From:
Pioneer Irish of Onondaga (about 1776-1847), pg 12-16
Author: Theresa Bannan
Published: 1911 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York - London
_____________________________________________________________
Thomas McCarthy
A young Irishman with dark hair and white skin set out from Salt Point to follow the blazed trail to Brewerton. Everything was strange to him for he had just come into the wilderness to make his home and now he was on the way to meet his mother. At a cabin in a clearing he asked for a drink of water and was given milk and the friendly gaze of a woman. Wondering at the fair skin of the stranger, which contrasted so strongly with that of the Indian and the bronzed pioneer, she asked him if the sun ever shone in the land he came from. He probably answered with courtesy and wit as became an Irishman and from that hour Thomas McCarthy has held his place in the history of the County. His mother was at Brewerton with his stepfather, Edmund McSweeny. They had come first to Brooklyn and then to Brewerton. Thomas was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stack McCarthy and when a boy about fourteen,according to the custom of the country, he was bound out until he was twenty-one. He went to Dublin and there learned the draper's trade, which he and his descendants exercised for more than a century in this County. Under the conditions of apprenticeship in Dublin, the apprentice entered the family of his employer and worked in the latter's shop, for which privileges the apprentice's father paid the employer a certain number of pounds sterling a year. Whether it was the father or step-father of Thomas who paid the fees, the term of apprenticeship had not expired when his mother came to America. When at last he was free he invested his savings in merchandise and with his brother John came to join his mother. John settled in Canada and Thomas at Salt Point, where he opened a small store and also began the manufacture of salt. The store has been represented as a log cabin but there were no log cabins at Salt Point at any time. It was a small frame house and when the business of the general store had increased, was replaced by a two-story building. His salt industry was at first limited to two salt kettles, and while he attended to the store, he hired men to boil his salt. In time he had fifty kettles and every one knows to what great proportions the little store grew. Thomas McCarthy came when the County was young and grew into its life and history with the other men of other races who came and left their mark on the County's character. He was a valuable acquisition to the colony. Young and vigorous, well educated and thoroughly well trained by his long apprenticeship in the business life of a beautiful city, with an inheritance of Celtic humor and Catholic piety, he held within his hands the guiding lines of the pioneer life. Twice a year he journeyed to New York to buy goods, stopping at Utica to visit the Devereaux, reaching Albany by any conveyance possible, and navigating the river by boat or raft or craft of any sort, returning with his stock, which must answer the needs of six months. Sometimes his goods were exchanged for labor or wood for his salt works or for his home. A general store must have seen many strange exchanges where money was scarce, in the wilderness. But Thomas McCarthy grew rich and influential socially and politically. He led the movement for the first Catholic church in the County and saw it completed, for he knew and felt the need. Priests were few and had widely scattered missions and rarely came here. Catholic men were without the spiritual ministrations of their priests for years at a time so that many joined their neighbors in different churches and gradually lost their ancient faith. The marriage ceremony, often for a marriage with a non-Catholic, was performed by a Justice of Peace and the other sacraments of the Church languished in the barren soil of disuse. Thomas McCarthy met the priests on his travels to New York, but years passed before his legal marriage received the benediction of the Church and his children its baptism. His home brought together all those of his faith. When a priest penetrated to this old mission of the Jesuits, word was sent far and wide and those who wished came to their minister, tramping long distances through the forests, often deep in snow. Many remained over night to attend Mass in the morning and to carry back with them the spiritual store for perhaps many years. It was like, in some respects, the stations of their native land when for a time a farmhouse became a chapel and the neighbors attended the religious exercises and then indulged in feasts and games. As the avenues of travel became more open, the population increased and the spiritual needs of the people were more easily supplied. The noble untiring bishops of those days came to Salina to their people. The table or bureau was transformed into an altar in the McCarthy home and when Percy, the wife and mother, was too ill to leave her bed, Mass was celebrated within her view. Children were baptized, marriages blessed, instructions given, all in the short space of time the busy priests could give as they passed on to other fields. On one of the trips to New York Thomas McCarthy met James Lynch at the home of the Devereaux in Utica, and persuaded him to try his fortune at Salina. So the two men became firm friends and followed the same line of business dividing their part of the patronage of the colony and sharing in the recorded history of the County. With other Catholics they founded St. John the Baptist Church, receiving subscriptions in Utica, Albany, and New York. Both reared large families, which have branched out into many States of the Union. Both hold a permanent place in the memory of posterity.
