The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-10-26
Some Of the Men Who Contrib
uted. to the EARLY His
tory Of Chicago.
interesting Sketches Of Those
Who Figured ir3.,tile
,s Pioneer Days. S,s5
The Part That Col. nulligan and
His Irish Brigade Played
During the Rebellion.

just the hrst white settler IN CnlcagO
is by common consent of all the authOrl-
ties admitted to have been negro, SO the
earliest representative of the Irish race
whose name appears in the records was
an Indian, and an Indian chief at that.
Billy Caldwell, the son of Colonel Cald-
we'll of the British army. and Of a full
b1ooded Pottawatomie mother, might be
more properly described as a Scotch-lrish
than an Irish half-breed, as people.of that
name in Ireland usually hail from Ulster
and show the characteristics Incidental to
Sactish origin. Billy Caldwell's father is
described as an Irish officer in the British
service and that is all that is known OF
him, says the Chicago Times Herald \
Billy himself played an important part
in the period following the massacre and
appears to have combined a thorough ap45
probation of the advantages of civiliza-
ton with intense attachment to his, saw
age kindred. He was born in 1870 in
Canada; he was we'll educated by the
Jesuit fathers and never descended to- the
savage manners or practices Of the red
skins. Indian custom permitted polyga-
my, but Billy, though a chief, never had
but one wife She, as it happened, was
termagant of ter1nagamts, a full-blooded
Pottawatomie of aristocratic lineage,
known by the name Of Yellow Head, a
daughter of Nee -scot-ne-meg, one OF the
leaders in the Fort Dearborn massacre in
1S12stMsaBilly Caldwell took part in that
war with his nation against the Amer
icansSand was for some years after q cap
tain in the English Indian departn1en
On the day of the massacre he was not att
Chicago, but arrived the day after; being
species of aid-de-camp to. Tec1ln1seh. On,
his arrival he helped Atos save the life, Of
Mrs. Kinzie
Probably from 1920 Billy Caldwell was
a. resident of Chicago. His name appears
in the poll lists of 1926 and 1880. He
was justice of the peace$in 1926. He
rendered good service to the United
States by keeping his nation quiet during
the Black Hawk war, and his local
knowledge was acknowledged by Colonel
James w. BucIlin, chief engineer of the
greatest benefit to him. When the re-
moval of the Pottawatomies took place,
to the peaceful accompli lishmen OF which
he contributed greatly, he went away
with his people. This migration took
place in 1886, and Billy Caldwell, the
most enlightened half-breed Of his day,
survived that event five years.
The poll book Of 1880, when Chicago
was a precinct Of Peoria county, shows an
accession of two Irishnen, John S. c.
Hogan and Michael Welch, both Of whom
were well-known citizens in later years.
Hogan kept the suffers store at Fort
Dearborn, and in his store the first post
office was established in 1881, with Ho-
gan's father-in-law, John N. Bailey, as
postmaster. From 1888 Hogan himself
held the Office He was one of the first
purchasers Of canal lots and the land sur
veyed and brought into the market in
1880, and the name of another Irishman,
Thomas Ryan, appears in the same list.
The first action taken by Catholics to
provide religious admi ministration for Chi /
cago was taken by a petition sent in
April, 1888, tossBishop Rosatti, Of Mis-
souri, This petition bears the names OF
Thomas j. VI Owens, Patrick Walsh,
Caldwell, Matthias Smith and j. S. G. Ho-'
gan. Most of i these names, even the
Smith, with Matthias before it, suggest
Irish origin:s
the incorporation Of Chicago as a town
and the erection of the little log church
OF: st. Mary, found two more Ildshmen
here as settlers, Edward W. Casey and 4
B. Egan. DR.. Egan was vas g na-a Ila Vi
tive Of Kerry, Ireland, who recefvetlsA Ae
professional education in Dublin, and set
out when qnite young to the wild west.
He was perfect specimen Of the genial
and cultured Irishman, and down to the
time of his death, in 1862, was one Of the
most influential men in the city. Short
" after his arrival here James Lane,
Charles Mcdonnell Michael Lantry, and
Daniel McIlroy came on and all became
prominent citizens McIlroy was one Of
the most brilliant lawyers in eaWest
and .,rospered we'll in htssprof ofesston.
Only. one Of these four, ]. Lane, of kane
place Chicago, now survives . John 81 IES. IES
Hogan. the first Irishman who held q
federal Office, was also the first that went
ii lto municipal Office, having been elected
al alderman soon after the city's incor
He did not prosper IN his.feg-
ular business and left for California ia
I849.
ne of the most active and enterprising