Part 4

About 8 o’clock the company proceeded to dinner. Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, of Boston, presided. Among those present were: John C. Linehan, State Insurance Commissioner of New Hampshire; Joseph Smith, Secretary of the Police Commission, Lowell, Mass.; Rev. John J. McCoy, Chicopee, Mass.; James Jeffrey Roche, Boston, Mass.; Thomas B. Lawler, Worcester, Mass.; Charles A. De Courcey, Lawrence, Mass.; Rev. George F. Marshall, Milford, N. H.; Daniel Donovan, Lynn, Mass.; Lawrence J. Smith, Lowell, Mass.; Thomas Hamilton Murray, Editor of the _Daily Sun_, Lawrence, Mass.; Edward J. Brandon, City Clerk, Cambridge, Mass.; Thomas A. Santry, Lawrence, Mass.; P. J. Flatley, Boston, Mass.; Robert A. Woods, Boston, Mass.; John A. Callahan, Holyoke, Mass.; M. A. Toland, Boston, Mass.; Dr. Eugene McCarthy, Cambridge, Mass.; Dr. M. F. Sullivan, Lawrence, Mass.; Edward Arundel, Lawrence, Mass.; Dr. George A. Leahey, Lowell, Mass.; Capt. P. S. Curry, Lynn, Mass.; E. B. Newhall, Lynn, Mass.; and several other gentlemen.

In opening the after-dinner exercises, Mr. Gargan referred to the anniversary on which this meeting is held, and read the following communication from Rear-Admiral Meade, U. S. N.:

220 Winona Ave., GERMANTOWN, Pa., Jan. 26, 1897.

MY DEAR SIR:—Your note of the 23d informing me that I have been unanimously chosen for the office of President-General of the American-Irish Historical Society, found me confined to my bed, where I have been since the 8th, with a severe attack of grippe. The hardships of a long naval career are beginning now to revenge themselves on me, and I have to take great care of my health.

I am, of course, deeply sensible of the honor your society confers upon me and shall accept the office with pleasure if you think the duties will not try me physically beyond my strength. I am vigorous enough for my years, but I am peculiarly sensitive to cold, having spent a great part of my naval life in the tropics, and I cannot travel about in winter without serious risk to my health.

I am ready to work in the ranks for the good of the new society as cheerfully as at the top. No organization is more needed than the one you have completed, and you can count on me to further its success.

Very truly yours, R. W. MEADE, 3d.

MR. THOMAS H. MURRAY, Secretary-General, etc.

Letters of regret at inability to attend the meeting were received from the selectmen of Concord, Mass.; the town clerk of Lexington, Mass.; and from Governor Hastings, of Pennsylvania; Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, of New York; Osborne Howes, of Boston; Hon. William McAdoo, of Washington, D. C.; Augustus St. Gaudens, of New York; Patrick Donahoe, of Boston; the Very Rev. John Hogan, D. D., president of St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, Mass.; J. D. O’Connell, of Washington, D. C.; Robert Ellis Thompson, of Philadelphia; and others.

The addresses mentioned in the call for the meeting were delivered, and were appreciatively received.

Mr. Murray, in his paper on “The Irish Bacons,” noted that the family has reflected honor on both Dedham and Needham, as it has on other towns where representatives of it have resided.

Hon. John C. Linehan read the following paper:

JOHN SULLIVAN AND THE CAPTURE OF THE POWDER AT NEWCASTLE.

The province of New Hampshire was among the first to resist the unjust exactions of the British government, and, on the authority of one of the Royal Councillors, her sons were the very first to commit an overt act against it. From the time of its early settlement, under the proprietorship of Capt. John Mason, her sturdy colonists were bound to appropriate to their own use the first fruits of their labors, and, regardless of act of parliament or magisterial edict, they were able to accomplish their purpose. Owing to the civil dissensions in England between 1640 and 1700, the little band of adventurers who had established themselves at “Old Strawberry Bank,” as well as their descendants who came after them, were practically, so far as the home government was concerned, left to their own resources, and obliged to defend themselves as best they could against the French and Indians, who were ever on the alert to harass and annoy them. The establishment of William of Orange on the English throne, and the complete subjugation of those who supported the unfortunate James, changed matters, however, and gave the new ruler an opportunity to bestow a little of his paternal care on the colonists who had so long prospered greatly without it.