Extract from a newspaper clipping:
Thomas McCarthy died in St. Augustine, Florida, January 30, 1848, in the 62nd year of his age. This was briefly announced in our paper of Tuesday. In 1812 he was among the first to march to the northern frontier to defend his adopted country against an invading British army. He was one of the originators of the Bank of Salina. He was a worthy and highly esteemed citizen, respected for his industry and strict integrity. He left for Florida Nov. 26. for his health, suffering from some bronchial trouble. He was taken ill at dinner and died in a short time.
Pioneer Irish of Onondaga (about 1776-1847), pg 12-16
Author: Theresa Bannan
Published: 1911 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York - London
_____________________________________________________________
Thomas McCarthy
A young Irishman with dark hair and white skin set out from Salt Point to follow the blazed trail to Brewerton. Everything was strange to him for he had just come into the wilderness to make his home and now he was on the way to meet his mother. At a cabin in a clearing he asked for a drink of water and was given milk and the friendly gaze of a woman. Wondering at the fair skin of the stranger, which contrasted so strongly with that of the Indian and the bronzed pioneer, she asked him if the sun ever shone in the land he came from. He probably answered with courtesy and wit as became an Irishman and from that hour Thomas McCarthy has held his place in the history of the County. His mother was at Brewerton with his stepfather, Edmund McSweeny. They had come first to Brooklyn and then to Brewerton. Thomas was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stack McCarthy and when a boy about fourteen,according to the custom of the country, he was bound out until he was twenty-one. He went to Dublin and there learned the draper's trade, which he and his descendants exercised for more than a century in this County. Under the conditions of apprenticeship in Dublin, the apprentice entered the family of his employer and worked in the latter's shop, for which privileges the apprentice's father paid the employer a certain number of pounds sterling a year. Whether it was the father or step-father of Thomas who paid the fees, the term of apprenticeship had not expired when his mother came to America. When at last he was free he invested his savings in merchandise and with his brother John came to join his mother. John settled in Canada and Thomas at Salt Point, where he opened a small store and also began the manufacture of salt. The store has been represented as a log cabin but there were no log cabins at Salt Point at any time. It was a small frame house and when the business of the general store had increased, was replaced by a two-story building. His salt industry was at first limited to two salt kettles, and while he attended to the store, he hired men to boil his salt. In time he had fifty kettles and every one knows to what great proportions the little store grew. Thomas McCarthy came when the County was young and grew into its life and history with the other men of other races who came and left their mark on the County's character. He was a valuable acquisition to the colony. Young and vigorous, well educated and thoroughly well trained by his long apprenticeship in the business life of a beautiful city, with an inheritance of Celtic humor and Catholic piety, he held within his hands the guiding lines of the pioneer life. Twice a year he journeyed to New York to buy goods, stopping at Utica to visit the Devereaux, reaching Albany by any conveyance possible, and navigating the river by boat or raft or craft of any sort, returning with his stock, which must answer the needs of six months. Sometimes his goods were exchanged for labor or wood for his salt works or for his home. A general store must have seen many strange exchanges where money was scarce, in the wilderness. But Thomas McCarthy grew rich and influential socially and politically. He led the movement for the first Catholic church in the County and saw it completed, for he knew and felt the need. Priests were few and had widely scattered missions and rarely came here. Catholic men were without the spiritual ministrations of their priests for years at a time so that many joined their neighbors in different churches and gradually lost their ancient faith. The marriage ceremony, often for a marriage with a non-Catholic, was performed by a Justice of