Irish World and American Industrial Liberator (New York, NY) Saturday, January 05, 1895; pg. 5; Issue 1,269; col F (Obituary) OBITUARY. FITZGERALD -- John Fitzgerald, ex- president of the Irish National League of Ameri- ca, died at his suburban home, hear Lincoln, Neb., Dec. 30. He was nearly 66 [68?] years old. His illness, while of long standing, was not, until a few days ago, considered critical, and some hopes were entertained of his recovery. Five months ago, but a day or two after he won his notable suit against the Missouri Pacific Railroad, in- volving nearly $500,000 Mr. Fitzgerald was stricken with brain trouble and a complication of other diseases, from which he never fully rallied. He leaves a widow and three children. John Fitzgerald was born in the County of Limerick, Ireland, in 1830 and emigrated to this country in 1869. He went to work for a farmer on Long Island as a laborer. He then became a railroad laborer, at a dollar a day. When he saved a modest sum he went West to Nebraska and was first a railroad laborer there also. He showed that he could be trusted, so he was made foreman of a gang. The he ventured his savings in a small contract. The profits helped to a larger one, and so on, until he was able to undertake the largest construction work for the railroads and canals that have developed with the progress of the Western country. Specu- lations in land, in cattle and in grain multiplied his wealth, until in 1883 he was looked upon as a millionaire and the richest man in Lincoln, Neb., where he had his home. Mr. Fitzgerald was elected president of the League in Chicago in 1886 by a vote of 703 to 244, for Hugh Mc- Caffrey of Philadelphia. He was a man of liberal tendencies, and contributed large sums to the cause of Irish Home Rule. He was a devout Catholic, and gave liberally of his wealth toward the support of the Church and charitable insti- tutions in Nebraska.