During his service in the Revolutionary army Rourke met and formed the acquaintance of a son of Gideon Hotchkiss, the great-great-grandfather of Judge George H. Cowell of this city, and in 1784 he accompanied young Hotchkiss to the family residence, then situated about three miles southeast of Prospect Centre. Remaining here for about twelve or thirteen years, he learned of the intended uprising in his native country, which culminated in the rebellion of 1798, and left on the old stage line for Derby, Conn., thence by way of the Sound for New York, with a view of reaching the scene of the conflict in time to render what service he could to the cause of the Irish patriot party. Whether he reached the scene of operations and met the fate of many of his countrymen who had dared throw down the gauge of battle to the enemies of Ireland will never be known, but sufficient information has been obtained to satisfy me that the story of his visit to these parts is founded on fact. Judge Cowell can tell many reminiscences of the man’s characteristics which he often heard related by his maternal grandmother. “There is nothing strange about this,” said Judge Cowell, when asked about the matter; “everybody knows that the Irish people had been fleeing to all parts of the world to shun the persecution to which they were subjected at home for centuries prior to that time, and it is the most reasonable thing in the world to believe that some of them should show up in these parts. It is a well-established fact that there were a large number of Irishmen in the Revolutionary War, not only in the rank and file, but as captains and generals. Were not several of the signers of the Declaration of Independence Irishmen? “Joseph Rourke was not the only one of his race who came along here after the close of the Revolutionary War, but he is the only one I have a good recollection of hearing talked of when I was a boy. What made the old people remember him so well was the fact that in addition to being a brave soldier he was an excellent shoemaker and earned his living during his stay here by going among the farmers, repairing and making new footwear, and the handsomest footwear ever worn in this state by the forefathers of many of the old American families of this section was put up by Joseph Rourke.