Rooney Profiles - Frances John Patrick Rooney
Frances John Patrick Rooney
Even though the history of the Rooney ancestors in Ireland virtually unknown, what is known is that the Rooneys immigrated to Canada and lived there for many years before moving to Minnesota. One source of information that provides us with a reason the Rooney’s settled in Canada after departing from Ireland is a Works Progress Administration (WPA) interview, given by John Egan, of Minnesota, in 1937. John Egan, grandson of Patrick Rooney and great grandson of Daddy Mick, provided the WPA with an interview, entitled "ORIGIN OF ROONEY FAMILY". All the information contained in the interview may not be totally accurate because the interview occurred about 100 years after the facts had been passed down from the earlier genearations. But, the interview does a story that provides the reason for the Rooney’s settling in Canada.
Frank met May Hughs while she was visiting her brothers in the area. They were married in Lewistown about 1904. They had a baby girl who died in infancy. Becase of May's health they were not able to have any more children. In 1907, on a trip to visit former schoolmate in Toronto, Canada, they went to a Catholic orphanage. They met a two-year-old girl that they adopted and brought back to Montana. They named her Eileen Heather. On Thanksgiving Day of the same year, May died of TB and is buried in the Philbrook Cemetery.
Eileen was taken care of by Frank's sister Agatha until Frank remarried four years later. His new bride was Mary Jane Nicholson. To this union eleven children were born:
| Birth Date | Name | Graduated | Spouse | Children | Deceased |
| 1905 | Eileen | Stanford | Charles Waite | 9 children | * |
| Dec. 30, 1912 | Agatha M. | Hobson | Marvin Funston | 5 children | |
| Jan. 6, 1915 | Francis (Frank) | Hobson | Nona Walker | 4 children | * |
| May 5, 1916 | Gertrude T. | Fergus of Lewistown | George Lindgren | 6 children | |
| June 16, 1918 | Vivian (V.) | Moore | William Shaw | 5 children | |
| July 11, 1920 | Kathryn (Kay) V. | Moore | Edwin Olsen | 2 children | |
| Joe Pruett | |||||
| Ed Lane | 2 children | ||||
| Aug. 31, 1922 | John Russell (Russ) | Moore | Pauline Abbott | 7 children | * |
| Oct. 18, 1924 | Esther Lucille | Moore | Alton Parker | 3 children | |
| Feb. 3, 1927 | Bernice | * | |||
| Jan. 24, 1929 | George, died at 16 months old, spinal meningitis | * | |||
| July 9, 1931 | Betty Jean | Anaconda | Bob Saxbury | 3 children | |
| Dec. 15, 1934 | Hilma Zeta (Mickey) | Anaconda | Howard Stone | 3 children | |
After Michael T.'s death, Frank lost the home place west of Hobson. After some years of moving around, they settled on the Sam Powell place, down on Ross Fork. They lived here for several years and later rented it to Russell, their son. They moved to Anaconda, where Frank passed away August 26, 1953. He was brought home and buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Lewistown. Mary passed away December 30, 1980 and is also buried at the Calvary Cemetery.