William Patrick, one of the highly esteemed retired
residents of Staunton, Macoupin County, was born April 28, 1831, in
Ayrshire, Scotland, and was nine years of age when he accompanied his
parents, John and Margaret (Stirritt) Patrick, to America.
John
Patrick was born September 25, 1788, in Ayrshire, Scotland, and died near
Bunker Hill, Illinois, October 13, 1867. In his own land, he was an expert
silk weaver, but, with a family of 13 children, he found it necessary to
make a change in order to provide for their necessities. Hence, in 1841,
with his family and household possessions, among which was a sword which had
done good work in the hands of an ancestor in the early wars, he sailed from
Liverpool, and by slow traveling at length reached Bunker Hill, Illinois,
which was then a hamlet of 10 houses and one general store. Here he bought
120 acres of land and spent the remainder of his life. His wife Margaret was
the only daughter of James Stirritt, and was born September 16, 1792, in
Dairy, Scotland, and died January 18, 1874, aged 83 years. The eight members
of their family who reached maturity were: James, who died at Alton,
Illinois; John, who died at Bunker Hill, Macoupin County; Mrs. Ann
Templeton, who died at Bunker Hill, Macoupin County; Mrs. Margaret Muir, who
died near St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. Janet Galloway, who died at Bunker Hill,
Macoupin County; William, who is the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mary
Dickie, who is the mother of Postmaster Dickie, of Bunker Hill, Macoupin
County; and Robert E., of Omaha, Nebraska. The family was reared in the
Presbyterian Church.
Although 63 years have passed since Mr. Patrick
left his native land, during which period he has lived an active and at
times an adventurous life, he distinctly recalls the family embarkation at
Liverpool, the long voyage of 39 days before landing at New York and the
continued trip across the country to Pittsburg, from which point an Ohio
River boat transferred the travelers to one on the great Mississippi, and at
length Alton, Illinois, was reached. Including the wait of two weeks at
Pittsburg, the trip from the coast had taken over a month which can now be
accomplished in less than 24 hours. Mr. Patrick's boyish interest was
excited by the way the hinged smokestacks on the locomotives were worked as
the noisy little engines passed under bridges. One winter was passed by the
family at Alton, but in 1842 they permanently located at Bunker Hill,
Macoupin County, and our subject remained with his father until he was 18
years of age. In 1850 he started with an ox team to cross the plains to
California, accompanied by his brothin-law, Andrew Muir. After many
adventures and dangers from the Indians, they reached the gold regions and
Mr. Patrick spent seven years there, accumulating a capital which gave him a
good start in life. He earned it by hard work, working in deep canons, where
he saw the sun neither rise nor set, enjoying its light for but a few hours
a day. He returned to Bunker Hill, but a year later crossed the plains again
with a mule team, in 1859.
Mr. Patrick has the honor of being one of
the discoverers of gold at Central City, and was a companion of Green
Russell, of Georgia, who named Russell's Gulch, a rich mining locality. Mr.
Patrick discovered the noted Mammoth Lode, and in the fall he returned to
Bunker Hill. In the following spring, equipped with tools and mining
machinery, including a quartz mill, he made a third trip and worked in this
lode until late in the fall and again returned. This was Mr. Patrick's last
trip to the far West. When the last call was made for, troops for the Civil
War, Mr. Patrick enlisted in Company G, 20th Reg., Illinois Vol. Inf., and
served until the close of the war, taking part in the battles of Nashville,
Tennessee, and of Wise's Forks, North Carolina, and was mustered out at
Louisville, Kentucky, in July, 1865. Mr. Patrick draws a pension, and is a
member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
After remaining one more
year at Bunker Hill, he went to Montgomery County, Illinois, where he
improved a farm and continued to operate it for 12 years, removing then to
Staunton, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Patrick opened up a stone
quarry, but this venture was not successful, and brought upon him a loss of
some $2,000. He built his present pretentious home for a hotel and operated
it for 10 years as the Patrick Hotel, and since then has occupied it as a
private residence. For seven years he was engineer for the Consolidated Coal
Company. For some years he has lived retired from business responsibilities.
Mr. Patrick was married March 14, 1860, to Althea Aeolian Wood, who
was born near Bunker Hill, Illinois, March 14, 1837, and is one of a family
of eight children born to Samuel and Keziah (Daugherty) Wood, natives of
Kentucky. The children of this marriage were: William H., who is a banker at
Clarendon, Texas; Jeannet, who is the wife of Charles R. Wall, a banker of
Staunton, Macoupin County; Elgin, who is a resident of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Rosalie, the widow of Charles D. Mitchell, who resides with
our subject, with her two children — Leland and Margaret; George Bley, a
resident of Decatur, Illinois, who is a conductor on the Wabash Railroad,
and has two children — Hazel and George; and Bernean, who lives at home. One
son, Bernard, died aged one year.
Mr. Patrick has always supported
the Republican party, but has not sought political honors, although his
friends have upon several occasions elected him alderman. He was reared in
the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and is an
honorary member of the Woodmen.
Extracted 2018 May 08 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 496-498.
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