Mohave
County, Arizona
Biographies
ANDY DEVINE
There must be somebody
who hasn't heard of Andy Devine, but that person sure doesn't
live in Kingman where Andy is becoming somewhat of a folk hero.
Who would have thought on November 16,1906, when Amy Devine, Mae, her
stepdaughter, and Tom, Jr., her son, stepped from the train in Kingman,
that the year old boy she was carrying in her arms would turn out to be
Kingman's favorite son. Amy's husband, Tom, had been a railroad
employee in Flagstaff until a terrible accident had taken his
leg. Unable to continue his work for the railroad, he took the
settlement they offered and purchased the Beale Hotel.
Tom Devine was 36 years old when he came to Kingman, an affable and
likable irish Catholic, who was a second generation American.
Although not as well educated as his wife Amy, and it has been said
that she schooled him, he was educated enough to be elected Treasurer
of Coconino County, He later served as Mohave County's Treasurer for
many years and was a successful and respected businessman in this
community. Tom Devine was also a community minded man. One
of the more interesting endeavors that he was involved with was the
Good Roads Association, a group of Northern Arizona citizens who were
successful in having the National Old Trails Highway take the northern
route rather than the southern route through Phoenix. This
highway became the famous Route 66.
Amy Devine, Andy's
mother, was probably a greater influence in his life than his
father. She had been a teacher and tutor and had tutored the
children of the Governor of Nevada before her marriage to Tom. It was
Amy who patiently helped Andy recover his speech after the accident
that damaged his throat and who strove to curb the exceptional energy
that got him into many scrapes and accidents as a child. Amy was
also a community-minded woman. She was a member of the Red Cross
Relief Corp., was confirmed and became active in the Catholic Church
and, at one time, tried to start an Elks' ladies group called the
Does. That particular endeavor was not successful
If there is one thing
that Andy's old Kingman friends agree on it is that Andy had one heck
of a lot of exuberance. This trait frequently got him hurt.
As early as February 29, 1908, the Mohave Miner was reporting
that "Andrew, the three year old child of Mr.& Mrs. Thomas Devine,
fell from the rear porch of the Beale Hotel to the ground, a distance
of about 13 feet sustaining a fracture of the left arm and sundry cuts
and bruises. The little fellow is getting along nicely.' It may
have been the last time anyone called Andy "a little fellow," but it
was not the last time he made the papers for a broken bone. On
May 23,1914, the Miner again reported that "Andrew... fell from the
rear porch of the Hogan residence and fractured an arm." And, according
to Andy's wife, he broke another bone when he fell out of a tree while
military school.
The stories about the
mischievous young boy abound, both in Kingman and within Andy's
family. Glenn Johnson, long time friend, said he always
remembered two particular incidents about Andy. One was that in a
greased pig contest Andy caught the pig because he tripped and fell on
it. Even as a boy he was large and he just flattened the
pig. Glenn also remembered that toward the end of WWI there was a
Liberty Bond drive, and the army brought in a M1917 two man tank with a
30 caliber machine gun. Andy climbed on the back and rode all
over town much to the amusement of the townsfolk and the dismay of the
tank driver who could not get him off and drive the tank at the same
time.
Dorothy Devine says the
various versions of the "cat incident" make Andy sound awful, but she
says the incident did indeed occur. What actually happened was
that one of the local judges offered Andy and a friend 50 cents to get
rid of a mangy old cat for him. He emphasized that they do so
in humane manner. Fifty cents was a princely sum in those
days, so Andy and his friend undertook this assignment.. They knew
where some dynamite was, so took cat, dynamite and a long, long fuse to
the dump where they proceeded to carefully wrap the cat in
dynamite. What could be more humane than instant destruction,
they reasoned. They lit the fuse and ran like crazy. They
looked around and much to their dismay found the cat following them
fuse burning vigorously. The boys ran by the Van Marter house and
the cat ran under the house. Andy said he was terrified that the
dynamite would blow up the house, but the cat ran out from under the
house and into the woodshed. The woodshed blew sky high. No
one ever knew what happened until years later Andy, in a personal
appearance in Kingman, confessed to the crime.
There is one more Andy
Devine "mischievous boy " story, and it is a favorite. Andy and his
brother Tom both worked in the Beale Hotel for their father. Among the
clientele were many salesmen, or drummers, as they were called in those
days. They used to pack their satchels, park them near the front
door and then play pool in the pool room while waiting for the train.
One time Andy took hammer and nails, nailed the satchels to the floor
and then shouted, "Train's a leavin'!" into the pool room.
The drummers made a dash for the door, grabbed their satchels, but left
the bottoms plus contents on the floor when they hurriedly jerked up on
the handles. It worked better than Andy dreamed, but Dorothy says
he wasn't able to sit down for a week.
