Sons of Leitrim
Conley
Patrick Edward
Soldier Profile: Patrick Edward Conley
Wisconsin 44th Infantry Regiment
Patrick Edward Conley's war was brief and bloodless—enlisted in February 1865, just months before Appomattox, assigned to guard duty and escorting prisoners while the great battles raged elsewhere. He came home, married Mary Ratchford, and spent the next fifty years farming in Wisconsin, raising six children and finally owning his own land.
Early Life and Family
Born: December 4, 1839, Newtown Gore, County Leitrim, Ireland
Parents: Thomas Conley and Catherine Farrelly (Farley)
Siblings: The sixth child in the family
Brother John, born circa 1842
Half-brother Francis William, born April 1847
Brothers Andrew, Morris, and George
Sister Margaret
Emigration: Around 1852, at approximately thirteen years old
The 1855 Census: A Family Together
By 1855, the Conley family was living in Rochester City Ward 10, New York. It was a large household:
Thomas Conley, 50
Catharine Conley, 50
Andrew Conley, 27
Margaret Conley, 24
Morris Conley, 20
George Conley, 18
Patrick Conley, 15
John Conley, 13
The family had made it through the Famine years and emigration together—a rare achievement for Irish families of that era.
Military Service
Patrick enlisted in the Union Army on February 5, 1865—just two months before Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He was mustered into the Wisconsin 44th Infantry Regiment, a unit employed on guard duty and escorting prisoners. The regiment saw no military action.
Patrick Conley's war was one of garrison duty, watching prisoners, and waiting for news from the front. When the war ended in April 1865, he had never fired a shot in combat.
Life After the War
Marriage and Family
In 1866, Patrick married Mary Ratchford (1842–1920) in St. Patrick's Church, Janesville, Wisconsin. Over the next eighteen years, they had six children:
Margaret (Maggie) Conley (1866–1921)
Catherine Bridget Conley (1873–1937)
Patrick John Conley (1875–1942)
William Edward Conley (1879–1928)
Mary Ann Conley (1882–1906)
Rose Ellen Connelly (1884–1980)
The 1880 Census: A Farmer's Life
By 1880, Patrick was living with his wife Mary and four children in Exeter, Green County, Wisconsin. He worked as a farmer:
Pat Conley, 39 (Head)
Mary Conley, 38 (Wife)
Margaret Conley, 13 (Daughter)
Catherine Conley, 6 (Daughter)
Patrick Conley, 5 (Son)
William Conley, 2 (Son)
The 1900 Census: Renting the Farm
By 1900, Patrick was living in Spring Valley, Rock County, Wisconsin. He was still farming, but renting the land rather than owning it. Living with Patrick and Mary was Rosella Conley, fifteen years old (likely a granddaughter or niece), and a servant, George Lyons, fifty-one.
The 1910 Census: A Landowner at Last
By 1910, Patrick had achieved what many Irish immigrants dreamed of: he owned his own farm. True, there was a mortgage, but the land was his. He was seventy years old, still living in Rock County, Wisconsin, with his wife Mary.
Death
Patrick Edward Conley died on July 13, 1914, in Rock County, Wisconsin, at seventy-four years old. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin. His wife Mary died in 1920, six years after Patrick.
Family Tragedies
Not all of Patrick and Mary's children outlived them:
Mary Ann Conley died in 1906 at just twenty-four years old—eight years before her father's death
William Edward Conley died in 1928 at forty-nine
Margaret (Maggie) Conley died in 1921 at fifty-five
Service & Family Timeline
Date Event Detail
Dec 4, 1839 Birth Newtown Gore, Co. Leitrim
c. 1852 Emigration Arrived in America; settled in Rochester, NY
Feb 5, 1865 Enlistment 44th Wisconsin Infantry
1866 Marriage To Mary Ratchford, Janesville, WI
1910 Success Recorded as owning his own farm in Rock County
July 13, 1914 Deceased Rock County, Wisconsin
