THE QUINN FAMILY, Our Yesterdays, Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, 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. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. THE QUINN FAMILY In June of 1885, John Quinn, aged 55 years, was buried in the cemetery of St. John the Evangelist's Church, in Boulder Valley, Montana. This cemetery must have had a special significance to Mr. Quinn, as it was located on land he had originally homesteaded upon his arrival in the Valley in 1864. He had later given part of it to his son, Michael, who, in 1880, donated a tract to be the site for the Catholic Church and cemetery which the people of the Valley had decided to erect. Mr. Quinn's life began in Ireland in 1830. As a young man in his teens, unable to either read or write, he left his family, knowing that he would probably never see them again. Traveling first to New York, he then worked his way west as far as Illinois, where he married, and on across the plains to Colorado and then to the Montana Territory and the Boulder Valley. The Quinn's first child, Katherine, was born in 1861, and Mary was born in 1863, both children born in Colorado. Shortly after their arrival in Montana in 1864, Michael was born, Ellen in 1867 and John in 1889. Mary died in 1878 at the age of 15 years, at which time she had been married to a Mr. Henry Jackson. As the story goes, Mary's dad and Jackson did not get along. Shortly after her death, Mr. Quinn reportedly went to Jackson's cabin and, after a heated argument, shot and killed Jackson and then took a horse and dragged his body down in the brush where he left it. As there were no newspaper accounts or other written records of this incident, and the information passed on by word of mouth undoubtedly has been a bit veiled, it is unlikely that what actually happened will never be known. Both of the Quinn sons, Mike and John, grew up in the Valley and raised families. In November of 1888, at the age of 24 Mike was united in marriage to Miss Cora E. Flood, the daughter of Mr. Peter Flood, another Valley pioneer. The ceremony was performed at the William Ryan residence by Rev. Father Follett. Of this marriage, two children, Olive and John, were born prior to Cora's death just four years later in 1892. Mike continued to reside on the ranch until shortly before his death in 1947. Olive and John were raised by their father, with the help of relatives and friends. Olive was married to Mr. Roy Murray, a hunter and trapper in the Radersburg-Boulder Valley area, and they lived in the Valley and later in Boulder. One of their daughters, Cora Mae, married Mr. Harry Lincoln and they now live in Helena. They have one son, Mike. The Murray's other daughter, Helen, married Mr. John Corbin and they now live in Sequim, Washington. The Corbins had two sons, LeRoy, who lives with his family in Butte, Montana, and Jack, who was killed in an automobile accident in California and is buried in the Valley cemetery. Olive's brother John left the Valley as a young man and moved to Missoula where he married and had three children. He is now retired and lives in California. In February of 1894, the Quinn's other son, John, also married. Miss Ada Hurst Locker, then living in Elkhorn, came down to the Finn Station on the train where she was met by her uncle who took her to the Willow Springs ranch. The next day at a skating party John Quinn proposed and they left for Butte accompanied by John's brother, Mike, and Miss Anna Smith. They were married by Father F. X. Batens at St. Lawrence parish. Ada's mother and step-father, Mary and Andrew Locker, also were Boulder area pioneers. Ada was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1875, and came to Elkhorn with her parents in about 1889. Her father worked in the Elkhorn mill and later lived in Boulder, where he served as county assessor. Ada's sister, Mabel, was born in 1881 in the little stone house which still stands in the field about two miles south of the present Wahle Phalen home. Ada's grandparents, Reuben and Thenia Ann (Langford) Bailey also emigrated to Boulder from Virginia, arriving in 1875. John and Ada were the parents of five children who all grew up on the ranch and attended first at Finn and then in Boulder. John and Ada continued to reside on the ranch, and in 1944, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. A reception in their honor was held at the Windsor Hotel, then owned and operated by their daughter, Ella. John died in 1947 and Ada in 1966. William , their eldest son, was born in 1894. He married Grace Dawe of Elkhorn and Point of Rocks on June 14, 1893. They lived at Point of Rocks and then on the Quinn ranch until they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Bill worked in the shipyards and on construction until his retirement. They still