According to Irma Lang,
daughter of the theater owner in Kingman, Andy was a rascal, but more
important he always told the truth, and he was always polite. He
was also something of a ladies' man, but treated them politely as
well. Andy didn't get in many fights, but Johnny Adams, a
professional boxer from 1919-1931, was a real slugger. Johnny
didn't lose many fights, but he lost his first one (in the fourth
grade) to Andy Devine. "He started in on me because I swore in front of
my sister .. my sister, who was older, stepped in, hit Andy a couple of
times and broke it up." Andy must have been confused to be attacked by
the girl he was defending.
Andy Devine was a small
town boy, and he retained all his life those qualities which we
associate with growing up in a small town. He never "went
Hollywood" but instead went through life with a good sense of
what was important. In a place where divorce was the name
of the game, Andy and Dorothy were happily married for over forty
years. They were introduced by Will Rogers, who kidded Andy
about robbing the cradle and being a dirty old man, because Dorothy was
only 19 and Andy was 29 when they were married, in 1933. Dorothy says
they spent one night of their honeymoon in the Beale HoteL Andy told
her they would stay in the new part, but she remembers a room so small
that one of them had to go out in the corridor to give the other room
to dress.
They raised their boys on
a ranch away from the false glitter of the movie industry and
kept their life separate from the movie colony. Andy and the boys
were active in scouting and 4-H. They raised pigeons and horses,
hunted and fished, and got interested in ham radios. Andy told
his boys that he would try to live his life not to embarrass them, if
they would do the same for him. After appearing with Andy in Canyon
Passage in 1946, the boys decided movie acting wasn't for them. Tad and
Dennis both graduated from college and from that time on were
independent of their parents' wealth. Both Dorothy and Andy can
take pride in a job well done in child raising.
Although Andy Devine's
acting career started out as an accidental happening - he was standing
on a street corner in Hollywood when "discovered" - he had to struggle
to make his career successful. Andy's first picture was a silent
film and, as a bit player, he made several such films in the
mid-to-late 1920's. But the talkies came on the scene and
Devine's film career appeared to be over, primarily because of his
voice which was high, squeaky and had a timorous catch to it. The
dramatic parts were out, but, with the popularity of the "rah-rah"
college movies, Andy's voice became as asset. They put him in a
bearskin coat and he became the friendly sophomore cheerleader.
The "voice" which almost cost him his career, eventually became the key
to Andy's success and popularity in films, stage, radio and
television. Once heard, those raspy, squeaky tones are never
forgotten. That voice, plus his bulky frame led inevitably to the
comedic roles for which he is well known. The "steam calliope
with the broken key" was the voice he grew up with although not the one
he was born with. According to his wife, Dorothy, Andy was
jumping up and down on the couch with a curtain rod in his mouth
when be was a small boy. He fell and was seriously injured in the
throat and vocal cords. For two years after the accident he could
not speak without stuttering and the characteristic "break" was a
direct result of that accident. A common rumor was that he had
nodes on his vocal cords. He did not, but joked that he had the
same "nodes" as Bing Crosby, but Crosby's were in tune. Once
persuaded to see a doctor, Andy was told that it was his voice and he
was stuck with it. Lucky Andy. Imagine being stuck with a
voice that was insured by Lloyds of London for a "half a million"
It was not only the voice
that made Andy "an original," as his friend Guy Madison called
him. He had a fine sense of the comic relief character so
important to the western morality play.. Although in his first western,
Law and order (1932), he played a dull-witted young man who is hanged
after an accidental killing, that type of role soon gave way to the
"sidekick." He played Cookie Bullfincher in nine movies, replacing
Gabby Hayes in the Roy Rogers' movies, and continued throughout his
career playing the comic relief roles in musicals, westerns, and even a
couple of gangster pictures.
Most of those films were
Class B pictures, but Andy was one of those actors who could and did
cross the line frequently into the Class A movies. His first
class A movie, Stagecoach (1939) in which he played the stage driver,
was a tremendous boost to his career. The making of the movie
also brought him a friendship with John Wayne that lasted until Andy's
death. Andy made more Class A movies than any other western
sidekick except for Walter Brennan.
The rumor that Andy
played Shakespeare is true. In Romeo and Juliet (1937) - with
Norma Shearer, Andy donned tights and played Peter, the manservant, to
excellent reviews. He also played in the original "A Star is
born" one of his favorite films.
Andy made film after film
until the mid 50's when he decided to be more selective. Some of
those selections include Island in the Sky, Around The World in 80
Days, and a return to westerns with his roles of Marshal Link Appleyard
in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, with his old friend John Wayne.
Devine was also a very
successful television star, with the role of Jingles in Wild Bill
Hickok being the most famous. In 1974, 20 years after the
series, Andy was boarding a plane in Miami when a bomb was
reported. All the passengers had to open their luggage so
everything could be inspected. When the FBI agent came to Andy,
he passed him through saying, "If you Can't trust Jingles, who can you
trust."
