McCloud (No. 1.) family genealogy
Of Skye, Ireland, and America
Arms: Az. a castle triple-towered and embattled ar.
In Boswell’s Johnson’s Tour of the Hebrides, under date 13th September, 1773, it is written of an interview of Doctor Samuel Johnson with Miss Flora MacDonald, at Kingsbury, in the Isle of Skye (the morning after Dr. Johnson slept in the same bed in which Prince Charlie, the grandson of King James II., slept in 1746, when, with £30,000 as a reward for his apprehension, he was preparing to escape from the emissaries of the English Government), that Miss Flora relates an account of the escape to Dr. Johnson; and Boswell makes Johnson say: “All this should be written down.” We cannot, however, find any work in which that was written or printed.
But there is a tradition in this family, that when Prince Charlie failed in 1745-6 to recover the English Crown, he retired to the Hebrides of Scotland, where he found refuge with the Highland clan of MacLeod. Being hardy fishermen, they manned a fishing boat, and one of the MacLeod clan landed Prince Charlie safely on the Continent, free from his pursuers. On his return, MacLeod, to escape detection for that loyal act towards his legitimate Prince, put in with his boat to the retired fishing village of Rush, in the county Dublin, and there remained. Whether intentionally, or to conform the orthography to the English pronunciation, the sirname became McCloud, and was so written by himself and his descendants.
We are unable to trace the descent from the first McCloud, of Rush, down to John McCloud (born about 1820). Commencing with that John, the pedigree is as follows:
1. John McCloud, a fisherman at Rush, county Dublin, married, in 1845, Margaret, dau. of Michael Byrne[1] of Rush; and in 1847 emigrated to the United States, America, and settled in New York. In 1848, John and his wife removed therefrom and settled at Norwich, Connecticut, where he relinquished the seafaring for the mercantile business; and where said John and his brother William are living in 1888. Their sisters Mary and Margaret are living unm. at Rush, co. Dublin, in 1888. John McCloud had one surviving son and four daughters:
- Richard, of whom presently.
- Margaret (b. 1850), who mar. at Norwich, in 1868, Patrick Cassidy,[2] M.D., of Norwich, a native of the county Tyrone, Ireland; and who with his father and mother and family emigrated to Rhode Island, in 1840 or 1850. The living issue of Doctor Patrick Cassidy and his wife Margaret are: 1. Rose, b. in 1870; 2. Patrick, b. in 1872; 3. John-Hughes, b. in 1874; 4. Mary, b. in 1876; 5. Cecilia, b. in 1878; 6. Louis, b. in 1880; and 7. Richard, b. in 1886,—all born in Norwich, Conn.
- Anne, b. 1858, mar. at Norwich, in 1885, James Sherry, a native of Norwich, but the son of an Irishman.
- Ellen, b. 1863, unm. in 1888; a school teacher.
- Mary, b. 1865, unm. in 1888; also a school teacher; both reside with their parents at Norwich; and both graduated with distinction at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, at Hartford, Conn.
2. Richard McCloud of Durango, La Plata County, Colorado, U.S.A.: only surviving son of John; was b. at Rush, on the 17th of May, 1846; and, in 1849, was (by John Creighton of Rush) brought to his parents at Norwich, Conn. This Richard was educated in the Catholic and Parochial Schools at Norwich,[See McCloud corrigenda] and graduated at the Norwich Free Academy, in 1866, taking the Prize Medal for Oratory in 1865. From 1866 to 1869 he engaged in the paper stock and old metal business, assisted by his father and grandfather (Michael Byrne); and with lucky real estate investments he had accumulated some £2,000 or ten thousand dollars, when he quitted business in 1869. In that year he removed from Norwich, Conn., to New York City, to accept the office of Foreign Export Clerk at the Custom House; and at the same time to attend the Columbia College Law School. He graduated as a LL.B., in May, 1872; and in November, 1872, he resigned the Custom House appointment. He was appointed by President Grant, and served under Collectors Grinnell, Murphy, and Chester A. Arthur, who afterwards was President of the United States. He went to Hartford, Conn., to pursue the profession of his choice, and there remained in the active practice of the law until the spring of 1883, when he removed to Silverton, Colorado, where he resided, as the Attorney for several Silver and Gold Mining Companies, owned by New England and New York Capitalists, until September, 1886, when he was appointed Registrar of the United States Land Office at Durango, Colo., a place he now (1888) holds. This office controls all the United States Government land—agricultural, mineral, and coal, in South Western Colorado. While in Hartford, Conn., he was City Prosecuting Attorney, for three years; City Common Councilman, two years; and Alderman, two years. In Silverton, Colo., he was Deputy District Attorney for two years; managed gold and silver mines in which he was and is part-owner; and for six months edited and managed a weekly newspaper—The San Juan Herald, while the owner was on a visit to the Eastern States.
Richard McCloud mar., at Norwich, Conn., on the 10th November, 1870, Ellen A., dau. of Michael McQuirk[3] (by his wife Anastacia Princely), both natives of Slane, in the county Meath; and have one child, a daughter, born at Hartford, Conn., in May, 1873, and living in 1888. They have since had no other children.
It may be well to mention that, in American Politics, Richard McCloud was a Republican when he became a voter in 1868; and made many speeches for that Party in Connecticut and Massachusetts, in that year. When Tilden was in 1877 “defrauded” of the Presidency, McCloud became a Democrat, and has since so remained. Richard McCloud has, we find, also a long record in connection with the “Fenian Brotherhood,” in America.
Notes
[1] Byrne: In the Irish Insurrection of 1798, this Michael Byrne’s father was one of the “United Irishmen” of that memorable period; and was killed at the battle of Vinegar Hill, near Enniscorthy, in the county Wexford.
[2] Cassidy: Doctor Cassidy is reputed to be a Surgeon and Physician of great eminence. His reputation throughout the State of Connecticut for his skill and cures is marvellous.
[3] McQuirk: Michael McQuirk’s mother, whose name was Anderson, was also a native of Slane; and the Mathews now at and about Navan, co. Meath, are relatives of the McQuirks. Anastacia Princely was born in New Jersey, U.S.A.; her parents went there from the North of Ireland; (The Princelys removed from New Jersey to the neighbourhood of Northampton, Mass., about 1850.) and died at Leeds, Mass., with another daughter who married a Cogan. McQuirk’s father and mother died in his house, at Norwich, Conn.