William James MacNeven (also sometimes rendered as MacNevin or McNevin) (21 March 1763
Ballinahown
Ballinahown (), also spelled Ballynahown, is a village in County Westmeath on the N62 regional road in Ireland. It is south of Athlone and east of the River Shannon. It contains the Roman Catholic St. Colmcilles Church, completed in 1902 ...
, near
Aughrim,
Co. Galway
"Righteousness and Justice"
, anthem = ()
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg
, map_caption = Location in Ireland
, area_footnotes =
, area_total_km2 = ...
, Ireland - 12 July 1841
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
) was an Irish physician forced, as a result of his involvement with insurgent
United Irishmen
The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...
, into exile in the United States where he became a champion of religious and civil liberty and the reputed "father of American chemistry". One of the oldest obelisks in New York City is dedicated to him to the right facing
St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway; while to the left stands another obelisk, dedicated to
Thomas Emmet, a fellow United Irishman, and Attorney General of New York. MacNeven's monument features a lengthy inscription in Irish, one of the oldest existent dedications of this kind in the Americas.
Republican conspirator in Ireland
The eldest of four sons, at the age of 12 he was sent by his uncle Baron MacNeven, to receive his education abroad, for the
penal laws rendered education impossible for Catholics in Ireland. This Baron MacNeven was William O'Kelly MacNeven, an Irish exile physician, who for his medical skill in her service had been created an Austrian noble by the
Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
. Young MacNeven made his collegiate studies at
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. His medical studies were made at
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
where he was a pupil of
Pestel
In business analysis, PEST analysis ("political, economic, socio-cultural and technological") describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. It is part of an external envi ...
and took his degree in 1784. The same year he returned to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
to practise.
He became a member of the
Catholic Committee, and in December 1792 he was returned from Navan as a delegate to the
Catholic Convention
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
held in the Tailor's Hall, Back Lane. In this "Back Lane Parliament" he joined Committee chairman,
John Keogh
John Keogh (1740 – 13 November 1817) was an Irish merchant and political activist. He was a leading campaigner for Catholic Emancipation and reform of the Irish Parliament, active in Dublin on the Catholic Committee and, with some ...
, and secretary,
Wolfe Tone
Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...
, in pressing for full and immediate
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
.
At the same time he joined the
United Irishmen
The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...
at the solicitation of
Arthur O'Connor and
Lord Edward Fitzgerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...
. He took the
society's test or oath to advance, in the cause of a national and representative government for Ireland, a union of Catholic and Protestant, from Fitzgerald's friend and protector, Mary Moore. With
Oliver Bond
Oliver may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and literature
Books
* ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry
* '' Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens
Fictional characters
* Ariadne Oliver ...
, Richard McCormick (McCormack) and Bernard MacSheehy (Tone's aide-de-camp), he conspired to solicit French assistance for a republican insurrection.
After returning from Paris, where he had conferred with Tone, in March 1798 MacNevan was arrested in March 1798 and confined in
Kilmainham Jail
Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leade ...
. After the suppression of the
rebellion in the summer of 1798, he was held with other senior United Irish leaders as a state prisoner in
Fort George, Scotland
Fort George is a large 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to control the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing a ' ...
. On condition of exile he was released in 1802. The following year he was in Paris seconding the efforts of
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Protes ...
to persuade
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to commit troops to Ireland. In anticipation, MacNevan joined
Irish Legion
The Irish Legion (french: Légion irlandaise) was a light infantry regiment in service of the French Imperial Army established in 1803 for an anticipated invasion of Ireland. It was later expanded to a four battalions and a depot, the legion won ...
as a captain. But following the failure of
Emmet's rising in Dublin in July 1803 and despairing of the intentions of the now
Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, he decided, as did others in the Legion, to leave for the United States.
Reflections on the rebellion
MacNeven arrived in New York on 4 July 1805. While he resumed his practice of medicine, MacNeven continued to identify himself publicly with Irish affairs.
In 1807 he published and edited ''Pieces of Irish History'', a volume which included essays by him and
Thomas Addis Emmet
Thomas Addis Emmet (24 April 176414 November 1827) was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary Irish republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s. He served as Attorney General of New York from ...
, as well as state papers, memoirs and letters relevant to the history of the United Irishmen. Its publication, according to MacNeven, was necessitated by "abusive misrepresentation" by "hirelings" of the British crown, and by prominent
Federalists
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
such as
Rufus King
Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the Unit ...
, the former minister to Great Britain. Against the charge that United Irish had been agents of republican France, and that in the United States he and his fellow exiles should be regarded as subversives, MacNeven argued that soliciting French assistance Irish patriots had made the same pragmatic calculation as had the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
in courting
Louis XVI--and indeed the same calculation as had
English patriots when in 1688 they invited the armed intervention of
William of Orange.
