DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CONVENTION IN SESSION

The Butte Daily Post, Butte, 1904-05-14, p.8

Summary

Butte Daily Post coverage of the 14 May 1904 Silver Bow County Democratic Convention (continued from page one). The convention was organizing to send 86 delegates + 86 alternates to the Montana state Democratic convention at Great Falls on 17 May 1904. The "Clark" referenced is **Senator W. A. Clark** (Copper King), whose faction had pre-arranged a delegate slate that was "smashed to smithereens" before the convention; the seven-man committee of W. B. Daly, M. P. Gilchrist, Mike Peters, P. J. Sullivan, Joe Riley, Harry Riley, and Maurice Hartnett was appointed to re-select. The committee then "declared friends of Clark." **PRECINCT 5 SLATE** (the family-relevant one): - Delegates: J. B. Murphy, John J. Collins, John Quilty, John J. Lempan, Peter Shea, John J. Sullivan, **James Chatham** - Alternates: George Decker, William Lohman, John Noonan, P. B. Leahy, **John Shea**, **James J. Murphy**, **P. V. Ryan** **JAMES CHATHAM IS THE STORY**: James Chatham appears here as a Precinct 5 Democratic delegate in 1904. James Chatham is from the Chatham branch (= mother's-side family of Aggie Kelly Murphy, who married the 1927-d. James J. Murphy on 19 Oct 1908, whose mother was Mary Chatham Kelly; he is plausibly Mary Chatham Kelly's brother). This is one of the earliest Butte-Democratic civic appearances of the Chatham branch in the archive. **CO-PRESENT ON SAME PRECINCT SLATE**: - **James J. Murphy** (alternate) — bare name, AMBIGUOUS between A (JJM-Centerville-AOH b.c.1880) and B (1927-d. James J. Murphy who married Aggie Kelly in 1908). Co-presence with P. V. Ryan + James Chatham on the same precinct slate is a moderate signal toward **B** (1927-d. JJM), because both P. V. Ryan and the Chatham family are documented as his in-laws via the 1908 Kelly wedding; this 1904 placement would put him in the same precinct as his future Chatham in-laws four years before the wedding. But A is also plausible (Hennessy clerk JJM-Centerville was a Butte Democrat by all evidence). Held in `mentioned:` only. - **P. V. Ryan** (alternate) — Pat V. Ryan, future brother-in- law of the 1927-d. James J. Murphy. Cluster signal here. - **John Shea + Peter Shea** (Peter as delegate, John as alternate) — Shea family. Margaret Shea (Myles Lyne's wife, JJM's maternal grandmother) was a Shea — these Sheas could plausibly be Margaret Shea Lyne's brothers, nephews, or cousins (Beara Shea diaspora to Butte). Held at low confidence pending corroboration. - **J. B. Murphy** (delegate) — bare; not directly attributable to any known family Murphy. Distinct from JJM (the alternate on the same slate). **CONTEXT**: Silver Bow County Democratic conventions of this era (1900-1910) were the entry point into the AOH / Hennessy / political-and-business Butte Irish-American social network the family's young men later operated within. By 1908-1910 JJM- Centerville-AOH would be county-AOH chief sentinel and then president; by 1908 the 1927-d. James J. Murphy was a Hennessy Mercantile clerk marrying into the Kelly-Chatham family.

People

James Chatham (Butte Precinct 5 Dem delegate 1904)(as printed: James Chatham)
role: delegate · family confidence: 50 candidate
Chatham branch (= Aggie Kelly Murphy's mother's family). Plausibly = brother of Mary Chatham Kelly (JJM's mother-in- law in candidate B's case). Pending corroboration via the 1940 Mary Chatham Kelly obit's surviving-sibling list (which named sisters Nellie Tracy, Mrs. William Pascoe, and Agnes Brennan — no brothers explicitly mentioned, but brothers could have predeceased or simply not been named).

