Monday, October 25, 2010

Captain Jack Sullivan - contributed by Alfred E. Turman

The following is included in its entirety, as contributed by Alfred E Turman.


From Frank H. Smith's "History of Maury County, Tennessee", p.34. Told by John F.Rainey 19 May 1906. Page 118, (Mr. Rainey evidently mistakes the name of Sullivan for Julian.)
Jack Sullivan of Maury County (brother of Wm. M.., sheriff) was in command of a squad or company of "home-made Yankees" in Civil War. He had a brother Jim Sullivan who was a member of Lt. Creecy's company of home-made Yankees o

p.47 WM. HILL McCALEB. Wm.. Hill McCaleb, now living 61/2 miles S. E. of Columbia.. Raised
on Swan Creek, near mouth of Blue Buck: ''Capt.'' A. Jack Sullivan had a squad of jayhawkers or "home-made Yankees" in Hickman in Civil War (Bro. of Wm. M.., sheriff, Maury CompanyA brother is living at Cotton Factory, Columbia, 1906.) He was killed by Dave Miller in Bink Lafferty's yard in Totty's Bend.

Sullivan being pursued jumped his horse in Lafferty's yard and ran behind the chimney corner. Miller jumped the fence with his horse and killed Sullivan there.

p.49 Dave Miller was raised by McCaleb's grandmother, Mrs. Sallie Miller, who had married Daves's father. Dave's wife was Mary Young, daughter of Nat and Betsy Anderson Young. Betsy's father was Robert Anderson, the richest man of Hickman County, owner of most of the Anderson Bend. (**.Dave Miller is buried in old Anderson Bend Cemetery. His stone reads: D. C. Miller, born 18 April 1838, died 23 August 1916.)
p.68 A. LEX COLE Interview, 25 Nov. 1906, with A.Lex Cole living 9 miles east on Bear
Creek, age 74 years: During war lived on Lick Creek, Hickman Co., Tenn. Capt. Andrew Jackson Sullivan had a small Company of Union soldiers from Hickman Company
A______ Fulks (**possibly Fowlkes) had another Company. Fulks probably became a Colonel in U. S. Army. Fulks came with Sullivan and 12 other soldiers (from Nashville ?) foraging.
Dave Miller and his crowd of rebel bushwhackers ran up on Fulks' crowd and killed eleven of them. Capt. Sullivan was one of the eleven. Sullivan was wounded, lying in the grass. Miller asked, "Are you Capt. Sullivan?" "Yes, don't shoot me, I'm Wounded.'' "I want you to know., that it's Dave Miller that shoots you and shot him dead in head. Buford and Pointer were with Miller; they were guarding the two unwounded prisoners of Fulks' thirteen. Miller killed one of these two; the other (and only) one of the thirteen escaped. Buford or Pointer took the brass buttons from Sullivan's clothes. (Gen. Marcus J. Wright's book "Tenn. in the Civil War", page 160, says Capt. A.J.Sullivan of 12th U. S. Tenn. Regt. killed by guerrillas April 20, 1864.)
Buford and Pointer a few days 1ater went to house of J. C. Bradley, near mouth Lick Creek, early to get breakfast. "Somebody" told Capt.Creasy. (Capt. Jordan Creasy, of 12th Tenn. U. S., discharged July 1, 1865.). Buford and Pointer were setting by fire waiting for breakfast. Creasy surrounded house. Killed Buford and Pointer with their own pistols, saying, "I want you to understand that it's Capt. Creasy that kills you". They had on Sullivan's buttons on which was still some of Sullivan's blood.
Creasy had received their pistols on surrendering. Creasy's men threw Buford and Pointer all bloody on the bed end rode away.
END OF BOOK ONE

p.164. Interview with Samuel Starnes Moseley, 18 Dec. 1908. Mosely born at 8 miles east of Franklin on 11 June 1840; single at enlistment. Enlisted at Franklin, about June 1861; in lst Batt. Cavalry.., Capt. Wm. Ewing.at org. 1861. Major of Balt. Frank McNairy of Nashville. lst Batt. Cavalry. later became 2d Tenn. Regt. Cavalry. With Barteau's batt. Never wounded. Taken prisoner 11 March 1865 on Amite River, La., East Feliciana Parish. Confined at N. 0. till about June 15, 1865. Paroled N.0. Was sergt. of Companyenroute to Mill Springs in winter 1861-2, discharged for ill health. After fall Fort Donelson went with Capt. Tom Perkins Company from Williamson County. In Hickman Co., Tenn., 13 independent Confed. scouts accidentally met. The 13 rode all night through Gray's Bend and on south side river. Rode all night, crossed River, got behind Sullivan. Took breakfast where Sullivan bad taken supper, Dave Miller was sent forward to report how far Sullivan was ahead of us. Dave gave signal when we came near. Yankees broke after Dave, thinking Dave was alone.