His stage career was also
an important part of his later acting years. He played the
Captain in Showboat (1957) and went on to play in Anything Goes (1961),
My Three Angels and Never Too Late. Andy was a delight to work
with. He believed that he was only as good as the best actor on the
stage and went out of his way to help newcomers. Live theater was
different than movie acting. The stage requires a lot of
publicity, but interviewers found themselves being interviewed
instead. Andy was interested in people and wanted to know all
about them. Dorothy traveled with Andy in his stage work. She
laughingly calls her job "his wardrobe mistress," but she was
much more than that. She was in fact the one who took care of all
the details of which there were many.
He retired once, but it
drove both Andy and Dorothy crazy so he went back to work and was still
acting until shortly before his death, in 1977. In all, Andy made
over 400 films and more radio, stage and television appearances than
anyone cared to count. He was in the first pictures that
Hollywood greats Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne made.
There is no doubt that
Andy Devine is well loved by his peers, his fans and his
hometown. He remained true to himself and his upbringing to the
end, retaining his good-natured, unassuming personality despite his
illness with leukemia. Andy died of cardiac arrest in 1977.
Andy was buried at the Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona Del Mar,
CA. His brother, Tom, followed, early in 1986. Andy's
funeral reduced John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart to tears and Guy Madison
praised him because to Andy "each Man's time is important, no matter
his station in life.", We, in Kingman, celebrate Andy Devine
Days, partly because he was a famous movie star, but primarily because
he was one of our own, a decent, caring man who took what gifts he had
and built a life to be proud of, if we listen carefully on Andy Devine
Days we may hear, above the hoopla and fanfare, a squeaky, raspy voice,
saying, "I've got the best seat in the house".
(by Karin Goudy September 1986 Source: Mohave County Museum)
THOMAS DEVINE, Treasurer
of Mohave County, was well qualified for the position when he was
chosen by the voters of the County, having previously been Treasurer of
Coconino County before he came to the county famed throughout the
Southwest as a gold producer. When he completed his term of Treasurer
of Coconino there was not a better kept set of books in the State,
every cent had been accounted for, and the books were arranged so as to
show at a glance the county's financial standing. A staunch Democrat of
the old school, he was elected in Coconino, a Republican stronghold,
and was among the leaders, having received a flattering majority at
the primaries and election. His parents, Thomas and Martha Dobbin
Devine, both came from Ireland and were among the pioneers of Michigan.
Mr. Devine was born on a farm in Michigan in 1869, and was educated in
the common schools of Kansas, where his family had removed when he was
but four years old. Having finished school and spent several years on
the Kansas farm, young Devine started his career as a railroad man with
the Missouri Pacific at Kansas City, later served an apprenticeship
with the Union Pacific as blacksmith, then came to Arizona and took a
position with the A. L. & T. Co., at Flagstaff, which he held for
one year, when he became brakeman for the company on their log train.
Here he met with an accident which prevented his working for more than
a year, when he took a position with the Flagstaff Electric Light
Company. He was then elected Treasurer of the county for two succeeding
terms, the second time with a much larger majority than the first. Upon
the completion of his second term he moved to Mohave County, where he
had purchased tin- Beale Hotel, which he has since conducted. Mrs.
Devine was Miss Amy Ward, of Illinois. They have two sons Thomas,
Jr., and Andrew, and one daughter Mrs. May Beecher. Mr. Devine belongs
to the Elks, having become a charter member of Flagstaff Lodge, and
never transferred.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
William Barlo Stephens
1861-1928
William Stephens was born
in Alma. Arkansas, on June 5. 1861. In 1874, at the age of 18, he ran
away from home and managed to talk California-bound wagon train into
taking him along on the overland trip.
The destination of the wagon train was Visalia. California, and on
arriving there young William secured work on various cattle ranches
where within a few years, he saved enough money to send for his mother
and a niece.
In the early 1880's William came to Arizona and worked on cattle
ranches in the vicinity of Walnut Creek.
In 1883 he went to Kansas City with what was said to be the first rail
shipment of cattle from northern Arizona.
Then for a time he worked for Monte Pemberthy at the American Flag mine
where he met Annie Pemberthy, to whom he was married on January 10,
1889.
His next venture was a butcher shop in Mineral City, which was then the
Mohave county seat. Later the shop was moved to Kingman and in December
1893 he acquired land on the Big Sandy and started the cattle ranch
near Wikieup that is still operated by sons Dick and Ray.
At one time Stephens ran as many as 5,000 head in the back-to-back E C
brand, which is still owned by Dick and Ray.
It was a five day wagon trip to Kingman, where supplies were bought
three or four times a year. Gardens, chickens, and cows supplied most
of the food. No one ever passed by the Stephens ranch without being
asked to stop and eat.
In those early days Mrs. Stephens often took in three or four children
of distant neighbors, free of charge, in order to keep a school going.
William Stephens died on September 29. 1929 and his wife followed him
on July 15. 1948.
The surviving children are Dick and Hay. who operate the old ranch; Lee
who has a large gas station and garage at Kingman, and Ida. (Mrs. Lane
Cornwall), of Wenden.
Source: Pioneer and Well-Known Cattle Men Of Arizona by Roscoe G.
