Yavapai County, Arizona
Biographies
MAHAR,
THOMAS: Born in Tipperary, Munster, Ireland, 1832, son of_____
and______
Enrolled August 16 at LaPorte, Plumas County, California, and mustered
in, age 30, at Camp Downey, Oakland, California, August 30, 1861, to
serve 3 years as private, Company F, 1st California Infantry;
occupation when enrolled,
miner; appointed Company Musician immediately after muster; went with
the Company to Southern California and arrived at Fort Yuma in
December, 1861; left Port Yuma May 15 and marched via the
Pima villages to Tucson, arriving
June 27, 1862; left Tucson July 23rd and marched via Apache Pass and
reached Mesilla on the Rio Grande August 15; remained until September
28 when the march was resumed to. Fort Craig and arrived there six days
later.
Stationed at Fort Craig until October, 1863, when he left there with
the Company for Port Wingate; with 58 men of the Company commanded by
Captain H. M. Benson he marched from Port Wingate via the Little
Colorado River to establish
Fort Whipple, A. T, arriving at the site of the post, now known as Del
Rio, on December 21, 1863; moved with other troops to the present site
of Whipple Barracks, near Prescott, in May, 1864.Listed Territorial
Census, April, 1664 , 3rd District(Yavapai County), age 32, born in
Ireland, occupation, soldier, honorably discharged at Port Whipple,
A.T., August 29, 1864; engaged in mining and was one of the original
owners of the Ticonderoga Lode; thrown from his
horse, fracturing his skull, which resulted in his death at
Prescott, A. T., September 12 . 1867 Burial City
Cemetery Prescott.
Source: ASU Library Hayden Arizona Pioneer Biographies
MANNASSE, HYMAN born, in
Prussia about 1851; son of Hirsch Mannasse; listed,
Territorial Census, April 1864, at La Paz, A.T., age 35, married,
family in California, occupation Merchant, resident in Arizona 6
months, property valued at $2,225; in May of that year he
contributed 40 pounds of coffee and 4 pounds of gunpowder to the second
Woolsey expedition against the Apaches.
Formed a partnership with Julius A. Goldwater under the name of
Mannasse & Co., and moved his goods to Wickenburg following the
opening of the Vulture mine; Goldwater withdrew from the firm on
September 6, 1369; appointed Postmaster at Wickenburg February 9, 1870,
and served until February 28, 1872, when he was succeeded by Benjamin
Block; listed, U. S.Census, August 1870 Merchant at Wickenburg, age 38;
in March 1872, he engaged in business in Phoenix as is shown by the
following announcement in the Prescott Arizona Miner:
NEW STORE AT PHOENIX - By referring to the advertisement of H. Manasse,
our readers will perceive that he has established a branch store at
Phoenix, Salt River Valley, in which store, we learn, there is already
a large supply
of such goods as are or maybe needed by citizens of our sister county
of Maricopa. We have known Mr. Manasse for several years, and from said
knowledge, believe that our Phoenix friends will find pleasure and
profit in dealing
with him
His store was located in a small adobe building which he put up on the
north side of Washington Street between Center and Montezuma (First)
Streets and was managed by S. Abrahams who came with him from
Wickenburg; the business not proving to be profitable he disposed
of his goods and closed the store in. October, 1872; the
following account of his death was printed in the Tucson Arizona Weekly
Citizen.
Source: The Arizona Weekly Citizen, Tucson, April 24, p.2 col.3 and May
8, 1875 p.1 col .5; The Arizona Miner Prescott April 23, 1875 p.2 col.4
and p.4 col. 3 April 30, 1875 p.2 col .3
John G. Campbell
1827-1903
One of the earliest settlers of
Northern Arizona and once one of its largest cattle owners was John G.
Campbell, who came to the Territory in 1868.
Born in Glasgow. Scotland, on June 25, 1827, Campbell came to America
with his father in 1841. After following the trade of confectioner for
several years, he joined the westward
trek to the California gold fields in the gold rush year of '49.