Dave ran back to us. Yankees ran after Dave and came into our ambush. After we fired we dashed in on them. Capt. Jack Sullivan wounded, tried to rally his command. Jack got down, wounded and two of his men stopped with him. Dave Miller rode up, dismounted and killed the three. Dave then came on and rejoined the rest of us in pursuit. Dave told me he killed Capt. Jack Sullivan and two more. In the pursuit we killed one or two others dead, and wounded several others. Yankees scattered and made a break for the Northwestern railroad that had just been built.
p.165
Ed Pointer and Sam Moseley were riding side by side. Pointer fell from his horse, he either fell or was knocked off by Yankee riding big bay horse. Duval McNairy shot arm between elbow and shoulder. Flesh wound. Moseley dressed it. Only casualty among the 13..I captured Yankee riding the big bay horse. Dr. Sutton said he killed this Yankee was trying to get away after surrendering. It was probably two or three weeks after Sullivan was killed that Buford and Pointer were killed. Moseley not with Buford and Pointer.

"In the drive" Miller's horse ran against a tree, dismounted Miller. While on the ground, a Yankee jumped off horse and shot at Miller on the ground and missed. Milller rose up under the Yankee, grabbed him by throat and twisted pistol out of Yankee's hand, and shot Yankee dead. Miller immediately went through his pockets. Moseley got his brass spurs.

In the service of the British/Commonwealth

Benjamin Sullivan, b. Berwick, Me., ca. 1738. Served as an Officer in the Royal Navy aboard a man-o-war. Was lost at sea before the American Revolution. No marriage mentioned in records. Eldest brother of U.S. Revolutionary War Major General John Sullivan.

Rear Admiral Thomas Ball Sulivan (1780-1857), had fourteen children; four of his sons were in the British navy. Admiral Sir Bartholomew James Sulivan, eldest son of the foregoing. During the Crimean War in 1854 then-Captain Sulivan, commanding the Lightning, participated in attack on the Russian fortress of Sweaborg in 1855.

Norton Allen Sulivan, Vice-Admiral, and son of TB Sulivan, took part in the battle of Jutland in 1916.

John Sullivan, V.C., b. April, 1831, Bantry, CountyCork, Ireland. During Crimean War, on 10th of April, 1855, was awarded Victoria Cross. Was created Knight of the Legion of Honour on the 16th of June, 1856, by the Emperor of the French. Received Sardinian Medal, Turkish Medal and Crimean Medal, with clasps for Inkermann and Sebastopol. Also recipient of Silver Medal of Royal Humane Society for saving the life of a drowning man in shark infested waters.
Gerald Robert O'Sullivan, V.C. - 1915; Gallipoli, Turkey.

Arthur Percy Sullivan , V.C. - 1919; Sheika River, Russia

Admiral George Lydiard Sulivan, another son of Admiral T.B. Sulivan.

Sir Charles Sulivan, Admiral of the Blue. Son of Sir Richard Sullivan, East India Company.

Thomas Hebert, d 1824, son of Colonel John Vera O Sullivan, served with British and Dutch forces.

Denis Patrick. The Following is part of the letter from The Welch Regiment Museum regarding 25728 Denis Patrick Sullivan 17th and 18th (service) Battalions,The Welsh Regiment ct Medal citations of D.P.Sullivan who was a brave and gallant soldier.His gallantry and leadership at Mory,23/24 March,1918,was such as to merit a mention in the official history of the regiment. The 18th Welsh during four days ,surrounded and fighting against great odds was virtually wiped out. Only the commanding Officer, one officer and twenty other ranks survived to tell the tale,and amongst them was D.P.Sullivan. The remainder died at their posts or being wounded were taken prisoner.

Through their and other efforts the German advance was halted,and thereafter the course of the war turned in our favour. Seargeant Sullivan medals two gallantry awards have often been on display as part of the rotation on display of a large collection of medals His other two medals The British War and Victory medals were not presented to the regiment.

The citations-
25728 Private Denis Patrick Sullivan, 17th (service)Battalion ,The Welsh Regiment, 1st Glamorgan Bantam Battalion

THE MILITARY MEDAL
For gallantry in the field and for great dash and courage during a raid on enemy trenches at La Vacquire on the night of 5th / 6th May 1917
25728 Sergeant Denis Patrick Sullivan M.M., 18th (service)Battalion.The Welsh Regiment

THE DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL
For conspicious gallantry and devotion to duty when his company commander had been badly wounded.This N.C.O. took charge of two platoons and held on to the position for forty eight hours without food or water,keeping up fire on thr enemy until his ammunitionwas exausted.He was eventualy surrounded,but fought his way out, rejoining the battalion with the remnants of his men The action took place near Mory on the 23rd /24th March,1918. His gallantry was recorded in the official Regimental History.
Denis Patrick Sullivan was born 12.8.1897 in Cardiff Wales he died 6.6.1973. His grandfather Patrick came to Cardiff around 1854, (after the potatoes went bad my grandfather used to say) from county Cork probably Skibareen or Clonakilty. All of the brothers were under 5ft 2in and were quite colorful story tellers it is still hard to tell fact from fiction.


