The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-06-17
JOHN BARRY.
Relics Of the Naval Commander Found
in Philadelphia.

in Philadelphia.
In connection with the proposal to
erect monument to the memory Of
Commodore John Barry, many relics
of the naval commander have been
found in Philadelphia, which was his
home, and where he maintained both
a town and country residence, says
the New York Herald
His tomb is in St. Mary's church
yard, in Fourth street, below Locust.
In Fairmount Park, too, is a monu-
ment not known to many where one of
the five figures of the fountain erected
by the Catholic Total Abstinence soci-
ETY. is a statue of Barry. 1t is Of
heroic size and the inscription, besides
reciting some OF his principal exploits
on the sea, describes him as the first
commodore.
Many relics are in the possession of
Mrs. w. Horace Hepburn, of this city,
who is great grandniece of Barry,
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dore Bainbridge. Some are valuable
as records, among these being the
logs of the Alliance and other war
ships which Barry commanded. An
other relic is his commission as cap
tain and commander of the United
! States issued to take rank from the
| fourth day of June, 1884" 1t is dated
February %. 1897, however, and is
signed by Washington. On the mar
gin it is numbered "one," showing it to
have been the first captains commits
sion issued in the navy of the new
government.
OF nearly equal Importance as a rec
ord is the certificate of Barry's men,
bership in the Society of the Cincin-
natl. With this Mrs. Hepburn has
also the badge of the order presented
| him by the Marquis de Lafayette. 1t
is in the usual emblem, but is very Or
nate. 1t was made in France.
! Also in Mrs. Hepburn's possession
is Gilbert Stuart's original portrait, a
copy of which, by Colin Campbell
Cooper, was presented to the city by
! the Hibernian Society in 1895, and now
hangs in independence Hall. The
Stuart portrait was painted in Phila
delphia.
| Among the relics is a set of china,
much of which was used on the Ali
ance. Among these are punch bowl
and pitcher in white china, with pic
ture of the frigate under full sail on
each. This china was probably made
in France, but that point has not been
determined.
There is also considerable quanti-
ty of French china, with the mono
gram S. b., for Sarah Barry, on it, and
several dinner plates, which were
probably used in his house. Connect
ed with the commodore's career are
one of his swords, gun and full
dress uniform, the latter consisting OF
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vest and blue frOck coat with i'm
mense brass buttons. The size of these
garments proves that the commodore
was large man. Among the relics
originally were a pair of silver knee
buckles, which, before the collection
came into the hands of it's present
owner, were melted down and made
into teaspoons. Mrs. Hepburn has
these spoons, but says she would
much prefer to have the silver in the
original form. Commodore Barry's
watch is also in the collection, as is a
large solid silver ale tankard.
Barry's tomb in ST. Mary's church
yard is one Of the most impressive
mementos of him. The original tomb
was erected by the widow, but this be-
came dilapidated and the inscription.
written by DR.. Benjamin Rush, copy
of which has been preserved, was
barely decipherable in 1865. In 1876
the tomb was repaired and now bears
this inscription: