Saturday, April 27, 2024
In the past, Saint Patrick’s Day has been chronicled in Coryell County history with articles about Irish immigrants who arrived in the area now known as Coryell County.
It has been written that the first true Irish immigrant to arrive was Hugh Sheridan who came to the Fort Gates community in 1849, before Coryell County was ever established. Sheridan was born in Ireland in 1822 and, at the age of 24, immigrated to the United States.
When Sheridan came to this country, he left behind his sweetheart, Elizabeth McCormick, in County Longford, Ireland. He arrived in New York in 1846. For six months he was engaged in farming in Connecticut. He later ended up in Pennsylvania where, in March of 1847, he enlisted to fight in the Mexican War. He sailed from New York to Vera Cruz and was in the bombardment of that city and its capture.
He also fought in the fight for Mexico City, participated in its capture, and remained there until the treaty of peace was made. He later returned to New York and soon afterward reenlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Texas, reaching the state in December of 1848. He was with the first troops that came to Fort Gates on October 19, 1849, in what is now Coryell County. This was the first settlement in the area.
According to legend, he wrote to his sweetheart in Ireland from Fort Gates and described to her how beautiful the countryside was around the fort. He then asked her whether she would like to come to the United States and marry him. In those days, mail was extremely slow, and by the time he received her reply, she was already halfway across the Atlantic on a ship named the Yorkshire bound for Galveston.
To make a very long story short, Sheridan was able to meet her at the docks and bring her back to Fort Gates, stopping along the way in Fayette County where the two were married on Sept. 26, 1851, by a Catholic priest. After the troops abandoned the Fort Gates post, Sheridan and his bride remained behind and were in charge of government property for three years following. The two remained in the newly formed Coryell County where they raised their family.
Sheridan became an eyewitness to the changes that transformed this area of Texas from a wild state to a prosperous condition. He was present when the county of Coryell was formed in 1854. He bought 160 acres of land in the area around Fort Gates and engaged in farming and raising stock.
He died on August 4, 1911 at the age of 89 and was buried in the Fort Gates Cemetery near Gatesville. It was said that he was an Irishman that had a vision… maybe he just had the “Luck of the Irish.”