John O’Sullivan, age 20. 47 Lynsted Road, Liverpool, England. Crewmember of Irish-registered City of Limerick. Died when the ship was attacked by German aircraft 15 JUL 1940 off the French coast and later sank.

Jean Baptiste O'Sullivan

In France at the time of their revolution were two O Sullivan brothers, Charles and John. Both were the grandsons of an Irish royalist who had settled at Nantes.

Charles, according to Irish Families, "saved his brother, John, an ardent revolutionary, from the militant Vendeans. Later, John, a former fencing master, became notorious. With the cruel pro-consul, Carrier, he organized the sinking of barges filled with priests and other citizens - a diabolical way of bypassing the guillotine or the expense of gunfire. John even betrayed his own royalist brother, Charles, who was guillotined. When the inevitable revulsion against the horror set in, John O Sullivan came before the Revolutionary Tribunal, which found him guilty of many atrocities and murders, but set him free ‘because he did not act with criminal revolutiona

John is evidently Jean Baptiste O Sullivan who "conscientiously inflicted his own reign of terror on Nantes."

O'Sullivan Beare (Beara)

The O Sullivan Beare line is extensive and its’ genealogy quite well documented. However, successive O Sullivan Beare leaders don’t necessarily directly equate as blood heirs. Oh yes, an O Sullivan succeeded an O Sullivan but not necessarily as father and son. This clan’s motto is Lamh Foistenach Abu ‘ The open hand defying.’

Resistance to English rule has always been a hallmark of the clan. We were also notable for our patronage of the Franciscan Order. Dermot O Sullivan, in 1540, had founded Bantry Abbey. Both are reflected in a letter from Sir Warham Sentleger to Mr. Secretary Fenton, written at Cork, March 24, 1582, wherein he describes an encounter.

"Good Mr. Secretary, - The best news I have to advertise you is that your brother James escaped of late, a very narrow escape of being taken by the western traitors; he now knowing of the defeat of his soldiers, nor yet of the abandoning of the Abbey of Bantry, sent certain boats from Bearhaven thither with provisions for the soldiers, who, mistrusting nothing, came to the Abbey, thinking to unload their provision, and the men being landed, the traitors lying close in the Abbey issued suddenly out and took the men and boats with the victuals, and hanged the men. Your brother coming after in another boat, not knowing the traitors to be in the Abbey, was unawares until pursued with four boats full of traitors, who had taken him if night had not favored him, which being dark, he entered in among the rocks where he was forced to hide himself three days and three nights without any sustenance; and so with great oil the fourth day he reached the Castle of Bearhaven, where he remaineth sick, by the great toll he had upon the sea and the cold entertainment he had upon the rocks". The former site of this Abbey is now topped with a large granite cross, erected to the memory of famine victims, by brothers Tim and Maurice Healy.

The fate of history fell particularly hard on Donal Cam O Sullivan Beare (1560 - 1618) during the reign of Elizabeth. Headquartered at Dunboy (prounounced Dun-bwee) Castle, he "marched with O’Neill to an Irish battlefield" and stood with another Chieftain, Aodh Ruadh (Red Hugh) O’Donnell in 1602. O’Neill and O’Donnell had marched South with their armies from Tyrone to relieve Ireland’s Spanish allies who were under the command of Don Juan de Aquila and besieged at Kinsale by an English army superior in number. Sullivan brought our clansmen to join the national ranks. On the night of December 23, 1601, the Irish forces and Spaniards attacked. We were defeated and thrown into disorder. Our Spanish ally closed shop and surrendered the town.
De Aquila delivered the forts of Dunboy, Baltimore and Castlehaven into hands of the besiegers. Donal learned of this and decided to act. He secretly had some of his men inside Dunboy Castle loosen a wall stone into which he would re-take the castle. Eighty of his followers entered the breach at night and seized it, as he alleged, for the king of Spain. Three of the intruders were killed. In a letter to King Philip of Spain he explained his actions:

