USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 41
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He was a natural orator, an excellent musician, and a man of literary ability. He wrote under the pseudonym of "Paul Peppergrass," "Mary Lee; or, the Yankee in Ireland." "Shandy Maguire; or, Tricks upon Travellers," a story of the North of Ireland; "Spaewife; or, the Queen's Secret," a tale of the days of Elizabeth, are his chief works. In a re- view of "Shandy Maguire," Dr. Brownson, the well known critic, says: " We recognize in its author a robust and healthy mind, true manliness of thought and feeling, and genius of a high order. It is brilliant, full of wit and humor, and genuine tenderness and pathos. With his rare genius, un- common ability, rich cultivation, brilliant yet chaste imagi- nation, warmth of heart, mirthfulness, poetic fancy, artistic skill and dramatic power, the author cannot fail, if he chooses, to attain the highest excellence in the species of literature which he has selected." His devotion to parish work kept him from winning that literary fame which might otherwise have been his. The labor which he took upon himself proved too much for his constitution, and January 2, 1864, he was called away. His grave in Worcester was made under the shade of the pines which he had planted, and the pines which he set out about the church which he built and for which he labored so faithfully here, in their unchanging freshness may serve as a type of the memories of him that live in the minds of his parishioners.
While Father Boyce was in Worcester, he was assisted by Rev. Patrick Thomas O'Reilly. Patrick Thomas O'Reilly was a native of the County of Cavan in the east of Ireland. He was the son of Philip and Mary O'Reilly, and was born
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December 24, 1833. He received his elementary education in his native land. He came to America in his youth, and with the aid of his uncle, who lived in Boston, he studied at St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md., and at St. Mary's Sem- inary in Baltimore. He became a priest August 15, 1857. He then came to St. John's Church, Worcester, to assist Father Boyce. He is described as being at this time " tall and well proportioned, dark haired, high browed, beautiful of face, gentle of soul, and with that undefinable charm that marks one of God's noblemen." He served in Worcester for five years with Father Boyce. During this time, he fre- quently officiated at St. John's Church in Clinton. During one year, he was here every second Sunday. Those who remember Father O'Reilly's work in Clinton speak of him with the deepest love and reverence. In 1862, he was called to Boston, where he organized St. Joseph's Parish. Two years later, he followed Father Boyce in Worcester.
Previous to 1870, there had been but one Catholic diocese in Massachusetts. Then the diocese of Springfield was cre- ated, and Rev. Patrick T. O'Reilly was made the first bishop. He was consecrated by Archbishop McCloskey on Septem- ber 25th of that year. As St. John's Church in Clinton be- longed to the diocese of Springfield under the new organi- zation, the Catholics here again came under the spiritual guidance of their former priest. Of the work of Rt. Rev. P. T. O'Reilly, D. D., we are told: "Churches of great archi- tectural beauty have arisen where humble structures once stood. Convent and school and orphanage and hospital and temple lifted their heads at his bidding, until from every vale and hill, gleams the sign of salvation. His was a busy life. Here and there about his diocese, he went, ordaining priests, administering confirmation, laying corner stones of church and chapel and school, counselling priests and peo- ple and kindling them with zeal and devotion, born of his own. During these visitations, he confirmed nearly eighty thousand persons and dedicated forty-five churches." He died May 28, 1892.
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REV. DENNIS A. O'KEEFE.
The first resident parish priest over St. John's in Clinton was Rev. John J. Connelly. He lived on Franklin Street. It is said that he had formerly been in Quebec, and that during the ravages of the ship fever in that city, he had stood by his post ministering to the suffering, while others had fled in fear of contagion. Father Patterson, who was acquainted with Father Connelly in Montreal, speaks of the excellence of his scholarship, and especially the purity of his French diction. When he came here, he was in poor health and soon became unable to perform the duties of the parish. He went from here to the Carney Hospital, where he died.
Father James Quinn assumed charge of the parish in 1863. He lived on Main Street opposite the foot of Winter. He also was a man of infirm health, and after five years of serv- ice was obliged to give up his parish. He never served else- where, but died after a short time.
