For a short while around 1901, Michael Patrick�s brother, Thomas, opened a saloon at 112 N. Main. His partner in the saloon was a gentleman named �Paige�. Saloons were plentiful in Butte at the turn of the century. There were 121 reported in Butte; a supposed world record (Malone ). The Atlantic boasted a block long bar with 15 bartenders mixing per shift. [In 1916, when Montanans would vote on statewide prohibition, Silver Bow would do an about face with 58 percent opposing prohibition, the largest no vote in the state. Rural counties would carry the measure (Murphy 44-50).] About the time he began the saloon Thomas and his wife, the former Katherine Gilligan, began residing at 721 N. Main. He would live there until his death in the �30s. After the saloon went bust, Thomas held a series of jobs at the mines including the famous Never Sweat and Anaconda.
A Richard Whalen first appears in the 1901 Butte city directory. Until recently, his actual relationship to our Whalen family was a mystery. Census records now indicate that he was the nephew of Michael "Bull Dog" Whalen, my grandmother's father. He and his young family resided with Michael Whalen, and his family, at 24 E. Summit for several years at the turn of the century until around 1910 following the death of his wife during childbirth. This Richard, is the son of Michael's brother, Richard, and is also the Richard who witnessed Michael�s oath of naturalization in 1894.
