With the American Civil War over, joining the US Army must have seemed like a safe way to earn a steady paycheck. Michael O’Gara, a recent immigrant from Ireland to Chicago, enlisted to support his wife and two infant boys back in County Sligo. In April, 1866 he enlisted and soon found himself at Fort Philip Kearny in the Dakota Territory, now in the state of Wyoming. Private Michael O’Gara was assigned to Co. C, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry. Along with the 2nd US Cavalry, their job was to protect the fort and its occupants. The fort was deep in Indian country and the Indians were not happy about its construction on their land. Wood gathering parties, upon leaving the safety of the fort, were frequently attacked.

During one of these attacks, on December 21, 1866, Captain William J. Fetterman was dispatched with eighty men to drive off the attackers. He was warned to remain within sight of the fort.  Captain Fetterman was not a man lacking in confidence, he had been heard to claim, “with eighty men I can ride through the Sioux nation”. These words would prove to be ironic.

Ft Kearney 1867
Sketch by Bugler Antonio Nicoli, 2nd US Cavalry, from The Bozeman Trail, Vol.1

Fetterman chased the small band of attackers into a clearing beyond view of the fort. Waiting for him were hundreds of Indian warriors (up to two thousand by some estimates). The battle was short and decisive. When it was over, Fetterman and his entire command were dead, including Private Michael O’Gara. The number of dead, seventy-six soldiers, three officers and two civilian frontiersmen, came to a total of eighty-one.

The victims were buried in a mass grave at the fort, subsequently disinterred and reburied at the national cemetery at Little Big Horn Battlefield.

Fort Kearny, under constant siege by the Indians, was finally abandoned in July, 1868. It was later burned down by the Indians.

Michael O’Gara’s wife and children subsequently emigrated to America and were awarded pensions.

Genealogy:

Michael O’Gara ( 6/15/1844 – 12/21/1866), son of Thomas and Bridget McGuinness, married Bridget Kilgallen (1842 – 5/7/1925)  at Dromard Parish, Skreen, Co. Sligo, Ireland on March 9, 1862. They had two sons:

I. James O’Gara (born 1/7/1863 – ????) married Mary Agnes Daugherty (c.1872-????) in New York City 9/26/1895. Mary’s parents were John Daugherty and Hanorah O’Brien. 1920 census shows James and Mary living in Rutherford, New Jersey with Bridget and their three children:

1. Walter J. O’Gara (1904-????) Oct. 1919 started working for Erie Railroad.
2. E. Regina O’Gara (1906-????)
3. Mary O’Gara (1908-????)

II. Michael O’Gara (born 9/1/1864- 3/1/1934) married Mary V. O’Hare (b. 10/1867-????) in the Bronx, NY on 10/13/1898.  Mary’s parents were James O’Hare and Mary Cashion.
They lived in the Bronx, NY:

1. James R. (2/20/1901-8/6/1974)
2. Winfield (1903-1961)
3. Muriel (7/19/1904-3/13/1983)
4. Isabelle (1909-????)
5. Genevieve (1910-8/6/1948)
6. John (7/12/1914-8/24/1984)
7. Edwin (1918-????)

Thanks to Michael’s grandchildren, James R O’Gara and Claire O’Gara Grimes, for providing additional information.

Sources:
The Bozeman Trail, Vol. 1 by Grace Raymond Hebard and Earl Alonzo Brininstool
“The Late Indian Massacre at Fort Kearney”, New York Times, February 3, 1867
“Fort Kearny as Site for Memorial”,  New York Times, June 17, 1928
US National Archives and Records (NARA) for Michael O’Gara

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For corrections, please notify author.

Francis J. O'Gara and his namesake. May 25, 1946 INS

During World War II cargo vessels known as Liberty ships ferried supplies to Europe and Asia through hostile waters where enemy submarines hunted for them. Over 2700 Liberty ships were built during the war. Only one of these ships was named for a living person, the SS Francis J. O’Gara.

Who was Francis O’Gara and how did he receive this rare honor?

Photo: David Nixon navsource.org

The SS Francis J. O’Gara was launched on June 8, 1945. The O’Gara bore the name of a heroic merchant marine who had been a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer before entering the service. O’Gara was aboard the freighter Jean Nicolet, which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean on July 4, 1944. The few survivors who were rescued reported the rest of the crew either went down with the ship or were machine gunned by the enemy.

When the U.S. Maritime Commission decided to name a Liberty for O’Gara, his sister, Mary, christened the ship with the traditional bottle of champagne as her mother stood by.  They would later find out that Francis was still alive!  He was one of three survivors of the Jean Nicolet captured and taken aboard the Japanese submarine. The other two prisoners were the ship’s skipper, Captain David Nilsson and radio operator Augustus Tilden.

Francis O’Gara was freed Oct. 28, 1945 from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. When O’Gara’s ship docked in San Francisco, it pulled in alongside the S.S. O’Gara, making this merchant marine the only living person with a Liberty ship named for him.

Photo: Robert Hurst navsource.org

During the Cold War, the SS Francis J. O’Gara was acquired by the US Navy, converted to a Radar Picket Ship and recommissioned in 1957 as the USS Outpost (AGR-10 and YAGR-10). She was decommissioned in 1965 and sold for scrap in 1971 at Biboa, Spain.

Francis J. O’Gara died September 18, 1981, at the age of 69.

Genealogy info from the various published sources:

Francis J O’Gara (6/14/1912-9/18/1981). He was born in Blackstone, Mass. to James O’Gara, of Woonsocket, RI and Margaret McManus of Blackstone. He had a sister, Mary O’Gara. He married a Miss O’Donoghue in 1946 at Philadelphia, PA. They had a least one child named Francis J. O’Gara, Jr.

sources: Out of the Past: After World War II, shipyard declared ‘surplus’ property
Newsherald.com

Slaughter at sea: the story of Japan’s naval war crimes By Mark Felton

Navsource Naval History

Armed Guard

Anyone with additional information on Francis J. O’Gara, please leave a comment.
For corrections please contact the author.

Montserrat is only one of three places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday, along with Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador. It is known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean.

Some members of the O’Gara family settled Montserrat with other Irish refuges after fleeing the nearby islands of St. Kitts and Nevis where they had been brought from Ireland as endentured servants. Over time, as the new immigrants married the local natives, a distinct branch of the O’Gara clan, along with other Irish clans, emerged.

The locals now resemble their African ancestors, but speak English with the brogue of their Irish forefathers! They also retained their Irish surnames. The phone directory lists 38 families named O’Garro, a spelling evolved from the original O’Gara.

sources: Montserrat 411 news – How Irish is Montserrat (The Black Irish) by B. McGinn,
Wikipedia,  The Montserrat Tourist Board and Youtube: The Black Irish of Montserrat.