Willson
George Taplan Duncan
1869-1944
George Taplan Duncan, better known as "Tap" Duncan to his friends in
Kingman and Mohave County, was born in San Saba, Texas, February 4,
1869. And like most Texans of those days, he was at home in the saddle
when he was still quite young.
When he was 16 years old. Tap left Texas with a trail herd into New
Mexico. But he was soon back in his home state where he spent the
next few years cowboying for various outfits.
In 1891, at the age of 22. he married Ollie Ann Bimmon of Uvalde.
The following year, he and his family moved to Idaho where he became
wagon boss for the Sparks and Harold Shoe Sole outfit. When he took
that job — he related in later years — all be possessed was a wife and
baby — and twenty dollars.
But he capitalized on his opportunity and soon built up a brand of his
own. The cold Idaho winters weren't to his likings, though, so he sold
out in 1898 and headed with his wife and four children for Arizona. On
that trip, Ollie drove the wagon and Tap herded a bunch of saddle
horses.
Arriving at Bonelli's Ferry on the Colorado, Tap had misgivings about
his move. The passage appeared so dangerous that he feared his wife and
children might drown. He blamed himself for taking the route and
ruefully remarked to his wife. "I guess the only reason a cowpuncher
has a head is to keep his spine from unravelling."
However. Tap used his head to good advantage, and the crossing was
safely made. Not long afterwards, they arrived in Hackberry where he
bought the "Hookedy H" brand and Jack Harden's ranch on Knight Creek.
By 1910 he had built up his ranch to a point where he was able to buy
the Walter Starkey Diamond Bar outfit, northwest of Kingman, on which
he ran around 2,000 head of cattle. This venture prospered, too. and he
was able to acquire several other ranches in later years.
His holdings were still large when he was run over and killed by an
automobile in Kingman on November 19, 1944.
His wife died some four years later, and the Diamond Bar was sold to
Handerly of San Francisco, who still owns it. Only two of their
children are still living — Mrs. James Ray of Kingman, and Byron
Duncan, a cattleman at Imlay. Nevada. One of Byron's proudest
possessions, incidentally, is the old, heavy, Sharp's rifle which was
given to his father as part of his gear on his early trail herd ride
from San Saba to New Mexico.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G.
Willson volume 2
George W. Miller
1867-1952
George W. Miller was born
in Washoe City, Nevada, on Aug. 02,1867, shortly after his birth, the
family moved to Hollister, California, where George’s father and a
partner made the well known Chapo saddle trees for a number of years.
In 1886, his father came to Arizona and established a cow ranch in the
Crozier Canyon Country, 50 miles east of Kingman, where for a time, he
also made saddles.
The family joined him a year later, and George worked with his father,
learning the cattle business and developing the ranch and range. Both
he and his father improved the ranch with fruit trees, grapes, berries
and vegetables until it became known as one of the most attractive
places in western Arizona. One of George’s favorite trees was a Maiden
blush apple, which, although planted in the 1880’s, still bears around
a ton of fruit in good seasons.
The Miller brand JAL, connected, but because of the original locator of
the ranch in the Indiana days painted the words, “Look Out” in large
letters on the canyon walls, the place has been called the Look Out
Ranch ever since. It’s said that the Hualapais killed a number of
travelers in this canyon during the early days.
George Miller died at his ranch on Dec. 30, 1952, at the age of 85.
It’s claimed that he lived on the same ranch for a longer period , 65
years, than any other cowman in Mohave County.
His widow, Isabella, now lives with a married daughter, Mrs. Ida
Tingstrom, in Kingman. Another daughter Mrs. Agnes Deemer, lives in
Phoenix . The oldest son, George Jr., lives in Farmington, N.M, Another
son, Ellis, lives in Seligman, While Ira (Tiny) now operates the old
Look Out Ranch
Source: Pioneers and Well Know Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G.
Willson volume 2
Olive Oatman (1837-1903)
Olive Oatman (1837-1903)
was a woman from Illinois who was famously abducted by a Native
American tribe (likely the Yavapai people), then sold to another (the
Mohave people). She ultimately regained her freedom five years later.
The story resonated in the media, partly owing to the prominent blue
tattooing of Oatman's face by her captors. In subsequent years, the
tale of Olive Oatman came to be retold with dramatic license in novels,
plays, and poetry.
Abduction Born into the
family of Royce and Mary Ann Oatman, Olive was one of ten siblings. She
grew up in the Mormon faith.
In 1850 the Oatman family joined a wagon train led by James C.
Brewster, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS), whose attacks on, and disagreements with, the church leadership
in Salt Lake City, Utah, had caused him to break with the followers of
Brigham Young in Utah and lead his followers — Brewsterites — to
California, which he claimed was the "intended place of gathering" for
the Mormons.
The Brewsterite
emigrants, numbering 52, left Independence, Missouri, August 9, 1850.
