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| Patrick Healy, Sheepman, president of Commerical National Bank and developer of the Healy Hotel, Ogden Utah |
Patrick Healy was the second child, and first son born to Maytor Healy and Nellie Donovan. His birth took place in Knockeens, Kilgarvan parish, Co. Kerry Ireland. Knockeens is located in a vast mountain valley, about thirty miles long and sixteen wide. An arm of the sea, called the Kenmare River runs up the center of this valley for the distance of seven or eight miles from the shore, Knockeens is located several miles north of the head of the Kenmare River.
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| Location of Knockeens, parish Kilgarvan 1847 |
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| The area of Knockeens in the Kenmare Valley At his birth, Patrick had one older sister, Mary who was a toddler of 2 years, his father was about 29 years old and his mother was 24. |
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| Ruins of the Killowen Roman Catholic Church located on Kilgarvan Road, north of Kenmare, Co. Kerry |
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| Patrick Healy's Baptism Record |
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| Kilgarvan was the closest village to Knockeens. This map is historically accurate. |
In 1847, by large the majority of residents of Co. Kerry lived in extreme poverty. Their homes were one or two roomed shelters, made of mud and stone with a thatched roof, and may contain one window.. This is probably the case of Patrick's family as well as his grandparent and great grandparents because Ireland's rural population had lived in poverty for generations.
Patrick's parents, Maytor and Nellie probably lived within a close distance of their families and survived by farming, mostly potatoes and turnips. The soil in Co. Kerry is rocky, allowing only potatoes and turnips to grow with very little oats and no corn. The crops were planted by hand with a spade as there was no mechanical farming equipment at the time in Ireland. Their diet consisted of potatoes, milk and butter together with cured fish, bacon and a very small supply of oats.
The Village Killarney, twenty miles away and higher in the Mangerton mountain range was the nearest access to corn. If the Healy family was more fortunate than the majority of their neighbors, they had a cow for milk, chickens for eggs and perhaps they had a donkey and a cart. There were no horses.
Parick's father, Maytor Healy may have worked in the local underground Ardtully ( also known as the Cloontoo) copper mines which were operated by the Kenmare Mining Association, and employed 100 men at that time. His mother, Nellie Donovan Healy, weaved cloth to earn money as did the majority of women and girls at that time.
Patrick's parents, Maytor and Nellie probably lived within a close distance of their families and survived by farming, mostly potatoes and turnips. The soil in Co. Kerry is rocky, allowing only potatoes and turnips to grow with very little oats and no corn. The crops were planted by hand with a spade as there was no mechanical farming equipment at the time in Ireland. Their diet consisted of potatoes, milk and butter together with cured fish, bacon and a very small supply of oats.
The Village Killarney, twenty miles away and higher in the Mangerton mountain range was the nearest access to corn. If the Healy family was more fortunate than the majority of their neighbors, they had a cow for milk, chickens for eggs and perhaps they had a donkey and a cart. There were no horses.
Parick's father, Maytor Healy may have worked in the local underground Ardtully ( also known as the Cloontoo) copper mines which were operated by the Kenmare Mining Association, and employed 100 men at that time. His mother, Nellie Donovan Healy, weaved cloth to earn money as did the majority of women and girls at that time.
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| A typical rural Co. Kerry, Ireland home during the early to mid-nineteenth century |
Patrick Healy's birth occurred in February 1847 during the third winter of Ireland's Potato Famine. A single potato was not to be found. All of Patrick's family and Knockeens neighbors, and in fact all of County Kerry were in varying states of starvation. Many people were ill with dysentery or typhus and in the winter of Patrick's death cholera was spreading throughout all of Ireland including the cities of Dublin in the north. There were thousands of deaths each year in Co. Kerry.
To relieve the starvation, the Workhouse in Kenmare provided soup each day during the spring and summer of 1847. Outdoor Soup Kitchens were organized and funded (at the command of London Parliament ) by the British absentee landlord, Marquess Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice who owned by inheritance, most of the land in Count Kerry.
Hundreds of people in the community were leaving the Kenmare and Kilgarvan area, travelling by foot to the ocean ports located along the southern and western seashore. Here they boarded sailing vessels for North America, Great Britain and Australia with hopes of escaping the poverty and starvation.
