Obit for John E. ENRIGHT (b.1814 d.1891), Mower Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Susan Mocsny Baker Submitted: Jan 2002 ========================================================================= Obituary of John E. ENRIGHT Austin Democrat October 1891 IN MEMORIAM Lines Upon the Death of John Enright of Austin John Enright, mention of whose illness was made in the Democrat, died at his home on Bridge street, Wednesday morning, Sept. 30th, 1891. He had been a sufferer for several months from consumption, and his death was not unexpected. The funeral was held from the Catholic church Friday, at 10 o'clock a.m. John Enright was born in Ireland, June 24, 1814. In 1836 he came to America and located at Milwaukee, Wis., where he was married to Miss Margaret Frings, Oct. 7, 1844. In 1866 they came to Austin. The largely attended funeral of John Enright, which occurred on last Friday from the Catholic church, was a mark of the esteem in which the deceased was held, by all who knew him. He was a quiet, inoffensive person, who attended to his own business, and was in every respect loyal to his principles. A little sketch or outline of his life may be of interest. In 1849 Mr. and Mrs. Enright moved to Highland, Wis., where they made entry of government land, in the then wild western country. He took up mining of lead ore, which was then one of the principal industries there. In 1858 the deceased with others made an exploring expedition over a part of Kansas, but finding no attractive country to locate on, he returned home, only to be seized with the California and Idaho gold fever, which at that time raged throughout the country. In 1860 with a large party of neighbors, he bid adieu to friends and family and started westward. The wend their way toward the setting sun with determination to find the golden treasure they sought. After a long and tedious trip over plains, mountains and deserts, they arrived in the gold mining regions of Idaho. After three years of trial and privations in the pursuit of the precious dust, the subject of the sketch returned home via San Francisco and New York City. The writer of this short biography has listened for hours at a time to him as he related his wonderful experiences during those three years. Some of the party who started were separated from each other, and have never been heard from since, and their fate is unknown. Some narrowly escaped being killed by Indians, while others met their doom in some way or another. Mr. Enright was blessed with good health and good luck, however, and brought home a comfortable little fortune. Finding his place in Wisconsin not suitable for his aspirations, now that his family was growing up, he decided to emigrate to the broad, fertile prairies of Minnesota, which he did in 1866, and purchased a farm in Windom township. He settled at Austin, and built a house at Bridge street, with lumber hauled by team from Winona. This was then a large house for Austin and he has resided in it till the time of his death, with the exception of a few years spent with his family on his farm in Windom township. The farm at present is as nice an improved farm as the county affords. He leaves a wife and twelve children to mourn his loss, six boys and six girls. Joseph, Thomas and Patrick are living on nice farms of their own, near Brookings, S.D. William Enright of Windom township, a successful, well-to-do farmer, is now and has been for a number of terms, chairman of the board of supervisors of that township and a son of the deceased. John and James, the other two sons, own and occupy nice farms in Windom township. Three of his daughters who are married live in Austin, being the wives of Samuel Requa, Geo. Potts and Geo. Duffy and another married and living in St. Paul, the wife of Joseph Unterleitner, and two daughters unmarried, Maggie and Nettie, who are living at home and will be a source of comfort to their widowed mother. John Enright, though not immensely rich in worldly effects, nor never honored with any of the high public positions of this life, for to those he never aspired, yet one more content with his station in life, and apparently rich in spiritual matters than he, could not be found. And thus his life was ended as he had always lived, wholly resigned to the will of God.