ALDRIDGE (ALDRICH), ALLEN, COPELAND, DOHERTY, HART, LAWLESS, MOREY, MUNSON, LONGLEY, PYNE (PYM), STRICKLAND
I had the good fortune to correspond with Huntington's Pamela G. Donovan-Hall, a researcher who has devoted considerable time to trawling area newspapers for items related to Huntington. She transcribed by hand several items concerning my DOHERTY line from the Northampton, Mass., Hampshire Gazette, which I in turn transcribed to electronic form. Our editorial interpolations are square-bracketed. She also photocopied another DOHERTY item from the Springfield, Mass., Union and photographed old family residences in Huntington, which I greatly appreciate.
[2-7-1871, Huntington] Someone has said that "the quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love." If so, some families must be lovely. Patrick Doherty and wife [were?] the trial of this last Wed. night. Constables Allen & Morey were called in at midnight. Mrs. Doherty was in a senseless state in consequence of the beating by her husband. He was arrested & for lack of bail was taken by Constables Allen & Morey to Northampton to board with Mr. Longley [PGDH note: sheriff] at the expense of the county [PGDH note: jail]. His wife & children are provided for by the town. So much for poor rum.
[2-14-1871, Huntington] Pat Doherty of Huntington recently indulged in the luxury of throwing his wife down a flight of stairs and while she is suffering from dangerous injuries inflicted at the time, he is in jail at Northampton waiting to see what a jury of 12 men will say about it.
[7-1871, Huntington] Margaret Doherty pumped so much bad whiskey into her carcass the other day that she got up a little riot on her own hook and was finally arrested by Constable Allen with whom she held a fisticuff argument on that occasion much to the demoralization of his shirt and other clothing. On the following morning she was brought before Justice Copeland and fined $5 with costs for drunkenness & sent to house of correction for 30 days for disturbing the peace.
[8-8-1871, Huntington] Constable Allen arrested Margaret Doherty on Tues. for drunkenness and the disturbance of the peace. She was so full of bad whiskey at the time that she fought like a tiger. The constable's shirt was well nigh fitted for the papermaker. It took 2 men to manage the woman even when handcuffed. After cooling down & getting sober in the lock-up overnight she was brought before Justice Copeland who fined her $5. with costs for disturbing the peace which she paid. For drunkenness she was sent to house of correction for thirty days. So much to the credit of those who go without intoxicating drink & advocate against its business. Where is the state constable? He might easily find something to do here. Why are not the rumsellers be held responsible for injury they inflict on individuals & communities? They make men & women maniacs, disturbing the peace of families, multiply crimes, injure a number of paupers, fill our jails, penitentiaries & alm-houses. Why should they not fill the bill? This would lay the axe at the foot of the problem.
[9-1871, Huntington] Patrick Doherty paid $5.- & costs for drunkenness last week at the suggestion of Justice Copeland, seconded by Constable Allen. Margaret, the wife of Patrick, was arrested at the same time for disturbing the peace. She has been boarding with Mr. Longley -- had just returned home for a short visit. Her case is not yet disposed of. Possibly she may have yet another term at the county house.
[9-2-1873, Huntington] In a drunken row on Basket Street a week ago last Sunday, Patrick Doherty beat his wife so brutally that she was confined to her bed for several days. For his offense Justice Munson sent him to the house of correction for 90 days. Mary Hart also took part in the grand entertainment for which she was fined $5. and costs. Not having the necessary funds to meet the expenses she too has gone to board with Sheriff Longley. So much for bad whiskey & yet there are not wanting those who [for?] paltry gain will deal out the liquid poison. Where are the State Constables?
[2-17-1874, Huntington] Justice Munson fined Patrick Doherty & his wife last Saturday $5.00 each for drunkenness. This with the cost of the court amounted to $25.00. So much for one little family spree.
[10-2-1877, Huntington] Patrick Doherty has lately been called to pay $50. & costs for illegal liquor selling. For want of the needful he was sent to Mr. Longley to board. He has also been sent up a year for keeping a liquor nuisance.
[5-22-1883, Huntington] Patrick Doherty was fined $1.- and costs for drunkenness by Judge Strickland.
DRINKS AND SMOKES IN HIS 103D YEAR. Ascribes His Vitality to Early Initiation in the Don't Worry Club. BELIEVES IN HARD WORK AND PLENTY OF SLEEP. Declares He Wants Longer to Live, but at Same Time Is Not Afraid to Die. HUNTINGTON, Mass., July 30. -- Patrick Doherty, who is in his one hundred and third year, enjoys the use of all his faculties. He is glad he is alive and expects to live several years. Mr. Doherty, who was born in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day 1802, does not bear out the temperance instruction which is imparted to the school children of Huntington in accordance with the State Law. He likes his grog and is an inveterate smoker. Huntington school children are taught that only total abstainers can hope to become centenarians. Precocious children who have cited to their teachers the case of Mr. Doherty are told that he is the exception that proves the rule. Mr. Doherty attributes his age to hard work, good food, an abundance of sleep and early initiation into the Don't Worry Club. He avers that he has not lost a second in worry in more than a century. He lived in Ireland until he was forty years old, and at the age of sixty sought to enlist in the Union Army. He was rejected on account of his age. Mr. Doherty has been a farmer and a quarryman and when unable to find employment in either occupation made a living at odd jobs. He never received more than $2 a day, an amount which he says is ample for a man to marry on and properly care for a family, provided there are no unusual expenses due to sickness, death or accidents. A wonderfully well [words illegible] Mr. Doherty [words illegible] the village hotel. Invariably, he indulges in one drink of whiskey, sometimes two, but never a third. Mr. Doherty consumes as much smoking tobacco as any resident in Huntington. The tobacco acts as a sedative and keeps melancholia in the background, he says. Mr. Doherty boasts a full set of teeth, most of which are whole and sound. None of them have been filled. Mr. Doherty lives with a daughter. His eye is bright and his step more alert than that of many men of eighty. "I want to live, but I am not afraid to die," he says. |
This is not, as I wishfully thought after viewing a really bad microfilm some years ago, Patrick Doherty and family. This Ancestry.com image clearly shows Patrick Pyne, or, as they indexed it, Pym.
This, I believe, is Patrick Doherty and family in 1870. Mary's age is off a little, but not outside of engineering tolerances. His being absent from Huntington might explain why Huntington has no record of his marriage to Margaret or the birth of his daughter Margaret.
As an added bonus, Patrick is living in the same house with his daughter Mary Lawless.