One of his very first acts was to appoint, as governor of New York, the Earl of Bellmont, who was a native of Ireland, and a son of Sir Charles Coote, who earned an Irish estate fighting for Cromwell.

Under his administration the heirs of Captain Mason, fortified by a proclamation from the king and parliament, endeavored to establish their ownership to the property left them in New Hampshire, and, although not authorized by the act mentioned to collect arrearages of rent from the descendants of the original settlers, little progress was made in the collection of any. The men, and the children of the men who had for half a century contested every inch of New Hampshire soil with the elements, the wild beasts, the Indians, and their white allies from Quebec, did not propose to pay tribute to the grandchildren of the man whose name was but a tradition. The result was the creation of a period in the records of New Hampshire, whose history reads strangely like a page from Ireland’s annals describing landlord rule.

For in all parts of the province, and among all classes of people, the most determined efforts were made to prevent the impositions of the new proprietors. The sheriff and his officers, while engaged in the performance of their duties, were often confronted with the axe and the musket, and when opportunity offered, the women took a hand and tested the efficacy of hot water. The sacred person of the governor even was not exempt from insult and assault, for on at least one occasion, while endeavoring to shield Captain Mason, the grandson of the original proprietor, from one of his irate tenants, he was thrown into the fireplace on the burning coals, sat upon, three of his ribs broken, two teeth knocked out, and his body severely burned.

William Vaughan, one of the Royal Councillors, and among the most influential men in the colony, for an assault upon one of the officers of the king, was arrested, and for several years kept in confinement.

The records of the province during this period, as printed in the state papers, make very interesting reading. The little rock-ribbed province was the northern picket line of New England, and in consequence her sons were equally expert with the musket, the axe, and the spade.

That these traits had been transmitted to their descendants is very clear, for the construction of the grapevine bridge across the Chickahominy in 1862, by the boys of the 5th New Hampshire, as well as the record made by the same regiment during the Civil War, is the evidence; the axe, the spade, and the rifle figuring in both, as they had in the hands of their ancestors at Bunker Hill and Bennington nearly a century before. But the demands of Captain Mason were not the only grievances. The government was bound to suppress any industry in the colonies which would in any way interfere with those already in operation at home. An elaborate project had been already planned by the Earl of Bellmont, for the production of tar and pitch in New Hampshire.

The home government was paying Denmark one hundred thousand pounds annually for these two articles. Both could, with a little perseverance and care, be produced on this side of the water, and be paid for, not in cash, but in the products of the English mills and shops, and in this manner saving the money and finding a new market for goods.

To this end, pine trees were selected and stripped, but before the scheme had matured, and the first step taken, the wicked New Hampshire men set fire to the trees, and this, with the Indian troubles, which were endless, put an end to the tar and pitch arrangement. This was not all they did, however. The governor claimed that not only did these lawless men of “Old Strawberry Bank” cut down the king’s timber which had been reserved for the Royal Navy, but that they had sawn it up into deals, and actually sold it to the enemies of the government, in the French and Spanish West Indies; and that no less a person than the Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire was engaged in the business, and not only engaged in it, but had boasted of his profits, and thus incited others to go and do likewise. He next tried to introduce the cultivation of flax, but this was a failure, labor costing three times here what it would in Ireland. This paternal care of the government continued under William’s successors. In 1749 an act of parliament, while encouraging the production of pig and bar iron, absolutely forbade its manufacture, and to carry its terms into effect, proclamation was made by the provincial sheriffs, and an inquiry as to the number of mills and forges in the province was instituted by the governor, to the end that steps might be taken to have them discontinued. With such an experience as this extending over three-quarters of a century, the people of New Hampshire were not only in sympathy with their fellow-countrymen in the other colonies, but stood ready as well to coöperate in any movement having for its object the welfare of the people as against the government.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

At a meeting held in Portsmouth on Dec. 16, 1773, one of the resolutions adopted was, “That every virtuous and public-spirited freeman ought to oppose, to the utmost of his ability, every attack of the ministry to enslave the Americans.” Five months later, on May 19, 1774, a committee of the town of Portsmouth sent their sympathies to the people of Boston on the closing of their port, and for their fellow-townsmen, promised to exert themselves to carry into effect any plan which might be concerted by the colonies for the general relief, and that the interests of the people of Boston would be considered as their own.

