Times Past: Matthew Lynch and the Aztec Gold Mine

In this week's Times Past column, Jonathan Smyth recalls Matthew Lynch from Ratrussan, in the parish of Killdrumsheridan, who co-discovered the giant Aztec Goldmine in New Mexico in 1868.

My first encounter with the goldmining tale of Matthew Lynch was in an article from 1891 published in the Magazine of Western History, by Henry Dudley Teetor. Very soon, I would learn that this Cavan born goldminer came from a townland, in the parish of Killdrumsheridan, not too far from where I live in Cootehill. During Lynch’s adventures in America his family came to believe he had died when, for five years, they had lost all communication with him.

Teetor wrote: ‘The discovery of the Aztec mine suggests a chapter of family history, tinged with romance and adventure, the hero being Matthew Lynch.’

In fact, it was said that Lynch’s unending endurance in the face of all odds kept him going until he struck gold and changed the fortunes of his parents and his siblings forever.

As with such accounts, the teller of the story often omits the geographical location from where the subject came from originally. Thankfully, Henry Teetor provided enough details to allow for a further search of family records which led to the discovery of this great man’s birthplace. I would like to extend a thank you to Concepta McGovern at Cavan Genealogy Centre.

Ratrussan farm

The magazine informs us that Lynch renewed contact with the old home place back in Ireland when he struck it rich. We are informed that his mother and father where Alice Lynch nèe McGovern and Peter Lynch. Still living at home, were Matthew’s brothers John, Peter and James; while Andrew and Philip were living in New York, and Patrick in Philadelphia. Their sister Mary is mentioned briefly. Research conducted by Cavan Genealogy Centre revealed that Peter and Alice McGovern Lynch lived at Ratrussan, in the parish of Killdrumsheridan. The Lynch children listed in family history records were John, born in 1829; Matthew, born in June 1834; Patrick, born 1835; Peter, born 1837; James, born 1842; Mary, born 1843; and Philip born 1845. Peter junior died on 13 July 1886 at Blackrock, Co Louth.

Griffith’s valuation records show that Matthew’s father was a farmer at Ratrussan townland. When translated from the Irish word Rath Trosain means Trosan’s fort. The 1901 Census shows that Andrew Lynch and his wife Mary were in Ratrussan and ten years later Andrew was still living there and had by then been remarried to a lady named Susan.

New York and Kansas

Aged twenty-three, Matthew left Ratrussan for New York in 1857. With one of his friends, he went to Colorado, but in Kansas City his pal turned back, leaving Lynch to go forth alone in his adventures. Time passed and no word came home to Cavan, and the family knew nothing of Matthew’s whereabouts, concluding that he had died at the hands of ‘the Indians’ who roamed the plains. For five years there was not a word from Matthew Lynch which reinforced the opinion that he was now dead. In fact, he had arrived in the Rocky Mountains and lived for a time at Clear Creek Canyon, California Gulch and Georgetown, afterwards ‘prospecting his way to Leadville - before it was called Leadville’.

Word reached Matthew that prospecting was looking up in New Mexico and he teamed up with Timothy Foley to go exploring for gold in the Moreno Valley. In Spring 1867, Matthew Lynch and Tim Foley began prospecting in the Baldy Mountain district, Colfax County, New Mexico and a year later in Spring 1868 they discovered gold. Lynch and his business partner formed the Aztec Gold mining company in June of that year.

Lynch immediately returned to New York to find his brothers Andrew and Philip to tell them the news. On discovering Matthew to be alive they wrote home to their parents who were still living in Ratrussan. Enclosed with the letter was a $500 draft ‘signed by Matthew’.

Even though other prospectors arrived in the region, Lynch’s find remained the largest discovery. It is recorded that he was the first to use hydraulics on a mine in New Mexico and for the machinery to work it required waterpower. A ‘big ditch’ with three reservoirs situated along its banks was constructed by the Moreno Water and Mining Company to conserve enough water to drive the mining machines of the gold-diggers. Lynch’s mine, described as a fifteen stamp mine, produced $1,000,000 within four years of being established. None of the other mines that opened in the district were as successful as the Aztec mine where prospecting continued up until 1930; though historians point out that all of the major gold finds around this location were discovered by the year 1895.

Death of Matthew

Matthew Lynch died prematurely in 1880 as a result of a tree falling on him. The ownership of the company ‘fell to his father and brothers James and Patrick. Indeed, James and Patrick had earlier joined him at the Aztec mine. He was firstly buried at Elizabethtown and later his remains were reinterred in West Philadelphia. When the mining business, which was worth $1,000,000 was left in the hands of his father, he had to leave Cavan to assume management of the company. Matthew’s brothers Andrew and John maintained the old homestead and farm in Ratrussan; their mother Alice died in 1876.

Matthew had brought his siblings Mary and James out to America around 1870; Mary was educated at the Sister’s Convent, Chestnut Hill, and James became the President of the American Savings Bank of Trinidad. James later moved to Elizabethtown to manage the books for Matthew’s company.

Happily, the Aztec mine had positive consequences for the Lynch family of Ratrussan and as Henry Teetor noted, it gave them a new life of adventure and wealth, all courtesy of the generosity of Matthew Lynch who never forgot his roots.

Further details on Matthew Lynch, can be found in the Magazine of Western History, volume 14, published in 1891.

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