"My Lord and King,
...upon the landing in Castlehaven of your generals with a fleet and men from your Greatness, I came to their presence tendering my obeisance unto them in the name of your Highness...and yielded out of my mere love and good will, without compulsion or composition, into their hands, in the name of your Majesty, not only my castle and haven called Berehaven, but also my wife, my children, my country, lordships and all my possessions for ever, to be disposed of at your pleasure...Notwithstanding, my gracious lord, conclusions of peace were assuredly agreed upon betwixt Don Juan de Aquila and the English - a fact pitiful, and (according to my judgment) against all right and humane conscience. Amongst other places whereof your Greatness was dispossessed in that manner - which were neither yielded or taken to the end they should be delivered to the English - Don Juan tied himself to deliver my castle and haven, the only key of mine inheritance, whereupon the living of many thousand persons doth rest that live some twenty leagues upon the sea coast, into the hands of my cruel, cursed, misbelieving enemies, - a thing I fear in respect of the execrebleness, inhumanity, and ungratefulness of the fact, if it take effect as it was plotted, that will give cause to other men not to trust any Spaniard hereafter with their bodies or goods upon these causes...My lord, in that I judge this dishonourable act to be against your honour and pleasure, considering the harm that might ensue to the service of your majesty, and the everlasting overthrow that might happen to me and my poor people, such as might escape the sword (if any should). I have taken upon me with the help of God - to offer to keep my castle and haven from the hands of mine enemies until further news and order from your highness."

At this time the Province of Munster was besieged by the English commanders. They ‘harried, ravaged and devastated all the rest of the province.’ The historian Leland wrote, "The southern province seemed to be totally depopulated and, except within the cities, exhibited as hideous scene of famine and desolation." An English poet, Edmund Spenser, a private secretary in the employ of one of Elizabeth’s chief governors of Ireland, recommended the policy of starvation to be employed against the Irish. In his View of the Present State of Ireland he wrote, "Notwithstanding that the same was a most rich and plentiful country, full of corn and cattle, yet, ere one year and a half they were brought to such wretchedness as that any stone heart would rue the same. Out of every corner of the woods and glens they came creeping forth upon their hands, for their legs could not bear them; they looked like anatomies of death; they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves; they did eat the dead carrious, happy where they could find them...in a short space there was almost none left and a most populous and plentiful country suddenly left void of man and beast." His words sound as if he were writing of the period of the ‘Great Hunger’ that was to take place 250 years later.

With the Spaniards in capitulation, Lord Mountjoy marched as far as the Abbey of Bantry and discovered Donal still continued his works about the castle. One of Sullivan’s captains, Tyrell, had a considerable force prepared to dispute the passage of his army through the territory between Bantry and Berehaven.

Dunboy Castle was besieged beginning on June 6, 1602 and lasted until the 18th. The garrison of 143 men defended against a larger force of over 2,000. At long last the besiegers were able to gain entrance into the ruins of the castle where hand-to-hand fighting ensued, the defenders being gradually driven to the cellar for their last stand. Those who got outside were cut down. Armed men in three boats in the water shot or speared those attempting to swim across to Bere island. The final scene was recorded in the Pacata Hibernia:

"The eighteenth (June) in the morning three and twenty more likewise rendered themselves simply to Captain Blundell, who the night before had the guard, and after their cannoniers, being two Spaniards and an Italian (for the rest were slain) likewise yielded themselves; then (Richard) MacGeohagan, chief commander of the place, being mortally wounded with divers shot in his body, the rest made choice of one Thomas Taylor, an Englishman’s son (the dearest and inwardest man with Tyrell and married to his niece) to be their chief, who, having nine barrels of powder, drew himself and it into the vault and there sat down by it, with a light match in his hand, vowing and protesting to set it on fire, and blow up the castle, himself, and all the rest, except they might have promise of life, which being by the Lord President refused, his lordship gave direction for a new battery upon the vault, intending to bury them in the ruins thereof; and after a few times discharged, and the bullets entering amongst them into the cellar, the rest that were with Taylor, partly by intercession, but chiefly by compulsion (threatening to deliver him up if he were obstinate), about ten of the clock in the morning of the same day constrained him to render simply....Sir George Thornton, the sergeant major, Captain Roger Harvie, Captain Power, and others entering the vault to receive them, Captain Power found the said Richard lying there mortally wounded (as before mentioned), who, perceiving Taylor and the rest ready to render themselves, raised himself from the ground, snatching a light candle, and staggering therewith to a barrel of powder (which for that purpose was unleaded), offering to cast it into the same, Captain Power took and held him in his arms with intent to make him prisoner, until he was by our men (who perceived his intent) instantly killed; and then Taylor and the rest were brought prisoners to the camp....The same day fifty-eight were executed in the market place...The whole number of the ward consisted of one hundred and forty-three selected fighting men, being the best choice of all their forces, of which no one man escaped, but were either slain, executed, or buried in the ruins, and so obstinate and resolved a defence had not been seen within this Kingdom."
Donal O Sullivan’s trek to O’Rourke’s land in Breffney is an epic tale, most recently told in novel form in Morgan Llywelyn’s The Last Prince of Ireland. About one thousand followers left Glengarriffe when they started out, only 400 being fighting men. By the time they entered O’Rourke’s castle there were only 18 fighting men and sixteen non combatants; only one woman survived the hardships. A bitter sidenote to this epic tale concerns ‘the Queen’s O Sullivan,’ referring to Sir Owen O Sullivan, an uncle of Donal’s. Prior to 1602 he had been a claimant to the chieftaincy and to Donal O Sullivan’s Berehaven territory. The dispute went to trial before the high courts of England where Sir Owen lost. Afterwards he was a bitter enemy of Donal and took part with the English in the above-mentioned operations against Dunboy and Dursey Island. After Donal fled he secured possession of Carriganass Castle. It is now a picturesque ruin on the banks of the Ovane River, within a few miles of Bantry.


