Mr. Seward to Sir
F. Bruce
Department of State, Washington,
August 9, 1866.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose for your
information a letter of the 21st ultimo, and its accompaniments, in
regard to the case of John McMahon, a Catholic priest, who, it appears,
was arrested in Canada by her Majesty’s authorities during the late
Fenian invasion of that province, and is now detained in prison in
Toronto on suspicion of complicity with the movement. It is stated in
the papers which accompany this communication that McMahon is a
naturalized citizen of the United States, and that he is not a member of
the Fenian
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association. Under
these circumstances, I desire to avail myself of your good offices to
bring the matter to the attention of the government of Canada.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your
obedient servant,
The Hon. Sir Frederick W. A. Bruce, &c., &c., &c.
P. S.—I will thank you to return the original papers whenever you
shall have satisfied yourself as to their contents.
Mr. McMahon to Mr. Frazee
Dear Sir: I have received your kind letter
of the 17th, which gave me much pleasure to hear from you, and that
you have not forgotton me, although now a prisoner in jail, but I
thank God that I never was guilty of any crime that I should be in
jail for. However, I am in now, but, thanks be to God, I am innocent
of being a Fenian, for no priest can be a Fenian. I must tell you
how I became to be in prison. I had a brother who was a rich
storekeeper in Montreal, who died about three years ago; he never
had any family, only his wife. Before he died he brought in the
executors, and made his will; he had four brothers and one sister
living there; he left his legacy to be divided among these, his wife
and the orphans of St. Patrick’s church, Montreal. I having heard
that the Fenians were going to take Montreal, I thought that I would
go and see my sister-in-law, for fear that she would be in any
trouble, as she thought that I would go to see her every summer
since my brother died; so I left home on the 30th of May, came into
Buffalo on the 31st, crossed over to Fort Erie on the 1st of June to
take my passage for Montreal, as the Grand Trunk railroad comes to
Fort Erie. I was just going to the office to get a ticket when there
came a large number of Fenians, and took me by force, as that there
was not any train going out that day to any place, and the steamboat
that crossed me over had stopped. I had to stay there. The next day
the fighting began, and no chance to get away, so I had to stay
until I was taken.
On Sunday, the 3d day of June, the British soldiers came to the house
where I was stopping, waiting for the train to come. They asked me
my name, and where I lived; I told them; they then took me with them
on the suspicion of being a Fenian; they took me to their camp
ground, and kept me there the most part of that day. It seemed as if
it was for exhibition for the troops and all the people to come and
see the Roman Catholic priest that they had got. You would think
they never saw one before; but to make a long story short, I
suffered for the ten first days more than you would like to hear,
and all for no reason. You mentioned that you would write to
Washington; I hope you will, and make no delay, and mention in your
letter that I will go straight as soon as I can to Washington, and
satisfy the government both there and here that I never was a
Fenian, and then the Catholic church, and then forget and forgive
all my enemies, for it seems that they don’t know themselves, nor
what they do. So we look for nothing but cruelty; there is no other
appearance. When you write to Washington, you can tell them that I
declared my intentions upwards of twenty-five years ago, in the
marine court in New York city, and all the time since observed the
rules and laws of the country. I heard that Governor Morton has
witten for me, but do you all you can, and as soon as you can, and
please write to me when you get this. The people in Winchester did
well for me; Union, Muncie, Anderson, Middletown, the same. Hence, I
am very thankful to you and all my friends. Homing to hear from you
soon, I remain your humble servant and faithful friend,
[Untitled]
State of Indiana, County of Randolph:
We, the undersingned, have been acquainted with the above-name Jhon
McMahon for some years part; we have known him intimately, living in
the same part of the city a portion of the time, and being intimate
with him all the time; we were intimate with him until he left here
in May last, and we never have heard him say anything on politics,
and we feel satisfied that no one else ever has. He is an American
citizen, and has been for more than twenty years, having declared
his intention in court, New York city, about the year A. D. 1841. We
have heard the letter herewith attached, written by him from
Toronto, the 21st July, A. D. 1866, and
are satisfied on the truth of it. He told us before he left
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Winchester that he was
going to see his sister-in-law, and we knew about his brother
departing this life; and the facts set forth in that letter by him
we feel assured are true. We never have heard him speak favorable of
the Fenians. This July 28, 1866.
PATRICK McLANE. [seal.]
DENNIS LENNON. [seal.]
JOHN LACY. [seal.]
EDWARD LENNON. [seal.]
Winchester, Randolph County
Indiana,
July 28, 1866.
State of Indiana, Randolph County, ss:
Subscribed and sworn to before me this July 28th, 1866. I also
certify that the persons whose names are hereunto attached are
persons who live near me, in the city of Winchester, and I consider
them men of good character for truth and veracity.
WILLIAM D. FRAZEE, Justice of the
Peace.
