JOHN BARLEYCORN IS VERY BUSY MAN — HE SENDS MURPHY TO THE POOR FARM, AN INVALID; BOYLE GOES TO THE ASYLUM

The Butte Daily Post, Butte, 1908-01-07, p.6

Summary

Butte Daily Post coverage of the **7 January 1908 morning commission hearing in Judge Donlan's court** — Patrick Murphy (= PJM the bartender = person_patrick_murphy_my_ancestor) and Barney Boyle both examined as alleged insane persons. **PJM OUTCOME**: Found NOT insane but ordered committed to the **Silver Bow County Poor Farm** on account of his sickness. (Boyle was found insane and sent to Warm Springs asylum.) PJM's later March 23, 1908 second-commission would reverse the not-insane finding and send him to Warm Springs. ## PJM TESTIMONY (verbatim from the article) - Answered questions in a rational manner - Has sustained **two strokes of paralysis** - Was injured **about the head in a mine accident** - "weak and sickly"; unable to provide for himself or his wife - Wife's circumstances such that she is unable to look after him - Gave his age as **50** (= b. ~1858; conflicts with other sources: asylum form age 52 = b.~1856; 1912 death obit age 53 = b.~1859; ages drift across sources) - Has been an **invalid for eleven years** (= since ~1897 — a major dating finding; locates PJM's first stroke ~1897) - **Formerly a bartender** - **Came to Montana twenty years ago** (= came c. 1888) ## MRS. ELLEN MURPHY TESTIMONY - Husband had been a hard drinker - Since his paralytic stroke he has been helpless - When drunk, subject to fits — **once had three in a single day** - No fits for over a year (i.e., since ~early 1907) - **The children teased him and he has threatened to set fire to the house** — escalating domestic-violence threat ## ADDITIONAL TESTIMONY (CRITICAL FAMILY-IDENTIFICATION) > "Maggie Murphy, a niece, and Mary Sullivan, a sister of > Patrick Murphy, testified to the same facts" **THIS RE-FRAMES THE PJM SIBLING NETWORK**: - **Maggie Murphy = NIECE of PJM** (per this 1908 Butte Daily Post). The 1912 PJM death obit names "Miss Margaret Murphy of Butte" as a surviving SISTER. The 1908 Butte Miner of Jan 8 (same case, next-day coverage) calls Maggie "a sister." DISCREPANCY: Butte Daily Post says NIECE; Butte Miner says SISTER; 1912 obit says SISTER. Two-out-of-three sources say sister. Held provisionally as **sister Margaret Murphy**; NIECE designation in this article may be a reporter's error or may reflect a different Maggie Murphy who was a niece (e.g., daughter of PJM's sister Mary Sullivan?). - **Mary Sullivan = SISTER of PJM** (per this 1908 Butte Daily Post). This is a NEW FAMILY MEMBER not previously documented in the archive — PJM's sister Mary, who married a Sullivan and was in Butte 1908. May resolve the puzzling Mary A. Sullivan of Yellowstone county in the 1909 probate (= Mary Sullivan PJM's sister)? Pending corroboration. ## MEDICAL COMMISSION - **Drs. Schwartz and Renick** examined PJM — did NOT consider him insane, but thought he would be better at the poor farm - **Drs. McIntyre and Heine** examined Boyle — found insane - **Dr. Tremblay** independently said Boyle should not be at large ## SIGNIFICANCE Establishes the **two-stage commitment process** for PJM in 1908: 1. **Jan 7, 1908**: First commission → "sick, not insane" → Silver Bow County Poor Farm 2. **Mar 23, 1908**: Second commission → "insane" → Warm Springs Asylum PJM was at the Poor Farm from January to March 1908 (about 2.5 months) before being escalated to the asylum. The county-poor-farm interim is documented in this clipping; the asylum admission in the asylum's own admission form. Also fills in PJM's pre-1908 medical history: two strokes of paralysis + mine-accident head injury + alcoholism + 11 years invalid = a long progressive decline before the asylum.