Donal O Sullivan, one of Ireland’s wild geese, fled Ireland to Corunna, Spain. There, in July, 1608, he was murdered by John Bath, an Anglo-Irishman. At a monastery not far from Madrid, Don Philip O Sullivan, cousin of Donal, had argued with Bath, apparently over a matter of a loan given to Bath. When the latter insulted the O Sullivan family, Don Philip and Bath fought with swords. Don Philip apparently could have slain Bath but did not because of men sent by Donal and two Spanish Knights protected him. When Donal arrived, clasping a rosary in his left hand, Bath, unobserved, caught Donal looking the other way. Bath pierced him twice, through the left shoulder and through the throat.

Don Philip’s father, Dermot, uncle of Donal, died at the age of 100 and is buried in the Franciscan Church at Corunna; his mother, who died afterwards, is interred in the same tomb. A sister Helena was lost at sea on a return voyage to Ireland. Another sister became a nun of St. Ursula in Spain. Don Philip, a native of Dursey Island, was a talented writer. He rose to the level of Commander in the Spanish Navy. His history of the family can still be found under the title "Ireland under Elizabeth." by Don Philip O'Sullivan Bear, translanted from the original Latin by M.J. Byrne.

When the Cromwellian confiscations began, their lands in Kerry passed to Sir William Petty, physician-general to the army and director of the famous Down Survey. ‘Following the Restoration, Petty managed to get into good graces of Charles II and had his acquisitions in Kerry confirmed to him even in the teeth of a petition from the O Sullivan Beare of the day, Donal Cron, the loyalist. ’O Sullivan never recovered an acre of his lands and in 1699 his successor was described by a visitor to Bearehaven as residing ‘in a cabin at the foot of the hill.’ According to Lyne, O Sullivan Beare was one of the last to quit the field against the Cromwellians and, as late as 1653, was still holding out on Dursey Island. He apparently got away to the Continent that year.

Lyne also reports the harpist Arthur O’Neil, who was a friend of the famous Turlough O’Carolan, recounted a visit to the Rossmackowen branch of the family:
"I spent one Christmas with a gentleman that lived in Berehaven named Murtagh Mac Owen O Sullivan, who lived in a princely style. My boy came to me one morning when in bed, who desired me to bless myself: I asked him why so. ‘Och, Sir! There is a pipe of wine and two hogsheads of some other liquor standing up in the hall with the heads out of them and a wooden cup swimming in each of them for anyone that pleases to drink their skinful.’ I mention this merely to record the hospitality of the gentlemen of the province of Munster."

Visitors to the lakes of Killarney in County Kerry will find a stretch of water known as O Sullivan’s Punch Bowl. The tombs of many distinguished family members are interred at Muckross Abbey.

Early history and geography

Ireland is a crossroad on the map of the world and her people. Celtic adventurers from Northern Spain reportedly first landed at Bantry (bean-traigh, the white strand) Bay, led by Queen Scota, widow of Milesius. In Smith's History of Cork is written that "Ancient accounts differ much from each other, some making only three sons of Milesius to land in Ireland; but the landing of these, as well as of Partholanus, they all place in the Bay of Bantry, which they call ‘Inber Sceine.’

According to Hugh W.L. Weir, our clan name has been spelled Sulivan, Sellevan, Sullavan, Sulevan, O’Sowlywaine, Ossulevan, Solivan, O’Suiliban, Osulevan, Soolivan, Solywaine, Soolavan and Solahan. We are bearers of the third most numerous Irish family name today and " claim, with some justification, that their ancestry can be traced back almost 37 centuries to the son of a Spanish King.

About 1699 BC, Milesius (Miled), a Spanish Celt, settled in Ireland. Historians relate that the O Sullivans are descended from his son, Heber. The family became Princes of Eoghanacht Mor, a territory in the present-day barony of Middlethird in County Tipperary. A member of the Tipperary clan, Suilebhan, descendant of Fingin, King of Munster and Son of Aodh Dubh, provided the name for our well-known family. Suilebhan’s third great grandson, Buadhach, was the first person to assume the surname of O Sullivan, which is derived from ‘Suilebhan’, meaning ‘One Eye’ in Gaelic." There are also accounts the name means ‘black-eyed.’ Some have intrepreted the meaning as "Seeing with the eye of one (unity)."