Dissension caused the group to split near Santa Fe, with Brewster
following the northern route. Royce Oatman and several other families
chose the southern route via Socorro, Santa Cruz, and Tucson. Near
Socorro, Royce assumed command of the party. They reached New Mexico
early in 1851 only to find the country and climate wholly unsuited to
their purpose. The other wagons gradually abandoned the goal of
reaching the mouth of the Colorado. The party had reached Maricopa
Wells when they were told that the Indians ahead were very bad and that
they would risk their lives if they proceeded further. The other
families resolved to stay. The Oatman family, eventually traveling
alone, was decimated on the banks of the Gila River about 80–90 miles
east of Yuma in what is now Arizona.
Royce and Mary had seven children at this time, ranging in age from 16
to one year. On their fourth day out, they were approached by a group
of Indians, asking for tobacco, food and trifles. At some point during
the encounter, the Oatman family was attacked by the group, and all
were killed except Lorenzo, age 15, who was clubbed and left for dead;
Olive, age 13; and Mary Ann, age 7. Lorenzo awoke to find his parents
and family dead, but no sign of Mary Ann and Olive. He eventually
reached a settlement where he was treated. Three days later, Lorenzo,
who had rejoined the emigrant train, found the bodies of his slain
family; "we buried the bodies of father, mother and babe in one common
grave." (The Tucson Citizen, September 26, 1913) The men had no way of
digging proper graves in the volcanic rocky soil, so they gathered the
bodies together and formed a cairn over them. It has been said the
remains were reburied several times and finally moved to the river for
reinterment by Arizona pioneer Charles Poston. Captivity Olive
and Mary Oatman, Captivity of the Oatman Girls, 1857 Once the attack
was complete, the Indians took some of the Oatmans' belongings along
with the Oatman girls. The captors were either Tolkepayas or Western
Yavapais living in a village nearly 100 miles from the site of her
parents' death. After arrival, the girls at first were treated in a way
that appeared threatening, and Olive later said she thought she would
be killed. Eventually, the girls were used to forage for food, lug
water and firewood, and other menial tasks. Miscommunication resulted
in beatings.
After a year, a group of Mohave Indians visited the village and traded
two horses, vegetables and blankets for the captive girls, after which
the girls went on a 10-day journey to the Colorado River and the Mohave
village. They arrived into what today is Needles, California. Once
there, their cavalry stopped for some time, as they were taken in by
the family of Chief Espanesay. This tribe was more prosperous than the
girls' prior holders, and the chief's wife and daughter took an
interest in the Oatman girls' welfare. The girls were given plots of
land to farm and were both tattooed on their chins and arms in keeping
with the tribal custom.
About a year later, during a drought in the region, the tribe
experienced a shortage of food supplies and Mary Ann died of
starvation, at the age of 10.
When Olive Oatman was 16 years old, a Yuma Indian messenger arrived at
the village with a message from the authorities at Fort Yuma. Rumors
suggested that a white girl was being held captive by the Mohaves and
the post commander requested her return. Blankets and horses were sent
for trade, but the Indians initially resisted the terms.
Later
life In the end it was decided to take the trade items, and Olive was
escorted to Fort Yuma in a 20-day journey. Before entering the fort,
Olive insisted she be given proper clothing, as she was clad in nothing
more than a grass skirt made of bark. Inside the fort, Olive was
surrounded by cheering people. She soon discovered her brother Lorenzo
was alive and had been looking for her and her sister. Their meeting
made headline news across the West.
In 1857, a pastor named Royal B. Stratton wrote a book about Olive and
Mary Ann. The book sold 30,000 copies, a best-seller for that era. In
November, 1865, Olive married John B. Fairchild. Though it was rumored
that she died in an asylum in New York in 1877, she actually went to
live with Fairchild in Sherman, Texas, where they adopted a baby girl,
Mamie.
Rumors of Olive Oatman being raped by the Yavapai were denied
vehemently, leading her to declare in Stratton's book that "to the
honor of these savages let it be said, they never offered the least
unchaste abuse to me".
In 1981, a writer
named Richard Dillon reported in a famous western magazine that there
was evidence that Olive had told a friend that she was married to the
son of the Mojave chief and that she gave birth to two boys when
married to him. This account was never verified.
Olive Oatman
Fairchild died of a heart attack on March 21, 1903, at the age of 65.
The town of Oatman, Arizona, is named in her honor.
FRED W.
MORRISON.
Fred W. Morrison,
attorney-at-law, of Kingman, is rapidly coming to the front ranks of
his profession in Mohave county, where his residence dates back but two
years. For twenty two months he was associated with Fleetwood Bell,
their partnership having been entered upon in August, 1899, soon after
his arrival here. Being an able and ambitious young man, full of energy
and determination, he is receiving favorable notice among his
professional co-workers.
A
native of Missouri, Mr. Morrison was born in Fayette, Howard county, in
1873. He received the advantages of a liberal education, attending the
public schools and Central College of his native place, after which he
pursued his higher studies in Christian Brothers College in St. Louis.