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| A Famine Soup Pot of 1847 |
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| The Kenmare Workhouse opened October 1845 |
Patrick was fortunate not only because he survived past his birth and infancy, but also because he was too young to remember the effects of the famine in later years. Surely Maytor and Nellie told Patrick stories about his birth and childhood in Ireland. Later in the United States would he learn about the famine and the hardships from his parents and other Irish emigrants? Often people who have lived through horrific times do not talk about the experiences they had and the things they witnessed, choosing to try and not remember. This was especially true of the Irish emigrants, who after their arrival in New York or Quebec, desired to assimilate and become a part of the fabric of America, to not be perceived as "different".
The extreme hardships of the famine such as continuous hunger, dysentery, typhus and cholera in the community continued until about 1852, when Patrick was 5 or 6 years of age. His family continued to lived in the area of Kilgarvin, the place of his birth. There are records of Maytor leasing a house and land just two or three miles of the Village Kenmare. They are close to the Kenmare harbor and the Roughty River There are now four children in Patrick's family as he has two younger sisters, Ellen Healy and Julia Healy.
His father, Maytor is now about 34 years of age, Nellie is 29, Mary 8 years, Patrick 5 or 6, Ellen 1 year and Julia will be born in April, 1852.
The village of Kenmare, and the surrounding countryside have changed, the Potato Famine is over and this will be the 2nd year of a potato harvest. Because of the high death rate and the mass exodus by immigration out of the Kenmare Workhouse of 1845- 47, and the general population, the numbers of people in County Kerry had greatly decreased. Immigration continues and will be on-going until the end of the nineteenth century.
Because of the poverty and starvation, with no opportunity for improvement, Patrick's father, Maytor Healy left his family for North American. He immigrated in 1858 hoping for a better life, he had a plan to find work, save money and prepare a way for Nellie and their children to join him in a few years. Patrick was just 10 years old and as the oldest son, he was now the man of the house.
From 1858 to 1862 it is probable there were extended Healy and Donovan family members in the Kenmare area who Patrick's mother and siblings could rely on for help now that Maytor was gone.
By early 1862 Maytor was able to send money to Nellie for her and their five children's passage from Ireland to New York, United States. Maytor was working in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called the Keweenaw Peninsula. He had been working underground in Quincy Copper Mines at the Quincy location above Hancock.
Patrick, his mother Nellie and his siblings Mary, Ellen, Julia, Belinda, and Daniel prepared for their immigration. The Irish who immigrated from southern Ireland travelled overland by foot to the port in Cork, Co. Cork where they took a small vessel to Liverpool. At Liverpool Patrick's family purchased passage by steerage on the steamship City of Washington. Their voyage took about 5 weeks, arriving in New York on October 8, 1862.
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| Steamship, City of Washington |
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| Immigrants onboard deck of a steamship, arriving at New York Harbor. |
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| The SS, City of Washington Ship Log shows Patrick and family traveling in steerage. They arrived in New York Harbor on October 8, 1862. |
Considering the destination of Hancock Michigan, it's curious that Maytor and Nellie chose early winter as the time for her to immigrate with the children. Traveling overland from New York to Michigan in the winter time would have been a difficult challenge in itself, but traveling with six children, to the remote and harsh Keweenaw Peninsula during the cold winter months of 1862 was undoubtedly one of Nellie Healy Donovan's greatest accomplishments. Patrick at age 14 years and Mary age 16 would have been considered adults and heavily relied on I'm sure.
Patrick and his family arrived in Hancock Michigan where he met his father, Maytor after almost five-years of separation.
Patrick and his family arrived in Hancock Michigan where he met his father, Maytor after almost five-years of separation.
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| Working in the Timber - an old steam engine and timber in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan [3] |
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| Quincy Smelter, on Portage Lake, Hancock Michigan |
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| Smelter on Portage Lake, Hancock, Michigan |
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| Quincy Smelter on Portage Lake |
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| Quincy Hill, Hancock, Michigan |
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| Bernard Hoppenyan. Patrick worked in the Hancock Smelter "the warehouse" on the banks of Portage Lake with the German immigrant Bernard Hoppenyan. At that time Bernard was married to Mary Quinn and had two children. In later years, after Patrick left Hancock, Bernard's wife died leaving him a widower with five children, shortly after Bernard married Patrick's sister Mary Healy in 1875. Together Mary and Bernard had six additional children. |
About 1865, at the end of the United States Civil War, Patrick departed Hancock and headed west to seek his fame and fortune, along with thousands of other young men and women at that time. At age 18 years he was looking for opportunities that would pay his way and get him to the west. The Transcontinental line went into furious production at the end of the war and Patrick joined thousands of young Irish immigrants and war veterans lay line from Nebraska to Wyoming.