He was succeeded in Clinton by Rev. Dennis A. O'Keefe in May, 1868. Dennis A. O'Keefe was born in the County of Cork, Ireland, in July, 1840. His father, Daniel O'Keefe, was a farmer. The family came to America in time of the great famine, having just money enough to yet them across the ocean. The children were educated in the Boston schools. Dennis A. O'Keefe studied at St. Charles's College, Ellicott City, Md., and at St. Mary's Seminary. He became a curate in Worcester under Father P.T. O'Reilly, and then took charge of a mission church in Whitinsville, Uxbridge. The church in Clinton had grown rapidly during the years that followed the war, and the old church was no longer large enough for the congregation. Father O'Keefe was laying plans for a new church, and one day as he was gathering funds he took a sudden cold, and after a brief illness he died October 19, 1868. Although Father O'Keefe had charge of St. John's parish but five months, yet he had won the highest respect of the whole community, and was regarded with the greatest love by his own people. The Courant says of his
34
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funeral: "During the remarks of Father Bapst the emotions of the audience were uncontrollable. Men, women and chil- dren sobbed with grief." Thirty priests were present at the ceremony, and twenty-five hundred people followed the re- mains of their beloved pastor to the grave. Only the week before his death he had bought an addition of eighteen acres for the cemetery, and here his body was laid. A massive monument surmounted by a cross marks the spot.
For one year longer the people continued worship in the old church, but November 21, 1869, they occupied their new. temporary church on Pleasant Street. In 1874, the old church, hallowed by so many memories, was demolished.
Here, just at the point where the phenomenal develop- ment of the Catholic Church in Clinton begins, our story must end. Thus far in this little consecrated building on the hill, with its humble congregation, we have had only the chrysalis of that which was to be. The future historian will have the privilege of showing how our Catholic Church burst from its narrow confines, and with new beauty and new strength brought spiritual food from heaven to earth. He will show how during the year after the coming of Rev. Richard J. Patterson from Pittsfield, in November, 1868, a new place of worship on Pleasant Street had been consecrated with accommodations many times as great as in the former building; how the people, still unsatisfied, on the 3d of August, 1875, laid the corner-stone of a new edifice of much greater proportions, and how, after eleven years of untold sacrifice for the cause which lay so near their hearts, this temple, massive in its structure and beautiful in its interior decorations, was dedicated June 27, 1886, to the worship of the Lord. Such a historian will dwell upon the establish- ment of the parochial school, the purchase of the new parochial residence with its choice location and ample grounds; he will give fitting praise to the executive ability of Father Patterson, by whom all this work was inspired and directed; he will trace the growth of organizations connected
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JOHN SHEEHAN.
with the church and its people; above all, he will show the people themselves, growing so wondrously in power and in wisdom. Yet, we may justly claim that the germs of all these things are to be found in the nature and consequent work of those early immigrants, and that it was only through their self-sacrifice for the good of their children that the present results were made possible.
If we were to treat of the individual members of the Catholic Church from the standpoint of their devotion to religious interests alone, we might find here as elsewhere the most saintly characteristics among those who have been most humble. Many of the women especially have excelled in piety and self-sacrifice, but as they did not do this for earthly fame, their story may be left to other records. Our history would be sadly incomplete, however, without some mention of individuals among those of Irish descent for, although few of them became prominent before 1865, which has been fixed upon as the close of our work, yet, since that time, their progress has been unsurpassed and we must seek in these earlier lives the roots of their present success.
While it would be impossible within the limits of this work to give any account of all the original immigrants of Irish birth who either in themselves or through their chil- dren have rendered notable service to the community and to the world at large, yet a few may be taken from many to illustrate their progressive characteristics. These few have been selected especially from those families of which mem- bers have held the most prominent offices in this town or elsewhere. All have been excluded whose families were not in town before the close of the Civil War.
One of the first of our citizens of Irish descent to hold local office was John Sheehan. He was the son of Joseph and Dora Sheehan, and was born in Ireland in 1825. He was educated in the national schools and worked on his father's farm. He came to America on account of the sad condition
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of affairs in Ireland. In 1846, he came to this section of the country. He married Ellen Gallagher in 1852, and settled on the South Meadow Road just within the limits of Lancas- ter. He had four children. When they began to be large enough to attend school, he was anxious to have them attend those of Clinton. His residence required that they should attend in Lancaster. One day, one of his sons appeared in a Clinton school and was noticed by a member of the school board and told that he did not belong here, as his father lived in another town. He replied: "No, sir; he lives in Clinton." It was found upon inquiry that Mr. Sheehan had moved his house across the line in order that his children might have the privileges of our schools. Mr. Sheehan was a selectman of Clinton in 1876-7, and a road commissioner in 1879-82. He died January 8, 1887. One of his sons be- came a successful merchant in Philadelphia, and one of his daughters was for years a Clinton teacher.