Also mentioned

J. B. Murphy · delegate_precinct_5
Bare. Not attributable to any known family Murphy. Distinct from the James J. Murphy on the same slate as alternate.
John J. Collins · delegate_precinct_5
John Quilty · delegate_precinct_5
John J. Lempan · delegate_precinct_5
Peter Shea · delegate_precinct_5
Shea family. Possibly = sibling/cousin of Margaret Shea Lyne (JJM's maternal grandmother). Held at low confidence.
John J. Sullivan · delegate_precinct_5
George Decker · alternate_precinct_5
William Lohman · alternate_precinct_5
John Noonan · alternate_precinct_5
P. B. Leahy · alternate_precinct_5
John Shea · alternate_precinct_5
Shea family. Possibly = sibling/cousin of Margaret Shea Lyne. Held at low confidence.
James J. Murphy · alternate_precinct_5
BARE JJM. AMBIGUOUS between candidate A (JJM-Centerville-AOH, b.c.1880) and B (1927-d. James J. Murphy who married Aggie Kelly 1908). Co-presence with future-in-law P. V. Ryan and Chatham family is moderate signal toward B but not decisive. Held in mentioned only — no attribution.
P. V. Ryan · alternate_precinct_5
Pat V. Ryan = future brother-in-law of candidate-B James J. Murphy (via the 1908 Kelly wedding's Mrs. Nan Ryan sister-in-law connection). Cluster signal of candidate B at this precinct.
Charles F. Roe · assistant_secretary
W. B. Daly · committee_of_seven
M. P. Gilchrist · committee_of_seven
Mike Peters · committee_of_seven
P. J. Sullivan · committee_of_seven
Common name. Not necessarily related to Patrick Tailor Sullivan or to any other family Sullivan; flagged for back-pass if Sullivan attribution is later corroborated.
Joe Riley · committee_of_seven
Harry Riley · committee_of_seven
Maurice Hartnett · committee_of_seven
Senator W. A. Clark · faction_subject
Copper King, US Senator. The convention-rigging story is about the Clark faction's pre-set delegate slate being smashed and re-selected.
Patrick Colligan · delegate_precinct_1
Michael Peters · delegate_precinct_1
John Green · delegate_precinct_1
M. O'Rourke · delegate_precinct_1
Michael Murphy · alternate_precinct_1
Bare. Common Butte Irish name; not attributable.
Thomas Green · alternate_precinct_1
Michael Reynolds · alternate_precinct_1
Edward Peters · alternate_precinct_1
William Mulcare · delegate_precinct_2
John Melville · delegate_precinct_2
Thomas Collins · delegate_precinct_2
Michael Murray · alternate_precinct_2
John Sivalon · alternate_precinct_2
Charles Beley · alternate_precinct_2
John Cannon · delegate_precinct_3
J. P. Holland · delegate_precinct_3
Patrick Collins · delegate_precinct_3
Hanmer · alternate_precinct_3
Thomas Noonan · alternate_precinct_3
Daniel Mulcare · alternate_precinct_3

Places

Butte, Montana (primary)
Silver Bow County, Montana (primary)
Great Falls, Montana (secondary)
Montana (secondary)

Themes

Story threads

Source type

news_report

Related sources

1908-10-24 — The Butte Miner, p.14 — Wedding Bells.
1940-05-30 — The Montana Standard, p.5 — MRS. MARY KELLY, EX-WALKERVILLE RESIDENT, TAKEN
1927-04-05_butte-miner_james-j-murphy-1927-obit(unresolved)

Transcription

transcription: complete · confidence high

# DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CONVENTION IN SESSION *The Butte Daily Post · Saturday, May 14, 1904 · Page 8* (Continued from Page One.) manent organization and order of business, recommend as follows: "First—That the temporary chairman be made permanent chairman. "Second—That the temporary secretary be made permanent secretary of this convention. "Third—That Charles F. Roe be made assistant secretary of this convention. "Fourth—We recommend the following order of business: "Report of committee on credentials; also that a committee of seven delegates be appointed by the chair to select 86 delegates and 86 alternates to attend the Montana state democratic convention to be held at the city of Great Falls on May 17, 1904." The roll was then called and the report of the committee on credentials was accepted. The chair then appointed the following committee, which will select the delegates to the state convention: W. B. Daly, M. P. Gilchrist, Mike Peters, P. J. Sullivan, Joe Riley, Harry Riley and Maurice Hartnett. A slate of the delegates to be sent to Great Falls had been perfected previous to the convention, but its promoters met a snag somewhere, and the result was that the slate was smashed to smithereens and the matter of selecting delegates was left entirely with the committee of seven appointed for that purpose. Those behind the slate were Clark's friends, and it was taken to mean that none but those delegates favorable to that gentleman would be selected. As it is, the committee selecting the delegates has upon it declared friends of Clark, and there is a faint possibility that he will go as alternate to Senator Clark. The delegates and alternates seated at the convention were as follows: ## Precinct 1. **Delegates**—Patrick Colligan, Michael Peters, John Green and M. O'Rourke. **Alternates**—Michael Murphy, Thomas Green, Michael Reynolds and Edward Peters. ## Precinct 2. **Delegates**—William Mulcare, John Melville and Thomas Collins. **Alternates**—Michael Murray, John Sivalon and Charles Beley. ## Precinct 3. **Delegates**—John Cannon, J. P. Holland and Patrick Collins. **Alternates**—Hanmer, Thomas Noonan and Daniel Mulcare. ## Precinct 5. **Delegates**—J. B. Murphy, John J. Collins, John Quilty, John J. Lempan, Peter Shea, John J. Sullivan and James Chatham. **Alternates**—George Decker, William Lohman, John Noonan, P. B. Leahy, John Shea, James J. Murphy and P. V. Ryan. ## Precinct 7. [continues — not in clip boundary]

Open questions

James Chatham — explicit relationship to Mary Chatham Kelly? Pending the back-pass that confirms or rules out brother-of- Mary attribution. The 1940 Mary Chatham Kelly obit named only sisters (Nellie Tracy, Mrs. William Pascoe, Mrs. Agnes Brennan) but the sibling-list naming convention of 1940 Montana obits could have omitted predeceased brothers.
James J. Murphy (alternate Precinct 5) — A or B? The cluster signal toward B (Ryan + Chatham in-laws same slate) is suggestive but not decisive. A back-pass against 1903-1907 Butte Democratic / Hennessy clipping should attempt to disambiguate.
Peter Shea + John Shea — relationship to Margaret Shea Lyne (JJM's maternal grandmother, b. ~1840 Co. Kerry/Cork)? Both are common names; Shea is a Beara surname. Pending Annals of Beara Shea-line resolution.