  year  1804.  His  children  were  John, 
Rebecca,  Elizabeth  and  Abby.  The  son  removed  to  Wis- 
consin and  settled  as  a  trader  in  what  is  now  the  vicinity 
of  Green  Bay,  and  as  the  daughters  removed  to  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  it  is  quite  likely  that  Captain  John  was  of  the 
McCarthy  family  of  that  City,  referred  to  elsewhere 
in  this  book.  Elizabeth  McCarthy  became  the  wife  of 
Samuel  Forman,  of  Syracuse,  and  Rebecca  and  Abby 
married  Schuyler  and  Sanders  Van  Rensselaer,  respec- 
tively, both  of  Albany.  Another  of  the  McCarthys, 
Charlotte  Amelia,  daughter  of  Andrew  McCarthy,  a  rela- 
tive of  Captain  John,  married  Henry  Van  Bergen  of 
Catskill,  and  Richard  McCarty  married  Elizabeth  Van 
Bergen  in  the  year  1798.*^ 

Another  noted  New  England  mariner  in  his  day  was 
Captain  Justin  McCarthy,  who  was  bom  in  Cork,  Ire- 
land, in  the  year  1766.  The  exact  time  of  his  arrival  in 
America  is  unknown,  but  he  is  mentioned  as  of  Salem, 
IMass.,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  there  is  a  record 
of  his  marriage  at  Salem  to  Lydia  Lawrence  on  April 
14,  1790,  and  of  his  joining  the  Essex  Lodge  of  Masons 

44  Vol.    19. 

45  Van  Bergen  Genealogy,  in  Oenealogiea  of  New  York  and  New  Eng- 
land  FamUiea,  by    C.   V.    Talcott. 


282  THE  McCarthys 

there  on  May  1,  1798.*®  He  died  on  September  7, 
1802,  and  from  an  account  of  his  death  in  the  Salem 
Register  we  learn  that  "he  was  highly  esteemed  in  pri- 
vate life  and  was  an  accomplished  mariner.  As  a  citizen 
he  was  deserving  and  had  the  confidence  of  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  interred  with  masonic  honors  and  was 
followed  to  the  grave  by  a  numerous  band  of  mourners. 

Among  New  England  seamen  of  Irish  birth  or  blood 
who  served  on  vessels  of  the  Massachusetts  Navy  in  the 
Revolution,  the  McCarthys  make  a  creditable  showing. 
Daniel  McCarthey  was  midshipman  on  the  frigate 
Deane;  Jeremiah  McCarthy  was  boatswain's  mate  on 
the  frigate  Boston,  and  among  the  seamen  and  marines 
were  Andrew  and  Daniel  McCarthy  who  served  on  the 
frigate  Hague,  James  McKarty  and  Justin  McCarty  on 
the  General  Mifflin,  Francis  McCarthy  and  Timothy  Mc- 
Carthy on  the  ship  Protector,  Francis  McCarty  on  the 
sloop  Defence,  John  McCarty  on  the  ship  Mars,  and 
Timothy  McCarty  on  the  ship  Hazard. 

From  the  muster-rolls  of  the  New  England  regiments 
of  the  Line  and  of  the  Provincial  Militia,  I  have  secured 
the  names  of  32  Revolutionary  soldiers  of  the  name.  I 
have  not  made  any  effort  to  ascertain  the  records  of 
these  men  and  cannot  say  in  all  cases  where  in  New 
England  they  resided  before  or  after  the  war ;  but,  from 
the  fact  that  many  of  them  enlisted  "for  the  duration 
of  the  war,"  or  "for  three  years,"  we  may  assume  that 
they  were  enthusiastic  soldiers  of  American  liberty. 
However,  several  of  these  men  enlisted  at  Boston,  which 
indicates  that  they  were  residents  of  that  City.  Others 
enlisted  from  Roxbury,  Charlestown,  Scituate,  Lunen- 
burg, and  Pelham,  Mass.;  from  Pownalsboro,  Vt.,  and 

48  He  was  one  of  fifteen  members  of  the  Lodge,  all  sea-captains  and 
all  natives  of  Ireland.  See  Historical  Collectiom  of  the  Essex  Institute, 
Vol.    Ill;    Salem,    Mass. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  283 

Machias,  Me.  References  to  the  extracts  from  the  vital 
records  of  New  England  towns  at  page  309  will  show 
that  other  people  of  the  name,  besides  those  mentioned 
in  the  text,  were  in  New  England  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. Their  names  are  found  in  the  birth,  marriage  and 
death  records  of  such  old  Puritan  towns  as  Billerica, 
Dorchester,  Hanover,  Medford  and  Manchester  in  Massa- 
chusetts; at  Fairfield,  Canterbury  and  Glastonbury  in 
Connecticut ;  at  Westminster,  Rhode  Island ;  at  Scarboro, 
Falmouth,  Hallowell,  Georgetown  and  Kittery,  in  Maine, 
exclusive  of  those  who  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary 
army  from  other  New  England  towns.  When  so  many 
persons  of  the  name  are  recorded,  and  in  widely-sepa- 
rated parts  of  the  Colony,  no  one  can  dispute  the  asser- 
tion that  large  numbers  of  McCarthys  emigrated  from 
Ireland  to  the  New  England  provinces,  especially  when 
we  consider  the  fact  that  only  a  fraction  of  the  total 
number  of  any  surname,  at  any  time,  usually  appear  in 
public  records. 

It  is  indeed  surprising  to  find  so  many  descendants 
of  such  an  old  Irish  family  living  among  the  New  Eng- 
land Puritans,  the  antipathy  of  many  of  whom  toward 
the  Irish  manifested  itself  in  all  their  dealings  with 
those  unfortunate  exiles.  It  is  evident  that  it  was  not 
so  much  their  nationality  as  it  was  their  religion  that 
the  Puritans  objected  to,  and  in  the  case  of  the  three 
most  prominent  of  the  name  in  New  England,  namely 
Thaddeus,  Thomas  and  Florence  of  Boston,  there  cannot 
be  the  slightest  doubt  that  originally  they  professed 
the  Catholic  faith.  So,  we  must  assume  that  they  con- 
formed to  the  Protestant  religion  very  soon  after  their 
arrival  in  America,  for  otherwise  they  could  not  have 
risen  to  the  important  stations  occupied  by  them  in  the 
business  and  social  life  of  their  time. 


284  THE  McCarthys 

Many  others  of  the  name  besides  those  mentioned 
herein  have  figured  in  the  social  and  business  life  of 
various  American  communities  with  credit  to  their  name 
and  race,  and  a  remarkably  large  number  of  McCarthys 
appear  in  the  Directories  of  American  cities  as  physi- 
cians, lawyers,  engineers  and  school  teachers.  Florence 
McCarthy  was  "one  of  the  highly  esteemed  merchants 
of  the  City  of  Richmond,  Va.,"*^  during  the  first  half 
of  the  last  century.  He  and  his  wife  were  natives  of 
Ireland,  and  of  their  five  sons  who  served  in  the  Con- 
federate ranks  in  the  Civil  War,  one  of  them  was  Cap- 
tain of  the  Richmond  Howitzers  and  was  killed  in  battle 
and  another  is  the  Honorable  Carlton  McCarthy,  an 
esteemed  citizen  of  Richmond  and  Mayor  of  the  City 
about  twenty  years  ago.  Carlton  McCarthy  is  the  au- 
thor of  several  books,  one  of  which,  "Soldier  Life  in 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,"  is  a  highly  interest- 
ing account  of  his  personal  experiences  in  the  field.  In 
Illinois  and  Iowa  there  are  many  people  of  the  name, 
engaged  mainly  in  agricultural  and  mercantile  pursuits, 
and  a  veiy  prominent  member  of  the  family  in  the  west 
is  Michael  Henry  IMcCarthy  of  Dubuque,  who  has  been 
actively  identified  for  many  years  with  extensive  coal 
and  lumber  enterprises  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tribu- 
taries. Three  of  his  sons  served  in  France  in  the  World 
War. 

In  the  literary  field  the  American  McCarthys,  follow- 
ing the  bent  of  some  of  their  kinsmen  in  Ireland,  have 
not  been  inactive.  At  the  Library  of  Congress  there 
are  approximately  two  hundred  book  titles  copyrighted 
by  wTiters  of  the  name,  bearing  the  imprint  of  American 
publishing  houses.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned 
Dwight  G.  McCarty  of  Emmetsburg,  Iowa,  author  of 

i7  Encyclopedia  of  American  Biography,  by  Dr.  Lyon  G.  Tyler;  Vol.  IV. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  285 

a  History  of  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa,  The  Territorial 
Governors  of  the  Old  Northwest,  and  other  valuable 
contributions  to  the  early  history  of  the  west;  Gerald 
McCarthy  of  North  Carolina,  a  prolific  writer  on  such 
subjects  as  agriculture,  silk  culture,  tobacco  and  fruit 
cultivation,  published  during  the  past  thirty  years  at 
Raleigh,  N.  C. ;  Dr.  Charles  H.  McCarthy,  Professor 
at  the  Catholic  University  of  America,  author  of  a  His- 
tory of  the  TJyiitcd  States  for  Catholic  Schools,  and  of 
Lincoln's  Plan  of  Reconstruction;  Dr.  Charles  Mc- 
Carthy, Librarian  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Library,  au- 
thor of  several  works  on  civics,  politics,  agriculture  and 
education;  William  McCarty  of  Philadelphia,  compiler 
and  publisher  of  several  collections  of  national  songs 
and  ballads;  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  H.  McCarthy,  author  of 
a  very  interesting  book  on  Mexico  entitled.  Two  Thou- 
sand Miles  Through  the  Heart  of  Mexico,  and  one  of 
the  "sweet  singers"  of  the  present  day  in  America  is 
Denis  A.  McCarthy  of  Boston,  author  of  four  volumes 
of  exquisite  poetry. 