[Whelan, Kevin. (1993), "Piecing Together a Shattered Past: the Historical Writings of the United Irish exiles in America", in D. Dickson, D. Keogh and K. Whelan eds., ''The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism and Rebellion,'' Dublin: Lilliput Press, , (pp. 297-307) pp.301-302] At the same time, and in line with an established United Irish narrative, MacNeven maintained that the Irish had been victims of a conspiracy by
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
to foment rebellion as a pretext for destroying in the
Acts of Union the remaining vesitiges of their independence.
While he had been critical of
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
, the completion of
Catholic Emancipation in 1829, and subsequent reforms, persuaded MacNeven that there was no longer a role in Ireland for physical-force republicanism. "We must all prefer to the most successful use of physical violence", he declared in his last public address, "the moral, peaceful revolution which O'Connell is now effecting by the masterly employment of his powers acquired to his country since 1798".
Career in the United States
In 1807, he delivered a course of lectures on clinical medicine in the recently established
College of Physicians and Surgeons. Here in 1808, he received the appointment of professor of midwifery. In 1810, at the reorganization of the school, he became the professor of chemistry, and in 1816 was appointed in addition to the chair of materia medica. In 1823, MacNeven was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. In 1826 with six of his colleagues, he resigned his professorship because of a misunderstanding with the New York Board of Regents, and accepted the chair of materia medica in
Rutgers Medical College
Geneva Medical College was founded on September 15, 1834, in Geneva, New York, as a separate department (college) of Geneva College, currently known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 1871, the medical school was transferred to Syracuse ...
, a branch of the New Jersey institution of that name, established in New York as a rival to the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The school at once became popular because of its faculty, but after four years was closed by legislative enactment on account of interstate difficulties. The attempt to create a school independent of the regents resulted in a reorganization of the University of the State of New York.
With
William Sampson, MacNeven formed the society of Friends of Religious and Civil Liberty. When in on
St Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
1829, the society gathered in
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
in anticipation of
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
's imminent victory at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
(the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
signed the
Catholic Relief Act
The Roman Catholic Relief Bills were a series of measures introduced over time in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries before the Parliaments of Great Britain and the United Kingdom to remove the restrictions and prohibitions impose ...
ending the Protestant monopoly on parliament a month later), MacNeven linked
Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
to the cause of abolition. In his presidential address, he told the banqueting members that they had convened for same purpose that assembled "good men of all nations and creeds" to give "their voices against the enslavement of the Africans".
MacNeven is affectionately known as "The Father of American Chemistry". He is buried on the Riker Farm in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. An obelisk to honor the memory of MacNeven, mistaken by many to be a burial site, stands in
St. Paul's Chapel's graveyard in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. The Obelisk is opposite to another commemorated for his friend and fellow exile, Robert Emmet's elder brother,
Thomas Addis Emmet
Thomas Addis Emmet (24 April 176414 November 1827) was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary Irish republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s. He served as Attorney General of New York from ...
.
Family
MacNeven married, on 15 June 1810, Mrs. Jane Margaret (née Riker) Tom (1782–1868), widow of John Tom, merchant, of New York, and daughter of
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Samuel Riker
Samuel Riker (April 8, 1743 – May 19, 1823) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for New York's 1st congressional district from 1804 to 1805 and again from 1807 to 1809.
Early life
He was born o ...
of New Town, Long Island, by whom he had several children.
Works
MacNeven's best known contribution to science is his "Exposition of the Atomic Theory" (New York, 1820), which was reprinted in the French ''
Annales de Chimie
__NOTOC__
''Annales de chimie et de physique'' ( French for ''Annals of Chemistry and Physics'') is a scientific journal founded in Paris, France, in 1789 under the title ''Annales de chimie''. One of the early editors was the French chemist Ant ...
''. In 1821 he published with emendations an edition of Brande's "Chemistry" (New York, 1829). Some of his purely literary works, his "Rambles through Switzerland" (Dublin, 1803), hi
Pieces of Irish History(New York, 1807), and his numerous political tracts attracted wide attention. He was co-editor for many years of the "New York Medical and Philosophical Journal".
Notes
References
*
* :
* Francis, ''Life of MacNeven'' in Gross, ''Lives of Eminent American Physicians'' (Philadelphia, 1861);
* Gilman in ''New York Medical Gazette'' (1841), 65;
* Byrne, ''Memoirs of Miles Byrne'' (Paris, 1863);
* Madden, ''Lives of the United Irishmen'', series ii, vol. II (London, 1842–46);
*
Fitzpatrick, ''Secret Service under
Pitt'' (London, 1892–93)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macneven, William James
1763 births
1841 deaths
People from County Galway
19th-century Irish people
United Irishmen
American Roman Catholics