Weir reports that Buadhach’s great grandsons were probably the first to leave the area of Tipperary and travel to the Southwest of Ireland in the 12th century, the time of the Norman Conquest. Noted genealogist Sir Bernard Burke says "The family of O Sullivan deduces its descent from Olioll Ollum, King of Munster, who reigned AD 125. The town of Bearhaven in Cork is said to have been named because an Irish chief named Owen (Eoghan) the Splendid, having been defeated in a great engagement by "Conn of the Hundred Battles," fled to Spain, where he married the King’s daughter, Beara. Returning after the lapse of some time at the head of a powerful force, his vessels put into a commodious harbour on the south-west coast of Ireland which he was so pleased that in honour of his wife he called it Bearhaven. The haven in later years gave the name to the surrounding area that became known as the barony of Beara, or Beare.

About 28 miles in length, the northern shore has three harbors, Berehaven, Adrigole and Glengarriffe, with Bantry harbor on the eastern or landward end. T.D. Sullivan called this area ‘Sullivan’s Country.’

In the area of Knockgraffon, Tipperary, we were lords of the land. Hugh W.L. Weir fixes the districts of Cahir, Clonmel, Fethard, Carrick-on-Suir and Cashel, as our principalities in the fifth and sixth centuries. However, at the time of the Anglo Norman invasion in the 12th century, we were driven westward and south, joining our Milesian cousins who were in Cork and Kerry. From there we divided by geography; on the northern or Kerry side of the line were the O Sullivan Mor (greater), the chieftain holding Dunkerron Castle in Kenmare. On the Southern line, or Cork side, along the shores of Bantry Bay, were the O Sullivan Beare, holding Dunboy (Dun-bwee) Castle. Other branches, discussed here later, were the Mac Finin Duibh O Sullivans of Tuosist and Bearehaven and the Vera-O’Sullivans (No Surrender) of Cappanacusha Castle in Kerry, whose castle was abandoned in 1652 by Owen O Sullivan.

Weir locates other Clan strongholds in the Bantry Bay area at Reenadisert, near Glengarriff; Whiddy Island; Reenabanny; and on Dursey Island. In 1320 we established a Franciscan monastery at Bantry which became a final resting place for the family. The O Sullivan Mor chose a burial place in another Franciscan monastery founded by the Mac Carthy Mor, on a site near the lower lake of Killarney, which an old legend relates to have been miraculously pointed out.

The traditional seat of power of the kings of Meath and eventually of the high kings of Ireland was Tara, an ancient religious site by the time the Celtic gaels took it over. In the third century AD, High King Cormac MacArt built an enormous palace at Tara, complete with a banquet hall 700 feet long. We were governed at this time by the Brehons, called the West’s First Lawgivers, judges of Celtic Ireland. These were a sophisticated code of conduct that was both fair and efficient and was in usage a thousand years before the English devised common law. During the Irish rebellion of 1798 thousands of rebels spontaneously gathered at Tara, as if they were drawn by a spiritual power. Later, in 1843, it was the site of one of the largest public gatherings in Irish history. Three quarters of a million people gathered to hear Daniel O’Connel, the Liberator, the man who had won Catholic emancipation.

The overlord of this district was the MacCarthy Mor. The O Sullivans paid tribute to him, providing him with fighting men and supplies for them whenever he had occasion to come through the territory. Foreign writers referred to these tributes as ‘cuttings and closherings’ of the Irish chiefs.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Owen (Eoghan) O'Sullivan - Ardea,Ireland and Berwick, Maine

 
Clearly, some of the most conspicuous and distinguished of the American branch of our family are the Sullivans of New England. Patriarch of the family was Owen Sullivan, born circa 1714 in Limerick. Apparently nursing a great personal hurt, he left the nation swearing that he was going where they should never see or hear from him again. And they never did. He secured passage on a ship bound for America where he became a schoolteacher and farmer in a frontier town in Maine. He later married Cork-born Margery Browne, whom he had met on the voyage over. In 1796 the family received a letter from Ireland inquiring about relationship. The letter was received in 1796 from Philip O Sullivan.

"Sir, A grand Uncle of myne having gone to America about sixty years back or something over, whose relations suffered greatly by being without the means of finding out his doom, till now that by great look I am inform’d you are a son of his. If you find by the under acc that I have not been misinformed, I submissively expect you’ll let me know hyow you and the rest of his Children are. I am , S. yours, Respectfully, Philip O Sullivan, Ardea, May 16, 1796.
An exact copy of his reply follows:

"I am the son of Major Philip O Sullivan of Ardea in the County of Kerrey and Parish of thouougaisty by the River of Kilmare and Barony of Glanorough in said County. His father was called Owen O Sullivan, originally Descendant from the second son of Daniel O Sullivan called Lord of (sic) Beer Heaven. He married with Mary MacSweney, Daughter of Col. Owen MacSweney of Musgrey, and sister to Capt. Edmond MacSweney, a noted man for anecdotes and witty syings. I heard often tell that my Grandfather had four Countesses to his Mothers and Grandmothers. How true that was or who they were I know not.

