By Ed Callahan
In the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society is contained a copy of a political cartoon which was most likely published in 1890. It is a scathing attack on the Irish appropriation of Bunker Hill Day. On the face of the Monument are inscribed the words, “Erected by the Irish in Memory of Patrick O’Bunker of Cork”. A Bishop’s miter sits on top of the Monument. Three aped faced Irishmen hang out the Monument’s windows. One is smoking a clay pipe another waving an Irish flag. Marching in front of the Monument are 6 additional aped faced Irishmen. One appears to be a politician toting a liquor bottle. The other five appear as clumsy, ill clad moronic looking Irish militiamen. The drafters of this racist cartoon appear to be mocking the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who for several years had taken to marching in the “Civil & Military Parade” during several Bunker Hill Day celebrations. The undercurrent was that Charlestown’s Irish community lacked a strong sense of American patriotism.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians was founded in 1565 in County Kildare, Ireland. The first AOH Division in America was founded in the coal-mining area of Pennsylvania in 1836. In 1838, the AOH organized in New York City and thrived. One of the earliest goals of the AOH was to protect Catholic property from being destroyed by nativist elements. In fact, a history of the AOH specifically references the destruction of the Ursuline Convent here in Charlestown in August of 1834 as one of the reasons for the formation of the organization. The very first AOH Division organized in Massachusetts was in Charlestown.
Among the most important goals of the Hibernians was to uphold and sustain loyalty to the government of the United States of America and to assist by however means necessary the total independence of the Irish Nation from Great Britian. Membership in the Ancient Order of Hibernians is confined to men 16 years and older who are practicing Roman Catholics of Irish birth or descent and who are citizens of United States of America or who have declared their intentions to become citizens of the United States of America.
One would have thought that by 1890, that the animosity between Charlestown’s native Anglo-Saxon Protestation population and its Irish Catholic community would have faded completely. But apparently that was not entirely the case. And while the conflict between the two groups no longer resulted in intense physical violence, it did revolve around political control. In 1874, Irish voters overwhelming cast ballots in favor of annexing Charlestown to Boston. Author James G. Blaine II noted that annexation was “…a convenient date for the transition of Charlestown from a Yankee city to an Irish neighborhood”. The Charlestown Irish had hoped to align themselves with other Irish neighborhoods to assume control of Boston City government and the civil service jobs that would become available. Which is exactly what happened when in 1884, Hugh O’Brien became the first native born Irishman to get elected as Mayor of Boston. O’Brien handily won all three of Charlestown’s political wards. However, not everyone residing in Charlestown was happy with O’Brien’s victory. John S. Flanagan, publisher of the Charlestown Enterprise stated in an editorial that “…many of our citizens are blinded by prejudice”.
By the early 1870’s the Ancient Order of Hibernians regularly participated in the Bunker Hill Day parades and other events. Hundreds of Hibernians would parade throughout the neighborhood. Whatever the exact reason for the drafting of the offending cartoon, the leadership of Charlestown’s Irish community was livid and no one angrier than the Pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish, the Reverend James N. Supple and the Captain of the Charlestown Hibernians John Reade.
James N. Supple was born in Milford, Massachusetts on January 19, 1848. His parents, Adam Supple and Catherine Coughlin were both born in County Cork. James graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1870 and studied for the Priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, located in Troy, New York. He was ordained in 1874 and was initially assigned to Augustine’s Parish in South Boston. He was then assigned to St. Francis de Sales Parish in April of 1879, as Pastor, succeeding his brother Rev. Michael J. Supple.
The legendary John Reade was born in County Kilkenny in 1824 and emigrated to Milford in 1846. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Reade sold two homes in Milford and with the proceeds of the sale outfitted Company K of the 48th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment and enlisted as 1st Lieutenant. In March of 1863, Reade transferred to the 57th Regiment, where he participated in many major engagements. On July 30, 1864, at the debacle known as the “Petersburg Crater”, he was captured by the Confederates and imprisoned for 7 months at the Confederate prison located at Columbus, South Carolina in appalling conditions. Following the conclusion of the war, Reade settled into Charlestown where he opened an undertaker’s business on Main St. Given that his rank during the war was Captain, he was universally addressed as such. So, when the nativist element still residing in Charlestown questioned the patriotism of Charlestown’s Irish community, they were questioning the patriotism of men like Captain John Reade who had given so much to the preservation of the Union.
On the morning of June 17, 1890, the members of Division 5, of the Ancient Order of Hibernians began congregating at their headquarters located on Main St. At approximately one hour prior to the start of the annual Bunker Hill Parade, the Hibernians left their headquarters and headed toward Sullivan Square. The Hibernians were in “full uniform” and led down Main St. by an Irish Pipe & Drum band. At the corner of Main & Bunker Hill St., the Hibernians turned onto Bunker Hill St. and marched straight up the hill in formation. The Boston Globe called this march a “…pleasant little celebration”.
