John W. Duffy

John W. Duffy and Arch Hannah Circa 1916

Michael Duffy, was one of the first ranchers in Flint Creek Valley and suffered a stroke at the young age of fifty-two while plowing his lower ranch. He was found by his friend Dan Morgan and died in his arms according to his obituary in the April 28, 1887 Mail. The Michael Duffy’s had only one child, so the ranch was then the responsibility of John W. and his wife Winifred Duffy. It is unknown exactly when John’s mother Mary moved from the ranch house, but she was living on lower Broadway in Philipsburg when she died at the age of seventy-seven on May 27, 1909. Her funeral service was a Mass at the Catholic Church and then she was laid to rest beside her husband Michael in the Philipsburg Cemetery

John was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 9, 1858 to Michael and Mary Duffy, both natives of County Claire, Ireland. Michael arrived in Minnesota in 1846 and was a pioneer in California and Nevada before coming to Montana Territory in 1871 when son John was thirteen years old. The family homesteaded in Township 7 N, Section 11, R. 14 W. of Deer Lodge County located in the Flint Creek Valley just north of Philipsburg where the neighbor ranches at the time of Michael’s death were owned by Henry Boge and Thomas Robotham. 

After Michael’s death, John added to the ranch by a grant from the Northern Pacific Railroad General Land Office that was signed by President Benjamin Harrison and recorded in the Granite County Court House in 1898. John also inherited the Selma Peak Quartz Lode and the Bunker Hill Mine from his parent. He attended a couple of years in the local Philipsburg School then dropped out to assisted his father in running the ranch. John also worked the family mines and for a short time delivered mail between Philipsburg and the town of Cable. 

 In 1877 John was sworn into the Company B, 1st Battalion of Philipsburg, under the command of Captain J.G. McLean, First Lieut. J.K. Pardee and 2nd. Lieut. D.B. Jenkins. He participated in the “Fort Fizzle” episode of the Nez Perce Campaign at Lolo Pass and was detailed in the New Northwest, August 10, 1877. John was one of twenty volunteers in the organized Company. 

The Citizen Call June 14, 1893 stated: J.W. Duffy recorded taking up 200 inches of water at Stuart Creek. Water rights were becoming a very valuable asset as Granite County was portioned off of Deer Lodge County. By 1902 a long running law suit was detailed regarding plaintiff Montana Water, Electric Power and Mining Company and multiple rancher defendant’s including Duffy. A decision was finally found in favor of the plaintiff in October 1905: “Twelve hundred inches is all the water they are obliged to let pass down the creek during irrigation season.” 

 On June 5, 1881 John married Winifred Murphy at the Scott House in Deer Lodge, Montana. Twelve children were born to this marriage. The family sent two sons to World War I. Edward was the second Granite County soldier to receive injuries when he was “struck with a bullet in the face, the missile coming out just behind his ear” according to the details in the Philipsburg Mail, August 23, 1918. Their son Michael was killed on the Western Front, also in August 1918. 

As an active citizen, John W. Duffy was elected for two consecutive six year terms as Granite County Commissioner, beginning in 1903. The March 31, 1905 Mail announced that the District Court of Granite County had appointed “John W. Duffy, Joseph Henderson and Albert Rupp bounty commissioners, whose duty it will be to name not to exceed ten bounty inspectors for the county. This is in conformity with the new bounty law.” In January 1906, as the County Commission Chairman, John appointed a committee of nineteen ranchers “to prepare a statement of facts regarding certain lands, to be described and character of same , which should be eliminated from the forest reserve, and to draft a petition to President Roosevelt asking for relief in the matter.” Basically this issue was over the forest service controlling rangeland in the foothills that the ranchers had been using for grazing under the understanding that since they belonged to the railroad they were exempt from forest service management. The calling of this meeting with speakers from Forest Rangers of both Lewis and Clark and the Bitterroot National Forests disclosed that the Railroad did not have the power to change Forest Reserve boundaries. 

A picture in the Tex Crowley collection shows John a very stout man with a moustache, wearing suspenders holding up his jeans. He is standing in the First State Bank beside Arch Hannah. 