Several  of  the  family  are  mentioned  in  the  Canadian 
records.  Dalton  McCarthy,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of 
Toronto,  was  a  descendant  of  Captain  Donal  Mor  Mac- 
Carthy,  one  of  the  commanders  of  the  Irish  forces  in 
the  Rebellion  of  1798,  who  emigrated  to  Canada,  where 
he  died  in  the  year  1825.  Others  of  his  descendants 
reside  at  St.  Paul,  Minnesota.  Cornelius  and  Charles 
McCarthy  are  prominent  lawyers  in  that  City  and  others 
of  the  family  occupy  executive  positions  on  Western 
railroads.  Le  Comte  Joseph  Henri  Auguste  de  Mac- 
Cartliy  and  Justin  MacCarthy  were  Canadian  writers 
during  the  first  decade  of  the  last  century,  whose  books 
were  published  in  the  French  language  at  Quebec  and 
Montreal,  and  Jean  MacCarthy,  descendant  of  one  of 


286  THE  McCAKTHYS 

the  Irish  exiles  to  France,  was  a  noted  traveler  in  his 
time  and  was  the  author  of  a  ten-volume  work  on  his 
"travels  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth"  in  the  year 
1806,  published  at  Paris  in  1821  and  1822,  two  volumes 
of  which  are  in  his  Voyages  en  Amerique. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  FIGHTING  RACE 

McCarthys  fought  in  every  war  in  which  America  has  been  en- 
gaged—Many officers  of  the  name  in  the  War  of  1812,  the 
Mexican  and  Civil  Wars,  and  the  Spanish-American  War- 
Colonel  Daniel  E.  McCarthy  was  the  first  American  soldier  to 
set  foot  on  the  soil  of  France  in  the  World  War— McCarthys 
who  served  their  country  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution — 14 
officers  and  335  enlisted  men— The  Government  publication,  "A 
Century  of  Population  Growth,"  analyzed— McCarthys  omitted 
from  the  Census  of  1790— Conclusion. 

No  more  apt  expression  has  ever  been  used  to  describe 
a  distin^ishing  characteristic  of  any  people  than  the 
terse  and  popular  phrase,  ''The  Fighting  Race,"  ap- 
plied to  the  Irish  by  Joseph  I.  C.  Clarke  in  his  famous 
poem  known  by  that  title.  The  willingness  of  the  Celt 
to  fight  in  any  cause,  especially  in  a  just  cause,  is  a 
byword  of  time,  since  it  is  exemplified  by  the  history 
of  the  race  all  down  through  the  centuries.  They  have 
carried  on  a  long  fight  for  the  freedom  of  their  own 
land,  and  although  they  have  been  repulsed  and  dis- 
heartened times  out  of  mind,  the  spirit  of  nationality 
has  never  been  extinguished  in  Ireland,  and  to-day  there 
is  every  indication  that  the  aspirations  of  her  people 
will  soon  be  realized.  They  have  fought  for  England 
on  sea  and  land,  and  it  is  a  pitiful  irony  of  fate  that 
they  have  helped  by  their  numbers  and  their  prowess 
as  soldiers  to  establish  English  rule  under  every  sun. 
They  have  fought  for  France,  Spain  and  Austria,  and 
on  every  battlefield  in  Continental  Europe  from 
mediaeval  times  down  to  the  recent  World  War,  the 

287 


288  THE  McCarthys 

"Irish  Yell"  has  been  heard  above  the  strife  and  often 
has  brought  terror  and  dismay  to  the  opposing  forces. 
Long  before  the  Revolution  the  Irish  began  to  come  to 
America,  and  in  the  muster-rolls  of  the  troops  who 
fought  in  the  colonial  wars  against  the  French  and  In- 
dians, Irish  names  stand  out  prominently.  In  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  it  has  been  proved,  by  a  careful  and 
conservative  computation  from  the  muster-rolls  and 
other  records,  that  the  Irish  immigrants  and  their  de- 
scendants furnished  thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  fight- 
ing men,  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Irish  constituted  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  Colonies.^  The  War  of  1812,  the  Mexican 
and  Civil  Wars,  and  the  Spanish-American  war,  each 
in  turn  gave  opportunities  to  the  Irish  in  America,  and 
in  the  recent  World  strife  they  met  the  test  with  the 
same  spirit  that  they  have  always  displayed  when  the 
interests  of  their  country  were  at  stake.  Their  record 
as  a  "Fighting  Race"  stands  unchallenged,  even  by 
their  enemies. 

Many  officers  of  the  name  are  listed  in  the  rosters 
of  the  armies  of  the  United  States  at  various  times. 
Patrick  McCarty  served  in  the  "Whiskey  Rebellion"  in 
Western  Pennsylvania  in  1794,  and  on  March  3,  1799, 
he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  Third  United  States 
InfantrJ^  In  the  War  of  1812,  John  McCarthey  was 
Lieutenant  of  the  Sixteenth  Infantry;  Lieutenant  John 
McCartey  of  the  Twenty-Third  Infantry  was  made  pris- 
oner at  Queenston  Heights,  Canada,  on  October  13,  1812, 
and  was  promoted  to  Captain  on  June  14,  1814,  and 
Captain  William  McCarthy  commanded  a  New  York 
Volunteer  Corps  in  the  War  of  1812.  In  the  Mexican 
War,  we  find  James  C.  McCarty,  Lieutenant  of  the  Fifth 

1  See    my    book,    A.    Hidden    Phase    of    American    History. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  289 

Tennessee  Infantry;  John  McCarty,  Lieutenant  of  the 
First  Texas  Volunteers  and  later  Captain  of  Texas 
Rifles;  William  M.  McCarty,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
Third  Indiana  Infantry,  and  Justus  I.  McCarty  was 
appointed  Captain  of  New  York  Infantry  on  February 
27,  1847,  and  Major  of  the  Tenth  United  States  Infantry 
on  March  3rd  of  the  same  year. 

In  the  Civil  War,  officers  of  the  name  served  on  both 
sides.  Jeremiah  McCarthy  was  Captain  of  the  First 
Pennsylvania  Artillery ;  Florence  L.  McCarthy  was  First 
Lieutenant  of  the  59th  New  York  Infantry  and  was 
made  Captain  on  May  18,  1865;  Rev.  Patrick  F.  Mc- 
Carthy was  Hospital  Chaplain  of  United  States  Volun- 
teers; Lieutenant  Patrick  McCarthy  served  with  the 
69th  New  York ;  Lieutenant  Charles  McCarthy  with  the 
63rd  New  York  Volunteers;  Captain  Patrick  McCarthy 
with  the  Fourth  New  York,  and  John  McCarthy  was 
First  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of  the  Third  New  York, 
all  four  of  these  regiments  having  been  part  of  Cor- 
coran's  Irish  Legion,  and  Captain  Charles  McCarthey 
served  with  the  175th  New  York  Regiment.  Among  the 
Virginians  in  the  Confederate  Army  were :  William  Page 
McCarty,  Captain  of  Artillery,  who  is  described  in  an- 
nals of  the  war  as  "a  very  gallant  soldier";  Clinton 
McCarty,  Major  of  Kentucky  troops  and  afterwards 
Adjutant-General  on  the  staff  of  General  Hawes;  Wil- 
liam S.  McCarty,  First  Lieutenant  of  Confederate  States 
Artillery  which  surrendered  at  Appomattox  in  1865 ; 
Daniel  MeCarty  was  an  officer  in  the  same  corps ;  James 
Ball  McCarty  was  Captain  of  the  Ninth  Virginia 
Cavalry;  Stephen  Washington  McCarty,  a  Confederate 
officer,  was  killed  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas ;  William 
Thaddeus  McCarty  was  Captain  of  the  "University  Vol- 
unteers," serving  in  General  Henry  A.  Wise's  Brigade; 


290  THE  McCarthys 

James  W.  McCarty  was  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  of 
Ashby's  Virginia  Cavalry;  Edward  McCarthy,  Captain 
of  the  Richmond  Howitzers,  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  Cold  Harbor  in  June,  1864,  and  John  W.  McCarty, 
Adjutant  of  the  Seventh  Virginia  Cavalry,  fought  at 
Gettysburg,  "where,"  a  description  of  him  says,  "he 
proved  himself,  as  always,  fearless  of  danger. ' ' 

Serving  in  the  infantry  regiments  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  we  find  Captain  Daniel  McCarthy  of  the 
famous  69th  New  York;  Captain  Thomas  McCarthy  of 
Massachusetts  troops;  Timothy  F,  McCarthy,  Captain 
of  the  Third  New  Jersey ;  William  W.  McCarthy,  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  Second  Kansas;  Jeremiah  F.  McCarthy, 
Lieutenant  of  the  First  Georgia;  John  F.  McCarthy, 
Lieutenant,  35th  Infantry  United  States  Army;  Dr. 
William  D.  McCarthy,  Major-Surgeon  of  the  First  Cali- 
fornia, and  Daniel  E.  McCarthy,  Major  and  Quarter- 
master of  United  States  Volunteers. 

The  last-mentioned  officer  is  now  Colonel,  Quarter- 
master Corps  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  had  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  American  soldier  to  set  foot 
on  the  soil  of  France  in  the  recent  World  War!  In 
an  account  of  his  personal  experiences  in  the  war,  sent 
to  me  by  Colonel  McCarthy,  he  states  that  under  "Gen- 
eral Orders  Number  1,  American  Expeditionary  Force," 
he  was  appointed  Chief  Quartermaster,  and  on  May 
28,  1917,  he  left  New  York  for  England  accompanied 
by  other  officers  and  enlisted  men.  On  June  10th  Gen- 
eral Pershing  ordered  him  to  France,  as  President  of 
a  Board  of  Officers  to  select  the  ports  of  debarkation 
for  the  American  troops,  and  on  the  same  evening  they 
arrived  at  Boulogne.  "As  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  party,"  writes  Colonel  McCarthy,  "I  went  down  the 
gang  plank  first,  which  gave  me  the  honor  of  being  the 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  291 

first  man  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Force  to  land 
in  France."  In  his  travels  through  France,  Colonel 
McCarthy  says  that  he  ''was  very  much  impressed  with 
the  number  of  French  people  of  Irish  extraction. "  ' '  At 
Bordeaux,  when  I  was  introduced  to  a  French  Engineer 
officer,  he  threw  his  arms  around  me  and  stated  that  his 
grand-mother  was  a  McCarthy  and  invited  me  out  to 
visit  her  at  her  Chateau,  some  distance  from  Bordeaux." 
Other  French  officers  of  Irish  descent  he  also  mentions 
in  his  narrative.  Shortly  after  he  arrived  in  France, 
he  relates  that  he  received  a  letter  from  Pol,  Comte  de 
Blarney  Carty,  addressing  him  as  his  "dear  cousin," 
and,  ' '  as  the  descendant  of  one  of  the  Irish  patriots  who 
came  here  centuries  ago  to  fight  for  France,  I  welcome 
you  as  a  worthy  representative  of  the  Irish  race  and  as 
a  McCarthy,  who  has  come  from  America  to  fight  for 
France  and  liberty!" 