My father died as they told me of an ulcer raised in his breast occasioned by a wound he received in France where he fought a duel with a French officer, and when he wounded his antigonist (sic) another run’d a sword through his back so that the point appeared at his breast. They were all a short lived family, they either died in the bloom or went out of the Nation. I never heard of any of the men kind to arrive at sixty and don’t remember but of one to be a live when I left the Nation.

My mother’s name was Joane McCarthy, daughter to Dermod McCarthy of Killowen. She had three brothers and one sister, her mother’s name I forget but that she was Daughter to MacCarthy Reak of Carbery. Her oldest brother Col. Florence alas Mac finnin. He and his two brothers Capt. Charles and Capt. Owen went in the defence of the nation against Orange. Owen was killed in the battle of Aughrim (July 12, 1691). Florence had a son who retains the title of Mac finnin. Charles I just remember he had a charge of powder in his face at the Siege of Cork. He left two sons, Derby and Owen. Derby married with Ellina Sullivan of the Sullivans of Bannabe; his brother Owen married to Honora Mahony, daughter to Dinish Mahony of Droummere in the Barony of Dunkerrane or Cappenecussiss. He also died in the prime of life much lamented. They were short lived on both sides. but the brevity of their lives, to my great grief and sorrow, is added to the length of mine.

My mother’s sister was married to Dermod O Sullivan, eldest son of Daniel O Sullivan, Lord of Dunkerane. Her son Cornelius, as I understand, was with the pretender in Scotland in the year 1745. That is all that I can say about my origin. But I shall conclude with a Latin sentence which occured to my mind at the conclusion of this genealogical narration."

Owen lived to be 105 years old. It is written that in his later years he learned French. He was apparently quite functional physically and mentally up to the year before his death. He regularly saddled his own horse and rode the twenty five miles to visit his son John.

His son John, a three-time governor who was appointed a Major General in the Continental Army, lived in a house at 2 Newmarket Rd that was built in 1740. On December 13, 1774, when Paul Revere announced "The British are coming", the Sons of Liberty made plans to attack and secure the stocked munitions from the fort of William and Mary in the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Captaining the fort was John Cochran. Governor John Wentworth ordered its defense. By 3:00pm the following day four hundred patriots approached the fort. A shot was fired from within but before anything else could be done the fort was taken. One hundred barrels of gunpowder were taken.

The following day Captain Langdon and then-Major John Sullivan returned with seventy men and removed cannons, muskets and other supplies. On January 6, 1776 the sons of Liberty issued theirown declaration of independence, a full six months before the official one.

On April 19, 1776 the commander of British forces in America, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, ordered his troops to confiscate a store of gunpowder allegedly stockpiled by the rebels at Lexington and Concord. During a confrontation there were casualties. The British retreated back to Charlestown and by that time they suffered two hundred and seventy-three casualties. The following June the Iroquis league of Indians voted amongst themselves to fight the Americans on behalf of the English.

On August 27, 1776, under the command of Major General Putnam at the Battle of Long Island, Sullivan was taken prisoner. He was taken aboard the "Eagle", the flagship of Lord Howe, the British Admiral. As was the practice in those times, he was exchanged for another British officer of the same rank, General Richard Prescott. He rejoined Washington at Westchester.

On Christmas Day, 1776, he was engaged in the Battle of Trenton, leading the left. He wintered at Valley Forge with Washington and the patriot Army, most of who were barefoot and without blankets. The following campaign season found him at the Battle of Brandywine, September, 1777, where he had his horse shot out from under him.

In October, commanding the right wing of Washington’s Army, he attacked the British at Chestnut Hill, about two miles north of Germantown. In Washington’s report to Congress about the battle he said, "In justice to General Sullivan and the whole right wing of the army, whose conduct I had an opportunity of observing, as they immediately came under my own eye, I have the pleasure to inform you that both officers and men behaved with a degree of gallantry that did them the highest honor." During this period Sullivan was present, or commanding forces, during the siege of Boston, Battle of Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, Staten Island, Brandywine and Rhode Island.

In New York, at the Council with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, the principal chief of the Mohawks determined the Iroquois league should not take any part in the struggle between England and America. After the council broke up, Steyawa and his Mohawk followers went directly to the annual Grand Council in Onondaga, New York at the time of the annual Council Fire of the Harvest Moon. Here, when the chiefs present learned of what Steyawa had done they unanimously denounced him, declaring the death of the Iroquois League.

