- Birth: August 15, 1872
- Marriage: James Harvey Patrick – December 4, 1887
- Death: November 13, 1919
Early Life
Mary Christenot was born on August 15, 1872, near Virginia City, Madison County, Montana. She was the third child of Charles and Martha (Craig) Wilton Christenot who had traversed the Bozeman Trail and arrived near Virginia City in October, 1866. Mary’s half-sister, Alice May Wilton (1863-1889), the only child of Martha and Henry Wilton, was about nine years old when Mary was born.
Mary’s father, Charles, worked at the Christenot Mill, at Union City, then settled his family near Puller Springs, Montana on the Ruby River. He served as a constable and worked in construction. The heat stroke that Charles suffered during the Civil War may have left him with epileptic seizures that grew worse with age. He died on May 23, 1886, at the Insane Asylum at Warm Springs, Montana. Mary was thirteen years old. Her mother, Martha, was forty years old and without financial support, other than some Civil War pensions.
Children of Charles and Martha Christenot (Siblings of Mary Christenot)
- Hattie (Christenot) Kyle (1867-1936)
- Anna (Christenot) Swisher (1869-1950)
- Mary (Christenot) Patrick (1872-1919)
- Charles Christenot (1874-1875)
- Amelia “Mae” (Christenot) Pendarvis Jordan (1876-1959)
- George Christenot (1878-1934)
- Frank Christenot (1880-1956)
- Fred Christenot (1883-1961)
- Clemma (Christenot) Newton Briscoe (1885-1970)
Early Life of James Harvey Patrick
James Harvey Patrick was born on April 11, 1858, to Harvey George and Ludema Ann (Kincannon) Patrick in LeClaire, Iowa. He was the sixth of seven children. In the 1860 Census, the family resided in Bourbon, Kansas Territory and father Harvey is noted as a farmer. Harvey and Ludema and their first two children, William and Samuel, were born in Virginia, later renamed as West Virginia. Francis and Mary were born in Wisconsin. Margaret Adeline was born in Kentucky, James was born in Iowa, and Charles in Kansas Territory. In 1870, the family was in Timberhill, Bourbon County, Kansas, with the three youngest children still at home. Harvey George Patrick died on March 9, 1874.
In the spring of 1879, James emigrated to Montana with his younger brother, Charles Lincoln Patrick, and his mother, Ludema, according to his obituary. They settled in the Ruby Valley, near Twin Bridges. It may be that James’ brothers, William and Francis, encouraged the move as they were already in farming in Montana. The 1880 Census shows Ludema, James (22), and Charles, and a nephew of Ludema living in the township known as Beaverhead Valley, Madison County, Montana, adjacent to brother William Patrick and his family of eight, and brother Francis Patrick with his family of seven. Francis’ second youngest child, son Marion, is noted on the Census to be three years old and born in Montana, so James’s older brothers may have moved west in 1877.
Marriage to James Harvey Patrick
Mary Christenot and James Harvey Patrick (1858-1936) were married on December 4, 1887, in Salesville (now Gallatin Gateway), Gallatin County, Montana, where Mary was living at the time. Although listed as 16 on the Marriage License, Mary was in fact 15 years and 3 months old. James was 29 and was living in Jefferson Island, Madison County, Montana.
James and Mary spent their married life farming in Madison County, Montana, in the Jefferson Island and Cardwell area. Their first son, Leonard, was born on June 30, 1889. His World War I draft card gives his place of birth as Puller Springs. Mary likely chose to give birth at the home of her mother, Martha (Craig) Wilton Christenot. (Martha at the time still had four young children at home.)
Children of James and Mary Patrick
- Leonard Hardin Patrick (1889-1962)
- Lena May (Patrick) Rockets (1892-1968)
- Clarence Roy Patrick (1895-1964)
- Henry Willet Patrick (1897-1967)
- Cleona Valeria “Clemma” or “Cleo” (Patrick) Gardner Blunk Fisher Nobles (1899-1944)
- Fred Lincoln Patrick (1902-1955)
- Theodore Loren Patrick (1906-1972)
- Chester Harvey Patrick (1909-1945)
Life in Madison County
According to the 1900 Census, the family farmed near South Boulder, Madison County, Montana. Living at home at this time were children Leonard, Lena, Clarence, Henry, and Cleona “Clemmy”. James’s mother, Ludema Patrick, 79, also lived with them. She died on March 11, 1909. On the same census record, four dwellings away, are Alf (44) and Mantie Kyle (23). Alf was a cousin of John Kyle, the husband of Mary Patrick’s sister, Hattie. Alf and Mantie Kyle would become the parents of Josephine (Kyle) Patrick, who, in 1929, married Samuel Patrick, a son of James Patrick’s brother, Charles.