live in their home in Portland. The second son, Ed, married Edith Dean on May 19, 1928, and they lived and worked on the Quinn ranch and then managed the Lazy T ranch until Edith's death in 1960, when Ed retired to Boulder. He now resides at Alhambra Manor. Ella, the Quinn's first daughter, was born in 1898. After going to school, she worked at Shelby, Montana, and was then married to George Mosier. They had one daughter, Bette, who was born in 1925. Ella later owned and operated the Windsor Hotel for a number of years. She was married to Gordon McFarlane and they continued to live in Boulder until Ella's death in 1961. Bette married A. M. "Bugs" Buckles in 1943 and they had four children who are all now married and have families. Keith is in Great Falls, Carol in Longview, Washington, Barbara Jean in Gruber Estates, Clancy, Montana and Sally Lee in Portland, Oregon. Bette passed away in 1976. John and Ada's third son, Mike, was born in 1900. In 1940, he married Peggy O'Neill of Butte, and they have continued to reside on the original Quinn ranch. Mike has become well known throughout the State as a cattle buyer and for his rodeo stock. The Quinn's last child, Mabel, was born in 1902. She also worked in Shelby, and in 1929 she was married to Ed Murphy, the son of another pioneer Valley family. Ed and Mabel purchased the original Ed Ryan ranch in 1942. They had two children, June, born in 1934 and Mike, born in 1942. June was married to Don McCauley in 1955 and they had four children, Donna, Danny, Debbie and Doug. They lived on the Ed McCauley ranch in the Valley until Don's death in 1967, when June and her family moved to Boulder. She married Lloyd Richardson in 1973 and they now live in a new home on the site of the original Henry McCauley ranch. Ed and Mabel's son Mike, lives in Seattle, Washington. Ed died in 1967, and Mabel still resides on the ranch. SUBMITTED BY MRS. MABEL MURPHY, MRS. JUNE (MURPHY) RICHARDSON, AND MR. MIKE MURPHY THE JOHN QUINN FAMILY The Quinn family came to the valley in 1861 or 1862 by ox drawn wagon. Great Grandad, John Quinn, came from Ireland where he was born. The State records show that his wife, Hannah Hullessee Duesnier, was born in Illinois; the church records say she died in Ireland. The first child of record was Katherine, born in Colorado in 1861; Mary 1863-1878; Michael Frances 1864-1847; Ellen (Ella) 1866-1954; John Quinn 1869-1847, all born on the homestead. These ages were taken from the 1870 Census list which also listed nine males 21 years or older living at the ranch at this time. There is no record if these were friends or relatives or perhaps hired hands. John Quinn (1830-1885) and wife, Hannah, homesteaded on Section 11 near where the Valley Church stands. The original house and barn still stand, as do the second and third house with their additions. Michael Frances (Mike) Quinn (1864) was my grandfather. On November 1, 1888, he married Cora E. Flood. She died October 16, 1892, at the age of 24. They had two children; Mary Olive, born October 28, 1889, and John F. (Jack), born May 20, 1894. Jack now lives in Milpitas, California, with his wife Betty, near his daughter, Mrs. K. (Betty) Peat. Grandad was married a second time but don't have records of names and dates. There were two children born to this marriage; Ben, who died about 1965 or 1966, and Bab, who lives near Missoula. Olive M. Quinn married James LeRoy (Roy) Murray in the Boulder on December 14, 1914, at St. Catherine's Church. They had two daughters; Helen, born September 3, 1917, and Cora Mae, born January 23, 1921. They bought the Daley place and lived there until buying the home ranch from grandad in 1932. They were both hard working people and had a hard, but good, life in the valley. They retired due to health in 1945 and moved to Boulder where they were still active in all community activities. Their doors were always open to friends and relations. Roy was known statewide for his hunting abilities. Olive died January 15, 1967, and Roy died January 18, 1970; they were living in Helena near us at that time. Helen Murray married Harold Robert Corbin. They had two sons, LeRoy and Jack. LeRoy is married and live in Butte; he is a teacher at the Junior High School. Jack was killed in a car accident in 1970. They are now living in Seluim, Washington. Cora Mae married Harry L. Lincoln, on April 19, 1942; they have one son, Michael James. They live in Helena. While in grade school most of the families went to the Weber School, first the log building which later we used as a barn for our horses. The second school building is now located on the Twohy ranch for a home. Olive went to St. Vincent's Academy in Helena for a time. Bill Quaintance and I were the last two students to attend Weber, the last term being 1932-33. SUBMITTED BY MRS. HARRY L. LINCOLN