Felix Nugent was born in Monaghan, County Ulster, Ireland, March 23, 1825. His father was a land 'steward. Besides looking after the farm, he had charge of a little grist-mill and prepared flax for linen manufacture. His uncle was pressed into the English army at the time of the Napol- eonic wars. Most of the schools in Ulster were under Protestant control during his early childhood, and he was obliged to get his elementary education in night schools. After 1835, there were unsectarian national schools which gave good instruction, and the boy attended one of these. His father's cottage was made of stone, with thatched roof. It had an earthen floor; there was a loft that was used as a sleeping room. He worked with his father after leaving school, but, when his father died in 1844, he resolved to try his fortunes in a new country where men could hold property in their own right, uncursed by the landlord system. He first went to New York, then to West Boylston in 1845. In 1853, he came to Clinton and became a grocer, first in the building now known as the Kelly building on Church Street,
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PATRICK O'CONNOR.
then in the Blood building, then he purchased the Kelly building and moved back there. He built the house which he still occupies on South Main Street. In later years, he has been a coal dealer. He was an assessor of the town for six years, and has been overseer of the poor. He was one of the organizers and chief workers in the St. John's Temper- ance Society. His sons are well known business men. One of them, William Nugent, has served the town as a member of the board of selectmen.
Patrick O'Connor was born in Ireland, June 17, 1822. His father, Thomas O'Connor, was a farmer. The boy spent his youth in his native land, and was educated in the common schools. He came to this country to better his condition. He located in Clintonville in April, 1848. He worked at the Clinton Foundry. He built a house on Summit Street. He married Mary O'Brien in June, 1855. The fact that strikes the observer most strongly in the life of Mr. O'Connor is the value he set on education. Although his income was by no means large, yet his children received the full benefit that the schools of the town could give them, and two were sent to college. His son, Dr. Thomas H. O'Connor, is one of our best known physicians, and has been a member of the board of selectmen, of the board of health, and of the board of library directors. He is medical examiner. Three of the daughters of Patrick O'Connor are teachers. He died May
26, 1891.
John J. McNamara, the father of our postmaster, was born in Mayo, County Connaught, Ireland, in 1815. His father, Timothy McNamara, was a farmer, and the son was brought up to work at his father's business. In the winter, he added to his income by fishing off the west coast of Ire- land. He obtained a good general education and added some Latin to the common branches. In the time of the great famine, as the outlook for the future was very poor in Ireland, he determined to emigrate. In December, he set out from Liverpool in a sailing vessel loaded with railroad
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iron. The ship was wrecked after a tempestuous voyage and driven upon the Island of St. Thomas, one of the West Indies. There, the vessel was refitted, and then the voyage was renewed. Fourteen weeks were spent between Liver- pool and Boston. Mr. McNamara resided in Worcester and West Boylston for some time, and then came to Clintonville in 1849, to work in the Lancaster Mills. He was one of the . original purchasers of land on the Acre from the Lancaster Mills Corporation. He built two houses on Oak Street. He had a family of nine children. There were five boys, all of whom survive. Mr. McNamara died July 29, 1889.
Martin Murphy, the present chairman of the board of selectmen, and Thomas Murphy, the chief of police, are children of Lawrence Murphy. The brothers, Lawrence and Martin Murphy, were born in Nut Grove, County Galway, Ireland, the former, October 1, 1822, the latter, November 10, 1824. Their father, Patrick Murphy, was a farmer, and the sons spent much of their childhood and youth at work with him. Lawrence Murphy came to Clintonville in 1847, and his brother came three years later. Both learned the trade of the stone mason, and either as employees of Ed- mund Harris or as independent contractors, have done a considerable portion of the stone-work of Clinton and the surrounding towns. Martin Murphy built the first house on Franklin Street in 1866, and Lawrence moved a house which he had bought to the same street in 1867. Both had large families. Lawrence Murphy died December 29, 1884. Martin Murphy is still living, in an honored old age.