Peace and the other sacraments of the Church languished in the barren soil of disuse. Thomas McCarthy met the priests on his travels to New York, but years passed before his legal marriage received the benediction of the Church and his children its baptism. His home brought together all those of his faith. When a priest penetrated to this old mission of the Jesuits, word was sent far and wide and those who wished came to their minister, tramping long distances through the forests, often deep in snow. Many remained over night to attend Mass in the morning and to carry back with them the spiritual store for perhaps many years. It was like, in some respects, the stations of their native land when for a time a farmhouse became a chapel and the neighbors attended the religious exercises and then indulged in feasts and games. As the avenues of travel became more open, the population increased and the spiritual needs of the people were more easily supplied. The noble untiring bishops of those days came to Salina to their people. The table or bureau was transformed into an altar in the McCarthy home and when Percy, the wife and mother, was too ill to leave her bed, Mass was celebrated within her view. Children were baptized, marriages blessed, instructions given, all in the short space of time the busy priests could give as they passed on to other fields. On one of the trips to New York Thomas McCarthy met James Lynch at the home of the Devereaux in Utica, and persuaded him to try his fortune at Salina. So the two men became firm friends and followed the same line of business dividing their part of the patronage of the colony and sharing in the recorded history of the County. With other Catholics they founded St. John the Baptist Church, receiving subscriptions in Utica, Albany, and New York. Both reared large families, which have branched out into many States of the Union. Both hold a permanent place in the memory of posterity.
Extract from a newspaper clipping:
Thomas McCarthy died in St. Augustine, Florida, January 30, 1848, in the 62nd year of his age. This was briefly announced in our paper of Tuesday. In 1812 he was among the first to march to the northern frontier to defend his adopted country against an invading British army. He was one of the originators of the Bank of Salina. He was a worthy and highly esteemed citizen, respected for his industry and strict integrity. He left for Florida Nov. 26. for his health, suffering from some bronchial trouble. He was taken ill at dinner and died in a short time.
From:
Pioneer Irish of Onondaga (about 1776-1847), pg 12-16
Author: Theresa Bannan
Published: 1911 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York - London
_____________________________________________________________
Thomas McCarthy
A young Irishman with dark hair and white skin set out from Salt Point to follow the blazed trail to Brewerton. Everything was strange to him for he had just come into the wilderness to make his home and now he was on the way to meet his mother. At a cabin in a clearing he asked for a drink of water and was given milk and the friendly gaze of a woman. Wondering at the fair skin of the stranger, which contrasted so strongly with that of the Indian and the bronzed pioneer, she asked him if the sun ever shone in the land he came from. He probably answered with courtesy and wit as became an Irishman and from that hour Thomas McCarthy has held his place in the history of the County. His mother was at Brewerton with his stepfather, Edmund McSweeny. They had come first to Brooklyn and then to Brewerton. Thomas was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stack McCarthy and when a boy about fourteen,according to the custom of the country, he was bound out until he was twenty-one. He went to Dublin and there learned the draper's trade, which he and his descendants exercised for more than a century in this County. Under the conditions of apprenticeship in Dublin, the apprentice entered the family of his employer and worked in the latter's shop, for which privileges the apprentice's father paid the employer a certain number of pounds sterling a year. Whether it was the father or step-father of Thomas who paid the fees, the term of apprenticeship had not expired when his mother came to America. When at last he was free he invested his savings in merchandise and with his brother John came to join his mother. John settled in Canada and Thomas at Salt Point, where he opened a small store and