Before he had reached his majority, and because he was too young to
enter any profession, he traveled as salesman for a St. Louis house,
and also for some time represented the business interests of Swift
Packing Company, of Kansas City, on the road. In 1896 he began the
study of law in the office of R. C. Clark, of Fayette, After due
preparation, he took the examination and in July, 1898, was admitted to
the bar. In May, 1899, he was admitted to practice in the supreme court
of Missouri.
After
establishing an office and practicing Law in Fayette for a few months,
Mr. Morrison concluded to try his fortunes in Arizona. In the spring of
1899 he settled in Prescott and was connected with the firm of Herndon
& Norris until August, 1899, when he came to Kingman. His
partnership with Mr. Bell was mutually beneficial, and they were
engaged as legal advisers of the Gaddis & Perry Company, also many
of the leading business firms of the city and county. They established
a branch office at Chloride and built up a large and profitable
practice in that locality, where Mr. Morrison owns some mining
property. He is an active worker in the Democratic party and is counted
upon as an ardent young politician.
Mr.
Bell was graduated from the State University of Missouri at Columbia in
1897, and during the same year was admitted to the bar of his home
state, after which he practiced in Columbia until March, 1899. During
June of that year he began professional practiced in Arizona. In the
fall of 1900 he sold his interest in the law business to Mr. Morrison
and moved to Prescott. Since that time the latter gentleman has had in
charge the management of the practiced they had built up and at the
same time he has increased its volume by the gaining of additional work
along professional lines.
Source: Portrait and
Biographical Record of Arizona Chapman Publishing 1904
CHARLES METCALFE. Superintendent of
the Public Schools of Mohave County, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in
1855. His father, Henry Metcalfe, served in the Mexican War, was
afterward captain of a steamboat on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,
and died in 1855. His mother, whose maiden name was Agnes Purvis, of
Scotch descent, is well and active, though seventy-five years of age.
She makes her home in Ohio. When but a child Charles went to Missouri,
where he saw many of the stirring events of the Civil War ; at
twenty-one he went to the lead mining regions of Southwest Missouri,
was one of the first settlers of Webb City, and when it was
incorporated was the first City Treasurer. Pushing further west, he
went to Harper County, Kansas, and was publishing a newspaper at
Anthony when the county was organized. In 1880 he followed the Santa Fe
Railroad into New Mexico, where he removed for eleven years, engaged in
mining and newspaper work. He was married in Las Cruces in 1885, and
has three children, two girls and a boy, now grown. His next move was
to the Pacific coast, where he spent five years between Los Angeles and
Puget Sound, but the magnet of the great Southwest brought him to
Arizona seventeen years ago, and he located in Kingman, which has since
been his home. He platted Metcalfe's Addition to the city, which is now
a part of Kingman. Under Territorial government Mr. Metcalfe was
elected and served as Probate Judge of Mohave County, and at the first
State election was chosen to his present position. He is a member of
the Masonic order, and Past Exalted Ruler of Kingman Lodge of Elks. He
is the principal owner of the Great Eastern group of mines. While Mr.
Metcalfe can hardly be reckoned among Arizona's pioneers, he is endowed
with the true pioneer's instincts, broadened and developed in his
various experiences in the several States of which he has been a
pioneer, and with every faith in the future of the State which he has
chosen for his permanent residence, has taken as a homestead a splendid
tract of land in the beautiful Wallapai Valley, three miles from
Kingman.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
CARL G. KROOK, Judge of the Superior
Court of Mohave County, is an example of the self-made man, and has had
an interesting career. Born in Minnesota, August 18, 1870, of Swedish
parents, who were pioneers of that State, he was reared in a German
community, learned the language thoroughly, and has found its use of
great benefit in his work both as lawyer and Judge. His father, Carl W.
A. Krook, was for some years a builder and contractor, and later a
merchant in Minnesota, and his son had the benefit of experience in
construction work, which stood him in good stead in helping to build up
a new State. After having completed the public school course he
matriculated in two colleges, one a German, and the other a Swedish
institution, each of which he attended two years, after which, in 1892,
he entered an attorney's office. There he spent three years perfecting
himself in the rudiments of law from the standpoint of actual
experience, then went to England, where he entered the Inns of Court
Law School and took a one-year course in old English law. Returning to
his home, he took the law course in the University of Minnesota, from
which he was graduated in 1899 with an LL. B. degree. The same year he
was admitted to practice, opened up a law office in Minneapolis
immediately thereafter, and to more thoroughly prepare himself for his
chosen work that year also found him taking a post graduate course,
from which he was graduated in 1900 with the degree of LL. M. After
four years' practice in Minnesota he came to Arizona, where he soon
became interested in mines. Seeing the great possibilities in mining
law, he spent several years in prospecting and mining and with his
brother purchased a mine in Mohave County, on which they spent a large
sum trying to place it among the paying producers. While thus employed,
the young attorney was nominated for the Legislature and elected to the
24th Session, in which he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He
was an active worker in behalf of reform measures and those laws which
tend to the improvement of the social and industrial life of the State.