By April, 1779 George Washington knew he had to eliminate the Iroquois as a military irregular force. The Continental Congress authored him to protect Pennsylvania’s and New York’s settlers. Washington intended to carry the war into the heart of the country of the Six Nations, cut off their settlements and destroy their next years crops. Major General Horatio Gates turned the command down because of ill health. A contingency letter was sent to the next in line, thirty-nine year old John Sullivan.

Sullivan’s Indian Campaign began when he assembled his forces at Easton, Pennsylvania, on the border of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, this campaign was somewhat unpopular with some segments of the young American nation. The Quakers, for example, opposed the expedition. Farmers in the rich Wyoming Valley, members of the Pennamite Party, were tremendously wealthy and possessed great political power. As one could expect, they were not very happy with settlers from Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Authorities were not happy about providing Sullivan with necessary troops and materials.

During August the force caught up with the British and Indian allies. Incredibly, their initial confrontation took the lives of six Indian chiefs; Gu-cinge, Rozinoghyata of the Onondagas, Kayingwaurto of the Senacas, Captain John of the Mohawks and Queen Esther. The entire force left in full flight, barely escaping the pincer movement designed to catch them all.

Sullivan resigned his commission on 30 November 1779. At Elmira, New York, three miles East on State Route 17, is a monument dedicated to him. It is the site of the Newton Battlefield. Occasional battle re-enactments are presented throughout the year. Hiking and biking trails are enjoyed today. There are picnic areas, campsites and playgrounds. It’s open daily from 10:00am to dusk, May 28 - October 10, Admission is free. Telephone is (607) 939-1352.

After the war Sullivan served as a Delegate to Congress and as Attorney General of New Hampshire. In January of 1795, at the age of 55, he was laid to rest behind the house where he had resided for thirty years.

In ‘The Wilderness War’, by Allan W. Eckert, a detailed epic is reported on his Indian War against the Five Nations, begun in 1779. In the bibliography is mentioned the Journals of John Sullivan, Auburn, N.Y.,1887.
 
 
 

Robert Oliver Daniel (ROD) Sullivan - edited by JC Sullivan

Captain Robert Oliver Daniel ROD) Sullivan was born in Hannibal, MO, about 1893. He had one child, ROD Sullivan, Jr., born about 1928. ROD joined the US Navy, where he learned to fly. (Flight training believed to have taken place in CA.) Following discharge from the US Navy, he joined Pan-American Airways in FL.

About 1932 ROD made his first purchase of property in Lee County, North Carolina. This property was located by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, about 10 miles north of Sanford, in the community known as Olives Siding. Over the years he continued to purchase property, acquiring approximately 800 acres. This property was referred to as Sullivan's Ranch. There was neither electricity, telephone, nor paved roads in this area until the early 1940's. Sullivan had a 'Windcharger' electrical power system for his home. After proving the feasibility of commercial aviation, and becoming Pan-Am's senior Trans-Atlantic pilot, Sullivan commuted by train from NY, his home port, to his ranch in NC, for rest and relaxation.

He was First Officer on the China Clipper that first transported US airmail to Manila, departing Alemeda, CA, November 22, 1935. A Republican, he was active in civic affairs in his adopted county of Lee. A Republican, he was not one who sought publicity yet he was sought by the local paper (The Sanford Herald) for interviews and by civic clubs for speaking engagements.

His career as a commercial pilot ended with the crash of Pan-Am's Yankee Clipper (Boeing B-314, Registry: NC18603) in Lisbon Portugal, February 22, 1943. Although he suffered only minor injuries, there were 24 fatalities among the 39 persons aboard. Jane Froman, noted vocalist, although with critical injuries, was one of the survivors. She was enroute to entertain US troops in Europe. Pan-Am noted that Sullivan's accident was the first in Pan-Am's Transatlantic service. Sullivan had made approximately 150 Atlantic crossings and 55 Transpacific crossings, having logged more than 15,000 hours flying time.

Sullivan was a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve and former chief aviation pilot for the Navy. He returned to his home in NC and, following WWII, established ROD Sullivan, Inc., a multi-location electrical parts supplier. He died July, 1955 in the office of his Wilmington, NC business. As of 1999, ROD Sullivan Inc., continued in business, and is operated by descendants of those he chose as his partners.

There are numerous books which mention ROD Sullivan. One subject under which he is listed is "Flying Boats." My book favorite is "An American Saga: Juan Trippe and His Pan Am Empire." by Robert Daley. Published by Random House, this book is well indexed and noted.

Book of Sullivan/O'Sullivan

FAILTE - to the web blog of the O'Sullivan in America - JC Sullivan. On this blog I will begin to post my accumulation of years of information gathered about individual clan members. Readers should feel free to send me stories of their specific clan members for posting here.

Go raibh maith agat.

uisuileabhain@hotmail.com