After spending two years washing out gold on the Yuba River in Northern
California, Campbell operated n ranch for a time, and then spent two
years in Chile.
Returning to California in 1859, he operated hotels in Los Angeles and
San Francisco for the next four years. Then this restless and
enterprising Scot crossed the desert to El Dorado Canyon, built a raft
and floated down the muddy Colorado to the new gold strike at La Paz.
Arizona.
Campbell opened a store at La Paz but moved within a year to the new
town of Prescott, where he again engaged in merchandising.
In 1868 he went into the cattle business with R. H. Buffuni. and the
two men soon had one of the largest cow outfits in Northern Arizona,
spreading out over a good part of the Chino and Verde Valleys.
The first headquarters of the 7-6 brand of the partners was at the
"Adobe" ranch, now Del Rio. but ranches were later established at what
it now Perkinsville and at Clear Springs, now Copper.
Buffum soon sold out. and .James Baker took over his interest. The 7-6
was known as the Campbell & Baker outfit until Campbell was bought
out by Baker in the early 90's.
Meanwhile, Campbell was twice elected a member of the Territorial
Legislature, and in 1878 was elected as Arizona's Congressional
Delegate. It was while serving in Washington that he met and married
Marguerite Malezieux, in 1880.
Following the termination of his Congressional career, in 1881,
Campbell remained in the Capital for some time as a Treasury Department
official. On his return to Arizona, he became active in the
organization of the Yavapai Stockgrowers
Association and was elected
president at the organization meeting in 1883.
Campbell also owned and operated a hotel in Prescott for some time. He
passed away in that city on December 22, 1903.
Although six children were born to the Campbells, only Mrs. Lillie
Moorhead and Louise Campbell of Prescott are still living.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G.
Willson volume 2
John G. Babbitt
1908-
John G.. Babbitt. President of the
Arizona Cattle Growers Association, 1951-52, was born in Flagstaff May
19, 1908.
John's father, Charles, is still living; the last of the five Babbitt
brothers who arrived in the little lumber town of Flagstaff in the
spring of 1886, when the settlement was comprised of only a few log
houses.
It was then that the Babbitt family began their commercial and
live-stock activities that have made the name Babbitt well and
favorably known throughout the state. Shortly after the arrival of the
Babbitt brothers in Flagstaff (when Coconino County, created in 1891.
was still a part of Yavapai, and cattle and sheep ranges were being
taken up) they purchased a trail herd of about 1,000 head of cattle
from Kansas. Thus the CO Bar brand was established. In the years
following, the family spread out in livestock until they had vast
holdings in both cattle and sheep, while at the same time their
commercial enterprises spread and flourished.
Over the years Charles and William Babbitt devoted their attention to
the livestock end of the business.
John, following in the footsteps of his father, prefers livestock, and
while he is also concerned with the business enterprises, he devotes a
lot of time to the operation of the CO Bar. the W Triangle and the Spur
outfits.
Public-spirited. John Babbitt has served two years as president of the
Cattle Growers, is past president of the Arizona Senate, and is current
president of the Board of Regents of the University and State Colleges.
He is a graduate of Loyola University and the Babson Institute and has
spent some time in stock brokerage in Boston.
While in the East he married Elizabeth Quimby. September 16. 1933. When
it got so he "couldn't see enough of the sky at one time" he returned
to Arizona.
John and Elizabeth Babbitt have two children, Betty Ann and John, Jr.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
Norman Fain
1907-
Norman Fain was born at Camp Verde on
February 9, 1907. His father. Dan Fain, had been born on a cow ranch
near Cornville in 1879, and his mother. Mildred Back, was also born and
grew up on a Verde Valley cow ranch.
Even as a small boy Norman rode with his father and took to the cattle
business like a duck to water.
Preliminary schooling was obtained in the Verde Valley and his high
school years were spent in Prescott.
Then followed four years at Stanford University where he planned to
major in geology but switched to political science.
