Patrick DUANE, born in County Galway, Ireland on 16 June 1835 became an orphan as a young child. He was then cared for by his Aunt Kate. She married when Patrick was about eleven years old to a man who began to mistreat him. So, Patrick decided to run away and in a few years enlisted in the British Army at Birr, Kings County, Ireland on June 13, 1853. Patrick served in the 1st Royal Regiment, 2nd Battalion. For a time he was in the Crimean War.
Mr. Duane reportedly found his brother, Sgt. Thomas Duane of the 64th Regiment at Chelsea. Patrick Duane was discharged from military service in 1863 and subsequently came to the USA. He went to St. Louis, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri. By 1864 he was working as a miner in the boomtown of Virginia City, Nevada. He later settled in Montana, USA.
During Patrick's lifetime, he was a Crimean War hero, a miner, a Montana [USA] pioneer, and a frontier character.
At one point while working in the mines he was given the nickname, "Black Paddy." Prior to his death Mr. DUANE became insane and died in February 1924 at the age of 89 at a poor farm/county home in Montana, USA. He was buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana.
Source: Butte Miner, Butte, Montana, USA, February 29, 1924, p. 10.
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| Additional Information | ||
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| Date of Birth | 16th Jun 1835 | |
| Date of Death | 29th Feb 1924 | |
Click on PDF article above from the "Mineral Independent" newspaper that adds additional biographical material about Mr. Patrick DUANE.
Title of article: "Black Paddy gave his Blood for England at Balalaklava in Crimea and China, He Died in Montana Poorhouse." by Wilchey.