Patrick Heagney, the father of William F. Heagney, so well known as a druggist and as a treasurer of the town, was the son of Thomas Heagney of County Galway, Ireland. He came to this country and to Clintonville in 1848, to join members of his family who had come hither before. He worked in the Lancaster Mills. He married Ellen Burke in May, 1856. He moved to Canada, and had a farm in Mel- bourne, P. Q., where he died July 18, 1880.
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THOMAS A. McQUAID.
Michael Harrity, the father of the present town treasurer, was born in County Mayo, July 3, 1826. He was the son of Michael and Mary Harrity. He attended the village school and worked on the farm. He married Hannah Grady in 1844. He has two sons and three daughters now living. He came to Clintonville in 1847, and was a dyer in the Bigelow Carpet Company mills for thirty years. He built the house on South Main Street where he now lives.
Thomas A. McQuaid, who was partly of Scotch and partly of Irish descent, was born at Dundee, Scotland, May 29, 1844. His father, Patrick McQuaid, was for many years superin- tendent of the Stevens Linen Bleachery, Dudley, Mass. Thomas A. McQuaid and his younger brothers attended the public schools and the Nichols Academy, Dudley. He gave up his trade as machinist in 1864, and came to Clinton and opened a grocery store in Kendall's Block. Here, he re- mained until 1875. He was subsequently in the clothing business. He married Mary L. Carney, June 15, 1871. The family lived on School Street. He died November 3, 1881. Mr. McQuaid had a genius for political organization, and it was under his leadership that the Democratic Party of Clin- ton became the equal of the Republican Party in power. He was our first prominent town officer of Irish descent. He served on the board of selectmen, 1872-4, and was chief of fire engineers in 1880. His brothers, Samuel and John, who came to town later, were each prominent business men, and each served on the school committee. John McQuaid was also our postmaster.
William Roche was born at Cork, Ireland. He passed his childhood in his native land, and received a good elementary education there. He learned the trade of a mason. He lived at Utica, New York, in 1844. He came to Clintonville in 1848, to work at his trade on the new mill buildings. He was an expert mechanic. He lived on Main Street. He was a resident of Clinton for twelve years. Hc died in 1876. His sons attended the public schools, con-
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tinuing their course into the High School. They have attained eminent success in business and professional life. Dr. Thomas F. Roche was for a time our town physician. John A. Roche, who was born at Utica, New York, August 12, 1844, has gained a national reputation. While in Clinton, in addition to attending school, he worked in the mills and the bakery. After leaving Clinton, he studied mechanical engineering at the Cooper Institute in New York City. He served an apprenticeship at the Allair works, New York. Later, he was with James R. Robinson of Boston; then in New York again, and with the Corliss Steam Engine Com- pany, Providence. In 1867, he went to Chicago. He mar- ried Emma M. Howard of Clinton, in Chicago, June 22, 1871. He has been a merchant, manufacturer and real estate owner in that city. He is at present a manufacturer of machinery. He put into operation the Lake Street Elevated Railroad, and has been prominently connected with the development of the systems of sewers, water-works and the canal for Chicago. He is now building the Technical Institute in that city. He is a Republican in politics. He was a member of the Legislatue of Illinois from 1876 to 1878. He was mayor of Chicago from 1886 to 1888, as the representative of a great reform movement. The efficient manner in which he carried out the purpose for which he was elected gave him a national reputation.
The one man among our Clinton citizens who above all others has represented the progressive character of his race, is John William Corcoran.
James Corcoran was born in Athlone, County Ros- common, Ireland, in 1820. He received a good common school education. He came to Clintonville in 1846, about the same time that John Sheehan settled in Lancaster. These two men were very intimate friends. He worked for the Lancaster Mills for a little while, and was for years in charge of the cemetery. In his later life, he was a local ticket agent for the steamship lines between England and
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JOHN W. CORCORAN.
