Tracing Andrew McCabe: A Milwaukee based poet

Here in Ireland, we have produced an ever-growing contingent of exceptional artists, musicians, writers and poets whose creativity remains in vogue down the generations. I once noticed the name of Andrew McCabe listed in a book of biography about Irish poets and, instantly, I wanted to know more, especially when I learned that he was born near Virginia, Co Cavan.

McCabe’s poetry was published in America, having made Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his new home.

On the road to research, you will find out that not every avenue leads you to the information you want, but sometimes it will bring you on an interesting route with unexpected diversions. When trying to learn more about Andrew McCabe, I stumbled across some other stories, which although unrelated, I thought it would be interesting to include.

Wrong Andrew

Having discovered the poet, I set about finding more information and I largely hit a blank wall. Archives and libraries are the researchers' cockpit from which they can soar to new heights of discovery or get dashed against the rocks of despondency when a lead fails to offer a new nugget of information.

I thought to myself that I was making progress when I found an interesting account about a person named Andrew McCabe in the Grant County Herald, a Wisconsin newspaper, dated August 5, 1905.

On the outskirts of Iowa, it was hay making season and John Lupton lived there, managing his mother’s farm. He was glad of any extra help he could get. So, when a stranger named Andrew McCabe came by, he considered giving him work, but he was concerned that McCabe looked too old for such a strenuous task. However, McCabe pleaded with him, and Lupton relented.

The unusual stranger proved that he was more than capable to the task and, when the season ended, Lupton kept McCabe on the payroll. John noticed that the new workhand became quite attached to his mother who had been widowed for 36 years.

The mother it seems had found something familiar in McCabe’s voice and manner and could not put her finger on it. Her son was now determined to send the old man away but, as the hay season was beginning again, decided to hold on to him for the time being.

One day, when bringing in the hay, McCabe fell off the cart he was driving and split open his skull. He was rushed to hospital where the doctor performed a grisly procedure known as trepanning to relieve the pressure on McCabe’s brain. Eventually, McCabe regained consciousness and the doctor ordered everybody from the room.

Later, the doctor called them back in and told them that he had something to share about the man who lay before them in the bed. It turned out that he was not actually Andrew McCabe whom he had believed he was for more than three decades, but in fact, he had fought in the American Civil War in Company K of the Iowa Infantry. The veteran believed he was still living in 1864 and not the 1900s.

Further amazement followed when infantry records revealed that his name was in fact John Lupton, the husband of the lady, on whose farm he had been employed as Andrew McCabe. The whole family were happily reunited. The loss of McCabe became the Lupton’s gain. But alas, after an interesting diversion, I still needed to find out about Andrew McCabe, the poet, from Virginia.

Little Phil's cousin

Now for another Andrew who may have been our poet. The famous American Civil War General Philip Sheridan’s family came from Beagh, Kilinkere, near Virginia. His sister Catherine married a James McCabe and one of their children was named Andrew. This Andrew lived for time in Philadelphia and then moved to Milwaukee where he settled permanently.

Like General Sheridan's nephew, the poet we are interested in, also lived for a time in Philadelphia before moving to Milwaukee. Further records from Wisconsin may reveal more. Could both men be one and the same?

Poet Andrew

What do we know about Andrew McCabe? He was born in June 1831 near Virginia and, aged 10 years, his parents brought him to America; at first living in Philadelphia where he attended a grammar school. In 1857, he moved to Milwaukee where he remained. His published poetry did not amount to an extensive collection yet it did garner the attention of poetry publications and readers alike.

In ‘The Magazine of Poetry’, volume 5 (1893), one writer, signed J.B.B., said of him, ‘he has never seriously thought of making literature a pursuit, but on occasions, sometimes years apart, has simply given way to the impulse of some momentary influence.’

In 1868, the Literary Society of Milwaukee offered two prizes for best poems and McCabe entered and won both competitions. His poem ‘Avich Machree’ made its way around the ‘English speaking world’ and its success spread with the ‘rapidity of steam'.

The author of his short biographical sketch, J.J.B., noted that McCabe’s poems display spontaneity and are incredibly inartificial and natural. The magazine included three of McCabe’s poems. They are ‘On Finding a Robin’s Egg on the Ground in Early April’; ‘Pictures in the Sky’; and ‘Avich Machree.’

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