George Dorrance and Phebe (Place) Dorrance left several sons. One of them was named Thomas G., and another Albert L. The latter became an influential farmer on the homestead inherited from his grandfather. He died, leaving a widow and two daughters. The Dorrance name is still found in Rhode Island, and Dorrance street, a leading thoroughfare in Providence, helps perpetuate it. Bearers of the name, descendants of the immigrants, are likewise found, some of them in Providence. The old dam at Dorrance mills was long since demolished. The original dwellings have long been ruins, the great chimneys being the last to go, but the history and the memories of the Dorrance Purchase still form one of the charms of that section of the state. AN EARLY IRISHMAN OF WATERBURY, CONN. BY MARTIN SCULLY,[13] OF WATERBURY. A good deal of research has been indulged in during the past ten or fifteen years, with a view to ascertaining for a certainty the name of the Irishman who first visited the territorial limits of Waterbury, Conn. So far the question seems to be an open one, the preference having been ascribed to various persons by different writers. Half a dozen or more of the old Irish settlers of the town who came here over half a century ago and who have resided here continuously since, tell conflicting stories in relation to this subject, and as they were the only source from which much information on this matter could be obtained, the question has never been fully decided, each naming a different person as being the first to lead the way for his countrymen into this section of the state. I recently conceived the idea of making some investigation on this point from sources other than those which have heretofore been brought into use, with the result that I have succeeded in obtaining information in relation to this issue, which will be of interest to future historians, of the first Irish residents of this town, and cannot but help settle the much disputed question on this point. As nearly as data can at present be collected, the first known Irishman to see this part of the country was Joseph Rourke, a soldier who served in one of the companies attached to a regiment in command of General Putnam in the Revolutionary War. He was with Putnam through most of his campaigns and took such a liking to that dashing soldier that he refused to serve under the command of any other captain. It was this fascination which led him to follow Putnam to his home in Brooklyn, this state, and he was seriously wounded in the retreat of the Revolutionary troops from Horseneck to Stamford, Conn., in 1779.