He championed the bill to raise the standard of the legal profession by
more exacting examinations for admission to practice, and worked hard
in the interest of the Act for Correction of General Practice. Judge
Krook was a worker and not a talker, and his influence during this
session accomplished much that was beneficial in legislation for his
County, especially in behalf of the Good Roads Bill and the Bill
segregating the office of Assessor from that of Sheriff in fourth and
fifth class counties. At the conclusion of the session he again donned
the miner's jumper, and for six months worked in the copper mines at
Bisbee, thereby gaining a general knowledge of the works of large
mines. On returning to general practice, he was a candidate for the
nomination for County Attorney in Mohave, but was defeated. Two years
later, however, he was nominated and elected to his present position,
and the excellent training he has received has been an invaluable aid
to him in this capacity. Judge Krook is a member of the Elks Lodge, and
is actively interested in all movements tending toward improved
conditions of town, county or state.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
JOHN ELLIS, Representative from
Mohave County, has been a resident of that county for almost a quarter
of a century, during which time he has been actively interested in
mining, farming and cattle raising. Mr. Ellis is now one of the most
prominent and enterprising business men of the county, as well as one
of its pioneer residents who has been earnestly working for its
development. He was born in Knox County, Missouri, October 4, 1849,
where his father, Peter Ellis, was one of the pioneer settlers. When
but eighteen years of age he crossed the plains by wagon and located at
Fort Churchill, Nevada, and for many years made his home in that new
country. At Whitehill, Arizona, he served a four years' term as Deputy
Sheriff, and also a term of four years as Constable at the same place.
As representative of a county of vast mining interests, and a man of
broad experience in this industry, Mr. Ellis is now serving as Chairman
of the Committee on Mines and Mining. He is also member of the Suffrage
and Elections, Militia and Public Defense, and Petitions and Memorials
Committees.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
HENRY LOIN, Senator from Mohave
County, is a Southerner by birth, having been born in North Carolina,
but a through and through Arizonan, and one of the men who came West
with meager assets and made good. Politically, as well as otherwise, he
is today one of the State's most solid citizens. He has never been
defeated at the polls, and in his various other undertakings he has met
with like success. It was Mr. Lovin who grub-staked the man who
discovered the Gold Roads mine, and if for no other reason than this,
his name in Arizona's history would be made memorable, as the Gold Road
has made a marvelous record as a producer of gold, and has done much
toward giving Arizona a place in the records of gold-producing
sections. Its output, already amounting to millions of dollars, has
attracted attention from the entire world. Senator Lovin sold his
interest to the present owners of the mine, who have extensively
developed it, and have been the means of bringing many valuable
citizens to that vicinity. Mr. Lovin has twice been elected Sheriff of
Mohave, his majority at the second election having greatly exceeded
that received at the first. He was also a member of the Constitutional
Convention, and his popularity as Mohave's representative citizen could
not be disputed after the handsome majority accorded him in his
candidacy for member of the First State Senate, as he received twice as
many votes as were polled for two opponents. Mr. Lovin knows the people
he represents, and their needs, enjoys their confidence and esteem, and
he is especially interested in the welfare of the working people, and
familiarly known as "Friend of the Miner." He has, in fact, helped many
a man at a critical point, and thus enabled him to attain success, has
financed some of the greatest projects in the State, and by his aid has
made it possible for some of the great mines of Mohave, the
gold-producing county of the north, to be developed. Senator Lovin is
head of a large mercantile establishment, and largely interested in a
number of other enterprises, among them a freighting business by which
he makes it possible for residents of the section to get their supplies
and machinery moved at a reasonable figure. Like his colleague from
Cochise, Senator C. M. Roberts, he is a large employer, and like him
also, he owes his large majority to the work done in his behalf by
former employes and people who have been otherwise associated with him
in business. Chivalrous progressive, generous and enterprising Henry
Lovin is today one of the foremost examples of the self-made Arizonan
who has made Statehood possible. In the special session of the
Legislature in 1913 Mr. Lovin was Chairman of the Committee on
Municipal Corporations, and member of the following Committees:
Constitutional Amendments and Referendum, Corporations, Mines and
Mining, Printing and Clerks, and Suffrage and Elections progressive,
generous and enterprising Henry Lovin is today one of the foremost
examples of the self-made Arizonan who has made Statehood possible. In
the special session of the Legislature in 1913 Mr. Lovin was Chairman
of the Committee on Municipal Corporations, and member of the following
Committees: Constitutional Amendments and Referendum, Corporations,
Mines and Mining, Printing and Clerks, and Suffrage and Elections
father, Peter Ellis, was one of the pioneer settlers. When but eighteen
years of age he crossed the plains by wagon and located at Fort
Churchill, Nevada, and for many years made his home in that new
country. At Whitehill, Arizona, he served a four years' term as Deputy
Sheriff, and also a term of four years as Constable at the same place.
