John Hickey was born in Whitefield, Maine on January 27, 1847 and left home at the age of sixteen. It is known that he was busy mining by 1867 at Bratten Bar in Pioneer. He was known as the strongest man in camp, according to H.M. Thomas and was dubbed “Rock Derrick” because he could lift and carry away a boulder that took two men just to roll it over. A tale told to his great grandson Roger Baker by George Brand was that John would pick up this large rock at Pioneer named after him and carry it 20 feet or so then challenge any man to try to move it by even ½ inch. The bet was always $100 in gold dust. George said no one ever beat “Rock Derrick” and that the $100 always ended up in the saloon next to the rock with drinks on the house. It was believed the rock weighed about 640 pounds.
About this same time period, John appeared in full cowboy attire one day in Missoula and visited the Hugh O’Neil family. The story recounted by Jane O’Neil to her granddaughter Wilma Hunt Heimark Christy was “ She was about seven, playing outside where her father was cutting wood when a cowboy rode up. He was a real cowboy, too—big hat, boots, chaps, even a six-gun on his hip! He scooped Mamo (the children’s nickname for Jane) up and asked her name and age. She told him and he said “Well Janie when you are sixteen I am going to marry you!” Being only seven she quickly dismissed the comment. When the O’Neil’s moved back to Deer Lodge, Jane got a job at Georgetown and as told to Winnifred Griffith (1972), she had been promised to a man 25 years her senior, when John re-appeared.
They were married at Georgetown Lake on July 17, 1877 with the Territory of Montana filed Marriage Certificate recorded October 12, 1877 by the Deer Lodge County Recorder. The 1880 Federal Census show John and Jane living next door to her sister and brother-in-law Ellen and C.L Degenhart at Georgetown mining camp.
The family moved to Granite in 1884 and constructed the first family home there. The home was located at the foot of Whiskey Hill where most of the saloon’s and bawdy houses were located. As recounted to Wilma, Jane was very proud of her home and put up bright red drapes on the windows. After having a number of tipsy men knock at her door late at night and her having to start answering the door with her needle gun “in her hand so they didn’t get far”, she realized that the lantern light shining behind her red drapes was signaling them she was a “house of ill repute”, so down came her pretty red drapes.
By May 1885, the family had been blessed with Alice, Sadie, Liddie and eight month old Minnie. Jane was making bread and she gave some of the dough to Alice who put it on a little wooden apple shaped dish to raise and she, Sadie and Liddie went out to play. Later they came back inside complaining of not feeling well. They had come down with Diptheria. Sadie died on the 17th, Liddie died four days later and Alice a week later. Minnie, the baby was also ill and on the day of the other three girls funeral she was at home with Grandma O’Neil when she began to choke. In desperation grandma stuck her finger down Minnie’s throat and was able to pull loose the false membrane that develops and chokes people to death when they suffer from Diptheria.
In 1886, Kate was born and Tom was adopted. The family moved from Granite to a small cabin in Frost Gulch in 1888. This area later became known as Kirkville. John continued work as a miner with five more children added to the family. At the time of John’s death, February 10, 1911, he was still working a lease at Granite. The following was stated in his obituary: “Mr. Hickey had been ill since last November and his decline was gradual…His brave battle against death was characteristic of the man. …He never complained and was always hopeful of recovery, ever cheerful, and solicitous to the comfort of others, even during his most trying hours…He was a true type of that sturdy manhood which proved such a factor in the development of the west.”
The obituary stated that John was survived by: Jane, five daughters: Minnie Anderson, Kate Lutz, Bertha, Ruth and Nora Hickey; son Neil and adopted son Tom, plus many grandchildren. “For them and especially the suffering wife, every heart in our community is filled with sympathy.”
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