Jerry T. Harrington Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1667-1668 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JERRY T. HARRINGTON, one of the prominent mining men of the Black 
Hills, who retains his residence in the city of Deadwood, is a native of 
County Kerry, Ireland, and exemplifies the sterling characteristics of 
his sturdy race. He was born on the 7th of April, 1847, being a son of 
John and Mary (Twohey) Harrington, both of whom, were likewise born in 
County Kerry, where the respective families had been established for 
many generations, the paternal grandfather of the subject having borne 
the name of Patrick Harrington, while the maternal grandfather was 
Patrick Twohey, both having been sturdy and honest tillers of the soil 
in the fair but oppressed Emerald Isle, as was also the father of the 
subject. In the great famine of 1848 he met with the great misfortune 
which attended the many other farmers of Ireland, and died there in 
1850. Soon afterward his wife and her three sons emigrated to America, 
settling in Dutchess county, New York, where they remained until 1856, 
when they removed to Michigan and located in Copper Harbor, while later 
they took up their abode in the great copper district in the upper 
peninsula of that state, where the mother passed the remainder of her 
life. The eldest son, Philip, removed to Colorado in 1878, and has there 
been very successful, being a resident of the city of Boulder at the 
present time. The third of the sons is deceased. 

	The subject of this sketch received his educational training in 
the schools of Michigan and early began to depend largely upon his own 
resources, doing various kinds of work about the copper mines. He 
continued to reside in the vicinity of Calumet, that state, until 1879, 
when he came to Deadwood, arriving on the 24th of October. Here he first 
engaged in prospecting, but met with indifferent success, so that he 
then turned his attention to contracting, principally for the Homestake 
Mining Company, while in the connection he constructed the greater 
portion of the narrow-gauge railroad lines between Deadwood and Nemo and 
Deadwood and Piedmont, while later he met with considerable success in 
timber contracting and in the general merchandise business, in which 
latter he was engaged in Roubaix. Within this time he also began 
investing in mining properties, and in 1886 he gave up all other 
interests to devote his entire time and attention to his mining 
properties. He is associated with John F. Sawyer in the ownership of the 
Tomahawk mine, having six hundred and forty acres in the property, while 
two hundred acres are patented. The mine is located at Nemo, just beyond 
the termimus of the branch of the narrow-gauge railroad, and more than 
forty thousand dollars have been expended in the improvement and 
development of the property, which is considered a most valuable one. 
One shaft has reached a depth of one hundred feet and the ledge is 
easily traced for one mile, men being constantly employed in preparing 
for further extension of the work of development. Messrs. Harrington and 
Sawyer also own the Transvaal and Idlewild mines, located at Suster 
Peak, where they have one hundred and seventy acres patented. Here they 
have an eighty-five-foot cage shaft of two compartments, while there are 
also a number of other shafts, together with cross-cuts, drifts, etc., 
ore showing on this property for thirty-six hundred feet on the strike 
of the ledge. This is also a valuable property, showing a decomposed ore 
seventy feet down and being easily worked, as large quantities of wood 
and water are available. Mr. Harrington is also associated with Harry 
Graig in the ownership of the Inca mine, formerly known as the Fairview, 
this having been one of the first discoveries in the Black Hills. On 
this mine a depth of two hundred and fifty feet has been reached, while 
they have a tunnel of three hundred feet, at a depth of one hundred and 
seventy feet from the apex of the shaft. This property is a producer, 
and the firm have a large quantity of ore staked—eighty acres, of which 
twenty are under patent. The subject is also interested in other 
promising properties and is known as one of the progressive and 
discriminating mining men of the Hills. He is a Democrat in his 
political proclivities, and fraternally is identified with the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while he also holds membership 
in the Business Men's Club of Deadwood and Mining Men's Association of 
the United States.