History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, 1879.



John Delaney


John Delaney.



John Delaney was born in the village of Cullahill, Queens Co., Ireland, in the year 1815. He was the son of James Delaney and Julia Camphion. His father was a farmer, and died when John was but sixteen months old. Left fatherless, he was early compelled to earn his own living. He learned the trade of a stonemason, which he has since followed. In December, 1835, the great fire occurred in New York, and rightly judging this to be a good time for him to strike out for America, on the 1st of April 1836, he left his native town and embarked at Liverpool, April 8th, in the packer-ship "Star," Capt. Glover, and landed in New York May 9th. His first work in New York was on the extension of the Vassar Brewery at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he remained about a year, when he went to Hudson, N.Y., and remained a year, and in the fall of 1837 returned to New York City, where he was employed on the Croton Water-works for two years. In April, 1840, he went to Becket, Mass., where he worked on the railroad bridges at that place and remained a year. In 1841 a portion of the Croton dam was washed away, and he was engaged as superintendent of the work, and remained in charge until the dam was restored, in 1842. He then returned to Massachusetts, and was employed on Fort Warren in Boston Harbor for two years. Subsequently he returned to Brooklyn, and was employed on the Atlantic dock for two years, whence he went to Brunswick, Me., and was employed on the erection of a chapel for Bowdoin College. In the fall of 1846 he again returned to Massachusetts.

He was married to Miss Bridget Lahey, of Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, in the Franklin Street Cathedral, Boston, on Nov. 20, 1846. Soon after he then went to Lowell and took charge of very important work for the Lock and Canal Company under Engineer J.B. Francis until the spring of 1849, when he moved to Holyoke, where he has since resided. His family consists of six children,—two sons and four daughters,—four of whom are living. His oldest son, James E. was born in Lowell, Nov. 7, 1847, the other five in Holyoke: John L., Nov. 15, 1849; Julia A., Nov. 23, 1851; Mary Elizabeth, June 4, 1854; Elizabeth A., Nov. 18, 1855; and Mary L., March 23, 1859. Mary E. died Dec. 16, 1854, and Julia A. Dec. 19, 1854. In Holyoke, under Engineers John Chase and his nephews, S. Stewart and William A. Chase, Mr. Delaney has done all the important stonework on the head gates, wheel-pits, raceways, and the many extensive canal walls, as well as on the bridge between Holyoke and South Hadley, on the several bridges that span the canals, and on the foundations of the several mills, city-hall, churches, and business blocks in the city. In Springfield he did all the stonework at the water-shops on the dam, put in the foundations for the gun-level machines, built the stone dam at Smith & Wesson's Works, Mill River, built the masonry for the Connecticut River Railroad Company for the entrance to Hampden Park, and the extensive river wall along their premises; for the Otis Company at Ware he performed very important work, consisting of their dam, bridges, and mill foundations. He also built the dam of the Nonotuck Silk Company at Florence, and in 1874 was awarded the contract to rebuild the bridges, dams, retaining walls, and foundations washed away by the great Mill River flood at Williamsburg and Haydenville. He has always done his work in a thorough and substantial manner. In 1876, business being a little dull, he took the opportunity to visit the land of his birth, and, in company with his daughter Mary L., sailed from New York on the steamer "Abyssinia," on July 5th, and landed in Queenstown July 14th. After a very pleasant visit with his friends in Ireland, they made a tour of England and France, and returned home.





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