The Irish Immigrant

The Irish Immigrant. A Part of the Civil War Discovery Trail. , Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, the son of Dr. Joseph and Mary Anne Ronayne Cleburne, was born March 17, 1828. At the age of twenty-one he immigrated to the United States. He settled in Helena in 1850., The Son of Privilege , Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was born into an Irish Protestant family of high social standing. His father was a prosperous doctor in County Cork and young Patrick received an enviable education., When Patrick was fifteen, his father died. Against his wishes, Patrick was apprenticed to a doctor. He cared little for medicine and in 1846, he failed the exam for entrance to the Apothecaries' Hall. Humiliated, Patrick joined the British army. For three years he suffered the miserable life it afforded enlisted men., Quitting Ireland , The 1840s were years of political and social unrest in Ireland. The situation worsened after the Irish potato crop failed in 1846. Patrick's brother, William, wrote in July 1849, "It is the wish of all my brothers and sister, to quit this country for America." On November 2, Patrick Cleburne and his siblings William, Joseph and Anne, left Ireland. They arrived in New Orleans on Christmas Day. Patrick Cleburne made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his medical training enabled him to secure a job in a drugstore., Cleburne Settles in Helena , In 1850, twenty-two year-old Patrick Cleburne moved to Helena, Arkansas, where he found a job with the Grant and Nash Drugstore. As store manager he received $50 a month, a room at the rear of the shop, and his meals, which he took with Dr. Grant. To Patrick Cleburne, the move probably seemed like a simple chance for advancement, but it changed the course of his life. , [Photo captions] , Top right: This is the first known photograph of Patrick Cleburne. It was taken in Helena in 1850. , Bottom left: In 1850, roads were often impassable and railroads were few and far between. Patrick Cleburne traveled from Cincinnati to Helena, a prosperous port and shipping center, via steamboat. , Bottom right: Dr. Charles Edward Nash, left, and Dr. Hector M. Grant below. Grant owned the drugstore on First Street where Patrick Cleburne lived and worked.