Mary Murray Schreiner was born in Hassel, Montana on July 19, 1875, the daughter of John Murray and Honora Sullivan. Her father came to the United States from Ireland and settled in Virginia City in 1864. Mary lived most of her adult life in Townsend, Montana where she served as the public librarian. She took an interest in local history and wrote several essays on the topic while working at the library. She died on December 27, 1970 in Helena.
The Mary M. Schreiner papers consist of positive photocopies of five historical essays she wrote between 1937 and 1952. “Diamond City and Confederate Gulch” concerns the general history of the mining camps and presents a brief code of miner’s laws. “Hassel” presents the history of Mary’s birthplace with descriptions of its development and the various companies that were established there. “Bedford, a Ghost Town of Broadwater County” concerns the mining activity in that community. “Montana Ghost Towns: Springfield Called Hog’em” tells of the early years of that mining camp. “Hugh Broderick’s Own Story” is an autobiographical essay based on an interview by Mary in 1937. Broderick was the son of an early pioneer miner of the Confederate Gulch area and gives a fairly detailed recounting of his childhood and the social life of the miners in the area.
This collection is open for research.
Original historical essays written by Mary M. Schreiner were loaned to the Montana State University Library for copying by her in the fall of 1965.
This collection was processed 2018 June 5