The  record  of  the  McCarthys  in  the  service  of  the 
patriot  forces  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  is  one  in  which 
people  of  the  name  may  well  take  pride.  Of  the  great 
numbers  of  Irish  names  which  appear  in  the  muster- 
rolls  of  the  Revolutionary  army  and  navy,  the  Mc- 
Carthys rank  third  ^  with  a  total  of  14  officers  and  335 
enlisted  men,  including  those  bearing  the  abbreviated 
forms  of  the  name,  Carty  and  Cartie.  Of  the  men  of 
the  rank  and  file,  117  enlisted  in  Pennsylvania,  41  in 
New  York,  37  in  Maryland,  32  in  Massachusetts,  18  in 
the  Carolinas,  17  in  Virginia,  14  each  in  New  Jersey 
and  Connecticut,  13  in  New  Hampshire  and  the  remain- 
ing 37  scattering.  A  list  of  these  men,  with  the  designa- 
tions of  the  regiments  or  names  of  the  ships  to  which 
they  were  attached,  taken  from  such  of  the  muster-rolls 

2  The  Kelleys  are  first  with   32  officers   and   695  enlisted  men,   and  the 
Murphys   second   with   15    officers   and   494   enlisted   men. 


292  THE  McCarthys 

and  enlistment  papers  as  I  have  been  able  to  examine, 
is  appended  hereto,  and  when  the  fact  is  considered  that 
historians  of  the  Revolution  usually  give  no  credit  to 
the  Irish  as  participants  in  the  war  for  American  Inde- 
pendence, this  large  number  of  Revolutionary  soldiers 
and  sailors  representing  one  Irish  family  alone  prob- 
ably will  be  a  revelation  to  many  people  who  thought 
they  were  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  history  of 
the  Revolution.  And,  that  even  this  long  list  is  incom- 
plete, is  indicated  by  the  occasional  references  that  are 
made  to  Revolutionary  soldiers  named  McCarthy  who 
are  not  listed  in  the  existing  muster-rolls. 

For  example,  according  to  the  will  of  Jeremiah  Mc- 
Carthy of  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsjdvania,  he 
served  as  a  private  soldier  in  a  Pennsylvania  regiment 
prior  to  1782,  yet  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  rolls 
which  I  examined.  A  copy  of  the  will  was  reproduced  in 
the  American  Monthly  Magazine,^  the  official  organ  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  with  the  ex- 
planation that  it  was  neither  probated  nor  recorded  but 
was  found  some  years  ago  among  a  lot  of  miscellaneous 
papers,  the  accumulation  of  the  greater  part  of  two 
centuries,  in  the  basement  of  the  "Westmoreland  County 
court  house.  The  will  is  dated  August  17,  1782,  and 
Jeremiah  McCarthy  described  himself  therein  as  "a  sol- 
dier of  Captain  Samuel  Brady's  company  in  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Pennsylvania  Line. ' '  To  his  wife,  Margaret, 
and  his  sons,  John,  Daniel  and  Jeremiah,  he  bequeathed 
"each  one  an  equal  part  of  my  worldly  substance  con- 
sisting of  18  months'  pay  due  me  from  the  late  Captain 
Heath's  Independent  Company  for  my  services  as  a 
private  soldier  in  said  Company;  likewise,  all  the  pay 
now  due  me  in  the  Pennsylvania  Line."     And  he  em- 

8  For  March,    1909,    p.   276. 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  293 

powered  ''Mr.  John  Bradley,  now  an  inhabitant  of  Pitts- 
burg, to  receive  the  aforesaid  pay  or  pays  as  my  just 
and  lawful  executor  and  distribute  the  aforesaid  as 
before  directed."  Captain  Samuel  Brady  commanded 
a  company  of  Colonel  Francis  Johnston's  regiment  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Line,  and  while  three  soldiers  named 
Jeremiah  McCarthy  are  included  in  the  appended  list 
as  of  the  Pennsylvania  Line,  none  of  these  men  served 
in  Captain  Brady's  company.  One  was  in  Captain 
Thomas  Boude's  company  of  the  Eighth  regiment  and 
was  from  Lancaster  County,  one  in  the  Seventh  regi- 
ment under  Colonel  William  Irvine  and  the  third  in  the 
Fifth  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Richard  Butler, 
and  it  is  an  interesting  historical  fact  that  all  three 
officers,  Johnston,  Irvine  and  Butler,  were  natives  of 
Ireland.  There  is  no  Jeremiah  McCarthy  listed  in  the 
copy  of  the  roster  which  I  examined  of  Captain  Heath 's 
Independent  Company. 

Another  example  is  that  of  Randolph  McCarthy  who, 
according  to  the  Naval  Records  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion published  by  the  Library  of  Congress,*  was  ap- 
pointed mate  of  the  Pennsylvania  sloop  of  war,  Sally, 
on  December  20,  1781;  yet  his  name  is  also  missing 
from  the  list  for  the  reason  stated.  Still  another  ex- 
ample is  that  of  Daniel  McCarty.  He  is  referred  to 
in  Boogher's  Gleanings  of  Virginia  History  ^  as  a  private 
soldier  in  the  First  Virginia  State  Regiment,  popularly 
known  as  ''Gibson's  Lambs."  They  were  commanded 
by  Colonel  George  Gibson  and  were  skilled  sharpshooters, 
and  "being  distinguished  for  int^ependence  and  personal 
bravery,  they  assisted  in  repelling  Lord  Dunmore's  at- 
tack on  Hampton,  Va.,  on  October  25,  1775."  Boogher 
lists  Daniel  McCarty  as  "dead,"  which  explains  the 

4  p.  453;  Washington,  1906.  5  P.  181;  Washington,  1903. 


294  THE  McCarthys 

absence  of  his  name  from  the  particular  roll  that  was 
examined  by  me  and  why  his  name  is  not  included  in 
the  appended  list  of  Revolutionary  soldiers.  Among  the 
officers  the  name  of  William  McCarthy  is  not  included. 
In  Force's  American  Archives  there  is  a  letter  to  John 
Hancock,  President  of  Congress,  dated  from  Montreal, 
May  17,  1776,  from  Samuel  Chase  and  Charles  Carroll, 
the  American  Commissioners  in  Canada,  one  passage  of 
which  reads:  "Necessity  has  compelled  us  to  desire 
Mr.  William  McCarthy  to  execute  the  office  of  Deputy 
Quarter-Master-General  and  we  hope  Congress  will  send 
that  gentleman  a  commission  of  this  date.  Our  Gen- 
erals here  exercise  the  power  of  appointing  officers,  but 
we  have  not,  nor  do  we  remember  that  they  have  any 
such  power."  Careful  search  fails  to  disclose  who  this 
William  McCarthy  was,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  was 
an  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  forces  and  was  regarded 
by  the  American  Commissioners  as  a  man  of  no  little 
importance  and  efficiency. 

Other  instances  may  also  be  quoted,  that  is  where  men 
of  the  name  are  referred  to  as  having  served  in  the  Revo- 
lution but  who  I  have  not  felt  justified  in  including  in 
the  accompanying  list,  because  I  am  unable  to  find  their 
names  in  the  official  rolls.  Some  of  these  Revolutionary 
soldiers  receive  casual  mention  in  town  and  county  his- 
tories, but,  as  to  what  part  they  played  in  those  stirring 
days,  I  am  entirely  without  knowledge  as  I  have  had  no 
opportunity  to  investigate  their  story.  But,  although 
there  is  a  great  dearth  of  information  on  record  concern- 
ing the  individual  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  especially 
of  the  enlisted  men,  I  believe  there  must  be  some  data 
available  from  the  local  town  records  and  from  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  families  of  their  descendants  from  which  a 
more  complete  history  of  this  family  in  America  may 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  295 

be  compiled,  and  if  some  of  the  McCarthys  would  only 
interest  themselves  in  the  work  I  am  sure  they  would 
find  it  a  most  conjenial  employment. 

That  age  did  not  deter  American  patriots  from  serv- 
ing their  country  when  men  were  needed  to  uphold  the 
standard  of  revolt  against  the  tyranny  of  England,  is 
seen  from  the  case  of  John  McCarthy  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Artillery.     In  the  Dockets  of  the  Orphans'  Court 
of  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia  of  the  years 
1785  and  1786  there  are  records  of  a  number  of  applica- 
tions for  pensions,  and  under  date  of  December  14,  1785, 
the  following  interesting  entry  appears:     "The  Court 
having  examined  and  consid,ered  the  Case  of  John  Mc- 
Carthy, late  a  Matross  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  Ar- 
tillery belonging  to  Pennsylvania,  aged  about  64  years, 
find  that  he  was  wounded  in  the  Belly  at  the  Battle 
of  Green  Springs  in  the  State  of  Virginia  on  the  sixth 
day  of  July,  1781,  and  afterwards  contracted  chronic 
disorders  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  by  reason 
whereof  he  is  in  a  great  degree  disabled  of  getting  liveli- 
hood by  Labor.     The  Court  do  therefore  allow  him  a 
Pension  of  three  dollars  per  month."     And  later,  "upon 
application  of  Jolm  Nicholson,  Esqr.  Comptroller-Gen- 
eral, on  behalf  of  the  following  Pensioners  their  Pen- 
sions were  Augmented  to  five  Dollars  per  month  from 
this  day  by  the  Court,  to  wit,  to  John  Green,  John  Mc- 
Carthy, Garret  Fagan,  John  St,  John,  James  Sheridan 
and  John  Lane." 

When  people  of  the  name  are  mentioned  in  the  prosaic 
official  records  of  the  Colonies,  in  such  numbers  and  in 
such  stations  in  life  as  are  indicated  herein,  it  is  clear 
that  the  McCarthys  were  not  as  unimportant  a  factor 
in  contributing  to  the  work  of  nation-building  as  is  gen- 
erally supposed  of  people  of  Irish  blood  in  this  country. 


296  THE  McCarthys 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  the  government  pub- 
lication, A  Century  of  Population  Orowth,  which  pur- 
ports to  be  a  compendium  of  the  First  Census  of  the 
United  States,  shows  only  625  McCarthys  all  told  in  the 
United  States  in  1790,  and  when  a  comparison  of  the 
census  figures  is  made  by  States  with  the  number  of 
persons  of  the  name  mentioned  in  the  muster-rolls  of 
the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars  and  in  other  eight- 
eenth century  records,  the  discrepancy  becomes  still 
more  surprising. 

