Patrick Burke (1836 -1917)
Richard Burke McMurdo, Francis Burke McMudo and Grace M.Porter were the children of
Mary Ellen "Mame" Burke, the daughter of
Patrick Burke, the son of
Thomas Burke of County Galway, Ireland
Patrick Burke was the father of John P., Mary Ellen, George, Grace, Bart and Theresa Burke. He was twice married, first, to Ellen Kineen in Massachusetts, who died there about 1862, and second, to Katherine Cecilia Banahan in 1870, in Sonora, California. Patrick Burke came to California first with his wife Ellen in 1861, and returned to Massachusetts, where Ellen died the next year.
In 1863 Patrick Burke travelled to California, writing from San Francisco in early July. He settled later in 1863 in the town of Sonora in Tuolumne County, California, where he established a business as a blacksmith, wagon maker and wheelwright. Burke died in San Francisco in 1917, and is buried in the Mountain Shadows cemetery in Sonora.
Here are several photographic views from the Library of Congress that were taken in 1866. The view of the road between Sonora and Columbia is relevant because this short stretch of road (a little more than four miles) passes by the small settlement of Sawmill Flat, where Patrick's wife, Katie Banahan and her family settled about 1865.
Sonora Seen Looking from the South. Washington Street is from Center of Photo Moving to Right
Use the magnifying glass with this photo for a good view of Washington Street, where Patrick Burke had his wagon shop.
View of Sonora from Public School
Road between Sonora and Columbia, showing placer mining, 1866
A treasured family relic is a solid gold belt buckle that Patrick Burke supposedly made himself, and gave to his wife, Katie Banahan Burke. The story is that upon coming to California, he "grubstaked" a gold claim (grubstaking was when you worked someone else's claim for a piece of the action). The buckle was originally for a belt, then made into a pin. It weights about an ounce of solid Mother Lode gold.
Katie Banahan Burke's Belt Buckle
Views of Washington Street in Sonora, taken in 1866. Patrick Burke operated his business as a wagonmaker, blacksmith and wheelwright on Washington Street until 1910, when his shop burned down in a fire started in an adjacent Chinese laundry. (Photos from the Library of Congress)
View of Washington Street, Sonora, 1866
Another View of Washington Street, Sonora, 1866, From the City Hotel
Mary Ellen Burke with Native Daughters of the Golden West, California Admission Day, 1895
Patrick Burke was a well known wagon maker in the Mother Lode of California after the Civil War, until 1910. According to different sources, spoken and written, Burke wagons and carriages were well known in Central California. In 1891, he won two awards at the California State Fair for wagon entries; a two horse carriage, and a grain wagon. Below are two views of Patrick Burke's blacksmith shop from 1890 and 1897. The shop burned down in 1911.
Freight wagon in front of Patrick Burke's shop, 1891
The Blacksmith Shop of Patrick Burke, Sonora, California, 1897
This is a photo of Patrick Burke, his sons George and Bart, and an unidentified older man, taken sometime in the 1890's, from the age of Bart. George is the older boy wearing a hat. Pat Burke is second from left. Bart is at far right. Probably taken somewhere around Sonora. Note the carriage in the background. Possibly Pat Burke's work? If you were a wagon maker, would you go out and buy one, or make one for yourself?
Patrick Burke, his sons George and Bart, with unidentified older friend near Sonora, c. 1890's