We have seen that James Moriarty was searching for gold in Idaho in its very earliest days. Gold drew him from one lode to another. Now it is 1880. The days of easy placer mining have faded and have been left to the Chinese. The U.S. Census of Idaho City was taken on June 1st and 2nd. Our James Moriarty is living at 43 Montgomery Street. He is a 43 year old Express Agent - just as described in the 1884 article. He and his parents were born in Ireland. Two miners are living with him - 48 year old Daniel Casey and 27 year old Timothy Kegan are also from Ireland. All three are single.
Here is that picture of James Moriarty's business again. His is the bottom picture.
The census tells us about the neighbors - besides miners and laborers, there were: a brewer, barber, druggist, civil engineer, tailor, carpenters, general merchant, shoemaker, huckster, grocers, blacksmiths, county assessor, a seamstress, and some children. They came from: England, Bavaria, Ireland, Prussia, Switzerland, Scotland, Upper Rhine, Wertenburg as well as New York, Missouri, Idaho, Kentucky, Washington Territory, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. I keep thinking about James Moriarty - born in Caherdaniel - anyone who has been to Sneem knows what Caherdaniel is like. And look at all the places that he traveled and all the different nationalities that he met! What did he think about it all? And what did he think about the times in which he lived!
We saw that the gold rush in Boise basin spurred the development of several mining towns.
http://boisebasinhistory.com tells us that "of all the communities, Idaho City was said to have been the bawdiest and lustiest of the Boise Basin’s offspring. A rip-roaring mining town, it became the hub of territorial commerce and almost overnight became the largest metropolis in the Idaho Territory, boasting a population in excess of ten thousand for more than two decades."
But "difficult winters and shortages of food made life treacherous. One year a food riot occurred because the spring supplies from Walla Walla had not arrived."
"The richest claim in the Idaho City area in 1863 was owned by seven men. It contained 2,000 square feet and ran to the edge of town. Bedrock averaged one dollar per pan and as high as $9.25. Mining was done right in town. Lawsuits were numerous when houses began collapsing after being undermined. Montgomery Street panned at $16.00 a pan." This is the street where James Moriarty had his business by at least 1880! We don't know exactly when he moved into Idaho City but he was in Boise basin since 1863.
The 1900 U.S. Census of Idaho City, taken on the 13th of June, lists 62 year old James Moriarty, Sr. at the bottom of the page. He was born in October 1837 and is boarding with 56 year old Henry Whitney and his wife, 30 year old Geneva, – both from Maine and renting the house but no street name is given. Their daughter Marion is 4 and was also born in Maine. James immigrated in 1863 and is a naturalized citizen. He is able to read, write, and speak English. James is a gold quartz miner; Henry is also a gold quartz miner. The Whitneys have 3 other boarders - another miner, a blacksmith, and a steam engineer.
Further up on the census we find 38 year old Patrick and 43 year old James Moriarty – Patrick is the head of the household and James is his brother. Both were born in Ireland as were their parents.
Patrick’s birth date was March 1862, and he immigrated in 1883 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 17 years. He can read and write; he speaks English. He is a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He owns his house – it is not mortgaged.
James’ birthdate is November 1853; he immigrated in 1873 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 27 years. He is also a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He can also read and write – he speaks English. They are both single. And they are James Moriarty's nephews who immigrated from Caherdaniel.
Patrick’s birth date was March 1862, and he immigrated in 1883 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 17 years. He can read and write; he speaks English. He is a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He owns his house – it is not mortgaged.
James’ birthdate is November 1853; he immigrated in 1873 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 27 years. He is also a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He can also read and write – he speaks English. They are both single. And they are James Moriarty's nephews who immigrated from Caherdaniel.
“Snow had been shoveled from this building every winter for many years by the Moriartys, and this is the first time the snow has ever slid from the roof. Mr. Moriarty had evidently been shoveling but a short time when he was carried down by the slide. The body was almost touching one end of the ladder.
“James Moriarty, Jr. came to town for assistance, arriving at 12 o’clock that night. A crew of men, with horses, started out Saturday morning with the intention of breaking a trail from the Thorne camp to the creek for the purpose of bringing the body out that way, but this plan was abandoned. A toboggan with snowshoe runners was made at Thorne’s camp and a party of 13 men with snowshoes hauled the body down the creek to the Basin road, to a point a little over a mile from this place. They reached town at 1 o’clock yesterday morning.
“Mr. Moriarty was a native of Kerry county, Ireland, and was 76 years of age. From the old country he went to Australia and New Zealand and from there to Fraser, in British Columbia, in the early sixties. He arrived in Boise Basin in the spring of 1864, and engaged in placer mining at Centerville. After that he worked placer ground at Placerville and on Granite Creek. In 1874, when a resident of Granite Creek, he was elected Auditor and Recorder of this county, serving two years. He was appointed Deputy Auditor by Mrs. Kate Gorman, the present incumbent, and served for some time. He was for many years employed in the express office of Wells, Fargo, and Co. at this place.
“Mr. Moritrty was a charter member of the A.O.U.W. of this place. (Ancient Order of United Workmen collected $1 from each member in order to pay $500 to dependents of a deceased member.)
“He leaves a niece and two nephews at this place – Miss Kate, James and Patrick Moriarty, a nephew Ed Moriarty, of Connecticut, two nephews, brothers of the above named, in Ireland, and a sister, Mrs. Sullivan, in Ireland, who is the mother of Mike Sullivan, formerly of this place, and now a resident of Mexico.
“Mr. Moriarty was a man of very kind disposition and sympathetic nature, charitable and liberal even beyond his means.
“He was a proprietor of a boarding house at Silver Mountain in the early days of that camp, and no man without money was ever refused a meal. Many a miner and prospector would have gone hungry but for the kindness of Mr. Moriarty. He acquired the reputation of being altogether too liberal for a successful hotel man.
“The funeral took place at 12:30 today from town hall. A short biographical sketch of Mr. Moriarty was given by E.W. Barry, who also read the Catholic burial service. The hall was filled with friends of deceased.”
So that is the story of James Moriarty of Cahirdaniel who was a 1st cousin to our Michael Moriarty who settled in Loughane. No wonder some of us have the travel bug!!