Edward J. Mitchell
Edward was born in Rutland, Vt. on July 10, 1849. A year later the family moved to Cabondale, Penn. His family moved from place to place until it finally settled in 1856 in Yonkers. He attended the public schools and then St. Mary's School up to 1859 when he was went to work for a grocery store and then Eagle Hat Factory. Why did he leave school at such an early age? No doubt to help support his family-he was the oldest of seven children. In 1861 his father enlisted in the Union army. With seven children why did he do this? Most likely for the bonus money and probably he thought, as did everyone else, that the war would end quickly. His father returned in 1863 and his mother died in Jan. 1864.He tried to enlist three times but his father prevented it until May 10, 1864 (one month shy of fifteen years old). Although the official age for enlistment was eighteen at the beginning of the war, they allowed younger men to enlist as the war dragged on.. The total number of enlisted men in the Union Army was 2,700,000. 100,000 were fifteen or under.

After the war ended he returned home. In May 1866 he joined the Fenian Movement and enlisted in the Irish Army for seven years. Building on their experience fighting in the Civil War some Fenians went back to Ireland to begin an armed revolution. In February of 1866 they were captured by the British and were tried for treason- a capital offense. However they claimed citizenship in the United States and, through the intervention of the American government, they were allowed to return to the United States. Edward Mitchell was not involved in this adventure but he was in another one closer to home: the attempted invasion of Canada. The Fenians planned to capture part of Canada and trade it for the freedom of Ireland. Edward was sent to Malone, N.Y, where some thousand men were prepared to march into Canada. On June 1, 1866, 1,000 armed Fenians crossed the Niagara River near Buffalo into Canada. The next day they were defeated in the battle of Ridgeway. The USS Michigan blocked any reinforcements. General Sweeny was arrested in Malone, New York, and all the men, including Edward Mitchell, were discharged and sent home. This attempted invasion of Canada was not as crazy as it sounds today. Some prominent Americans thought that it was only a matter of time before Canadians voted to join the United States. Remember also that Edward had just turned seventeen.

The independence of Ireland continued to be a constant goal for many Irish. In Yonkers the Irish formed the Montgomery Club which met regularly for many years. Its name was a cover for the Clan-na- Gael, a secret society whose aim was the overthrow of the British government. Tom Flynn's "St. Patrick's Day and the Irish Community in Yonkers 1857-2003" is a gold mine of information about attempts to aid Irish freedom. It was a constant problem for the American bishops (most of whom were Irish) and would remain so up until a few years ago.
Edward returned home and went to work for Otis Brothers until 1874. He then joined the Protection Fire Department and where he eventually became its secretary, foreman and engineer. In 1872 he married Mary McGovern in St. Mary's Church. She died in 1887 leaving one daughter, Mary Mitchell. He became an Alderman representing the Democratic Party for six years serving as Chairman of the Board in 1883.
One of his proudest achievements was the planning and building of the public dock at the foot of New Main St .In Allison's "History of Yonkers" his contributions to Yonkers are extensively recounted.

John Wallace
I can easily imagine John Wallace sitting down with his children telling fantastic and thrilling stories about his life. His telling didn't need any embellishments because his life was truly remarkable. He was born in 1838 in Co. Galway in Ireland and lived there during the Famine years. As a teenager he joined the British army because, as he put it, "I broke one of their laws and to avoid going to prison I joined the British army." He served in the disastrous Crimean War of 1853-56 where Russian fought against the forces of France, Ottoman Turks and England. There were hundreds of thousands casualties on both sides. Florence Nightingale began her nursing service here. Alfred Loyd Tennyson wrote his famous "The Charge of the Light Brigade" about its brutality and insane heroism. Then he was assigned to India where he witnessed the execution of the Indian Sepoys. They were Indian soldiers who revolted against their English army commanders because they had heard that the bullets they would soon use had been dipped in pig or cow grease. This would be a violation of both the Hindus and Muslim religious laws. Of course it was about something more substantial. Today India calls this uprising the "First War of Independence”, not the" Mutiny of the Sepoys." In revenge for the killing of English women and children, some of the Sepoys were tied to the front of cannons and blown apart. Great Britain then took direct control of India (it had been administered under the British East India Co.) and continued to expand its Empire throughout the world. John was then assigned to Canada probably as part of the 20,000 troops rushed to Canada in the Trent Affair. In November 1861, a British steamer, named the Trent, was boarded by a Union officer on the San Jacinto. He seized two Southerners who were on their way to represent the Confederacy in France and Great Britain. This could have been considered an act of war by the British. To show their seriousness, they strengthened their army. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and war was averted. Finishing his service in Canada John was discharged in 1864. He then joined the Army of the Republic on July 13, 1864 “because the bonus money was very attractive.” His service record includes this description: “Age 26, hazel eyes, height 5'6 ¾, ruddy complexion. Regiment 14 U.S. Infantry 2Ild Battalion. Co. C. transferred to 23 U.S Infantry. Co D. Rank Sgt.” After the Civil War he completed his three years serving in the Indian Wars in the West.

He came to Yonkers in 1874 with his wife and four children and opened up a shoe business (he had learned the cobbler's trade in the British army). When his first wife died, he wrote to his home town in Ireland for a wife. When she died after three months of marriage, he married her sister, Catherine Lane. Catherine bore him two more children, one of whom died in infancy in 1883. All surviving children attended St. Mary's School. His shoe store prospered in Yonkers. He became a trustee of St. Mary's Church where he was instrumental in buying the land for the second St. Mary's Church. He did not live to see the church built. In 1890 he died at the age of fifty two after catching pneumonia ice skating on the Hudson River.
His family married into the Dalton family. His grandsons became prominent lawyers in Yonkers, very much involved in the Democratic Party, one becoming a judge. His granddaughter, Agnetta became a school teacher and eventually principal of School 12. His oldest son, John, sold the family business to his in- laws, the Daltons, and became a turf accountant. He was seen at all the area racetracks, including Empire City in Yonkers, seated in an elevated chair taking bets. Family legend has him attending the early Mass at St. Mary's with a rooster under his coat. After fulfilling his Sunday obligation, he would then go the local cockfight on School St.

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