With a natural aptitude for boxing, he became the light heavyweight
champion at Stanford and was offered strong inducements to become a
professional prize fighter. (Looking at his Jim Jeffries frame today,
one fancies Norman might have gone far in the ring.)
But the call of Arizona was too strong. He returned to the Verde and
his father's ranch and for a time became a "hand," although also owning
an interest in the 44 brand.
He couldn't forget the Texas girl he went to school with in Prescott;
consequently he made a trip to Fort Worth where he married Johnie Lee
Parsons in October. 1928.
Norman became his mother's partner and soon stocked a range to the west
in the Diamond S brand.
In 1935, with the Fain Land & Cattle Co., in Lonesome Valley.
Norman moved his family to Yeager Canyon. In 1945 he moved
head-quarters out in the valley where he sank two deep wells and now
cultivates a large area. He also has a few geese on it — "for their
nuisance value," his wife declares. In addition he still operates the
Verde Valley brands and has farming interests near Yuma.
In 1944 Norman Fain was elected to the State Senate and served three
terms. He was President of the Arizona Cattle Growers 1044-46; is a
past President of the Yavapai Association.
Norman Fain and Johnie have three children: Bill, Sue and Donna (Mrs.
M. C. Wells).
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
William Perry 1844-1929
William Perry, who for many years ran
cattle on the upper Agua Fria and the Perry Mesa, in Yavapai County,
was born in Pepperell. Mass., November 9, 1811. When he was nine, he
moved with his parents to California, by way of Panama, arriving at the
end of the Gold Rush.
As he grew to manhood. Perry acquired ranch property in California.
Then he learned of Arizona's vast, idle ranges. He returned to
Massachusetts in 1873, married Mary Clark, and took his bride back to
California. Selling his property, he bought 3,000 sheep to take
to Arizona.
Then began a year's trek. With a wagon for a home and with their
herders and sheep. Perry and his bride crossed the great Mohave Desert
and circled through southern Nevada and Utah. At Lee's Ferry on the
Colorado, they swam the sheep across while the wagons crossed on the
ferry.
In 1871, Perry located east of the Cordes, near the mouth of Ash Creek.
There he made a ranch home and ranged his sheep until he sold them in
1881 and begun acquiring cattle. He established the A Dot brand, later
sold to Lon Harmon. In 1900, he established the Bar Box brand,
which was maintained until its sale in 1949.
Not long after the death of his wife, in 1911, Perry more or less
retired from ranch management. William Perry was widely known for his
friendly disposition, so travelers made it a point to stop at the A
Dot. where they were always
heartily welcomed.
Perry loved his home range of mesas and canyons. It was most fitting,
therefore, that when he died in Peoria, in June. 1929. his wishes were
carried out and his body was cremated and the ashes scattered over
Perry Mesa.
The six surviving children of William and Mary Perry are: Mrs. Homer
Redden. Tempe; Mrs. Carl Harvey. Bakersfield, Calif.; William K. Perry.
Peoria; Mrs. Arthur Haynes. Phoenix; Mrs. Maude Daly, Chandler; and
Eben P. Perry. Avondale.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
William Henry
Ashurst 1844-1901
Born
in Macon, Missouri, in 1844. This pioneer was distinguished not only as
one of Arizona's early day cowmen, but also as the father of a famous son, Henry Fountain Ashurst. who
served Arizona as a Senator for thirty years. Unfortunately William
Ashurst did not live to see his
son in that high office.
A sturdy. independent youth. William Ashurst early became an expert
shot and hunter, so that when his parents and several other families crossed the plains and mountains to
California, in 1856, he kept them supplied with fresh game.
The family settled at Red Bluff and for a time William worked in the
mines of California and Nevada.
In 1871 he married Sarah Bogard. and in 1873. with his young bride,
drove a band of sheep into the Bill Williams mountain region of
Arizona, consuming two years on the
trail.
For a short time he was in partnership with John Clark, but during the
drought of 1876 Ashurst moved his sheep to the Anderson Mesa and established what is known today as the
"Old Ashurst Ranch."