Many postcards among extended Christenot family members show that Martha Christenot, Mary’s mother, did not have a home of her own, but lived with her adult children at different times. A newspaper article from the Montana Sunlight (Whitehall, Montana) on February 6, 1903, reported, “James Patrick was a Pony visitor this week. Mrs. Christenot, the mother of Mrs. P. returning home with him.” (Chronology, Mary, p. 2)
In a postcard dated February 3, 1909, from Mary Patrick of Jefferson Island, Montana, to Martha Christenot in care of Clemma (Christenot) Newton, in Nampa, Idaho, Mary reports that the Patrick family will move soon into a home with five rooms that Jim Patrick is building. On June 22, 1909, son Leonard Patrick married Fannie Davenport. (Chronology, Mary, p. 6)
The 1910 Census lists James as renting a farm and living in the South Boulder precinct. Clarence (15), Cleona (10), Theodore (3) and Chester (4 months) are living at home. Fred, 8, was deaf and mute and was not on the census. He may have been boarding at the Montana School for the Deaf. Son Leonard (20) and new wife, Fannie Davenport, live next door and are also farming rented land.
In 1914, James’s youngest brother, Charles Lincoln Patrick, 53, died from apoplexy (stroke). Mary’s sister, Hattie (Christenot) Kyle, in Roundup writes the news of his sudden death in a postcard to her mother, Martha, who was living at the time in Melstone, Montana. (Chronology, Mary, p. 8)
In a letter from January 13, 1917, to her mother, Martha, Mary recounts that she hadn’t sent a her Christmas gift, so was sending one of her crochet works for Martha’s birthday. (Chronology, Mary, p. 10)
Death of Mary (Christenot) Patrick
Mary (Christenot) Patrick, 47, died on November 13, 1919, in Jefferson Island, Montana. The cause of death was Chronic Parenchymatous Nephritis which can refer to a variety of kidney disorders. The three youngest children most likely at home would have been Fred, (17), Theodore (13) and Chester (10).
On February 18, 1920, the family was visited by the 1920 census taker. Their place of residence was Hot Spring Township, Madison County, Montana, which was near Jefferson Island. Visiting them at the time, and listed by the census taker, is James and Mary’s second child, Lena May (Patrick) Rockets. Interestingly, she was also captured in the 1920 Census at her home on January 15, in nearby Cardwell, Jefferson County, Montana, with her husband, Joseph Rochets, (later as Rockets), and their children, Luella Martha (8) and James Harvey (5).
Later Years of James Patrick
In 1929, Clarence Patrick and his family moved to California and James Patrick moved with them. Mary’s sister, Anna (Christenot) Swisher lived in Harrison, Montana, at that time and reported the news of the move in a letter to their sister Clemma (Christenot) Newton Briscoe on June 6, 1929. Anna notes that she’s all alone there now that her brother-in-law and nephew have moved. (Chronology, Mary, p. 10)
The 1930 Census shows James living in Santa Clara, California, with Clarence and his wife, and three children. He later returned to Jefferson Island to live, and then moved back to California.
James Harvey Patrick died on March 19, 1936, at the home of his daughter, Lena (Patrick) Rockets in San Jose, California. He was buried next to Mary (Christenot) Patrick at the South Boulder Cemetery, Madison County, Montana. Mary’s mother, Martha Christenot, who died in Whitehall, Montana, in 1923, is buried next to them.
Sources
Shrauger, N. (2019). Christenot Family History Chronology. Book 1, Volume III, Mary, pp 1-14.
Research
More information, photographs, and documents about Mary (Christenot) Patrick are available and will be added over time. Our research is based on the sources listed and the primary documents found on the Christenot Family Tree at Ancestry.com.
Please contact us with additions, questions or corrections. Last updated February 2023.