From this time to the departure of the royal governor forever, it was a game of battledoor and shuttlecock between his excellency and the general assembly; the latter energetic and firm; the former diplomatic, but cautious and watchful, and ever on the alert to subserve the interest of the home government.

To this end he refused at first to adjourn the assembly in May, 1774, but finally acceded to the request of the members, and an adjournment was made to June 12 of the same year. Meantime the excitement increased; events at home and abroad intensifying the feeling against the government.

At the adjourned meeting in May, the House of Representatives, in common with the assemblies of the other colonies, had appointed a committee of correspondence. This Governor Wentworth tried to prevent, and when he dissolved the assembly he was fain to believe the committee of correspondence would disappear with it.

In this he was disappointed, for its very first act after the dissolution of the assembly was to issue a summons to the representatives, who again met in their own chamber. The governor, attended by the sheriff of the county, entered, and in accordance with custom they rose when he presented himself. He addressed them, declaring the meeting illegal, and directed the sheriff to make proclamation accordingly, ordering all to disperse. He then retired, but they resumed their seats.

On further consideration they adjourned to another house, where it was resolved to hold a convention at Exeter, which should choose delegates to the General Congress to meet in Philadelphia, and to that end, letters were sent to each town and parish in the colony, inviting the people therein to send deputies to the Provincial Congress. The last business transacted by the representatives was to recommend a day of fasting and prayer to be observed by the people of the province. According to Belknap, this was observed with religious solemnity. A request was made at the same time for funds to defray the expenses of the delegates to the Continental Congress, and this was promptly responded to.

The convention called at Exeter assembled on July 21, 1774, and is now known in history as the “First Provincial Congress” of New Hampshire. There were eighty-five members present, with the speaker of the assembly, Hon. John Wentworth, a relative of the governor in the chair.

This distinguished body, composed of the best men in the province, many of whom had seen service in the French and Indian wars, and who can justly be styled the founders of the state, chose for their first representatives to the Continental Congress Maj. John Sullivan and Col. Nathaniel Folsom; and for the first time in the history of his native state does the name of John Sullivan officially make its appearance in its legislative records. It is evident to any one who has read closely the history of the stirring events of the period that some master hand was at work directing all the movements, civil and military, occurring at the time; and that this was the hand of John Sullivan later events prove clearly. The son of an Irish exile, and the grandson of one of the ill-fated defenders of Limerick, he was born in Somersworth, N. H., at a point opposite Berwick, Me., on February 18, 1740.

He was educated by his father, who had himself enjoyed the benefits of a liberal and thorough training before he settled in America, and who, through a long life, extending to his one hundred and fifth year, was diligently employed in the education of youth. After a voyage to the West Indies he became a member of the family of Hon. Isaac Livermore, a lawyer of Portsmouth having an extensive practice, and under his instruction prepared himself for his profession. He early exhibited ability of a high order, gained the respect and encouragement of his instructor, and soon acquired a distinguished position at the bar of New Hampshire. Just before reaching his majority he located in the town of Durham, purchased a handsome residence, which is still in existence, and in which he lived up to the time of his death. Such was his professional success, that he married at the age of twenty, and for ten years later he was constantly employed in the most lucrative causes, thereby incurring the resentment of sundry persons in Durham and elsewhere, who petitioned the executive council in 1766, complaining of him for evil practices as attorney-at-law. This trouble, whatever its nature may have been, existed even to the end of his days, and was doubtless at the bottom of the scheme to injure his reputation years after his death; for to this day there are some who would rob him of the credit given him in the state records for planning the capture of the powder at Newcastle and leading the party that effected it.

In eloquence as an advocate he won a place in the front rank, and earned the reputation of being a sound lawyer and a judicious counsellor. This character was not confined to his native state, for in addition to the friendship of men like the Wentworths and Langdons in New Hampshire, he had secured the esteem and respect of Lowell, Adams, Otis, and other well-known legal lights in Massachusetts. Although attached to his profession, he found time to devote to agriculture and manufactures, being one of the early promoters of the latter, establishing cloth and fulling mills in Durham, and succeeding so well that on the authority of John Adams he was worth ten thousand pounds before the Revolution broke out. From his father and mother he inherited a robust constitution, and was blessed with an active, lively disposition. He had a natural taste for military life, but except an occasional bout with the Indians, generally on the defensive, he had, before the Revolutionary War, no actual experience in warfare; but all around him were the veterans of the Indian and French wars, whose descriptions of the campaigns of Louisburg and Quebec aroused all the martial spirit in his fiery nature.

