Daniel Tracey and family
(Roscrea, Montreal and Albany)
1. Daniel Tracey (c1795-1832), physician, journalist and politician.
The details of his life in Ireland are sketchy. According
to Mullally, the following account was printed in The Vindicator in 1833 after
his death. He was born in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, in May, 1795, the son of
Michael Tracey, a merchant and ??? Mainfold of Erescourt,
Birr Co. Offaly. He was orphaned at a young age and an uncle on his
father’s side raised him and a brother and sister. At
the age of ten he was removed from a seminary in his native town to a school in
Clonmel. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and after
graduation studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin. He
practised medicine in Dublin for several years; but in 1825 he emigrated to
Canada with his brother and sister. According to Reynolds, Dr. Daniel Tracey (who changed the spelling of the name) was of an Irish
branch of the well-known English family, and by much the eldest of four
orphaned children, a graduate of Trinity College and of its medical school, he
was a practicing physician residing in Offaly county, Ireland, when the
accidental death by drowning of a younger brother, to whom he was fondly
attached, led him to decide on a change of residence to Canada. After a
shipwreck in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, he arrived in Montreal in the year 1825,
having with him his brother, John, then a lad of fourteen years, and his
sister, Ann, aged fifteen. The Trinity College record is as follows: Daniel Tracey, Pen. (Mr Morris),
Dec 5, 1814, aged 20; R.C., s. of Denis, Mercator; b. King’s Co. (Offaly). A French
reference states that his father was Denys (Denis) Tracey a merchant of Offaly and
his mother Anne Manford.
His life in Canada is well documented. He began the practise of his profession in Montreal in 1825
and lived in either on St. James Street or in the then St. Antoine Suburbs. In
1828 he established the Vindicator, a Reform newspaper, and became its
editor. When news of O’Connell's electoral victory
arrived in Lower Canada in September 1828 Tracey organized the province’s first
Friends of Ireland Society. In May 1832, he was elected to represent the west ward of Montreal in
the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. He died of cholera in Montreal on
July 18, 1832.
Finnegan, Mary (1985)
Irish-French Relations in Lower Canada. CCHA Historical Studies, 52, 35-49
Galarneau,
France, Tracey, Daniel, DBC, PUL, 1966, vol.6: 864-865.;
Galarneau,
France, L'élection dans le quartier-ouest de Montréal en 1832: analyse
politico-sociale, RHAF, vol.32 (1978-1979), 4 :565-584.;
Lapalice,
Ovide (1927) Le docteur Daniel Tracey, Bulletin des recherches historique, 33:
492-493.;
Reynolds,
Cuyler ed. (1911) Hudson-Mohaw Genealogical and Family Memoirs. Lewis
Historical Publishing Company, Vol. I pp.255-7
Ann Tracey (c1807-11th February 1879) the
sister of Dr. Daniel Tracey, married Charles Wilson (1808-1877) on the 19th
May 1835, who
was to serve as a representative from 1848 on, mayor of Montreal (1851- 1854),
a senator (1867-death) and a knight commander of the Order of St. Gregory
by Pope Pius IX (1855).
3. John Tracey
John Tracey (c1811- 1875), the brother of Dr. Daniel
Tracey, had obtained his education and was engaged in business
at the beginning of the rebellion in Canada in 1837. Although he took no part
in the outbreak, word was brought him privately that an information was to be
lodged against him. He quickly left Canada and came to the United States,
settling in Albany in 1839. After traveling in the South, he decided on New
Orleans as a location, but did not long remain there. He returned to Albany,
where he later became established in successful business and prominent in civic
public life. He was a member of the Democratic party, a friend of Governor
Seymour and other public men of his day, receiving and entertaining them
socially at his home. His residence in Albany for twenty-four years was the old
Schuyler Mansion, in which he had a life tenancy during the lifetime of Mrs.
