O'REILLY, PATRICK

O'REILLY, PATRICK

Brooklyn Eagle

February 4, 1900

1900 Feb. 04.

ECCENTRIC VETERAN O’REILLY. He Only Smokes on St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s and the Fourth of July. Bellport, L.I. February 3--During winter of 1860, a small vessel was wrecked on the Long Island Coast, and among her passengers was Patrick O’Rielly, who had left his native land to seek a fortune in a free country. he was three months aboard the shop and the voyage was pleasant until the last day, when a heavy snow storm cast the craft ashore near Fire Island. A; the passengers were landed safely and were sent by rail the rest of their journey to Castle Garden. O’Rielly’s stay in the great city was very short, and he decided to make a start for the country. He crossed over to Brooklyn and taking the track of the Long Island Railroad as a guide. He kept on walking until he reached Yaphank, where the first man he met was Mr. Davis, who, being in want of a hang, hired the Irish immigrant. O’Rielly stayed with Mr. Davis until the war broke out; then he enlisted. He served five years in the Army, was discharged with the rank of sergeant. He fought in many noted battles and was with Grant and Sherman. He was also captured and spent some time in Libby Prison. After his final discharge he came to Bellport and hired out Mrs. Osborn as a manager of her place and farm, and he stayed with her until her death in last August and she often said that nobody ever had a more profitable farm that the Union veteran made hers.O’Rielly has just bought a little house in one corner of the Osborn estate, overlooking the Great South Bay, and the pension money he received every three months keeps him inn very good