Careful  analysis  of  the  figures  furnished  to  us  through 
A  Century  of  Population  Growth  proves  the  utter  un- 
trustworthiness  of  this  publication.  For  example,  the 
government  statisticians  show  there  were  only  125  people 
named  McCarthy  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages  and  con- 
ditions in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  in  1790.  Yet,  there 
were  117  McCarthys  who  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary 
forces  in  that  State.  In  the  average  case,  reliable  sta- 
tistics indicate  that  that  number  of  soldiers  of  any  one 
name  would  mean  that  there  must  have  been  at  least 
twice  the  number  of  men  of  the  same  name  in  the  State, 
and  when  we  add  the  same  conservative  figure  to  repre- 
sent the  women  and  children,  the  total  would  reach  ap- 
proximately 560.  Then,  when  we  consider  the  number 
mentioned  in  the  text  and  in  the  incomplete  list  at  page 
309  to  317  of  the  McCarthys  appearing  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania marriage  records,  we  can  safely  assume  that 
seven  years  after  the  war  the  number  of  McCarthys  in 
the  State  could  not  have  been  far  short  of  800.  So  that, 
the  McCarthys  in  the  Pennsylvania  census  returns  repre- 
sent hardly  more  than  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  total  num- 
ber of  people  of  the  name  in  the  State  in  1790. 

In  Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire  it  is  observed 
that,  according  to  A  Century  of  Population  Growth, 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  297 

there  was  not  one  person  named  McCarthy  in  1790, 
which  is  obviously  an  error  since  twenty-seven  soldiers 
of  the  name  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  army  from 
those  States  (exclusive  of  those  appearing  in  the  land, 
court  and  church  records)  ;  and  surely  some  of  these  sol- 
diers must  have  returned  to  their  homes  after  the  war 
and  had  children  or  relatives  of  the  name.  In  Massa- 
chusetts we  are  told  there  were  only  seventy-two  Mc- 
Carthys of  both  sexes  in  1790;  but,  as  will  be  noted, 
one  man  of  the  name  alone,  Thaddeus  of  Worcester, 
was  the  father  of  fifteen  children  all  born  at  Worcester, 
between  1744  and  1763,  only  three  of  whom  died  within 
that  period,  and  of  the  twelve  who  survived  until  1790, 
eight  were  males  and  were  the  fathers  of  many  children. 
When  we  add  to  these  the  numerous  descendants  in  the 
male  line  of  Thomas,  Thaddeus  and  Florence  MacCarty 
of  Boston  and  of  the  McCarthys  who  are  recorded  as 
residing  in  various  other  places  in  Massachusetts  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  more  than  200  in  all,  again  we 
have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  worthlessness  of  the 
figures  given  to  us  in  A  Century  of  Population  Growth. 
Only  116  McCarthys  are  shown  by  the  census  returns 
to  have  resided  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  1790,  but, 
on  going  over  the  list  of  McCarthys  whose  names  appear 
in  New  York  records  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find 
a  total  of  142.  And  this  is  far  short  of  the  actual  total, 
because  the  records  examined  were  only  those  of  the 
land  office,  a  few  of  the  church  registers,  the  muster-rolls 
of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  troops,  probate  rec- 
ords and  others  of  that  class.  And  as  many  other  rec- 
ords were  inaccessible  to  me  or  were  not  consulted,  in 
which  people  of  the  name  undoubtedly  appear,  the  total 
number  obviously  was  far  greater  than  142.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  descendants  of  these  142  McCarthys 


298  THE  McCarthys 

living  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  1790  must  have  num- 
bered several  hundreds. 

In  Maryland,  if  we  are  to  accept  A  Century  of  Popii- 
lation  Growth,  only  thirty-five  McCarthys,  male  and  fe- 
male, resided  in  1790,  although  thirty-seven  men  and 
boys  of  the  name  are  recorded  in  the  muster-rolls  of  the 
Revolutionary  troops  organized  in  that  State,  in  addi- 
tion to  which  I  have  given  some  details  concerning  fifty 
other  McCarthys  whose  names  appear  in  the  Colonial 
records.  On  the  conservative  basis  of  calculation  before 
described,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  probability 
that  many  of  the  eighty-seven  McCarthys  married  and 
brought  up  families,  who,  or  whose  children,  were  living 
in  Maryland  in  1790,  we  are  warranted  in  assuming  that 
at  least  160  of  the  McCarthys  in  Maryland  were  not 
included  in  the  census  enumerators'  lists  from  which 
the  total  of  thirty-five  was  compiled.  In  the  adjoining 
State  of  Virginia  the  census  shows  140  McCarthys  in 
1790,  and,  without  making  any  analysis  of  the  figures, 
I  leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  readers  of  this  book 
to  form  their  own  conclusions  as  to  how  nearly  correct 
the  government  statisticians  are,  when  the  fact  is  taken 
into  consideration  that  there  are  243  ^McCarthys  men- 
tioned in  the  Virginia  land  and  probate  records  alone 
prior  to  1790,  many  of  whom  married  and  brought  up 
families  and  had  descendants  in  the  male  line. 

The  figures  for  these  six  States  will  suffice  for  the 
purposes  of  this  comparison  and  probably  will  make  the 
point  clear,  namely  that  a  very  large  number  of  the 
McCarthys  are  not  included  in  A  Century  of  Population 
Growth.  "What  the  reason  for  the  omission  may  be  I 
am  unable  to  say,  but  it  may  be  that  it  was  because 
many  of  them  resided  in  sections  of  the  country  not 


IN  EARLY  AMERICAN  HISTORY  299 

reached  by  the  census  enumeratoi's.  The  statement, 
therefore,  that  the  figures  in  this  publication,  official 
though  it  is,  are  unreliable  is  not  merely  a  generaliza- 
tion nor  a  mere  inference,  since  it  is  fully  substantiated 
by  analysis  of  the  factors  which  form  the  basis  of  the 
publica.tion.  And  it  can  be  said  that  the  same  identical 
remarks  apply  to  many  other  Irish  family  names  which 
I  selected  for  a  similar  analysis.  And  yet,  A  Century 
of  Population  Growth  is  the  basis  upon  which  is  built 
the  theory  that  people  of  Irish  descent  constituted  only 
one  and  six-tenth  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  in  1790,  and,  as  a  logical  inference,  that 
they  contributed  little  or  nothing  to  the  work  of  building 
up  the  country  and  to  the  achievement  of  American  inde- 
pendence !  It  is  the  ' '  authority ' '  usually  quoted  by  shal- 
low commentators  on  the  racial  origins  of  the  American 
people;  it  is  used  in  the  schools,  colleges  and  libraries  of 
the  country;  Math  the  result  that  a  deep  rooted  impres- 
sion prevails  that  the  American  people  are  almost  wholly 
of  the  "Anglo-Saxon,"  i.e.  the  "English,"  race,  and 
that  the  contributions  of  people  of  other  races  to  the 
glory  and  development  of  our  country  have  been  so 
negligible  as  to  be  altogether  unworthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration! That  this  is  so,  is  clear  from  the  opinions 
on  the  subject  which  are  expressed  from  time  to  time 
by  editorial  writers,  in  the  speeches  of  public  men  and 
by  contributors  to  the  magazines  and  the  correspondence 
columns  of  the  newspapers.  But,  as  stated  before,  in 
so  far  as  the  American  Irish  and  their  descendants  are 
concerned,  all  this  is  the  inevitable  result  of  the  neglect 
of  the  Irish  themselves,  who  have  given  practically  no 
attention  to  the  important  work  of  investigating  their 
history  in  America,  while  at  the  same  time  they  look 


300  THE  McCarthys 

on  complacently  at  the  constant  undermining  of  their 
influence  in  a  country  to  whose  development  their  people 
contributed  so  much. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  writing  this  account  of  the 
McCarthys,  I  have  confined  myself  solely  to  facts, 
gleaned  from  authoritative  sources,  but  if  the  traditions 
of  the  time  were  drawn  upon  to  embellish  the  story,  as 
one  would  be  perfectly  justified  in  doing,  it  would  make 
a  much  more  extensive  and  interesting  historical  narra- 
tive. There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  an  exhaustive 
search  of  the  records  would  bring  to  light  much  other 
valuable  data  relating  to  people  of  this  name  in  Colonial 
and  Revolutionary  times,  if  some  one  with  the  time  and 
the  taste  for  such  work  would  devote  himself  to  the 
task.  A  comparison  of  an  early  map  of  the  United 
States  with  the  places  where  the  McCarthys  are  located, 
at  once  shows  that  many  of  them  settled  on  the  frontiers, 
or  at  any  rate  in  outlying  sections  far  removed  from 
the  centers  of  population. 

It  is  shown  that  they  were  among  the  pioneers  in 
various  places,  as  owners  and  tillers  of  the  soil,  defenders 
of  the  homes  and  firesides  of  the  early  settlers,  builders 
of  the  highways,  laborers  and  artisans,  tradesmen  and 
millers,  and  that,  in  common  with  other  pioneers  of  those 
days,  they  contributed  their  share  to  the  laying  of  the 
foundations  of  the  country's  future  greatness.  In  the 
towns  and  settlements  along  the  seaboard  they  are  found 
among  the  merchants  and  shipbuilders,  and  in  no  case 
do  they  appear  among  the  "drones  of  society,"  but 
that  in  every  respect  the  early  McCarthys  in  America 
measured  up  to  the  standard  of  those  pioneer  settlers  to 
whom  the  country  owes  so  much  and  whose  story  has 
been  told,  in  many  cases  with  great  detail,  by  American 
historians. 


APPENDIX 

Enlisted  men,  from  the  muster-rolls  and  enlistment 
papers  of  the  Revolutionary  army  and  navy  and  the  Pro- 
vincial Militia. 

McCarthy,  Bartholomew,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  Bartholomew,     Colonel     Brooks'     Regiment    of     Mass. 

Guards. 
McCarthy,  Charles,  Philadelphia  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  Charles,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Artillery. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Pennsylvania  Navy. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  First  Regiment  New  York  Line. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Continental  frigate.  Confederacy. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Grayson's  Maryland  Continental  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Colonel  Greaton's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Colonel  Mcintosh's  Suffolk  County,  Mass.  Reg- 
iment. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Dutchess  County,  New  York  troops. 
McCarthy,  Daniel,  Jr.,  Colonel  Greaton's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

McCarthy,  Daniel,  Frigate  Hague,  Massachusetts  Navy. 

