Patrick Sarsfield Shine (1870 - 1913)

Born 18 Nov 1870 in New Britain, Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Died 3 Jan 1913 at age 42 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA

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Biography

Known as "Sarsfield" by the family. Like his brother Frank and George Henry, he was a machinist working in various New Britain factories. He enjoyed fighting. The family tales are supported by newspaper accounts of him having run ins with police.

He moved around a bit. Prior to enlisting, he tried Buffalo New York for a brief time. I am unsure if we had relatives out there he stayed with. He also would move to and from New York City frequently. But most of his time before enlisting was in New Britain.

A big change that occurred in his life appears to have been surrounding an incident reported in local papers May 9, 1899 where he was arrested for assaulting a "Mrs. Lynch". He was sentenced to 90 days in jail. DNA evidence is pointing towards the direction he likely fathered a child with Mrs. Lynch, but she did not involve him in the child's life. After a brief patch of getting into trouble, he decided to straighten out his life and re-enlisted the U.S. Army July 6, 1901. He found purpose in military and served for the remainder of his life.

While he spent most of his years in Fort Hamilton in New York, he also had stints in Galveston Texas and Fort Trumbull in Connecticut,

Sarsfield was shot by an unknown man while on military furlough New Years Eve 1912. Finally passed away from injuries January 3, 1913. A night watchman for the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad company named Frank McAleer, 44 years old, living at 92 Clymer Street, Brooklyn, was quickly arrested and tried in court. Jan 29 1913 all charges were dropped and he was released. There are no records for this trial available today.

Sources

• New York, New York, Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948
• Connecticut, Deaths and Burials Index, 1650-1934
• New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948
• U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
• Newspapers.com - Hartford Courant
• The New Britain Herald