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| The early city of Omaha Nebraska was not much more than a village when the first rail was laid near the Missouri river - July 10, 1865. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress |
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| The Transcontinental line from Nebraska to Promontory Point in Utah was constructed by Civil War veterans and Irish immigrants. They were willing to work for low wages, under back breaking conditions. - Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress. |
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| Jack Casement's famous "City on Wheels" supply trains put everything the crews needed at their fingertips. The trains included specially laden cars with exactly enough materilas to lay one mile of track. It was this efficient management of men and supplies that enabled Union Pacific crews, under the Casement brothers, to lay up to two miles of track per day. Horses were used to bring rail to the end of the track. Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress |
General Jack Casement and his brother Dan were in charge of laying track for the Union Pacific. Jack served as a Civil War brigadier general, and he carried the same commanding presence into his work for Union Pacific. Dan also was a veteran, and together they commanded thousands of track layers.
To efficiently handle the sheer volume of men, materials and supplies, the Casement brothers created "City on Wheels". Rail cars were pushed along the tracks by a locomotive, each providing an essential function - sleeping berths, dining cars, kitchens and all needed materials. Men woke up, ate breakfast and stepped off the train to begin work.
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| Laying line for the transcontinental rail road. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress. |
A Brown's Gazeteer reporter estimated the train and attached tent city housed 1,5000 to 2,000 men and 2,000 to 3,000 horses and mules. The train alone fed 500 to 600 men, daily consuming seven barrels of flour, 25 bushels of potatoes, a barrel each of coffee and sugar, three cows and two chests of tea.
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| During Construction, crews had to dig an extensive number of "cuts" to maintain the grade for the railroad. This work was done by hand, wagon by wagon and rock by rock. By entering the cut in a multi-tier approach, crews could work simutaneously on several different faces. Construction reached Sherman's summit in April 1868 and quickly advanced to Green River, Wyoming, by that fall. Above, crews labor on the permanent bridge over the Green River with iconic Castle Rock in the background. - photos by A.J. Russell |
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| George Williamson Murphy Sr. About 1868 Patrick became friends with George Murphy, they would arrive in Utah together in 1869 and later owned and operated separate businesses across the street from the Union Station in Ogden, Utah. |
In Reno, Patrick Healy became acquainted with George Williamson Murphy and together they sought work with the Central Pacific Railroad. Patrick became a engineer and George Williamson Murphy, first became a scout in search of water sources for the construction crews then later he became a fireman for the railroad.
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| Central Pacific Railroad - engineer |
Both men arrived together in Utah in 1869, at first settling in Corinne, a main stop on the transcontinental line to the north, later moving to Ogden then known as Junction City where for the time being, they went separate ways. That same year, as an employee Central Pacific Railroad, Patrick Healy attended the historic ceremony, located about 30 miles west of Ogden, of the Driving of the Golden Spike.
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| The Champagne Photo, better known as "East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of the Last Rail" by photographer, Andrew J. Russel, The Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Summit, 10 May 1869 |
From photos, diaries, and other historic records it is estimated Patrick Healy was one of about 1,000 people who watched the driving of the last gold spike then the Union Pacific engine No. 119 and Central Pacific's Juniper were run up until they nearly touched. A toast was made, the railroad officials retired to their cars and the engineers and workman continued the celebration.
Despite common belief, the railroad did not immediately change Ogden's landscape and population. In 1876, seven years after the coming of the railroad, Ogden Utah was still a small-scale town with a population of about 3,200 and primarily framed buildings. By 1880 the propulation reached 6,000 and soared in 1890 to 13,000.
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| Ogden, Utah 1883 |
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| Mary Ann Patterson, wife of Patrick Healy |
In October of 1875, Patrick Healy married Mary Ann Patterson in Ogden Utah. Mary Ann was born in 1856 in Riverdale, Utah. Her parents, were born and married in Scotland. They joined the Mormon church in Scotland then immigrated to the US and crossed the plains with the Mormons pioneers. Upon their arrival in Utah they first settled in Iron County then moved to Riverdale, Utah where Mary was born in 1856.