As representative of a county of vast mining interests, and a man of
broad experience in this industry, Mr. Ellis is now serving as Chairman
of the Committee on Mines and Mining. He is also member of the Suffrage
and Elections, Militia and Public Defense, and Petitions and Memorials
Committees.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
JOSEPH P. GIDEON, Sheriff of Mohave
County, is one of the earliest pioneers of the state, having been in
Arizona forty years. A large part of his time has been spent in the
official life of the state, as he has served as sheriff a number of
times, as well as holding other positions, and his record during that
time was such that when he made the race for Sheriff he was elected by
a pleasing majority. When he came to Arizona two score years ago he
first landed in Mohave, and has practically made this his home since
that time, although he has spent considerable time in Gila, Cochise,
Pima, Yavapai and other southern counties. He has always been
interested in mining. He was born in Mississippi in 1852, his parents
being Lewis H. and Sarah M. Gideon. He takes pride in the civic
development of the town and state, is interested in the fraternal life,
being a member of the Elks Lodge, and has made many friends during the
years he has spent in the State. As an officer he is fair, fearless and
faithful to the interests of his constituents, and those who elected
him have reason for congratulation because of the excellent manner in
which he has conducted the affairs of the office.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
J. W. MORGAN, County Recorder of
Mohave, is one of the earliest pioneers of the State, and during his
long residence here, as well as in Nevada and California, has been
interested in the mineral wealth of the community in which he resided.
A life-long Democrat, he has been a power in the party since he voted
for Samuel J. Tilden, the first and only president for whom he cast a
ballot until the recent election, as he has resided in the Territory of
Arizona from that year. Mr. Morgan held numerous official positions,
having been County Recorder and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
nearly a score of years ago. He also served as Deputy Sheriff, Deputy
Recorder and Justice of the Peace during the Territorial days. He was
born in San Francisco in 1854. His father Benjamin Morgan, was one of
the forty-niners of California, an early prospector and miner, and
afterward entered the mercantile business. His mother, formerly Miss
Eliza Pritchard, was also a pioneer of that section. J. W. Morgan was
educated in the public schools of California, graduated from the
Lincoln Grammar School and afterward from Heald's Business College.
This, together with a good business training, made him well fitted to
hold the positions to which he has been elected. The records of the
County of Mohave are said to be excelled by none in the State, and
during the years in which Joseph W. Morgan has been connected with the
office, are fully up to the standard. No man in the State has a wider
acquaintance, nor is there a man more familiar with the early history
of the Territory than Joseph Morgan, who lived in Globe, Phoenix, and
other large towns of Arizona during the early days. He is a typical
Arizona pioneer, having spent most of his life here, and he intends to
remain here the rest of his days, his interests being in Mohave County.
He is interested in the Cleopatra copper mine, in the Cerbat district,
and also has a number of gold prospects in that district. He was
employed as Assistant Superintendent of the Golden Gem for several
years in the early days of the district, and later acquired some of the
valuable property of the section. Mr. Morgan married Miss Marian L.
Terry in 1894, and they have one son, Joseph Terry Morgan, at present a
student in California. He is a member of the B. P. O. E. and a trustee
of the order.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
JOHN C. POTTS, Chairman of the Board
of Supervisors of Mohave County, is a pioneer of Arizona, having been a
resident of the State more than forty years. He was born in Bedford
County, Pennsylvania, and though now in his seventy-fifth year, is
exceedingly active. With his parents, John W. and Elizabeth Coyle
Potts, he moved to Iowa the year the State was admitted to the Union.
It was then necessary to go 35 miles to the postoffice and there were
no stage lines at the time in that vicinity. It is unnecessary to state
that educational advantages were meager. At the beginning of the Civil
War Mr. Potts was a resident of Nebraska and enlisted in the First
Nebraska Cavalry, in which he served three years and three months, and
when mustered out was Captain. In 1866 he was at Fort Phil Kearney, and
left a month before the massacre, in which 93 lives were lost. He came
to Arizona in 1869, having lived meantime, in addition to the States
mentioned, in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Dakota. He lived in
Prescott before it became Territorial Capital, and after three years
removed to Mohave County, which has since been his home. He has been
actively identified with the official life of the County, having been a
member of the Board of Supervisors in 1873, when the County Seat was at
Hardyville, and there was no court house. He has also served as Deputy
Sheriff and two terms as Sheriff. Mr. Potts has always been interested
in the mining development of the State, and at present is interested in
a number of properties in Mohave County, the most promising of which
are the Thumb Butte Group, several miles north of the Gold Road Mine.
He i? a charter member of the first Knights of Pythias lodge organized
in the state, No. 1 of Prescott. He takes much interest in the general
welfare of the community, and has always been active in civic
improvement. He is a member of the G. A. R. of Phoenix, is especially
interested in the old soldiers of the State, and has been instrumental
in securing stones for the graves of those who died in Mohave County.
Mr. Potts' great ambition is to see a new court house erected during
his present term, and if this aim be accomplished, he feels he will be
ready to retire from official life.
Who's Who In Arizona
Volume 1 1913 Complied and Published by Jo Connors
