The Irish standard., 1902-09-27
The Naval Hero Was Born at Ballysampsop
in the County of Wexford
in the Year 1889.
The Name of "Saucy Jack Barry Slightly
Known to the Students of
American History

Why is Commodore John Barry. the
Father of the American Navy, SO little
known? Why is the first man who
sailed an American warship under the
striped flag. the organizer of the Amer
lean Navy, tire first Commodore of
that navy, the nHn who Fought a,"i
Won the last naval battle Of the Rev
oluton. and the man beloved by Wash
ngtOn not known?
He is not known because, like many
other Irish American Catholic patriots,
lpc has been ignored by those who
have written so-cnlled American his
tory He is the victim of Il conspiracy
of silence. lie was one of the makers
of American history, the most prom
incnt figure of that glorious chapter
which tells of our naval victories in
ollr very infancy over the, "mistress
of the seas"
But he is little KNOWN. lis name
| is sought for in vain in many Amer
gets Il bare mention. His deeds arc
not rccountcd in these HISTORIES there
fulc, it lis not strange tllElt he is lit
tie known" lie was not Puritan
and could not be used for the purpose
of nmgnifying "AnglO-SaXOn' achieve
nents He was II Catholic lrshman
l,,> IfJ,
Irishman." These are the chief rea-
SONS why the Father Of the American
Navy Is not known, and no man can
produce any other reasons. 1t is a
falsification of history by omission,
and constitutes u deep crime against
TRUTH as the more open distortion Of
facts to holster a falsehood.
Among the lHlmc OF the patriots
who gave their valor, many of THE best
years OF their lives their fortunes and
their hearts to tlre cause of liberty,
tlMt of John Barry, lrislman by birtll
must bc ever venerated. In the clllr
acter and achievements of Barry one
finds the manly virtues predominant
A. man who rose by merit alone from
THE position OF cabin boy to COM
malwler who entered THE naval service
| without any training in the art Of war,
yet distinguished himself upon many
seas, of rugged honesty, Of charitable
heart, of strong affections, of iIllOm-
| table courage; a true friend, a devoted
patriot-:ll these was John Barry, OF
whose career every Catholic should be
proud, every descendant of an Irish
man glad and every American grateful
in memory as to the other heroes of
1776
Accounts Of John Barry give his
birthplace as Tacumsllin, county Wex-
ford, Ireland, and the date of his
birth as 1745; but Martin l. j.. Grif-
fin, OF Philadelphia, who will soon
issue Il life of the intrepid Irishman,
has discovered, after making special
investigation, THAT he WAS born ut
Ballysampson, barony of Forth, in the
county Wexford in August, 1879; that
he was the son of James and Ellen
Barry and had 4 twin sister named
Marianna, both Of them being bap-
tiZed on the day of their birth by
Father James French, according to
the parish registry. He entered the
merchant service at an early age and
served before the mast in many cruises
and at the age Of twcnty-OIle was Il
master mariner and for some time q
commander. The first record of Barry
in this country is in 1866, when llc ar-
rived at Philadelphia in command of
a schooner from the West Indies. lie
commanded many vessels, among them
the Black Prince, owned by John Nix
on, son of an Irishlnan. Ths same
John Nixon was the first man to read
the Declaration of Independence to
the people ON July s, 177G.
At the breaking out of the Rev
olution Barry's every instinct was
aflame with loyalty to the cause Of the
patriots and opportunity soon came
for him to give valuable help. Con-
grass, realizing the necessity for ma