The Mac Cabes were one of Ireland's most powerful clans. Originally coming from county Cavan, they spread over Cavan and the neighboring counties, dominating wherever the branches of the family settled. They were descended from Colla da Chrioch, founder of the Kingdom of Origiale, the first king of which was a Mac Cabe. His descendants continued to rule over that kingdom, and were also styled Kings of Ulster down to the time of the subjugation of that province by the English in the twelfth century. The Mac Cabes were men of great strength and valor, and in the old days gave many famous commanders and galloglasses to Ulster. With the decline of Irish influence in Ulster the hand of adversity fell hard upon the Mac Cabe clan. The clansmen, although subjugated, were never conquered. The spirit of the old chieftains was inherited by their descendants, and the Mac Cabes, broken in fortune but not in spirit, kept up an almost continuous warfare against the conquerors. In the course of the centuries, however, the Mac Cabe clansmen became scattered over the widely distant parts of the world, carrying in their hearts, however, a wildly passionate devotion to Hibernia, and as passionate a hatred of her conquerors. They also carried with them the same rugged strength and courage which characterized them in the early history of Ulster.
In the days of their supremacy in Ireland they had allied themselves with the O'Reillys and the O'Neils, who with the Mac Cabes were the three most powerful families in county Cavan. Their influence was paramount in every branch of county affairs, military and civil, and they also contributed many powerful prelates to the Irish church of that period.
(I) Descended from a long line of those pure Celtic ancestors was James McCabe, who emigrated with his family to America in 1844, and settled in Albany, New York.
(II) John, son of James McCabe, married, in Albany, Anne, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Daley) Cassidy, both of whom were natives of Dunganna, county Tyrone, Ireland, and who had come to the United States in 1828, and after a three months' voyage across the ocean settled in Albany, where March 9, 1833, their daughter Anne was born. Anne survived her husband and is still living in Albany, being now in her seventy-eighth year. She is a fine type of Irish-American womanhood, and now in the winter of her life may well look back with pride upon a life full of good works. The writer, an old friend, remembers her as always a sweet, charitable and neighborly woman, deeply religious, and an earnest and constant advocate of total abstinence, in a field in which she accomplished immeasurable good. Her life's story, far-reaching and womanly as it has been, is an inspiration to all who know her. Children:
- James, born 1857, died 1898, married Mary J. Holton, also deceased, leaving one child, a son,
- John J., who is unmarried and resides in Albany.
- Patrick Edgar.
- John F., born 1861, married Catherine Reagan, and still resides in Albany.
- Mary T., born 1863, died 1885, unmarried.
The sons were all educated in the Christian Brothers' Academy, at Albany, New York, and have all manifested considerable activity in political affairs, Patrick E. being especially prominent.
(III) Patrick Edgar, second son of John and Anne (Cassidy) McCabe, was born in Albany, New York, June 26, 1859. Upon leaving school he learned the trade of moulder, moulding being at the time about the most remunerative trade open to a young man. Dissatisfied with the limited opportunities which his trade seemed to hold out to him, he took the United States civil service examination and in 1885 was appointed to a clerkship in the Albany, New York, post office. Here his early education and great natural ability soon asserted themselves, and, together with his constant activity in politics, caused him to be appointed assistant county treasurer, an office which he filled with signal ability. He occupied this position for six years, and at the end of that time had become one of the recognized leaders of the Democratic party in the county of Albany. In 1898 he was elected clerk of the county of Albany, and in the year 1900 was chosen as the representative of Albany county on the Democratic state committee, a position which he still holds. He has since become one of the recognized leaders of the Democratic party in the Empire State, and is always a familiar figure in state and national conventions. He has proven himself an able and resourceful leader and counsellor, and has often exhibited qualities of rare courage and strategic genius in the face of odds which would be the undoing of a less able man. On January 4, 1911, Mr. McCabe was elected clerk of the senate of the state of New York, a position the importance of which can hardly be over-estimated. His conduct of this office has met the unqualified approval of all students of public affairs. He is a Roman Catholic and a member of the congregation of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Albany. In 1898 he married Elizabeth T. Kieley, a native of Albany, daughter of Jeremiah and Anne (Kennedy) Kieley, both now deceased. Jeremiah Kieley, who died in 1863, was a man of considerable wealth and influence in his day, and was supervisor in the old first ward of Albany sixty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. McCabe reside in Albany, New York.