Patrick Healy the Business Man
About 1880 Patrick left the Central Pacific Railroad, located in Ogden. and went into the sheep and cattle industry with his brother in law, Adam Patterson Sr
At that time, all of the western United States was open land with unobstructed access to grazing land and water. Patrick Healy and Adam Patterson travelled to eastern Oregon, south of the Snake River or into eastern Idaho and purchased dry ewes or wethers. Forming the sheep into bands they trailed them thoughout Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Nevada and Utah. Usually wintering in the red desert area of Rock Spring or areas of Utah and Nevada and summering in the southeast, Soda Springs Idaho area. Every spring they clipped - sheered the sheep and sold the wool or if they were fat enough they would ship them to market. Each year they purchased addition sheep and hired more men growing the business to a large scale. Around 1887, in one years they purchased 37,000 sheep which gave them about 100,000 sheep on the trail. They banded the sheep in groups of 8,000 to 10,000 and hired three men to a each band. One man tended camp, packing tents and bedrolls and the other two men herded the sheep.
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| A newspaper article about Patrick Healy, the sheepman, during one of his business visits to Massachusetts in 1883. The Appleton Post, Appleton, Wisconsin, Thursday 8 February 1883, page 6 |
Eventually homesteading expanded into Utah, Idaho and Oregon, fencing their property and blocking access to water and open grazing. The US government created the Forest Service. and the land was being divided into ranches and government owned State Lands. The Healy and Patterson business lost land which led them to move their business to the Buffalo Wyoming area. In 1892 they trailed their bands from the Red Desert to Lost Cabin, lambed them and summered in the Big Horns. At that time they had between 45,000 and 70,000 sheep.
During the 1880s Patrick and Adam saw large profits in their sheep business. With his increase, Patrick began investing in other Ogden businesses. He purchased shares of the Commercial Central Bank, (located on the S.W. corner of 24th St. and Washington Ave., becoming President of this bank in 1886), and in the Goddard Packing Company, for a period of time serving as the director.
About this time Patick's old friend, George Williamson Murphy purchased property and opened Murphy Grocer directly across the street from the Ogden Train Depot. Patrick also purchased property on the opposite corner with plans for his future business.
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| G W Murphy Grocer, On the corner of Wall and 25th Street, Ogden Utah |
Around 1900 Patrick's son, Alexander Healy moved to Wyoming and joined the sheep business, changing the name to the Healy Brothers. Yet again, times were changing as more people moved to the western United States, homesteading flooded into Wyoming and drastically changed the sheeping business from 1900-1920. During the 1880s and 90s, government regulation allowed you to homestead 160 acres and then expand to 640 acres. The Healy Brothers were operating on the open range and could not trail 45,000 head of sheep on 160 acres so their business was being squeezed out.
Family Life
In later years, Mary's grandson Daniel, the son of Alexander, asked her to tell him about the "early days" to which she replied, "All I can remember is being cold and hungry and I just don't want to think about it. We suffered too much".
Patrick and Mary had ten children but only three survived beyond 5 years of age. Mary's grandson, Daniel remembered that Mary had a sister who had 13 children and at age 74 she had 42 great grand children. He recalled, "my grandmother wasn't that fortunate".
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| Death of son, Maytor Earl Healy, September 10, 1883, the Ogden Standard newspaper, Ogden Utah |
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| Death of daughter Nettie B Healy, October 2, 1888, Ogden Standard newspaper |
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| Death of Patrick's father, Maytor Healy, Monday, 10 September, 1894, Ashland, Wisconsin |
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| Death of Patrick and Mary Ann's baby daughter, Margarette Blanche Healy, September 15, 1894, Ashland Wisconsin |
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| Death of daughter Margaret Blanche Healy, Sept 15, 1894, Ogden, Utah |
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| Funeral services for Margaret Blanche Healy, infant daughter, September 21, 1894 |
The years of 1883 to 1886 were difficult for Patrick and Mary Ann.
They lost a son, Maytor Earl Healy died at the age of 3 years in September of 1888. Three years later, Charles Robert was born in September 1886 but died the following year in 1887.
Patrick and Mary's first child was a son who they named Patrick Healy Jr. He was born, April 14, 1877 in Ogden. He was raised in Ogden, married Mary Sedwick and had three children, Stuart, Patricia and Patrick James Healy III. Patrick Jr. would become the president of the Commercial National Bank in Ogden.
The following year, their second child, a daughter Helen Healy was born
December 12, 1878. She was raised in Ogden, married John Connor Lynch and had one son, John Healy Lynch.
Three years later another child was born, a second son Alexander Healy was born January 13, 1881 in Ogden. He would attend the Institute of Technology in Boston where he met and married Edith Sampson Holden from Boston Massachusetts.
He joined his father in the sheep business "Healy and Sons moved to Wyoming They had two children, Alexander, Daniel Sampson Healy and then adopted two sisters in about 1924 when they were about 8 years of age, Eileen and Helen.
