William E. Deeney was born in Deeneystown, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1856. At a young age he became an Irish patriot as a result of the attempt of an English land owner to evict the family from their farm. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1867. Deeney came to the United States in 1872 and in 1885 to Butte, where he joined the Robert Emmett Literary Association. He raised a battalion of Irishmen during the Spanish American War and was commissioned a major, but the battalian was not activated. In 1891 he and two other active union men were charged with the murder of an anti union newspaper editor. They were eventually released for lack of evidence. In Butte, Deeney worked as a stationary engineer. William E. Deeney married Katherine Collins also a native of Ireland. they had five children. William E. Deeney died on May 16, 1924, and his wife a month later.
Roger Patrick Deeney was born in Butte November 10, 1901. He was active in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at the University of Montana, rising in rank to Major. He was an insurance agent in Butte during the 1920s and 1930s, leaving Butte about 1935. He died in Contra Costa, California, January 2, 1962.
From the description of William E. Deeney family papers, 1923. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 636133203
