Patrick Bryan McCarthy Biography


	This biography appears on pages 26-27 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				PATRICK BRYAN McCARTHY.  

	Patrick Bryan McCarthy, a capitalist of Rapid City, who has won 
notable success in mining operations and is now the sole owner of the 
Tamarack Group in Pennington county, comprising over four hundred acres 
of land rich with gold-bearing ores, is a native of County Cork, 
Ireland, and a descendant of one of the most illustrious families of 
the Emerald isle, tracing his ancestry in direct line back to Cormac 
McCarthy, famous in Irish history in connection with his ownership of 
Blarney Castle and estates. Our subject's father was Cornelius McCarthy 
and his mother Catherine (Bryan) McCarthy. The former died when his son 
Patrick was a lad of nine years and a year later the mother with her 
six children came to the United States, settling at Albion, Orleans 
county, New York.  

	Patrick Bryan McCarthy, the third in order of birth in the 
family, received but limited educational privileges. He attended the 
public schools when opportunity offered and in later years has 
supplemented the knowledge thus gained by extensive reading and 
observation, so that he is today a well informed man. Being one of the 
older members of the family, it was necessary for him to contribute to 
the support of his mother and his younger brothers and sisters. At the 
age of sixteen years he became a brakeman on the Niagara division of 
the New York Central Railroad receiving a wage of one dollar and 
thirty-seven and a half cents per day. He so continued from 1867 until 
1869 and then made his way westward to Grand Island, Nebraska where he 
entered the Union Pacific Railway service as a locomotive fireman. 
Later he removed to North Platte and in 1871 he was promoted to 
engineer, being the youngest engineer in the Union Pacific service and 
one of the youngest in the entire country. He soon developed into one 
of the expert engineers of the road and established records of 
efficiency and operating economy that stood for many years unexcelled. 
He had a number of narrow escapes from injuries or death and finally 
concluded that the hazards of the work were out of proportion to the 
remuneration so that he resigned in 1877.  

	Early in the same year Mr. McCarthy arrived in the Black Hills 
and mined for a time at Rockerville. In the latter part of 1878 he 
became a member of the firm of McGuire & McCarthy, engaged in the grain 
and hay business at Rapid City. He had in the meantime become 
interested in a hotel property and in 1879 assumed the management of 
the International Hotel there which for many years afterward was one of 
the landmarks of the city and was, as well, the headquarters of the 
Northwestern Stage & Transportation Company, operating between Pierre 
and Black Hills points. It was the principal means of passenger travel 
in those days. Mr. McCarthy conducted the hotel until 1911, when the 
old structure was moved and its place taken by the Elks building.  

	Since first coming to South Dakota he has been largely interested 
in mining properties and is the sole owner of the Tamarack Group in 
Pennington county, comprising over four hundred acres of rich gold-
bearing ores. His faith in the ultimate future greatness of South 
Dakota has led him to invest extensively in farm and ranch lands and he 
is also the owner of much valuable city real estate.  

	In politics Mr. McCarthy is a democrat and for many years has 
been a leader in both local and state circles of his party. He served 
as a member of the city council for several years and a part of the 
time as acting mayor. He turned the first sod at the beginning of the 
construction of the Crouch Line Railway and on the completion of the 
work drove the last spike. He has always been actuated by a public-
spirited devotion to the general good and has cooperated in many 
important public movements, his efforts being at all times resultant. 
He is a member of the Pioneer Society of 1877 and his religious faith 
is that of the Catholic church.  

	On the 12th of October, 1886, Mr. McCarthy was united in marriage 
to Miss Margaret Horgan, a daughter of Joseph and Alice Horgan, of 
Custer county, South Dakota. Her father was a civil engineer by 
profession and before coming to America was a member of the British 
Royal Engineers. Mrs. McCarthy passed away September 6, 1903, leaving 
three children, Grover Cleveland, Mary Alice and Catherine. The son is 
now in the United States revenue Service headquarters at Aberdeen, 
South Dakota.  

	Mr. McCarthy has always been fond of outdoor life and is devoted 
to hunting and fishing. He is an enthusiast on everything that spells 
development and improvement and his support of any project looking to 
the advancement of civic, business or educational development of his 
city and the Black Hills country may always be relied upon. Progress 
and patriotism might well be termed the keynote of his character and 
have brought him to his present enviable position.