 During John’s second term as County Commissioner the Granite County Courthouse was erected in 1912. After his second term was completed John continued assisting the commissioners on many committees and was a member of the Finance Committee. He also became Alderman of the Third Ward in the Philipsburg City election on April 9, 1920. In this position he was a member of the Finance Committee according to the May 7, 1920 Mail. 

It is unknown, exactly when John decided to sell the ranch and move. Their son Michael was the second of Philipsburg “boys” to pay the supreme sacrifice at the age of twenty-three, on August 4, 1918. Michael was sent to Camp Lewis, on September 24, 1917; was in England for Christmas dinner and in action on the western front by January 1918. The last letter received by the family written July 8 said he had been in the trenches for seventeen days, with hard fighting and hoped to be relieved soon for some much needed rest. “He was somewhat of a fatalist as he told his mother before leaving that if he went to France he did not expect to return home alive.” The obituary of Michael does not describe where the family was living, but when the town had an impromptu parade at the end of the war the parade stopped at homes of the war dead leaving one to assume the Duffy‘s were living in town by 1918. 

Winifred’s obituary states they came into conflict with homesteaders before WWI and “simply closed down, sold out and moved.” The ranch property was broken up with acreage sold to Erick Johnson and John D. Kennedy. Rudy Vollenweider bought the acreage attached to the home and outbuildings. The house that had been erected for the large Duffy family was a Sears and Roebuck Prefabricated Catalogue Order and remains standing at this time. The property is now known as the Kesler Ranch. 

In the early 1920’s the family relocated on Stark Street in Portland, Oregon. Mrs. Duffy continued to live the rest of her life in Portland but John returned to handle business affairs according to an article in the Mail, April 23, 1926. Research revealed numerous other statements in the news that comment about him going to Portland for family matters, such as his daughter Margaret’s death published September 23, 1927, but he always returned to Philipsburg. 

 In March of 1933 Doctors A. C. Knight of Philipsburg and W.J. Thorkleson of Anaconda amputated John’s foot at the ankle, at Dr. Knight’s Hospital. According to the news account John was “chatting with friends a short time after the surgery was performed.” The operation was necessary because of an infection that had started several weeks before. 

 On September 6, 1934 John W. Duffy “…passed away suddenly…about seven thirty o’clock at his home in Philipsburg from a heart attack.” His son Thomas was the only family remaining in Philipsburg and was appointed administrator of the estate. 

 Winifred died at St.Vincent Hospital in Portland, Oregon on December 16, 1943. Survivors were seven children and two grandchildren. Winnifred was fifteen in 1878 when she moved from Minneapolis to Philipsburg. 

The memory of John W. Duffy is preserved in Philipsburg by the bronze plaque on the courthouse wall, dedicated while he was a County Commissioner; the Duffy Hill with the Granite County schools and gymnasium located at it’s base; the Street named Duffy that starts at Broadway and ends at the north side of Duffy Hill; his simple marble headstone in the Philipsburg Cemetery, and a pristine Sharps 1874 Business Rifle. 

Of considerable historical significance is that Joe Duffy (the tenth born child who was living in Portland) was given a Sharps Business Rifle with a leather fringed scabbard when John died. The Sharps, a Model 1874 Business rifle of .45 calibre was shipped from Old Reliable, Bridgeport, Connecticut plant to Nicholas H. Connolly at Philipsburg, Montana Territory on April 23, 1878. John Duffy and three other Philipsburg residents ordered the Sharps rifles through the Connolly Store according to a letter dated October 6, 1878 that was written by J. A. Matthews. The letter is stamped as received at the Sharps Rifle Company on October 21, 1878. This Sharps Business Rifle was given to Janet J. Duffy Martin by her father Joe Duffy. Janet’s spouse sold the Sharps to The Honorable Victor Atiyeh in 1984 while he was serving as Governor of Oregon. Governor Atiyeh sold the gun and leather fringed scabbard to John K. Olson (grandson of J.D. Kennedy) a native of Philipsburg, Montana on August 24, 2003. This rifle, with an unbroken written chain of provenance and owned by only three families, has returned to Montana where it will remain.