Born Jan. 1, 1832, in County Galway, Ireland, and came to this country at the age of sixteen years; located in Worcester, Mass., about 1850; filled public offices of trust and responsibility in Worcester almost continuously during more than thirty years. He was first elected to the Common Council in 1865, and served thirteen years. He represented his city in the Legislature of 1874 and 1875. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen from 1881 to 1886, and was a member of the commission to build the new City Hall, having been elected by the City Council. He ran for mayor in 1886 as a Democratic candidate, and polled a surprisingly large vote, and in 1891, 1892, and 1893 he was chairman of the Democratic City Committee. He was a member of the old Jackson Guards at the time of disbandment, during the Know-Nothing administration of Governor Gardner; admitted to the society as a life member, March 5, 1898; died in Worcester, Mass., May 15, 1898. Capt. John Drum, the hero of Santiago, was born in Ireland, May 1, 1840. Coming to this country at an early age, he went to California, and at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the armies of the Union. At the close of hostilities he obtained a commission as Lieutenant in the regular army. He did gallant service in the various Indian wars, especially in the southwest. In 1894 he was appointed Military Instructor in St. Francis Xavier’s College, New York City. At the close of the detail he seriously considered the advisability of retiring from the service, but the destruction of the battleship _Maine_ put an end to the idea. He immediately joined his regiment at Fort Sill and subsequently landed on Cuban soil, where he fell in the gallant charge at Santiago. Captain Drum has been a member of this society since its inauguration and took a deep interest in Irish historical matters. He was buried with military honors in Boston, Sept 3, 1898. PAPERS READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY. Since its organization the society has been favored with the following original papers:— Thomas Hamilton Murray, editor _Daily Sun_, Lawrence, Mass.:—“The Irish Bacons who Settled at Dedham, Mass., in 1640,” one of whose descendants, John Bacon, was killed April 19, 1775, in the fight at West Cambridge (battle of Lexington). Hon. John C. Linehan, State Insurance Commissioner, Concord, N. H., on “The Seizure of the Powder at Fort William and Mary,” by Maj. John Sullivan and his associates, some of which powder was later dealt out to the patriots at Bunker Hill. Edward J. Brandon, City Clerk, Cambridge, Mass., a paper on the “Battle of Lexington, Concord, and Cambridge,” during which he read a list of Irish names borne by Minute-Men or militia in the battle of the nineteenth of April, 1775. Joseph Smith, Secretary of the Police Commission, Lowell, Mass., on “The Irishman, Ethnologically Considered.”