Patrick Mugan : Short Biography

Patrick MUGAN was born about 1833 in County Roscommom, Ireland. He came to America when he was 16 years old. He and his wife, Mary (White) Mugan were early settlers in  Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas Territory settling there in 1857 during the "Bleeding Kansas" era.

Patrick and his wife had at least nine children.

On August 21, 1863, the family was living in the 700 block of Tennessee Street in Lawrence just northwest of the old windmill, when William Clarke Quantrill and his 400 men attacked the free-state town and killed more than 180 men and boys. It was the largest civilian massacre of the Civil War.  Hiding indoors in the basement, luckily neither Patrick nor his family were harmed during the Raid.  After the Raid, the Mugans reportedly fed and comforted many of the survivors who had lost relatives in the Raid.

Patrick successfully operated a large lime kiln in Lawrence and later in Kansas City and Walnut Grove, Missouri.

Mr. Mugan made a visit to Ireland once to see his aged parents. He traveled there with a Mr. John Shugrue. Patrick Mugan brought back a Hawthorne cutting from Ireland to plant in his yard in Lawrence that eventually grew to a full-sized tree after a number of years. 

In November 1905, at the age of 72, Patrick suddenly died at his home in Walnut Grove, Missouri. He was buried at Mount Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.