The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-03-07
-(Mrltten for The Americans

4 N"ilIiGh lOE ud
It Is said that two-thirds Of the en-
tire Irish race are in the United States
and that there are more Irish In Bos.
ton than in any other city in the
world. South Carolina has the largest
irish population Of any State in the
Union. Nearly half of the Continental
troops under Washington were Irish
descent, and many OF the most val.
iant officers of the Revolution wore
small green flags on their coats to
mark their double allegiance.
The connection of the Irish with
America goes back to the earliest his.
tory of the country. First there is
the legendary visit of st. Brendan, de.
vout missionary and daring navigator,
whose supposed visit to our shores an.
tedated the landing of Columbus by q
thousand years. There were Irish pil.
grims on the Maynower. and 500 or
600 members of this race came over
In the stormy times OF Cromwell. AS
early as 1916 500 Irish families went
II South Carolina. There we're Irish
Quakers in the settlement of William
Penn, and before the Revolution near.
~ half of the members of the Penn.
sylyania legislatures were Irish.
Nine OF the slgners OF the Declara-
ton Of Independence we're either Irish
or of Irish descent. John Barry was
given the first captalncy in the AM
erlcan navy, and the naval honors won
for the Emerald Isle were continued
by Stephen Decatur, of direct irish
extraction. MAD Anthony" Wayne
was Irish to his finger tips, and was
hclligerently proud of it. Capt. Dan.
lei Patrick. the noted Indian fighter
of the Massachusetts Colony, was
born in Ireland. This undaanted peo-
pie were the first to make their way
across the Alleghenies, under the
leadership of their countrymen, Dan
lei Boone and David Crockett. Gen.
sam Houston never failed to remark
on his Irish blood, of which he was
aggl essively proud. Both Miles Stan.
dish and John Alden were Irish.
Politics Their Favorite.
The popular conception That there
are more Irishmen in politics than
anywhere else is not far from the
truth. There is an old saying that
they have rr'7d every other country
but their own. Seven OF the 25 Am
| nr;onn nraUfJapis t,aro laao IF TrfSI,
descent. and two presidential candi,
dates, james G. Blaine and Horace
Greeley. We're OF that blood. John G..
Calhoun. the master statesman and
orator was the son Of Patrick Cal
houn, born in Donegal county, Ire.
land. The first mayor Of New York
after the revolution was Jcsep,
Euane. the son OF County Galway
lrishman. Massachusetts, New Hamp'
shire and Vermont were once govern
ed by three brothers named Sullivan.
One Of the most picturesque figures
In the whole history Of American pol
itics was General James Shields, hero
OF the Mexican and civil wars. govern.
or of Oregon. chief justice of Illinois,
and the only man who ever served
three terms in the United States Sen.
ate, each time from a different State.
He was first sent from Illinois, then
from Minnesota and finally from Mis-
scurl.
Run Things In New York.
The power of the irish In New York
politics is proverbial. The first grand
sachem OF Tammany was William
Rooney. also The first to sign It's con
stitutIon. Honest John" Kelly and
Charles o'Connor were boGl Leaders
Of Tammany who fought against the
Tweed ring. Richard Croker and his
lieutenant and successor, Charles f
Murphy, are both Irish, We also havt
IL any Irish roformers, such as Pat
rick Moran, district attorney OF Bos
ton: Mayor Danne, Of Chicago. ant