People

Patrick Murphy (my ancestor)(as printed: Patrick Murphy)
role: subject · family confidence: 100 certain
Ellen (Lyne) Murphy (b. Ardgroom; m. Patrick Murphy 1881; d. Butte 1935)(as printed: Mrs. Murphy / Mrs. Ellen Murphy (per the next-day Butte Miner))
role: witness wife · family confidence: 100 certain
Mary (Murphy) Sullivan (PJM's sister; m. a Sullivan; Butte 1908; possibly Yellowstone-county Mary A. Sullivan 1909 probate)(as printed: Mary Sullivan)
role: witness sister of pjm · family confidence: 95 certain
Per this Butte Daily Post article: "Mary Sullivan, a sister of Patrick Murphy." PJM's sister (probable Mary Murphy m. a Sullivan); Butte resident 1908. NEW FAMILY MEMBER previously undocumented. POSSIBLY = the Mary A. Sullivan of Yellowstone county appointed guardian of Margaret Murphy in the 1909 probate.
Miss Margaret Murphy (b. ~1867-70 Eyeries Co. Cork; emigrated 1892; never married; sister of Pat the bartender)(as printed: Maggie Murphy)
role: witness niece or sister of pjm · family confidence: 95 certain
Per this Butte Daily Post article: "Maggie Murphy, a niece." But the next-day Butte Miner of 8 Jan 1908 and the 1912 PJM death obit both call her PJM's SISTER. Two out of three sources call her sister. Held as PJM's probable sister Margaret. Possibly the Butte Daily Post reporter confused her with a different Maggie who was actually a niece (Mary Sullivan's daughter?).

Also mentioned

Judge Donlan · presiding_judge
Dr. Schwartz · commission_physician_for_pjm
Dr. Renick · commission_physician_for_pjm
Barney Boyle · peripheral_other_subject_committed_same_day
Found insane, committed to Warm Springs; finished 30-day vagrancy sentence in county jail. Age 46 (probably nearer 60). Adjacent commission case at the same hearing.
Dr. McIntyre · commission_physician_for_boyle
Dr. Heine · commission_physician_for_boyle
Dr. Tremblay · medical_witness_for_boyle

Places

Butte, Montana (primary)
Silver Bow County, Montana (primary)
Montana (primary)

Themes

Story threads

The Pat-and-Ellen Murphy household — Butte 1887 to LA 1980

Source type

news_report, court_record

Related sources

Transcription

transcription: complete · confidence high

# JOHN BARLEYCORN IS VERY BUSY MAN **HE SENDS MURPHY TO THE POOR FARM, AN INVALID.** **BOYLE GOES TO THE ASYLUM** **Two Strong Men Brought to Sad Ends by Drink.** *The Butte Daily Post · Tuesday, January 7, 1908 · Page 6* Patrick Murphy and Barney Boyle, alleged insane persons, were examined before Judge Donlan this morning and the former was sent to the poor farm, while the latter was found insane and committed to the asylum at Warm Springs. Patrick Murphy answered questions in a rational manner. He has sustained two strokes of paralysis and also was injured about the head in a mine accident, which has left him weak and sickly, and he has been unable to provide for himself and his wife and says that her circumstances are such that she is unable to look after him at present. He gave his age as 50 years and has been an invalid for eleven years. He was formerly a bartender and came to Montana twenty years ago. ## A Hard Drinker. Mrs. Murphy said that her husband had been a hard drinker and that since he had a paralytic stroke he has been helpless and whenever he gets drunk he is subject to fits and once had three in a single day, but has not had any now for over a year. Mrs. Murphy also stated that the children teased him and he has threatened to set fire to the house. Maggie Murphy, a niece, and Mary Sullivan, a sister of Patrick Murphy, testified to the same facts and Drs. Schwartz and Renick, who examined the man, stated to the court that they did not consider him insane, but thought he would be better at the poor farm and he will be sent there. Barney Boyle, who has just finished a thirty day sentence in the county jail on a vagrancy charge, was examined by Drs. McIntyre and Heine and found insane. Barney has a poor memory and frequently got tangled up in his stories. He gave his age as 46 years and is probably nearer 60. Dr. Tremblay stated that he had known Boyle for about seven weeks and from what he noticed, he did not believe it was safe to have the man at large.

Open questions

Maggie Murphy — NIECE (Butte Daily Post Jan 7) or SISTER (Butte Miner Jan 8 + 1912 PJM obit)? Conflicting sources. Most likely she was PJM's sister Margaret and Butte Daily Post had a reporter error. Worth a back-pass for any other Maggie/Margaret Murphy attribution.
Is Mary Sullivan PJM's sister = Mary A. Sullivan of Yellowstone county in the 1909 probate (guardian of Margaret Murphy and heir-administrator of Ellen Murphy's estate)? If yes, that 1909 probate is not a peripheral namesake but a direct family event. Worth re-examining the 1909 probate's Ellen Murphy (could be a separately deceased Ellen Murphy, not PJM's wife — but possibly a Murphy relative). Major back-pass item.
Mine accident head injury — when, which mine? Adds pre-1908 PJM employment history (he was at one point a mine worker, not just a bartender). Worth a 1890s Butte mine-accident search for a Patrick Murphy injury.
"Invalid for eleven years" = since ~1897. First stroke probably ~1896-1897. Could be triggered by alcohol or by the mine-accident head injury. Sequence unclear.