Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1917-03-17

first schoolmaster in Pennsylvania
was Thomas DUNCAN, son of an
eminent merchant of Dublin and
kinsman of Thomas Dongan, from
County kildare. who as Governor
of the Province of New York gave
their first charters to the cities OF
Albany and New York. DUNCAN
established his primitive school in
the year 1856 at a place called
Lower Dublin in Philadelphia
county. The first Governor oil
Pennsylvania after the adoption OF
the constitution twas George Bryan
a native of Dublin; the first Gov
ernor of Delaware was John Nc
Kinley. also born in Ireland. and
the first Chief Justice and Chan
cellor of Delaware was William
Killen, AN Irish Yedemptioner who
came over in 1897. The first man
from whom John Dickinson. cele-
brated as the Penman of the Revo-
luton" learned his letters was this
same William Kilen.
The first white man known 10
have crossed the mountains into
what is now Kentucky was an In
dian trader named Doherty, and the
first to explore that territory (1754
was James Mcbride. II was from
Mcbride that Daniel Boone learned
of the wonderful possibilities OF
1.-The magnificent country beyond
the mountains"
The first to penetrate the wilder
ness of Utah was Capt. Patrick Con-
nor; a Kelly was the first explorer
of Oregon. and the first American
Arctic explorer was Or. Elisha Kent
Kane, grandson of John O'Kane,
from Ireland, who settled at Pough-
keepsie in 1852. The first dwelling
of white man in Indian Territory
(1790) was the log cabin of Hugh
McGarry.
The first white settlers at Sara
toga Lake (1763) were the brothers
Michael and Nicholas Mcdonald,
from Limerick. One of the earliest
recorded settlements in what is now
the State of New Hampshire was
made by families. named Kelley and
Haley, fishermen from Galway, who
located on the Isles of Shoals in the
year 1868. In the first settlements
of Georgia by Oglethorpe in 1875
Irishmen are recorded. The first to
lay out tract OF land In what is
now the City of Atlanta was an
Irishmau named William Mitchell;
the founder OF Augusta, Ca, was
William O'Bryan. who was the first
Treasurer OF the Province, and the
founder of Dublin, Ga, was Thomas
Mccormick, who named the city
after his native place in Ireland
The first home of Alexander Ham
ilton In New York ara was with
the family of Hercules Mulligan in
Water street. and the first man
selected by Hamilton as conf
Dental correspondent of Gen. Wash
ington in New York" while the
British had possession of the city
was this same Hercules Mulligan.
a native of Coleraine. Ireland.
Among the first four Generals of
the Revolutionary army selected by
Washington were John Sullivan and
Richard Montgomery, from Donegal.
and the latter was the first General
of the officers TO fall in battle. The
first Secretary and Aide-de-C Camp
appointed by Washington when he
took command of the American
army was Joseph Reed, whose
father was an immigrant from Ire
land, and among his successors were
Coils. John Fitzgerald. of Alexan-
dria, and Stephen Moylan. from
Cork.
The first American privateer OF
the Revolution was the Game COCK,
owned and fitted out in 1775 at
Newburyport, Mass, by Nathaniel
Tracy, SON of Patrick Tracy, from
County Wexford. The first voyage
of an American ship to Japan was
by the Franklin in 1893. Her COM
mander was Capt. John Devereux,
from Wexford, nephew of Capt,
John Murphy, also from Wexford,
noted not only as an intrepid COM
mander of privateers during the
war of the Revolution. but as the
first to take the American flag
through the Mediterranean. The
first sea battle on record in which
an American ship took part was a
fight off the Canary Islands in the
year 1916 between a vessel owned
at Cambridge, Mass, and IAN Irish
man of war" In the first naval
battle of the American Revolution
the six sons of Morris O'Brien, from
Cork, fought; the last naval battle
of the Revolution was fought by
Capt. John Barrie. from Wexford
and the first naval battle dn inland
waters during the war of 1872 was
fought by Commodore Thomas Nc
Donough, son of Patrick McDon-
ough, from somewhere In Ireland
Even the mother of Perry. the hero
of Lake Erie, was a native OF
Newry, County Down.
In the first Continental Congress
(1774) sat seven sons of immigrant
frishmen-James Duane, from New
York; Thomas Lynch and John and
Edward Rutledge, from the Caro-
Hnas; Thomas Mexican. from Penn
sylvania; George Read, from Della
ware, and John Sullivan. from New
Hampshire. The first Secretary o.
this first American Congress was
Charles Thomson. from Maghera
County Derry. and he served so ionf
| In that capacity that ne becam'
known a. the perennial Secretar,
of Congress" In the flrst Con