In 1882 he sold the sheep and
purchased 100 cattle from Henry Wingfield of Camp Verde.
His cattle business prospered, and in 1887. Ashurst served in the
Fourteenth Territorial Legislature. A neat, well-dressed man. Ashurst used
good language and never swore or cared for off-color jokes. On the
reverse side he had a fiery
temper, drank brandy and smoked and chewed tobacco. He was a man's man.
Loving prospecting and mining Ashurst spent much time in the Grand
Canyon in search of gold. There, in January of 1901, William Ashurst met his death in a 200-foot fall over a
cliff. It being impossible to remove the body at that time he was
buried on the spot. Ten years later Ralph and
Miles Cameron removed the skeleton and re-interred it in the Grand
Canyon Cemetery. Mrs. Ashurst
died in 1921. The remaining survivors of their ten children are Ex.-Senator Henry Fountain,
of Washington; Charles. Andrew, and Mrs. Maude West of California, and
Edward of Wickenburg.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
J.W.
Sullivan 1843-1929
"Jerry" Sullivan, one of the best-known old-time cattlemen, at one time
dominated thousands of acres of lush Upper Williamson and
Chino Vallevs in Yavapai County. He was born in
Picton, Ontario. Canada, Nov. 28, 1843, but moved to the United States
in 1865.
In 1837, he engaged as a teamster in the army, hauling freight to Fort
Union, New Mexico, and other forts established as a defense against
Indian depredations.
In 1868. he came into the Prescott area, where he worked in a saw mill.
While coming home from the mill one evening, he was attacked by Indians
and shot through the shoulder with an arrow. He managed to escape into
Prescott, where he recovered from the wound, but bore the scar for the
rest of his life.
Shortly after this incident, he was attracted by the well-watered and
grassed Williamson Valley. Setting up a camp there in 1869, he cut and
delivered wild hay to Fort Whipple for three years. One day he found a
rake team standing idle and the driver missing. On investigating, he
found the driver dead, with an arrow through his heart. With the
assistance of neighbors Puntenney and McCormack, he buried the body.
That night, the Indians dug it up and dropped it into McCormack's well.
The next day, Sullivan and McCormack removed the body, buried it again,
and cleaned out the well.
Having some money saved up, Sullivan then went to Oregon, to Alaska,
and made a trip to South America and Hawaii in 1871. In 1873 he
returned with several hundred cattle and horses and started the O-O
brand. It was claimed that these were the first cattle located in
Williamson Valley. In a short time, Sullivan built up the outfit until
it included thousands of cattle and a range of 150,000 acres or more.
In 1927, he put his outfit into a merger of sheep and cattle interests
known as the Reid, Cashion Company, but withheld 40.000 acres in his
own name. This was fortunate since the merger soon failed.
Prominent in livestock and civic affairs, he was a supervisor of
Yavapai County, a director of the Hank of Arizona and a member of the
Masonic Lodge. "Jerry" Sullivan died in Prescott on October 24, 1929,
leaving an estate valued at close to $500,000. He had never married and
was survived by one brother and a sister.
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
William Satathie 1874-
William Satathite was born at Fort Mason, deep in the Texas cow county
on Aug. 1,1874. Though of old-time TX cattlemen stock, his parents
shared the restless wanderlust of the post-Civil War reconstruction
period, and young Williams early became accustomed to life in the
saddle amid constantly shifting horizons.
His first range experience came when his parents moved to Fort
Davis,TX. In the early 1880’s, followed by a short period at Lake
Valley, New Mexico. In 1890 the family moved back to Edwards County,
TX., where Williams ran cattle with this father for the next few years.
Coming to Arizona in 1894, young Satathite, then 20, worked for various
cattle outfits in the White Mountains. Two years later he returned to
TX., and worked on his father’s ranch until the turn of the century.
Leaving the TX., range for good in 1900, Williams started a new outfit
of his own in the San Mateo Mountains, east of Rosedale, New Mexico. It
was there, on Jan. 18, 1905, that he married Lillie Belle Welty.