Millard Fillmore, widow of President Fillmore. He served as alderman from the
old First ward; member of the board of police commissioners and of the board of
education; in 1872 was defeated by a narrow majority as a candidate for the
state senate; was a trustee of the Albany Savings Bank, was a member of the
board of trade. He was a Catholic in religion, and deeply interested in the
welfare of his church and the various charities under her control. He was
trustee of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, St. Agnes Cemetery, St.
Vincent's Orphan Asylum and a governor of Albany City Hospital. He married, in
Canada, Maria McCarthy, daughter of a retired English army officer, Lieutenant
Charles McCarthy, a soldier under Wellington, debarred from higher rank through
his religion and refusal to take the oath of abjuration. John Tracey died July
12, 1875. Maria McCarthy Tracey, born in the Isle of Wight in 1812, died
February 5, 1880. There were nine children of this marriage, four only of whom
survived infancy.
3.1
John Tracey (Colonel), son of John Tracey, was born
November 29, 1843. He graduated at Mount Saint Mary's College, Emmettsburg,
Maryland, where he took his A.B. and after a course at the Albany Law School was
admitted to the bar and began practice in the office of Peter Cagger. After the
breaking out of the civil war he entered the army as a lieutenant, and served
on the staff of Brigadier-General Michael Corcoran, commander of the Irish
brigade, seeing hard service in the Army of the Potomac and being mentioned in
dispatches for conspicuous gallantry. He was mustered in as major of the
Eighteenth Regiment, New York Light Cavalry, October 15, 1863; was commissioned
lieutenant-colonel, December 28, 1864, with rank from November 25, 1864. He was
mustered out June 12, 1865, at New Orleans, Louisiana, with the brevet rank of
colonel, being then in command of his regiment. In 1867 Colonel Tracey married
Katherine Clinion Vernam, who survived her husband, and resided in New York
City in 1911. Their children were Minnie, Ernest Clinton and Katherine.
3.2
Charles Tracey (General), son of John Tracey, was born
in Albany, New York, May 27, 1847, died in the same city, March 24, 1905. He
attended primary schools, then entered the Boys' Academy, where he was
graduated in the class of 1866. He had a natural aptitude for military drill
and was major of the cadet battalion. In 1866 he went abroad, visited the Holy
Land, and remained in Europe some time, and during the period enlisted and
served two years in the Pontifical Zouaves, returning home in 1869. In 1870 he
went to Rome and took part in the siege of that city against the king's forces.
He was captured and held a prisoner for a time. He returned to New York City
and engaged in business. He there organized the Catholic Union, and became its
first secretary. He then returned to Albany, which was ever after his home.
After returning from his military career in Rome, Pope Pius IX. conferred upon
him the order of St. Gregory the Great with the rank and title of Chevalier.
His life from this time was devoted to the public service. He was an unwavering
Democrat, and first held several entirely honorary offices. He was on the staff
of Governor Tilden with the rank of colonel, and under Governor Robinson was
commissary-general. In 1887 he was nominated and elected to congress to fill a
vacancy. He at once took a leading position in the house, and the first fruit
of his labor was the bill for "the continuance of the manufacture of large
cannon at Watervliet." In September the appropriation for the Watervliet
gun factory was passed and signed by President Cleveland. In 1888 he was
renominated and elected for a second congressional term. He served that term
with especial credit and benefit to his district. He introduced and forced to
passage many important measures, one of which was "to enforce the
eight-hour law on government premises." So well was his work appreciated
that in 1890 he was again elected to congress. He was especially honored by
President Cleveland, and was his spokesman on the floor of the house. He
rounded out his last congressional term full of honors, leaving a record
without a stain, and at the time of his death was the national chairman of the
Gold Democratic party. He took strong ground on sound money, tariff and labor
questions. He was quiet, unassuming in manner, sunny in disposition, firm in
his opinions, an ideal, true and courageous standard bearer. He held many
positions of honor and trust outside of his political ones. For nineteen years
he was a trustee of the Albany Savings Bank, as was his father; was a director
for fifteen years of the National Commercial bank; trustee of the Boys'
Academy; St. Agnes cemetery; manager of St. Peter's hospital, trustee of the
House of Refuge, at Hudson, appointed by Governor Cleveland and reappointed by
Governor Hill. He was a Catholic in religion, and the beauty and purity of his
life is thus expressed by a friend:
"He kept the faith,
he chose the purer thought,
Upheld the truth and spoke with cleanly lips,
Untarnished walked the halls where men are bought
And served his country more than politics.
