Quigley, Patrick

Born: 1799-03-16 Ireland, United Kingdom

Died: 1865-08-10 Dubuque County, Iowa

Born in Londonderry, Ireland, Patrick "Pat" Quigley was a farmer, merchant, Catholic, county and town official, territorial legislator, and federal government official. He married Catharine Rooney in St. Louis in 1824. They eventually had at least five children together. They moved to Galena, Illinois in 1833, then relocated to Dubuque in unorganized territory in August 1833, where Quigley became very active in county, territorial, and town affairs and politics. He served on the Dubuque County Council in 1836, and in the Wisconsin Territory House of Representatives from 1836 to 1838. Quigley was Dubuque's town treasurer in 1837, town president in 1839, a town trustee in 1840, and a town alderman from 1854 to 1855 and from 1860 until after the Civil War. He was also appointed receiver for the U.S. General Land Office in Dubuque in 1853, a position he held through 1855. His personal wealth increased substantially over time, in tandem with his transition from farming to mercantilism. In 1850, while farming, he owned $4,600 in real estate. By 1860, he was working as a merchant and owned $22,000 in real estate and another $1,000 in personal property.

The History of Dubuque County, Iowa (Chicago: Western Historical, 1880), 174, 350, 535-39, 860; Frank D. Jackson, Official Register, Executive, Judicial and County Officers of the State of Iowa (Des Moines, IA: Campbell, 1888), 6; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Dubuque County, IA, 4; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA, 289; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853 (Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong, 1853), 140; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1855), 83; Gravestone, Mount Olivet Cemetery, Dubuque County, IA.