America. He married Catherine Donnelly. He lived for a short time on Chace Street, next to the house of Edwin A. Harris. In his later years, he bought a plastered house, which is still standing, on the road leading from the Acre to Caleb Carruth's. He paid the mortgage on this house grad- ually, from a limited income. The education of his children he always looked upon as a prime necessity. He died Feb- ruary 27, 1872, and his wife followed him to the grave in November of the same year. His son says that nothing would have been further from his father's desire than to seek political office, for he hated the contention connected with it. His neighbors remember him as a sturdy man, full of rugged common sense.
John William Corcoran was born at Batavia, New York, June 14, 1853, while his father was temporarily engaged in railroad construction there. After a few months, his father returned to Clinton, and the boy passed his childhood and youth here. He attended the public schools, first in the old building on the Acre, then in the brick school-house above the Lancaster Mills' Bridge, then in the Grammar school- house on Walnut Street. He entered Holy Cross College February 17, 1868. He pursued his studies there and at St. John's, Fordham, and then at Holy Cross again. The death of his mother, quickly following that of his father in 1872, made him the head of the family and put an end to his classical studies. He received the degree of L. L. D. in 1893 from St. John's, Fordham, and a similar degree from George- town University in 1895. His responsibility for the younger members of the family which he assumed at so early an age, although fulfilled with the greatest carefulness and sympa- thy, did not hinder him from carrying out his plan of study- ing law. He read for a short time in the office of D. H. Bemis, Esq., who had a large practice here in the early seventies. He graduated from the Boston University Law School in 1875. He immediately opened an office in Clinton in the Burdett and Fiske Block. Here, he remained until
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the building of the Bank Block, in 1881. He opened an office in Boston in 1889. He was very successful in his practice in Clinton, and has attained the same success on a larger scale in Boston.
He married Margaret J. McDonald of Boston, April 28, ISSI. In 1884-5, he built his residence on Cedar Street, on a site commanding a beautiful view of the upper valley of the Nashua. Soon after he settled in practice here, he became the recognized leader of the Democratic party in Clinton. In 1876, he was elected a member of the school committee, an office which he has continued to hold since that time. He has received for this office the votes of many of the Republicans, who have recognized his broad-minded- ness and the inspiring power of his example upon the younger generation. He has been chairman of the board since 1884. He was made town solicitor in 1883, and held the office, with the exception of one year, until he resigned in 1892. He was influential in the movement which led to the introduction of water into Clinton. He especially advo- cated that the system should furnish an immediate supply for domestic purposes. He has been water commissioner since the organization of the board in 1881, serving at first as secretary and treasurer, and as chairman, since the death of Jonas E. Howe.
He was appointed receiver of the Lancaster National Bank, January 20, 1886, and through his able management the depositors were paid one hundred and nine cents on a dollar with its accrued interest, and the stockholders received a larger amount than was expected. He was president of the local board of trade in 1886-7. He has been twice nominated as representative to the lower house of the General Court, and twice as state senator. His political influence soon began to reach far outside of local bounds. He received the nomination of his party as attorney general in 1886, and again in 1887. For four years, ISSS, '89, '90 and '91, he was candidate for the office of lieutenant-governor. He was
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JOHN W. CORCORAN.
appointed judge advocate general in 1891 and in 1892. In May of the latter year, he resigned to accept the position of associate justice in the Superior Court. His work as a judge won the highest enconiums from his associates, and his retire- ment from the bench November 22, 1893, was universally regretted. But he found his law practice more lucrative and more adapted to his energetic nature. In 1893, he was pres- ident of the Massachusetts board of managers of the World's Columbian Exposition.
In IS84 and ISSS, he was sent as a delegate to the Dem- ocratic National Convention from the Ninth Congressional District. In the latter year, he was chairman. In IS92 and 1896, he was delegate at large, and in the latter year, he again acted as chairman. He was a member of the Dem- ocratic State Committee in 1891, 2, 4, 5, 6, and during the last three years under Cleveland's administration, much of the Federal patronage passed through his hands, as chairman. He is a vice-president of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Massachusetts. He has been for years one of the fore- most speakers in the political campaigns of the state. The votes which he has received and the offices which he has held are sufficient proof of the high regard in which he is held by his party and the people of the state at large. His genial social nature has always won him many friends, even among those who were his political opponents. He is a member of the Algonquin and Papyrus Clubs, and is the president of the Clover Club.
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