Tol'rant of weakness in his fellowmen,
Impatient only of the gross and vile,
His life was plotted on a noble plan,
He viewed the future with a trustful smile.
Gentle and true he leaves an honored name
More lasting in the hearts of friends than fame."
In 1853 General Tracey
married Hermine, daughter of Colonel Duchesnay, of Montreal. They were the
parents of four children, Marie T., Charles, Philip and John.
3.3
Eliza Tracey (Sister), daughter of John Tracey, was
a member of the Franciscan Order, in which she has taken the name of Sister
Ambrosia and was in 1911 Mother Superior in charge of St. James' Hospital,
Newark, New Jersey.
3.4
James Francis Tracey (Judge), youngest son of John
Tracey, was born in Albany, New York, May 30, 1854. He was for four years a
student at the Boys' Academy, and toured Europe for two years as part of his
preparatory course. He entered on his return Georgetown University, where he
was graduated A. B., class of 1874. He was graduated LL.B. from the Albany Law
School, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1875. He studied in the office
of M. T. and L. G. Hun, and in 1882 formed a partnership with James Fenimore
Cooper, and his father, the late Paul Fenimore Cooper, who was senior counsel,
under the firm name of Tracey & Cooper, which continued until 1893. In that
year Albert Rathbone was admitted, and the firm became Tracey, Cooper &
Rathbone, continuing until Mr. Rathbone's removal to New York City, when he
withdrew. His place was taken by Frederick Townsend, the firm now being Tracey,
Cooper & Townsend, conducting a general legal business. Mr. Tracey served
as state examiner of corporations under John Bigelow when secretary of state,
and was lecturer on the law of corporations at Albany Law School for fifteen
years. From 1884 to 1886 he served as president of the Young Men's Democratic
Club of Albany, which did effective work towards securing for Grover Cleveland
the support of the party organization and in promoting his nomination. In 1905
President Roosevelt appointed him associate justice of the supreme court of the
Philippine Islands, and he took up his temporary residence in Manila. On
January 8, 1908, the president sent his name to the United States senate as
member of the Philippine commission with portfolio as minister of finance and
justice. This appointment he declined, and on February 1, 1909, resigned from
the insular service, and, returning to Albany, resumed practice of the law with
his old firm. He is connected with various Catholic charities, and belongs to
the Cathedral congregation. In politics he is a Democrat, and at times has
taken an active part in political movements, but has never been a candidate for
political office. He belongs to the Fort Orange, University and Country clubs
of Albany; the University and the Catholic of New York City, and the University
of Manila. In 1910 he received the degree LL. D. from his alma mater, Georgetown
University.
Judge Tracey married on
May 10, 1893, Lucianne Bossé, of Quebec, Canada, daughter of Joseph G. Bossé,
judge of the Court of Queens Bench (Court of Appeals), and his wife, Amelie de
Salaberry, of an old French family which yet retains its ancestral seats upon
the Loire, and at St. Jean Pied du Port in the Pyrenees. She is a
great-granddaughter of Colonel de Salaberry, who commanded the British and
Canadians at the battle of Chateaugay in 1812, when the Americans were
defeated. Judge James F. and Lucianne (Bossé) Tracey have one son, Walter aged
sixteen years.
Reynolds, Cuyler ed. (1911) Hudson-Mohaw Genealogical and
Family Memoirs. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Vol. I pp.255-7