Essex County NJ Archives Biographies.....Patrick Francis MULIGAN, 1846 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 10, 2008, 3:14 am

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

MULLIGAN, Patrick Francis,
Bookseller, Newsdealer, Stationer.

  Born in Ireland, but from infancy until death a resident of the city of
Newark, Mr. Mulligan's life story is one of exceeding interest and commendable
example. He found no royal road to fortune, but pursued the old difficult path
to business success, starting humbly, thoroughly mastering every detail, and
earnestly and intelligently pursuing one line of business from his boyhood. He
was a "newsdealer" from the time he was a little boy, and it is said of him that
he knew the name and address of every man in Newark who had attained prominence.
From a small beginning he built up the largest book, stationery and news
business in the city of Newark. His store on Broad street, opposite the City
Hall, being the literary centre for the city. He supplied three generations, and
as his memory was peculiarly accurate and retentive, he could tell the life
story of thousands of his fellow citizens, and in this faculty he had no equal
in the city. One of the main reasons for his rise in the business world was his
personal, consistent and constant devotion to his business. His familiar station
in the store was behind the counter near the door. He knew every item of his
stock, was for years his own cashier, and his volume of personal sales exceeded
that of all of his clerks. This attention he continued even after the stream of
fortune had floated him, to a high financial level; in fact, he was an
indefatigable worker until the end, and contrary to the advice of his friends
and his physician he refused to take any vacation, and chose rather to be in his
old place in the store and still "in harness," as he liked to put it. Men liked
and admired the outspoken manner of the boy, and they enjoyed to linger in
conversation with him in the riper and mellowed years of manhood and old age. He
was a man of strong and decided views, and while he expressed them frankly and
uncompromisingly, he yet possessed the rare faculty of differing without offending.

  While for forty-two years he conducted his business on Broad street, and was
the best known dealer in his line in the city, he became thoroughly familiar
with Newark real estate values, and acquired his wealth largely from well timed
investments in centrally located property. His judgment of real estate values
was remarkably accurate, and from his host of friends he could always obtain any
information which he might desire regarding investments. Intensely strong in his
political views, it was only as a patriotic, interested citizen, never as the
office seeker, although his reputation at large and his friendship with the
leaders of both parties was a weighty asset had he desired to use them for his
political advancement. But he was never lured from his chosen life work, and
while he was proud that he had made his life a success, he was well contented to
end as he began, "P. F. Mulligan, bookseller, newsdealer and stationer."

  To the city of which he was a long honored resident, he left the record of a
well lived life, and an example of perseverance, integrity and character. His
two sons, James Roosevelt and George Doane Mulligan, are successful members of
the Essex county bar.

  Patrick Francis Mulligan was born February 5, 1846, in the Aghadrumsee
district of Clones, in County Monahan, Ireland, and died in Newark, New Jersey,
May 17, 1910, son of Hugh and Bridget (McCaffery) Mulligan, both of Irish birth,
the former a native of County Monahan, the latter of County Fermanagh.

  In 1847 Mrs. Hugh Mulligan, after the death of her husband, brought her three
sons to the United States, settling in East Newark, New Jersey.

  Patrick Francis attended the public school in East Newark and the famous
Kearny School in Newark, and began his business life on August 31, 1861, as one
of Newark's booksellers in the employ of Charles A. Wallen, who conducted a book
store on Broad street, near the Third Presbyterian Church. He continued an
employee of Mr. Wallen until Friday, November 13, 1868, when at the age of
twenty-two he bought out the Wallen business, and in 1871 moved it to a new
building which he had erected at No. 927 Broad street, the present location of
the book store which is now run by the family as a corporation. As the years
passed, his business expanded until "Mulligan's" became the most important of
all similar establishments in the city.

  These two lines, his business and his investments were Mr. Mulligan's greatest
activity, and in both he won reputation and fortune. He was a Democrat in
politics, and a member of the congregation of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. He
belonged to no clubs, and the only interests in his life were his business, his
home and his family. He was buried in the family plot in the Cemetery of the
Holy Sepulchre, East Orange.

  Patrick Francis Mulligan married, in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Newark,
February 5, 1877, Mary Elizabeth Gaffney, daughter of Peter Gaffney and
Catherine Carr. Children: Francis P., born November 4, 1877, died December 18,
1885; James Roosevelt, born May 28, 1880; George Doane, born May 28, 1880; Ella
May, born May 10, 1883, died May 25, 1887; and May Frances (Mrs. Harry L.
Brittingham, of Danville, Illinois), born March 15, 1888.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917


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