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| 2529 Jefferson Avenue, home of Patrick and Mary Ann Healy - 1897 Ogden Utah. - now known as the Jefferson Avenue Historical District - |
At the same time, Ogden grew and prospered so quickly in the late nineteenth century it attracted real estate promoters from all over the country. As businesses expanded so did the rest of the city. Telephones were installed, the telegraph system was expanded, a hospital was established, roads were paved, sidewalks installed and electricity provided. Permanent schools and churches were built. Residential development followed moving from west to east farther up the bench as the population increased. Many of Ogden's community business leaders built homes in the Jefferson Avenue development and Patrick was one of them.
Patrick and Mary Ann's victorian style home, which was popular during the time was built among the first wave of residential homes as development moved up the bench from the commercial district.
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| Healy Hotel land purchase, 1899 |
The Healy's exterior was sandstone and pressed brick, but the hotel was two stories shorter. Thanks to its stone, steel, and brick construction, the Healy claimed to be "absolutely" fireproof; nonetheless, fire escapes were installed. Patrick Healy disapproved of dark hotels, built a one story brick cigar shop adjacent to its east end on 25th Street to prevent any future tall building from casting shadows. Ogden's Boyle Furniture store beat out Denver and Chicago competitors to outfit the hotel. Guests slept on iron and brass beds with celebrated Ostermoor mattresses. The Healy boasted that no other hotel west of the Mississippi had Ostermoors, which cost fifteen dollars no matter how many were purchased. [4]
Across from the Union Station, the Healy had a railroad ticket office and railway mail-service head-quarters, plus a barbershop, drugstore, and bar. Most noteworthy was its restaurant, called the Arcade Cafe, whose furnishings and fixtures- reportedly of unequalled splendor- came from Salt Lake's premiere dining venue, the Merchants' Cafe at 155 South Main. Patronage at Merchants' had plummeted following a sensational love-triangle murder in one of its private dining rooms. Arcade proprietor Lee Murdock scooped up the Merchants' effects at auction. [4]
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| The Healy Hotel, built in 1901 across from the Union Station |
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| Add caption |
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The Healy Hotel Lobby, 1901
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In September 1917, Patrick's health was failing. To escape the cold weather of Ogden and hoping to recover Patrick went to California for the winter perhaps visiting his brother in law and former business partner, Adam Patterson in Los Angeles. Unfortunately over the winter, Patrick's health did not improve and they returned to his Ogden home in February 1918.
Hearing of Patrick's illness, his sisters Mary Hoppenyan of Ashland Wisconsin and Julia Young of Marquette Michigan travelled to Ogden to be with him. Mary, Julia, and his youngest brother Maytor James were with Patrick at his home when he passed away on May 24, 1918. Patrick was 71 years old.
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| Leading Financier of Ogden is Dead, The Salt Lake Tribune, Friday May 24, 1918 |
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| Ogden City Cemetery Map, Ogden, Utah. Grave locations for Patrick Healy, Mary Ann Patterson Healy and their children. |
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| Patrick Healy - Utah Since Statehood |
"While Patrick started out in the business world in a humble capacity he gradually worked his way upward, wisely utilizing his time, his talents and his opportunities, and progressing step by step. He was a man of resolute purpose and determination and carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. Each change in his business connections marked a forward step and as the years passed his interests became of a most extensive and important character, being of a nature that contributed to the maternal welfare of the city as well as to his individual fortunes." - Utah Statehood, pg. 236
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| Patrick Healy Estate, Ogden Standard Examiner, 28 January 1920, May 3, 1918 |
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| New Healy is Modern Hotel, article in the Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah, February 28, 1923 |
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Sources
[1] Memories of Edward Murphy, 20 June 2013
Grandson of George Williamson Murphy
Grandson of George Williamson Murphy
[2] National Register of Historic Places
Jefferson Avenue Historic District
Jefferson Avenue Historic District
[3] Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections at the Van Pelt and Opie Library
[4] Ogden Standard, See: April 3, 1899, Sept 23, 1890, October 25, 1900, July 8, December 21, 1901, March 30, 1913; David H. Peery Jr., who sold Patrick Healy the lot in 1899 commented. "As everyone knows, a good part of Ogden property is absolutely valueless; it can't be sold at any price.
[5] The Salt Lake Tribune, June 12, 1913
Despite its original grandeur, the Healy underwent a gut renovation just twelve years later. the project added an annex with thirty new rooms and a modernized lobby finished in Siena marble and Mexican onyx.