McCarthy,  Dennis,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarthy,  Dennis,  Third  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarthy,  Dennis,  First  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarthy,  Dennis,  Colonel  Gansevoort's  New  York  Regiment. 

McCarthy,  Ewen,  First  Pennsylvania  Artillery. 

IMcCarthy,  Felix,  Berks  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarthy,  Francis,  Ship  Mars,  Massachusetts  Navy. 

McCarthy,  Florence,  Fourth  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Line. 

McCarthy,  Florence,  North  Carolina  troops   (regiment  unknown). 

McCarthy,  George,  Colonel  Warner's  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 

McCarthy,  Jeremiah,  Frigate  Boston,  Massachusetts  Navy. 

McCarthy,  James,  Crane's  Massachusetts  Artillery. 

McCarthy,  James,  Pennsylvania  Navy. 

McCarthy,  James,  Colonel  Greaton's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

McCarthy,  James,  Tenth  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Line. 

McCarthy,  John,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 

301 


302  THE  McCarthys 

McCarthy,  John,  Colonel  Elliott's  Rhode  Island  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  John,  Colonel  Ruggles'  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  John,  Colonel  Ruggles'  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  John,      Thirteenth   Regiment,    Albany    County,   N.   Y. 

Militia. 
McCarthy,  John,  Philadelphia  City  Volunteers. 
McCarthy,  John,  York  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  John,  Pennsylvania  Navy. 
McCarthy,  John,  Invalid  Guards   (Pennsylvania). 
McCarthy,  John,  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Battalion. 
McCarthy,  John,  Proctor's  Pennsylvania  Artillery, 
McCarthy,  John,  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Artillery. 
McCarthy,  Justin,  Atlee's  Pennsylvania  Musketry  Battalion. 
McCarthy,  Miles,  North  Carolina  Line    (regiment  unknown). 
McCarthy,  Mathias,  First  Regiment,  Provincial  troops  of  S.  C. 
McCarthy,  Moses,    Thirteenth    Regiment,    Albany    County,    N.    Y. 

Militia. 
McCarthy,  Michael,  Fifth  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Line. 
McCarthy,  Owen,  Proctor's  Pennsylvania  Artillery. 
McCarthy,  Owen,  Independent  Pennsylvania  Artillery  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  Owen,  Knox's  Artillery  Corps. 
McCarthy,  Peter,  Virginia  Continental  Line. 
McCarthy,  Peter,  Rawlings'  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarthy,  Richard,  Virginia  State  Line   (regiment  unknown). 
McCarthy,  Roger,  Georgia  Continental  Line   (regiment  unknown). 
McCarthy,  Stephen,  North  Carolina  Line  (regiment  unknown). 
McCarthy,  Thomas,   Philadelphia  County,  Penna.   Militia. 
McCarthy,  Timothy,  Frederick   County,  Maryland  troops. 
McCarthy,  Timothy,  Atlee's  Pennsylvania  Musketry  Battalion. 
McCarthy,  Thomas,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarthy,  Timothy,  Suffolk  County,  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarthy,  Timothy,  Ship  Protector,  Massachusetts  Navy. 
McCarthy,  William,  Fairfield,  Connecticut  Volunteers. 
McCarthy,  William,  North  Carolina  Line   (regiment  unknown). 
McCarty,  Alexander,  Third  Regiment,  South  Carolina  Line. 
McCarty,  Andrew,  Hunterdon  County,  New  Jersey  Militia. 
McCarty,  Andrew,  Frigate  Hague,  Massachusetts  Navy. 
McCarty,  Andrew,  Captain    Stephenson's    Company   of   West   Va. 

Riflemen. 
McCarty,  Benjamin,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Virginia  State  Line. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Richmond  County,  Virginia  Militia. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Third  Regiment,  New  Hampshire  Line. 


APPENDIX 


303 


McCarty,  Charles,  Stark's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Stark's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Scammell's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  Charles,  Colonel  Malcom's  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCarty,  Cornelius,  Second  Regiment,  South  Carolina  Line. 
McCarty,  Cornelius,  Prince  William  Parish,  S.  C.  Volunteer  Com- 
pany. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  New  Hampshire  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Georgia  Continental  Line   (regiment  unknown). 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Bedford  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
IMcCarty,  Daniel,  York  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Thompson's  Pennsylvania  Rifle  Battalion. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Moylan's  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Dragoons. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment.  Pennsylvania  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Seventh  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  Virginia  State  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment.  New  Hampshire  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Kingston,  New  Hampshire  Company. 
, McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  Lincoln  County,  Mass. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  First  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  Virginia  Continental  Line. 
McCarty,  Daniel,  Captain  Robert  Mullan's  Philadelphia  Marines. 
McCarty,  "Dennis,  Third  Regiment,  South  Carolina  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Charleston,  S.  C.  Company  of  Rangers. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Thompson's  South  Carolina  Rangers. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Philadelphia  City,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Fourth  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Moylan's  Fourth  Penna.  Dragoons. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Third  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  First  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Fourth  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  4th.  Batt.  2nd.  Establishment,  N.  J.  State  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Sussex  County,  N.  J.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Third  Regiment,  South  Carolina  Line. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Heatly's  South  Carolina  Rangers. 
McCarty,  Dennis,  Colonel  Whitney's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarty,  Dugal,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 

McCarty,  Dunkon,  First  Regiment,  Tryon  County,  N.  Y.,  Militia. 
McCarty,  Eben,  Savannah,  Ga.  Volimteers. 
McCarty,  Edward,  Kanawha  County,  W.  Va.,  Militia. 
McCarty,  Elias,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCarty,  Felix,  Tenth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 


304 


THE  McCarthys 


McCarty,  Felix,  First  Eegiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarty,  Florence,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  Florence,  Ship  Defence,  Maryland  Navy. 

McCarty,  Francis,  Sloop  Defence,  Massachusetts  Navy. 

McCarty,  George,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  George,  Bigelow's  Connecticut  Artillery. 

McCarty,  George,  Third  Battalion,  North  Carolina  Line. 

McCarty,  George,  Colonel  Warren's   Connecticut  Regiment. 

McCarty,  Henry,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  Hugh,  Colonel  Malcom's  New  York  Regiment. 

McCarty,  Hugh,  3rd.  Batt.  2nd.  Establishment,  N.  J.  State  Line. 

McCarty,  Hugh,  First  Battalion,  Hunterdon  County,  N.  J.  Militia. 

McCarty,  Hugh,  Second  Battalion,  Hunterdon  County,  N.  J.,  Mili- 
tia. 

McCarty,  Hugh,  Colonel  Graham's  New  York  Regiment. 

McCarty,  Isaac,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  Isaac,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  Isaac,  Second  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarty,  Jere,  Fourth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  Jeremiah,  First  Regiment,  Provincial  troops  of  South 
Carolina. 

McCarty,  Jeremiah,  Fifth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 

McCarty,  Jeremiah,  Eighth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 

McCarty,  James,  Lancaster  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  James,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  James,  Second  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarty.  James,  First  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  James,  Fourth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  James,  Harford  County,  Md.  troops. 

McCarty,  James,  Fourth  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 

McCarty,  Jesse,  First  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  Jessy,  Seventh  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCarty,  Jonathan,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Georgia  Continental  Line    (regiment  unknown). 

McCarty,  John,  Georgia  Continental  Line    (regiment  unknown). 

McCarty,  John,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Philadelphia  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  First  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 

McCarty,  John,  Second  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarty,  John,  Fifth  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

McCarty,  John,  Second  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Ninth  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Militia. 

McCarty,  John,  Frederick  County,  Va.  troops. 


APPENDIX  305 

McCarty,  John,  Colonel  Peabody's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Colonel  Mooney's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Colonel  Reed's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Kingston,  New  Hampshire  Company. 
McCarty,  John,  Capt.  Kimball's  Lunenburg,  Mass.  Company. 
McCarty,  John,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.  Associators. 
McCarty,  John,  Colonel  Greaton's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Colonel   Shepard's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Beverly,  Massachusetts  Company. 
McCarty,  John,  Ship  Mars,  Massachusetts  Navy. 
McCarty,  John,  First  Regiment,  Tryon  County,  N.  Y.  Militia. 
McCarty,  John,  Bradford's  Philadelphia  Foot  Regiment. 
McCarty,  John,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCarty,  Joseph,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Justin,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Justin,  Ship  General  Mifflin,  Massachusetts  Navy. 
McCarty,  Michael,  Cumberland  Coimty,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Michael,  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Battalion. 
McCarty,  Michael,  Ninth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  Moses,  Thirteenth  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Mil- 
itia. 
McCarty,  Neil,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Nicklos,  Bucks  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Owen,  Lamb's  Artillery. 

McCarty,  Owen,  Scott's  Detachment,  Lincoln  County,  Mass. 
McCarty,  Patrick,  Bucks  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Peter,  Berks  County,  Penna.  Militia, 
McCarty,  Peter,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Peter,  Virginia  State  Line. 
McCarty,  Phelix,  Tenth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  Philip,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Richard,  Second  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Bucks  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Fifth  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Colonel  Malcom's  New  York  Levies. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Second  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  Militia  Company, 
McCarty,  Timothy,  Seventh  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  Timothy,  Second  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarty,  Timothy,  Colonel  Price's  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarty,  Timothy,  Ship  Hazard,  Massachusetts  Navy. 


306  THE  McCarthys 

McCarty,  Timothy,  Virginia  State  Line. 
McCarty,  William,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  William,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCarty,  William,  Penna.  State  Regiment  of  Foot. 
McCarty,  William,  Ninth  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCarty,  William,  Moylan's  Fourth  Penna.  Dragoons. 
McCarty,  William,  Second  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Mili- 
tia. 
McCarty,  William,  Third  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCarty,  William,  Salem  County,  N.  J.  Militia. 
McCarty,  William,  Col.   Wigglesworth's  Massachusetts   Regiment. 
McCarty,  William,  Sullivan's  Brigade,  Rhode  Island  troops. 
McCart,  James,  Third  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCart,  John,  Third  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCart,  John,  Morgan's  Virginia  Riflemen. 
McCarte,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  New  Hampshire  Line. 
McCarte,  Jere,  New  Milford,  Connecticut  Company. 
McCarte,  John,  Eleventh  Regiment,  Virginia  Line. 
McCarte,  John,  Fifteenth  Regiment,  Virginia  Line. 
McCarte,  John,  Colonel  Greaton's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCarte,  Paul,  Washington  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCartee,  Jeremiah,  Fourth  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCartee,  Thomas,  Hartford,  Connecticut  Volunteers. 
McCartee,  Dennis,  Colonel  Eddy's  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCartee,  Felix,  Second  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 
McCartee,  James,  Virginia  State  Line. 
McCartey,  Daniel,  Second  Massachusetts  Regiment. 
McCartey,  Duncan,  Suffolk  County,  N.  Y.  Minute  Men. 
McCartey,  Cornelius,  South  Carolina  Militia. 
McCartey,  George,  Second  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCartey,  Hugh,  Vermont  troops. 