also began the manufacture of salt. The store has been represented as a log cabin but there were no log cabins at Salt Point at any time. It was a small frame house and when the business of the general store had increased, was replaced by a two-story building. His salt industry was at first limited to two salt kettles, and while he attended to the store, he hired men to boil his salt. In time he had fifty kettles and every one knows to what great proportions the little store grew. Thomas McCarthy came when the County was young and grew into its life and history with the other men of other races who came and left their mark on the County's character. He was a valuable acquisition to the colony. Young and vigorous, well educated and thoroughly well trained by his long apprenticeship in the business life of a beautiful city, with an inheritance of Celtic humor and Catholic piety, he held within his hands the guiding lines of the pioneer life. Twice a year he journeyed to New York to buy goods, stopping at Utica to visit the Devereaux, reaching Albany by any conveyance possible, and navigating the river by boat or raft or craft of any sort, returning with his stock, which must answer the needs of six months. Sometimes his goods were exchanged for labor or wood for his salt works or for his home. A general store must have seen many strange exchanges where money was scarce, in the wilderness. But Thomas McCarthy grew rich and influential socially and politically. He led the movement for the first Catholic church in the County and saw it completed, for he knew and felt the need. Priests were few and had widely scattered missions and rarely came here. Catholic men were without the spiritual ministrations of their priests for years at a time so that many joined their neighbors in different churches and gradually lost their ancient faith. The marriage ceremony, often for a marriage with a non-Catholic, was performed by a Justice of Peace and the other sacraments of the Church languished in the barren soil of disuse. Thomas McCarthy met the priests on his travels to New York, but years passed before his legal marriage received the benediction of the Church and his children its baptism. His home brought together all those of his faith. When a priest penetrated to this old mission of the Jesuits, word was sent far and wide and those who wished came to their minister, tramping long distances through the forests, often deep in snow. Many remained over night to attend Mass in the morning and to carry back with them the spiritual store for perhaps many years. It was like, in some respects, the stations of their native land when for a time a farmhouse became a chapel and the neighbors attended the religious exercises and then indulged in feasts and games. As the avenues of travel became more open, the population increased and the spiritual needs of the people were more easily supplied. The noble untiring bishops of those days came to Salina to their people. The table or bureau was transformed into an altar in the McCarthy home and when Percy, the wife and mother, was too ill to leave her bed, Mass was celebrated within her view. Children were baptized, marriages blessed, instructions given, all in the short space of time the busy priests could give as they passed on to other fields. On one of the trips to New York Thomas McCarthy met James Lynch at the home of the Devereaux in Utica, and persuaded him to try his fortune at Salina. So the two men became firm friends and followed the same line of business dividing their part of the patronage of the colony and sharing in the recorded history of the County. With other Catholics they founded St. John the Baptist Church, receiving subscriptions in Utica, Albany, and New York. Both reared large families, which have branched out into many States of the Union. Both hold a permanent place in the memory of posterity.
Extract from a newspaper clipping:
Thomas McCarthy died in St. Augustine, Florida, January 30, 1848, in the 62nd year of his age. This was briefly announced in our paper of Tuesday. In 1812 he was among the first to march to the northern frontier to defend his adopted country against an invading British army. He was one of the originators of the Bank of Salina. He was a worthy and highly esteemed citizen, respected for his industry and strict integrity. He left for Florida Nov. 26. for his health, suffering from some bronchial trouble. He was taken ill at dinner and died in a short time.