At the top of Bunker Hill St., the Hibernians assembled directly in front of St. Francis de Sales Church, where they were met by the Rev. Supple and hundreds of onlookers. Fr. Supple approached Captain Reade and Hibernian Michael Brown and presented them with a “handsome new” American flag. On the apex of Bunker Hill, Rev. Supple addressed the large crowd with a scathing response to the implication that Charlestown’s Irish community lacked American patriotism. His remarks were as follows:
“We are here today where we belong. The soil we stand on is ours, for by our own blood, we have preserved it. Standing here at the very place of my birth, it is with great pleasure, I am called upon to perform this duty.”
“I am here with Irish blood in my veins, an American to the manner born. This glorious hill, this flag is ours, for we have done our part to preserving both. Those who accuse us of want of patriotism are not Americans. We know the source of the accusation. It is the same source that drove us from our home, and there is a British smell about all those accusations.”
“Bunker Hill and the fields of Virginia have been watered by Irish blood. Every inch of land, every star and stripe on that flag breathe Irish patriotism and sacrifice. It is too late for such an accusation. There is no stain upon that flag, so far as we are responsible for it.
“We are Americans, but none the less Irish: and in every quarter of the Globe, where Liberty is in question there you will find Irishmen ready to defend and uphold it.”
“Carry this banner with honor, Stand for it, defend it with your blood if necessary. Never let it trail in the dust!
Captain John Reade accepted the flag, described as a “rich one” with the staff surmounted by a golden eagle and bears this description:
Presented to Division 5, Ancient Order of Hibernians By the citizens of Charlestown
June 17, 1890
Remarks of Captain John Reade:
“Rev. Father and Friends-On what occasion and on what a time could it be more appropriate to receive our national emblem than this? We have received it on the sacred hill on which our fathers fought, from the hands of a Catholic priest, and beneath the holy cross of the Church we love and honor. Under these inspiring circumstances, we make a pledge that this flag shall never be dishonored in our hands. You have spoken of those who accuse us of want of patriotism. For what? Because we bow down to a holy altar and because we have yielded up our blood for our country. Our loyalty to that church is unwavering, and we have no secrets that that church does not know.”
At the conclusion of Captain Reade’s address, the enormous crowd roared “three hearty cheers”, the company re-formed and marched to take their place in the Bunker Hill Day parade.
Fr. James Supple would serve as pastor of St. Francis de Sales parish for 30 years, until his death in August 1918. During his tenure, Fr. Supple raised the funds to build a second Church on Bunker Hill Street, St. Catherine’s of Siena. He built the elementary schools for both parishes along with 2 new rectories. A prolific fundraiser, he eliminated all debts for St. Francis. Fr. Supple founded the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown and served for many years as the State Chaplin for the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus. Fr. Supple is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Milford.
Captain John Reade would become one of the most influential Irish born citizens ever to live in Charlestown. In addition to his role as leader of Charlestown’s Hibernians, John Reade was an ardent Irish Nationalist having served as President of the Bunker Hill Branch of the Irish Land League. He was a member of Abraham Lincoln Post # 11 of the Grand Army of the Republic, was Commander of the Thomas Francis Meager Post # 3 of the Union Volunteer Union and a member of the Montgomery Light Guard. Additionally, he represented Charlestown in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate. John Reade died on May 17th, 1897. His Solemn High Mass of Requiem was held at St. Mary’s Church. The Boston Globe reported that more than 4,000 individuals attended his wake.
The growth of the Ancient Order of Hibernians seemed to have peak here in Charlestown by 1910. At that time, Suffolk County was home to nine AOH Divisions. Of the nine divisions, five were in Charlestown (#1, #5, # 20, #37 and # 61). AOH Division # 37, was informally known as the “Bunker Hill Guards”. At the height of its popularity, the AOH of Charlestown must have had a thousand or more members. On the evening before St. Patrick’s Day, 1912, more than 600 members of Division 20 met for a reunion at Mishawum Hall. The next day, Hibernians numbering in the hundreds packed St. Mary’s Church for a St. Patrick’s Day Mass.
In Hartford Ct, in the year 1882 a young Parish Priest named Michael J. McGivney formed a new fraternal organization with his male parishioners. He called this organization the “Knights of Columbus”. Fr. McGivney stated that “…a great number of Catholic men, particularly the younger ones were joining secret societies which as Catholics, they should not enter”. Over time, the organization founded by Rev. McGinley would supplant entirely, the Ancient Order of Hibernians as Charlestown’s premier Catholic fraternal organization. By 1909, Bunker Hill Council Knights of Columbus had 800 members. The Hibernians simply could not compete with the Knights with respect to membership and resources.
The founders of Bunker Hill Council could not have possibly imagined that a future President of the United States and the first Catholic ever to serve in the White House would be a member if its order. In 1946, 11th District Congressional candidate John Fitzgerald Kennedy would take his 3rd Degree on High St. and pay his annual dues for the remainder of his life.
Finally, if the drafters of the “Patrick O’Bunker” cartoon thought that the appropriation of the Bunker Hill Day parade and cerebrations was entirely too Irish, they would have been bitterly disappointed as the decades progressed. In “Common Ground” author J. Anthony Lucas described Bunker Hill Day in the 1940’s as a “…great Irish-American jamboree, a ritualized expression of the Town’s solidarity, an exuberant statement of Charlestown’s independence from the rest of the world”.
And so it was.
By Ed Callahan is a member of the Charlestown Historical Society