McCartey,  James,  Second  Regiment,  Plymouth  County,  Mass. 
McCartey,  James,  Second  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCartey,  Jeremiah,  Rawlings'  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 
McCartey,  John,  Third  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCartey,  John,  Fourth  Regiment,  Connecticut  Line. 
McCartey,  John,  Suffolk  County,  N.  Y.  Minute  Men. 
McCartey,  John,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCartey,  John,  Philadelphia  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCartey,  John,  Washington  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCartey,  John,  First  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 
McCartey,  John,  Second  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Militia. 
McCartey,  Owen,  Philadelphia  City  Militia. 
McCartey,  Philip,  Northumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 
McCartie,  Jeremiah,  Seventh  Regiment,  Penna.  Line. 


APPENDIX  307 

McCartie,  Sharrod,  Georgia  Continental  Brigade. 

McCartie,  "Titan,"  Berks  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McArthey,  William,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCardy,  Edward,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  Andrew,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  Andrew,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  David,  Northumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  Edward,  Third  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

McCartney,  Henry,  Stephenson's  Company,  W.  Va.  Riflemen. 

McCartney,  James,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  James,  Philadelphia  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  John,  Chester  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  John,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  Joseph,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCartney,  Peter,  West  Virginia  troops. 

McCartney,  Timothy,  New  Castle  County,  Delaware  Militia. 

McCartney,  John,  Philadelphia  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McCharty,  James,  Lancaster  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McClarty,  John,  Cumberland  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

Macartie,  Daniel,  Colonel  Hale's  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 

Maccarty,  William,  Colonel    Bigelow's    Massachusetts   Regiment. 

Mccarty,  William,  Atlee's  Penna.  Musketry  Battalion. 

McKarty,  James,  Ship  General  Mifflin,  Massachusetts  Navy. 

McKart,  John,  Cumberland  Coimty,  Penna.  Militia. 

McKerty,  Hugh,  York  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

McKarty,  Tim,  Second  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Carty,  Charles,  Colonel  Neill's  Delaware  Regiment. 

Carty,  Darby,  Colonel  Hall's  Delaware  Regiment. 

Carty,  Daniel,  Maryland  Flying  Camp. 

Carty,  Daniel,  Second  Regiment,  N.  J.  Continental  Line. 

Carty,  Daniel,  2nd.  Batt.  2nd.  Establishment,  N.  J.  State  Line. 

Carty,  Dennis,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Carty,  Francis,  First  Regiment,  N.  J.  Continental  Line. 

Carty,  James,  Maryland  Flying  Camp. 

Carty,  John,  2nd.  Batt.  2nd.  Establishment,  N.  J.  State  Line. 

Carty,  John,  Second  Regiment,  N.  J.  Continental  Line. 

Carty,  Lawrence,  Maryland  Line   (regiment  unknown). 

Carty,  Matthew,  Third  Maryland  Battalion. 

Carty,  Timothy,  Maryland  Flying  Camp. 

Carty,  William,  Colonel    Hall's    Delaware    Regiment,    Lieut.    Col. 

Pope's  Co. 
Carty,  William,  Colonel  Hall's  Delaware  Regiment,  Capt.  Jaquett'a 

Co. 
Carty,  William,  New  Jersey  Militia. 
Cartey,  Benjamin,  Lancaster  County,  Penna.  Militia. 


308  THE  McCarthys 

Cartey,  Daniel,  Maryland  Line  (regiment  unknown). 

Cartey,  Dennis,  Capt.  Thomas  Beall's  Maryland  Corps. 

Cartey,  Henry,  Second  Regiment,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.  Militia. 

Cartey,  James,  Third  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Cartey,  John,  Pennsylvania  Navy. 

Cartey,  John,  Third  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Cartey,  John,  Colonel  Willett's  New  York  Levies. 

Cartey,  Martin,  Third  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Cartey,  Matthew,  First  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Cartey,  Silas,  Lancaster  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

Cartey,  Solomon,  Colonel  Harper's  New  York  Levies. 

Cartey,  Thomas,  Northampton  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

Cartey,  Timothy,  Maryland  Line   ( regiment  unknown ) . 

Cartey,  William,  Lancaster  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

Cartey,  William,  Bedford  County,  Penna.  Militia. 

Carte,  Dennis,  Fourth  Maryland  Battalion. 

Carte,  James,  Seventh  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Carte,  Thomas,  Fifth  Regiment,  Maryland  Line. 

Carte,  William,  Colonel  Pawling's  New  York  Levies. 

Carthy,  Daniel,  Sixth  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

Carthey,  Isaac,  Second  Regiment,  New  York  Line. 

Carthey,  William,  Frederick  County,  Md.  troops. 

Cartee,  William,  Vermont  troops. 

These  names  are  as  they  appear  in  the  records,  but  in  several 
cases  of  the  "McCartneys,"  "McCarts,"  and  others,  it  is  foimd  that 
they  were  really  "McCarthys." 


APPENDIX 


309 


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a;    00 


310 


THE  McCarthys 


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aci=:pccp:cfl 


iz; 
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Q   H^  >-5 


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cj 


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03     S 

as 


00   (N 


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a  a*^ 


i-S  1-3  J2;  02  <1 


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a 

03 


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ra     S-     S-i     o 

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>-. 


C3      TO 


>. 


^1^^ 


M 


cS 


® 

B 
B 

<  H 


o 

B 


O!     N     B 

•,=;  a  B 
W  H  <1 


I-  .S 

03  ri 

j_  03 

o3  5r! 


^f^ 


t  ^  o 
^  "  fe  5 


o 

CO 


-U    l-H 

03 
bc  g 


a  § 

03    -O 


o 


GO 


03 

a 


GO 


(N  t^  CD 


(M  t-  -t; 


CO 


5    B    03  "5  '03    B     oi     =« 


u 

03 
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h^  ^  i 

>;>  bJD  >• 


>^  u 

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5  B 

B  >- 

B  ^ 

03  ^«J 


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&  B  3 
<1  <^  1-5 


1— IC0e0-^000J05ClO(N<MC<lC0'*l0l0OOOOC0OCCC0G000G0 

(MiN<M(M<MM(M(Mcocoeocoe<3cocoMcoeococococococococoM 


APPENDIX 


311 


-91 


•-S         (-3                  CS 

Ph 

^-       :^-             ^ 

-tj 

t^  .  ^  .     s 

.  ^ 
in    03      n 
CO    oa    eS 

ID 
ID 

00 

03 

r/5in®      •~i-^      "  n            tctn 

cd     ^     C^ 

-  oS         •-'         "^          L    cS    cS 

gs  x-as-ao  s;^^ 

> 


^  •  •  -M 

^    ID  rtJ  ID  "^ 

r-«  ID  tD  73 

S  cS  eS  ei  02 

H  1^  I":-!  V-H  '^ 

.>2 1^  1^  1^  r 

2  -.  ^  -t 

g  C  C  C  o 

g  O  O  O  & 

,^  -(J  -tJ  •+J  ;^ 

O  CO  ID  ID  tS 

O  O  O  O  <u 

;^  pq  PQ  pq  12; 


93 


O      O    ^     ^    '^     r=J 


cc 


fc  -p  -=* 


1-5  o 


t-5 


ti  -S  g'n  c  o  o  E^^So  Q.-2  Sw>S^fe"SHSb& 


oo'  cxT  oT  o"  d~  o"  o"  -h"  ^''  ^''  ci  (m"  m  ci  <n  m  m  S2  2  22  21  ^  ^  ^  2^  21  S 


312 


THE  McCarthys 


SOS  •   S 

2       ^            S  DO     2 

Ah  ^    o  ^  5!  '^ 

:§ «  -  «  - 

cs   a    fu  _o  4::; 

^  S^    o  o    0^ 


en 

cS 

OS 

Oh 

S 

(1) 

•s 

T-l 

C 

nl 

O 

•  f-( 

r»l 

rC 

o 

fi^m 

O  CO 


^^ 

o  c 

o  .S 

03    '«      (U 

o    O    5 
O    CIS  "S 

O  cc  Pl, 


+-> 
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o 

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m 

O 

o 

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M 

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IT) 

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0) 

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o 

■4^ 

^3 

S- 

02 

Oh 
oj      ~ 

^   C      •      • 

1  S  =  =«'  ^ 

O  'o    C  •«     nS 

oi  U  1^  PL|  pq 


eS    * 
>> 


So 


o 

o 

a 
o 


o 
a 


&D 


-73 

c 

.si 

T   ^   -u 

fi  ^  ^  m  fS  cc 


13 

;-i 
O 


a, 
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Ah 
o 

M 

El 

o 

O 


o 

OJ 

OS 


o 


43 

oS 


-2  -^ 

>i    CS 

cS  -^ 


03 
OS 

o 


a 

o 

be  § 

■  -^  a 


'—''SO 

m     n    ir 


•"    krH     -|J    J5 

C    O  i"!    o 


C    o  ■ 


Oj 


a 
;§  8.2 

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QJ    o    O 


oS 

a 


-S  tfS  ^  « 
cc  M  H  <! 

