Early Days in America

Nicholas Devereux was born in Wexford county, Ireland on June, 7 1791 near a place called "The Leap." He was the youngest of Thomas and Catherine (Corish) Devereux's nine children.

Being the youngest he was fortunate enough to avoid the conflict that devastated his family, the Irish Rebellion of 1798. His brother James was killed at "The Battle of Vinegar Hill." Another of Nicholas' brothers, Walter, had to flee Ireland with a price on his head. His father, sadly, was imprisoned and either died in captivity or shortly after his release.

Fortunately the second eldest Devereux son, John Corish (b. Aug. 5 1774), had fled the country before the troubles began.

John came to the United States in 1796, after a short time in France. He made money teaching dance lessons under the name "John C. Devero," in Connecticut and Massachusetts. It is believed John said he "danced one thousand dollars out of the New Englanders." Eventually he headed west and settled in the village of Utica, New York.

The County of Wexford (Portion of Valentine Gill's 1811 map of County Wexford, from an original at the National Library, Dublin.) "The Leap" can be found on the map at almost the exact middle of the darker section on the left.

	John opened a dry goods store in November of 1802. The early Utica firm did well enough that Nicholas went to work for his brother upon his arrival in the summer of 1806. Nicholas worked for John at the store for about three years, until 1809, when he was offered a job with the merchant store of William James & Co. in Albany.
John C "Devero's" ads for dance lessons (From Connecticut Courant Sep. 26, 1796 & Jan. 28, 1799, Beincke Library Yale University.) Family legend tells that John C. was known to say he "danced one thousand dollars out of the New Englanders."
Nicholas worked for William James & Co. until 1813, when his mother, Catherine, passed away and Nicholas had to return Ireland to attend to attend the family's affairs. When he returned to the United States later that year he settled in Utica and began working for John again. The next phase of the Devereux brother's firm would make both of them two of the most wealthy men not only in Utica, but in Western New York as well.
	John Corish Devereux