Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-27
THOMAS coxRoY,s vow
WHY He Refuses to Accept q Large
Fortun1s

Regularly every year. says a Tanners
Falls penn special to~the New York
Times, Thomas ConroY; an industrious
shoemaker, of this village, receives Of
fetal notice from Dublin IRELAND, that
fortune of 5000, with the Accommodations
Of 26 years, is in bank there awaiting bis
order, and regularly every year he sends
back word that he viii never touch pen
ny Of the money until he has had justice
done him in another way Thomas Con-
roy, now 80 years of age, was born in the
Province of Leinster, Ireland, where the
firm of Conroy Brothers had monopoly
of supplying bread and liquor to 1000
soldiers in the barracks near Dublin.
Michael Conroy, one Of the firm, was
Thomas Conroy's father; and the other
member Of the firm was Thomas ConrOy,
an uncle. When young Thomas ConFoy
was 10 his father died. His mother had
been dead some years. His father lett
viii directing that when Thomas became
of age he should be paid whatever the
amount of the interest of the deceased
man in the supply business was. Young
COnroY took up his residence with his I'M
Gle Thomas in Dublin. The young man
was we'll educated and high-spirited, the
COnrOy family being Of the higher class.
There was another uncle named Patrick.
who had married a woman who was be-
meath him in social standing. His wile's
sister had a daughter 1Eyears of age, and
it occurred to Patrick that he would be
pleased to have his nephew Thomas mar
nv this niece. When -it.was proposed to
young COnroy he refused to listen to it,
and aroused the enmitY of his uncle Pat
rick thereby, and the latter sought means
Il Ill for
thwarting his plans.
At that time the order of Mollie Ma
guires-which originated in Ireland
were very strong there. The lawless acts
had stricken terror into every neighbOr-
hood where a branch Of the order was
known to exist. Patrick Conroy deter
mined to use this order to retaliate on his
nephew, and one day he called on his
brother Thomas and revealed to him the
pretended fact that young Thomas was
not only a member OF the M0llle Ma
CURES, but that he was Secretary and
bookkeeper of the local lodge, and had
list of its members. A number Of out
RACES had been perpetrated in Dublin
about that time, which had been traced to
this very lodge. and the elder Thomas
ConrOy's anger was unbounded when he
learned that his nephew was connected
with the criminals. Summoning the
his alliance with the hated MOllies. This
aroused the blood of young COnroy, who
was strongly opposed to the order of
which he was charged with being mem
Der. and, upon being told that the charge
was made on the word of his uncle Pat
rick, she young man denounced him as
liar and villain. Thomas COnroy the
elder commanded his nephew to immedi-
ately apologize abjectly to Patrick for his
disrespectful language or to leave the
house forever. Young ConrOy indignant
y refused to apologize, and repeating his
words declared he would not remain an
other moment among flesh and blood that
had so belied him, and left the house.
With u guineaS IN his pocket he sailed
for America. He landed in New York in
1858. A former acquaintance of his lived
in Callicoon, on the Erie Railway, and
young Conroy hunted him up. From
there he went on foot to Binghamton, and
from there started to walk to New Or
leans, whore he had a friend. In passing
through the village of Mount Pleasant, in
this county, he stopped at the shop door
of the village shoemaker, and while
watching him at his work became so in
terested in it that he asked the shoemaker
if he did not want an apprentice. me
shoemaker did, and young Conroy went to
work then and there.
When Conroy came of age he received
notice from his uncle that he was entitled
| to $4,000 from their business, and that it
awaited his order. He sent back the
word he has sent every year since that
when they apologiZed to him and confessed
| they had wronged him by the charges they
made against him in Ireland, he would go
| to Ireland and claim the money, and new
| er before. When Conroy learned his
! trade he married Miss Delaney and went
| to work for himself at Tanners Falls. He
| is obliged to work hard and constantly to
! support himself and family, and yet he
| will not break the VOW he took, when he
left his native land, to never visit it again
nor touch one penny of the wealth he was
! entitled to until his uncles confessed to
him that they had wronged him.