»T3    "73    "TJ    "^    "^    tj    "^ 


'^  '^   '^  '^   ni  "^  "^  "^  '^  'Xi  '^  '^  '^  "^  Ti  TlJ  "^  nd  tS  '^     _      -      _____ 


>-    >3    ^  cS 

O  O  tf  i^  -^ 

■y  «  b  rt  b 

ly  o 


cS 
_  O 


^s 


cS  ^     (H  oS   -Tf 

bo  c*    2  W).2 

>-i      N      H  tH      fl 

cs  -^a  ^  OS  § 


5:^ 


cS 

o 


cS  •- 


Q 


2  «- 


3 


(M 


a.d^ 

a>  c^  u 
>  ^  ^ 
O    OS    c4 


^H       O        _ 

-C    Ss    OS 
CO  ^    ci 


CIS    c« 

o  o 


cS 
oi  o 

a  c 


cS  -*J 

;^^ 

CO 

OS  ^ 

Q  O 


OS 
U 


cS  ■ 

o 


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a) 

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i2 

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OS 

cS 

N 

N 

»c 


(35 
m 

<1  1-s 


OS 

r-H      p 
Ol 

2  a 

<5Q 


«5 


>>2 


e<5 


^^  <J  <5  ^  O 


o3 

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K  W  02 


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«0  CQ 


>, 

u 

(1) 

-tJ 

rt 

+j 

oS 

^ 

d 

O 

^ 

4^ 

S 

05 

tn 

n* 

a; 

ri 

be 

!h 

ci 

S    to 

.5  T3 


00 


>i        Oi 

S-    IX    I-H 

c 

C!j 

1-5 


I— I  S 

-M  (a, 
ly  0) 
O  OC 


APPENDIX 


313 


> 


g 

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03  1^    eS    CO    cj 

P^ 

O         as   o    5 

tn    ?  — <    en  ,fl 

P^ 


u 

II 

02 
OS 

C 


•5  t>.  .   „ 


02  !z; 


"a! 
(1h 


1:3 

O     . 

o    ° 


o 


o 
O 

!>  M 

^■P5 

c 

o 
Q 

Ti 
u 
o 

to 

03 
-u 

m 


> 


H 
H 

P^ 
O 

5^ 


o 


6JD 


03 

-|^    C 
o3    eS 


O 

Oh 

a 

^^ 

5  -^^ 


1) 


a 

I— I 

CS 


,=3 
O 


cc 


^ 
^ 


w 

^  .^  in 


o 
o 


§ 

09 

a  ^ 


^'a 

o3 

!>^a 

o 


o 


f!4 


o 


cS 
o 
C 

Pui 


ccccccccc 

eclc3ctfcic£»roACQ 


"^  "^  ^  '^ 

c  c  c  c 

^     ^     C$     C^ 


F^       "XJ       '^       '^      "^ 

c    C    C    C    i= 
0^    ^    cC    ^    w 


15 

o 
O 


=«    !3    eS 
o  O 

•1  b-^ 


ei 

m     TO 


o3  1^ 
O 


IS 


O     «■      o 


>-<  2  r- 

-t-"  -t^  ,CJ 

oj  eS  o 

Ph  O  1-5 


«SI 

aj   Q)   C 

ill 

h1^  -~ 


U    <A 
ei  O 


33 

^  a 


05 


C5   (M   CO 


PhJ= 


^>.e 


c  X^;::; 


■;;  c3 


C5  ^  <M 

g      03     CS 


CO    rH    .^ 


00 


be 


be  § 
3    etf 


lO 


a  S 


01 


t>. 

o3 

cS 

-u 

FM  Ph 

-f 

0 

oS 

o3  0 

.f~| 

nC 

-G 

T-( 

0, 

Ph 

fli 

0) 

CD 

cS 

X 

0 

A 

^ 

0 

Ph  Ph  0 

c^    A    cd    o3 
Ph  Ph  Pm  Ph 


^    o3    0^ 


-^  -«  -5  -^ 

pH     pH     Oh     CL, 

^  '^  ^  ^ 
OS    ^    o3    cS 

X  IS  !3  2 

Ph  fin  Ph  P-i 


o 
u 


03 

to 

03     (-1 

cS 
0-1  pd 


03    ce 


•S     (13    ^ 

2i  s.s       _ 

^^o  g  ^  5  <i 


03 


rcJ  n3  t3  '^3  'd  'X;  TS 

o  c  c  S  s  g  g 

o3    c3    ^    ^    TO    X    n 


>> 


>> 

^ 


4^' 

cS 

>^ 

>-, 

ii 

u 

r ) 

p>i 

|-v 

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03 

cS 

C3 

■*^ 

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0 

0 

0 

§ 

03 

03  0 

43 

kH 

0  u 

n 

0 

83 

03 

c 

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1^ 

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0 

03 

-(J 

CJ 

^ 

a 

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0 

"S    eS    03  ^    CB    ei3  V-: 

(15  0  p:)  0  Ph  hs  |z; 

02 


o 

e<5 


^     a 

&l   3     03 
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u 

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a 

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03 

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o 

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03 
3 
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1-5 


r^ 

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<-> 

0  0 

0  i-H  rt  ^  ea 

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(M   M 

Tt*     ■* 

^ 

m  lo 

U5 

m  »o 

CO    CO 

•1        •. 

>n 

10 

CC5 

CO 

0   CO 

CO   CO   CO   CO   CO 

CO 

CO   CO 

CO   CO 

CO 

CO    CO 

CO 

CO   CO 

CO   CO 

CO  CO 

1—1 

r-( 

I— 1 

1— 1  1— 1 

l>.  t—  t~  !>.  1>- 

r-*.    r-^    r-\    f^   T^ 

l-H 

F-<       _l 

r-H    r-l 

l-H 

l-H    l-H 

l-H 

l-H    r-\ 

l-H    l-H 

l-H    f-H 

314 


THE  McCarthys 


^          J^-                 ^ 

^ 

a.  Pa. 
a,  Pa. 
a,  Pa. 
a,  Pa. 
N.  Y. 
ounty,  S 
a.  Pa. 
a.  Pa. 
Me. 
1,  Del. 
N.  Y. 
Coimty, 
1,  Del. 
N.  Y. 
a,  Pa. 
a.  Pa. 
a,  Pa. 
Y. 
Me. 
a,  Pa. 
N.  Y. 
County, 
a,  Pa. 
I,  Del. 

County, 
ia. 

•rH     .^     .^     .^           ^   ,^     ,^     ,^                    M           -N                  M                 .^     .r-«     .r^           .     ■      ■     .,-(                             .«        ^ 

!>, 

g 

4? 

CO 

climo 
nnsy] 

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& 

PHPL|PHpL|;ZiPqPL,(l|[i,^fiK!?!2iPHPLH|2H<;MAH!^OPHP^;^ 

^    o    Q>    0) 
■u    t-    t!    s- 

3C5  0  •= 


05 

M 

H 

o 

H 
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O 

Q 


_   be  ci 
C!    (-    N 

d   ^  — 


^  a 

TO      -2 

a  ^ 


<v   o 


O 


si 

a 


1=1  -« 

-M      O 
Oj   1-5 


O 

o 


03 


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bo 


0) 


r-.  53  &  M  a  — 


CD 

a  S 


o 
m 

rC      O 

^a 


o 

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S  c  ■= 


o 

t-5 


cs   '-'  .2 


s  i  ^ 


gceccflccccccccfiacscccccssgc 


>>^>^ 


rd      P>>    t>> 


ss§ 


-13 


<    1-5 


Pi 

^' 

o3 

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-(-< 

w 

M 

r  1 

-*J 

>H 

O 

CS 

r-) 

U 

cS 

1^ 

s 

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S 

Si 

05 

•p-t 

>. 

CO 

■n 

Mar 
Deb 
Mar 

a 

03 
1-5 

O 


O  1^  ^ 


cS 
ft 


o3 

o3    ci3  S 
O  O 


■<    1-5 


1^ 


O 
C«5 


C» 


m  «o 


d  s 

^  *-5 


a 


<1  CZ2  O 


o 


O)  (M   ^   fC 

u  s  '-I  ca 

Q  ;^  <i  ►^ 


•* 


(M 


O 
CO 


(M   t^   i-H 


u 

a 


S  s  a 

<1  OQ  Q 


Si 


r-(    M 
i-H 

a  a 


CO 


1^2 

h,  <|  <! 


"I 


ci  s^  00 

C^   >-*   (N 

a;  r^  « 
Pi  ^  C 
3  _^  3 
t-5  <1  ^-5 


APPENDIX 


315 


!^ 


O 

< 

P-l 


a 

o 
o 

o 


—   o 

Si     tc 
3    O 


g^ 


O  f3 


<^    1=^  S  n* 

tc    o3    iS  ^^  ra  03 

"^  '^  '^  C  ',2  v2 

-~  '3    a;  be  <s  r- 

-S  ^  JS  ^  riS  -2 

03     .rH     .rH  ^  •!-(  03 

pq  pLi  pm  m  pm  m 


c«    rt    C  =* 

PM  Ph    g  P^ 

"      -  CT  -    03 

,i:3  rfl    g  ^  kg! 

p.  &,  O  P-F^ 

* — ^  ^^  ~r^  ^ 

cS    c«  -^  ^  ^ 

X  X   P  -c   o 

Ph  PL,  pq  fL,  p; 


eS    > 


.    m 

c3    ^ 

^1 

03      „ 

•^  !;5 

p^-M 

^^      03 

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ci 

:::  c 

^ 

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eS    03    t^. 


cs 


C8    c4 

cs   C    o^P^  Ph 

WH      3      03 

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CO 

w 

t— I 
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Ph 

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a 

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a; 

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P5 


c 

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t3 

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03 


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Hi  K  H  <; 


03  H  c?  g 

r3      03     03      r- 
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TI?    Tj    "TCJ    "^    '^ 

C    i=    C    PI    c 

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03 


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p  in  -p  r-  ^ 


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C3  t-  > 

o;  P-  O 


316 


THE  McCarthys 


1^ 


> 


o 


o 


=5  §  Ss  -?   oj 
lx|  o  fe  ;: 


P-i  PM 

^  ^  ^  45  °  •=« 

c«    cj    a  cs  o    O 

-c  ^  '^  ^  'C  o 

pLi  PL,  02  pm  pm  m 


P^  Ph 


o 


r  cs 


O  v-i 


eS    OS  i_j    5 

^    •(-(    -^      Co 


fL,  p^  PM  PL,  Ph  "^^ 

^       ^       ^        ^        ,.  Hr' 

oj    Ih    rt    cS    eS  <* 

•rH        <0     --H     .«     .— 

^  -t;  ^  ^  ^    V 

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INDEX 


Ball,  Sarah;  wife  of  Dennis 
McCarty,  39-41 

Butler,  Anne;  wife  of  Augus- 
tine Washington,  46 

Butlers  of  Kilkenny,  46 

Carty,  Mahan;  emigrant  to 
Virginia,  1653,  17 

Fighting  Race,  the,  287-288 
Fitzhugh    family    of    Virginia, 

intermarried  with  the  Mc- 

Cartys,  49-50 
France,  MacCarthys   in,  Intro., 

22 

Irish     immigrants     to     Boston, 

252-254 
Irish   settlers   in   Pennsylvania, 

159-160 
Irish    immigrants    to    Virginia 

in  17th  and  18th  centuries, 

Intro.,    10,    19,    44,    85-87, 

159-160 
Irish   soldiers   in   Washington's 

Body-Guard,  111  n 

Lee  family  of  Virginia,  inter- 
married with  the  Mc- 
cartys,   42 

Lafayette  and  Adams,  enter- 
tained by  the  McCartys, 
56 

Mason,  General  Armistead  T. ; 
duel  with  John  M.  Mc- 
Carty, 71-79 

Meade,  Andrew,  of  Virginia; 
a  native  of  Kerry,  Ireland, 
15  n 


Mordecai,  John;  duel  with  Wil- 
liam Page  McCarty,  80-82 

MacArt,  Cormac;  King  of  Ire- 
land, Intro. 