Pioneer Irish of Onondaga (about 1776-1847), pg 12-16
Author: Theresa Bannan
Published: 1911 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York - London
_____________________________________________________________
Thomas McCarthy
A young Irishman with dark hair and white skin set out from Salt Point to follow the blazed trail to Brewerton. Everything was strange to him for he had just come into the wilderness to make his home and now he was on the way to meet his mother. At a cabin in a clearing he asked for a drink of water and was given milk and the friendly gaze of a woman. Wondering at the fair skin of the stranger, which contrasted so strongly with that of the Indian and the bronzed pioneer, she asked him if the sun ever shone in the land he came from. He probably answered with courtesy and wit as became an Irishman and from that hour Thomas McCarthy has held his place in the history of the County. His mother was at Brewerton with his stepfather, Edmund McSweeny. They had come first to Brooklyn and then to Brewerton. Thomas was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stack McCarthy and when a boy about fourteen,according to the custom of the country, he was bound out until he was twenty-one. He went to Dublin and there learned the draper's trade, which he and his descendants exercised for more than a century in this County. Under the conditions of apprenticeship in Dublin, the apprentice entered the family of his employer and worked in the latter's shop, for which privileges the apprentice's father paid the employer a certain number of pounds sterling a year. Whether it was the father or step-father of Thomas who paid the fees, the term of apprenticeship had not expired when his mother came to America. When at last he was free he invested his savings in merchandise and with his brother John came to join his mother. John settled in Canada and Thomas at Salt Point, where he opened a small store and also began the manufacture of salt. The store has been represented as a log cabin but there were no log cabins at Salt Point at any time. It was a small frame house and when the business of the general store had increased, was replaced by a two-story building. His salt industry was at first limited to two salt kettles, and while he attended to the store, he hired men to boil his salt. In time he had fifty kettles and every one knows to what great proportions the little store grew. Thomas McCarthy came when the County was young and grew into its life and history with the other men of other races who came and left their mark on the County's character. He was a valuable acquisition to the colony. Young and vigorous, well educated and thoroughly well trained by his long apprenticeship in the business life of a beautiful city, with an inheritance of Celtic humor and Catholic piety, he held within his hands the guiding lines of the pioneer life. Twice a year he journeyed to New York to buy goods, stopping at Utica to visit the Devereaux, reaching Albany by any conveyance possible, and navigating the river by boat or raft or craft of any sort, returning with his stock, which must answer the needs of six months. Sometimes his goods were exchanged for labor or wood for his salt works or for his home. A general store must have seen many strange exchanges where money was scarce, in the wilderness. But Thomas McCarthy grew rich and influential socially and politically. He led the movement for the first Catholic church in the County and saw it completed, for he knew and felt the need. Priests were few and had widely scattered missions and rarely came here. Catholic men were without the spiritual ministrations of their priests for years at a time so that many joined their neighbors in different churches and gradually lost their ancient faith. The marriage ceremony, often for a marriage with a non-Catholic, was performed by a Justice of Peace and the other sacraments of the Church languished in the barren soil of disuse. Thomas McCarthy met the priests on his travels to New York, but years passed before his legal marriage received the benediction of the Church and his children its baptism. His home brought together all those of his faith. When a priest penetrated to this old mission of the Jesuits, word was sent far and wide and those who wished came to their minister, tramping long distances through the forests, often deep in snow. Many remained over night to attend Mass in the morning and to carry back with them the spiritual store for perhaps many years. It was like, in some respects, the stations of their native land when for a time a farmhouse became a chapel and the neighbors attended the religious exercises and then indulged in feasts and games. As the avenues of travel became more open, the population increased and the spiritual needs of the people were more easily supplied. The noble untiring bishops of those days came to Salina to their people. The table or bureau was transformed into an altar in the McCarthy home and when Percy, the wife and mother, was too ill to leave her bed, Mass was celebrated within her view. Children were baptized, marriages blessed, instructions given, all in the short space of time the busy priests could give as they passed on to other fields. On one of the trips to New York Thomas McCarthy met James Lynch at the home of the Devereaux in Utica, and persuaded him to try his fortune at Salina. So the two men became firm friends and followed the same line of business dividing their part of the patronage of the colony and sharing in the recorded history of the County. With other Catholics they founded St. John the Baptist Church, receiving subscriptions in Utica, Albany, and New York. Both reared large families, which have branched out into many States of the Union. Both hold a permanent place in the memory of posterity.
Extract from a newspaper clipping:
Thomas McCarthy died in St. Augustine, Florida, January 30, 1848, in the 62nd year of his age. This was briefly announced in our paper of Tuesday. In 1812 he was among the first to march to the northern frontier to defend his adopted country against an invading British army. He was one of the originators of the Bank of Salina. He was a worthy and highly esteemed citizen, respected for his industry and strict integrity. He left for Florida Nov. 26. for his health, suffering from some bronchial trouble. He was taken ill at dinner and died in a short time.
Gravesite Details
Died in at St. Augustine, FL. Died at age 61 yrs.
Family Members
Parents
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