To his historical studies, especially those relating to military movements, he was greatly devoted; and read them to such good purpose that he was able accurately to describe nearly all of the great battles of the world. It was natural, therefore, for him to seek the exercise of arms early; so at the age of thirty-one he held the commission of major in the Colonial militia, and spared no pains to make himself familiar with the duties connected with the position. From the first rumble of discontent, down to the actual outbreak of hostilities, he was one of the most active men engaged in the cause of liberty. His nature and his abhorrence of oppression, two traits transmitted by generations of heroic ancestors, marked his career from the beginning, and his extended influence and popularity marked him early as a leader in the coming contest. With a full realization of what was before him he organized a company numbering eighty-three men in Durham, and associated with him was the gallant young Scammell, who was then a law student in his office. With a knowledge of these facts it is not too much to say, especially when comparing them with the events occurring afterwards, that the “hidden hand” which directed the movements of the patriots in New Hampshire, down to the convening of the First Provincial Congress in July, 1774, was that of the grandson of the Limerick soldier, who, in little less than a century from the broken treaty, was paying with interest the debt due the government which had driven his father to the wilds of America. He was chosen by the First Provincial Congress to represent his province in the Continental Congress, being the first person to represent New Hampshire in that body. Two instances will be sufficient to show his energy and usefulness in that assemblage. On qualifying, he was at once placed on two of the most important committees, of one of which, that upon the grievances of the people, he was chairman.

“The committee of violation of rights,” says John Adams in his diary, “reported a set of articles which were drawn by John Sullivan, of New Hampshire; and these two declarations, the one of rights and the other of violations, which are printed in the journals of Congress for 1774, were two years afterwards recapitulated in the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1776.”

“New Hampshire has perhaps not remembered that the bold hand and the legal training of John Sullivan are in the immortal Declaration of Independence.”

On the adjournment of Congress, Sullivan returned to New Hampshire. During his absence the agitation had increased; nearly every town had its committee of safety, and many persons of note, suspected of a leaning towards the government, placed under arrest and kept in confinement, or sent out of the state, unless they took the test oath prescribed by the Assembly. Steps were also taken to prevent the sending of carpenters and other mechanics to Boston to build barracks for the royal troops, as men could not be secured there for that purpose. In one instance a man suspected of procuring workmen for General Gage, was waited on, and the charge being proven, he was obliged to go on his knees, as nothing less would be satisfactory, and make the following confession and promise:

“Before this company I confess I have been aiding and assisting in sending men to Boston to build barracks for the soldiers to live in, at which you have reason to be justly offended, which I am sorry for and humbly ask your forgiveness. And I do affirm that for the future I never will be aiding or assisting in any wise whatever, in act or deed contrary to the constitution of the country, as witness my hand.”

The military stores in Fort William and Mary at Newcastle were a constant source of anxiety to the governor, but he felt confident that no lawless act would be committed by the people without provocation, and as he was cautious in his course, no pretext could be found in that direction, but the inevitable was to happen. A report was circulated that General Gage was to send a body of troops to secure the ammunition.

The arrival of Paul Revere from Boston gave color to the rumor, and on the day following, armed men from the surrounding towns assembled in Portsmouth, and after effecting an organization and choosing their leaders, marched in broad daylight, to the number of four hundred, for Newcastle. On arriving at the fort the commander bade them to enter at their peril. No heed being paid to his words, one volley was fired from the three-pounders in position, but before the guns could be reloaded the walls were scaled and the fort captured at three o’clock P.M. on Dec. 14, 1774. The result was the possession of one hundred barrels of powder, sixty muskets, sixteen cannon, and other valuable stores.

In his letter to General Gage informing him of the event, Governor Wentworth said, “The principal persons in this enormity are well known.”

He mentioned no names, but a little over two years later Peter Livius, who was at the time of the capture, one of the Provincial Councillors, wrote thus to John Sullivan in June, 1777: “You were the first man in active rebellion, and drew with you the province you live in. You will be one of the first sacrifices to the resentment and justice of government; your family will be ruined and you must die with ignominy.”

Belknap wrote that “Maj. John Sullivan and John Langdon distinguished themselves as leaders in this affair.” Adams, in his annals of Portsmouth, said it occurred “under the direction of Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John Langdon.”