MacCarthy  family;  their  an- 
cient pedigree,  Intro. 

MacCarthy,  Donough;  Lord  of 
Muskerry,    Intro. 

MacCarthy,  Donough;  Earl  of 
ClanCarthy,  Intro. 

MacCarthy,  Florence;  Tanist 
of  Carbery,  Intro. 

MacCarthy,  Florence  of  Vir- 
ginia and  his  descendants, 
17-20 

MacCarthy,  Justin;  Earl  of 
Mountcashel,  Intro. 

MacCarthy  or  MacCartee,  Den- 
nis; land  patents  in  Vir- 
ginia in  17th  century,  8- 
15 

MacCarthy,  Charles,  of  York 
County,  Va.,  17 

MacCarthy  families  of  Augusta 
County,  Va.,  97-98 

MacCarthys  in  the  military 
service  of  France,  22 

MacCarthy,  Chevalier  Charles ; 
Governor  of  Illinois  under 
the  French,  128-136 

Macartee,  Elisa;  immigrant  to 
Virginia,  1653,  17 

Mackartee,  Charles,  of  York 
County,  Va.,  1688,  17 

Mackartee,  Dennis,  of  York 
County,  Va.,  1688,  17 

MacCarthy,  Edmond;  early  set- 
tler in  Brunswick  County, 
Va.,  86 

MacCarthj',   Cornelius   of  Staf- 


319 


320 


INDEX 


ford  County,  Va.,  and  his 
descendants,    83-84 
MacCarthy,        Alexander        of 
Prince  George  County,  Md., 
82 
MacCarty,  Thaddeus  of  Boston, 
1664-1705,  200-214 
his  extensive  landed  interests, 

209-210 
descended     from     MacCarthy 
Mor,    Prince    of    Desmond, 
206 

MacCarty,  Florence  of  Boston, 
231-236 

MacCarty,  Captain  Thomas  of 
Boston,   216 

MacCarty,  Thomas,  Jr.,  in  the 
Kevolution  in  New  Eng- 
land,   1689,   217-220 

MacCarty,  Thaddeus  (2nd), 
New  England  sea-captain, 
224-227 

MacCarty,  Rev.  Thaddeus 
(3rd),  patriot  of  the  Revo- 
lution,  227-229 

MacCarty,  Dr.  Thaddeus  (4th), 
first  physician  at  Fitch- 
burg,   Mass.,   230 

MacCarty,  Thaddeus  (5th), 
New  Hampshire  jurist, 
231 

MacCartys,  niimerous  in  the 
Massachusetts  vital  rec- 
ords, 238-240 

MacCartys,  Colonial  soldiers  of 
Massachusetts,   244-249 

^McCarthys  in  Connecticut,  263- 
265  " 

McCarthys  in  Delaware,  147- 
148 

McCarthys  in  Georgia,  122-127 

McCarthys  in  Illinois  and  Ken- 
tucky,  141-146 

McCarthys  in  Louisiana,  137- 
138 

McCarthys  in  Maine,  271-274 


McCarthys    in   Maryland,    107- 
115 

McCarthys     in     Massachusetts, 
199 

McCarthys   in   New   Hampshire 
and    Vermont,    275-279 

McCarthys  in  New  Jersey,  194- 
198 

McCarthys  in  New  York,   173- 
193 

McCarthys  in  North  and  South 
Carolina,    115-122 

McCarthys      in      Pennsylvania, 
148-172 

McCarthys     in     Rhode     Island, 
265-271 

McCarthys  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Land   Records,   166-169 

McCarthys  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Navy,    164-165 

McCarthys,   New    England   Ma- 
riners, 280-282 

McCarthys       of       Charlestown, 
Mass.,    243-244 

McCarthys    of   Medford,   Mass., 
250-252 

McCarthys     or     Mecarteys     of 
Salem,    Mass.,    241-242 

McCarthy,    Captain    Daniel    of 
Boston,  254-256 

McCarthy,    Captain    Daniel    of 
Roxbury,   256-260 

McCarthy,    Captain    Daniel    of 
Philadelphia,    161-164 
brings      shipload      of      immi- 
grants from  Cork,  Ire.,  163 

McCarthys,    pioneers    of    Bucks 
County,  Pa.,   149-156 

McCarthy,    Carlton;    Mayor    of 
Richmond,  Va.,   284 

McCarthy,   Cornelius  of  Savan- 
nah, Ga.,   123-126 

McCarthy,    Dr.    Charles   H.,    of 

Washington,  D.  C,  285 
McCarthy,  Dr.  Charles  of  Wis- 
consin  State  Library,   285 


INDEX 


321 


McCarthy,  Dalton  of  Toronto, 
Ont.,  285 

McCarthy,  Dennis  A.,  of  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  285 

McCarthy,  Gerald  of  North 
Carolina,  285 

McCarthy,  James;  early  School- 
master in  North  Carolina, 
118-119 

McCarthy,  Michael  Henry,  of 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  284 

McCarthys,  Officers  in  Civil 
War,   289 

McCarthys,  Officers  in  Mexican 
War,  289 

McCarthys,  Officers  in  Spanish- 
American  War,   290 

IMcCarthys,  Officers  in  War  of 
1812,  288 

McCarthys,  Officers  in  War  of 
the  Revolution,   291 

McCarthys,  soldiers  and  sailors 
of  the  Revolution,  291-295, 
Appendix 

McCarthy,  Colonel  Daniel;  the 
first  American  soldier  in 
France  in  the  World  War, 
290-291 

McCartie,  Charles  and  Owen; 
the  first  of  the  name  in 
America,   1-4,  7-8 

McCarty,  Captain  Charles; 
Member  of  the  Virginia 
Convention,  67 

McCarty,  Darby  of  Frederick 
County,  Va.,  87-88 

McCarty,  Daniel;  exiled  by  the 
Treaty   of   Limerick,    1691, 
20-21 
leading  Virginia  colonist,  23- 

26 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, 27-28 
his  great  landed  property  in 
Virginia,  34-36 


inscription  on  his  tombstone, 
33 

McCarty,  Daniel;  King's  Attor- 
ney in  Virginia,  1692,  13- 
16 

McCarty,  Daniel  (2nd),  Bur- 
gess of  Virginia,  1734,  44 
appoints  Augustine  Wash- 
ington executor  of  his  will, 
46 

McCarty,  Colonel  Daniel  of  Vir- 
ginia; Revoluttionary  pa- 
triot, 66-67 

McCarty,  Dennis  of  Virginia; 
marries  Sarah  Ball,  39-41 
his  children  cousins  of  George 
Washington,    41 

McCarty,  Dennis,  Jr.,  Member 
of  Virginia  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, 42 

McCarty,  Dennis,  of  Virginia; 
Colonial  soldier  under 
Washington,   57-60 

McCarty,  Michael,  Daniel  and 
James;  Colonial  soldiers  of 
Virginia,  88 

McCarty,  Thaddeus ;  married 
in  George  Washington's 
home,  41 

McCarty,  Patrick;  pioneer  of 
Hampshire  County,  Va., 
92-94 

McCarty,  Colonel  Edward ;  Rev- 
olutionary soldier  of  Vir- 
ginia, 94-96 

McCarty,  Peter  of  Winchester, 
Va.,  and  his  numerous 
descendants,    100-102 

McCarty,  Timothy;  pioneer  of 
Pocahontas  County,  W. 
Va.,   99-100 

McCarty,  Colonel  Daniel  of 
Virginia;  his  negotiations 
with  Washington,   68-69 

McCarty,  John  Mason;  his 
duel    with    General    Armi- 


322 


INDEX 


stead     T.     Mason,     71-79 

McCarty,  William  Page;  his 
duel  with  Jolin  Mordecai, 
80-82 

McCartys  miscalled  "Scotch- 
Irish,"  96-97 

McCartys  as  sportsmen,  102- 
103 

McCartys  numerous  in  Staf- 
ford  County,   Va.,  85 

McCartys  mentioned  in  Hen- 
ing's  Statutes  of  Virginia, 
89-92 

McCarty  family  invited  to  at- 
tend Washington's  funeral, 
69-70 

McCartys  mentioned  by  Wash- 
ington in  his  Diary,  60-63 

McCartys  in  the  Virginia  Leg- 
islature, 29 

New  Ireland  County,  Maryland, 
108 
its    subdivisions.    New    Con 
naught,   New  Leinster   and 
New  Munster,  108 

O'Neale,  Hugh  of  Maryland; 
Colonizing  Agent  for  Lord 
Baltimore,    109-110 

Places    in    the    United    States 


named  for  McCarthys,  104- 
105 

Revolution,  American ;  Mc- 
Carthys in.  Appendix 

Rices,  Irish  family  in  Virginia, 
5-6 

Stanards,  Irish  family  in  Vir- 
ginia, 5-6 

Travers,  Irish  family  in  Vir- 
ginia, 5-6 

Truro  Parish,  Va.,  Records  of, 
43-44,   50-55 

Washington,   Augustine;   execu- 
tor   of     Daniel    McCarty's 
will,  46 
appoints      Daniel      McCarty 
executor  of  his  will,  47 
Washington,     George:     Vestry- 
man with  Daniel  McCarty 
of  Truro  Parish,  52-55 
his  intimate  relationship  with 

the   McCartys,   57-62 
McCartys    mentioned    in    his 
Diary,  60^63 
Wright,  Mary ;  wife  of  Florence 
MaeCarthy  of  Virginia,   18 

Yeoeomico  Church,  Westmore- 
land County,  Va.,  32-33 


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