When, in 1910, doctors advised the dry Arizona climate for his wife’s
health, Williams sold the Rosedale ranch, and for the next 6 years the
Satathites lived in Sedona, Phoenix and other Arizona communities.
In 1916 they moved to Peoples Valley, where they engaged in the cattle
business and in raising Angora goats.
In 1926 the Satathites moved to Yava in Thompson Valley, where they
continued to run both goats and cattle. Since the slump in goats,
however, they have confined themselves strictly to cattle.
For many years Mrs. Satathite has also been postmistress at the little
community of Yava, where she and Williams are the principal residents.
After nearly 70 years in the saddle, Williams Satathite has retired
from active range work. Ranch affairs are now managed by his son,
Clayton, who lives just across the road from the Satathite’s Kirkland
Creek headquarters.
Two other sons, Marion & James, live in California, while a
daughter, Pearl Ethridge, lives at the mining camp of
Bagdad.
(Mr. Satathite died shortly after this was written)
Source: Pioneers and Well Know
Cattlemen of Arizona by Roscoe G. Willson volume 2
WILLIAM
T.
BROWN.
All of the members of this particular
branch of the Brown family have been prominent and successful in the
different lines of occupation to which they have been called by
inclination and ability. To an inherent integrity and high moral
courage is added a dogged perseverance which recognizes no obstacles,
and which is the birthright of the best and most favored sons of
Scotland. William T. Brown was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, January 14,
1850, and within the borders of the Scottish Athens received an
excellent home training and a substantial education at the grammar
school. When sixteen years of age he was apprenticed out to a
shipbuilding firm at Leith, and diligently applied himself to a mastery
of the business.
In the meantime there were other sons
of William and Janet (Thomson) Brown, who were forging to the front and
preparing for future activity in the best parts of the world. The
father was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, and came of an old and
distinguished Fife and Perthshire family. He was a railroad and bridge
contractor in Edinburgh, and eventually died at Musselburgh, his
seaport home, six miles east of Edinburgh. The mother was a native of
Edinburgh, and to her were born five sons, all of whom became a credit
to their early teachings, and to the communities in which they lived:
Robert Lewis Maitland started out in the world in the wholesale
commission and other business at Columbia, Ceylon, where he was very
successful, and became the possessor of large tea estates. He
eventually retired to England, where he died in 1898. C. Douglas, who
is now a partner of William T. in the hardware and machinery business
at Prescott, originally went to Australia as a mining engineer, and in
1874 came to the United States and accepted a position with the Almaden
Quicksilver Mining Company. In 1878 he came to Prescott and joined his
brother, .going to Scotland in 1896, and to Ceylon in 1898, where he is
at the present time arranging his late brother's affairs. He has served
in Yavapai county as under sheriff, and was for one term in the
territorial legislature. Julius A. came to America in 1870, and located
at San Jose, where he had charge of a foundry, and in 1883 came to
Prescott, where he engaged with William T. in the cattle business, in
which they are still mutually interested. In 1888 he removed to San
Diego, Cal., and became a member of the firm of George M. Hale &
Company, and at the present time resides at Hemet, Cal. He has been
prominent in politics, and served in the thirteenth Arizona
legislature. Marcus J. Brown is an attorney at Edinburgh, Scotland.
William T. Brown came to America in
1871, and located at San Francisco. In 1873 he joined the English
marine, and sailed the high seas between San Francisco, Hong Kong and
Yokohama. In 1877 he came to Prescott and started the first foundry in
the territory, and successfully conducted the same until the silver
mines closed down, and there was no longer a demand for castings. He
then became chief engineer of, the McCracken mill in Mohave county,
which position he held for three years, or until he was incapacitated
by being accidentally shot in the foot. In 1881 he made a radical
change in occupation, and in partnership with his brother, J. A., went
into the cattle business, on a ranch which they purchased forty-five
miles east of Prescott. This ranch, which is known as the Agua Fria
Vale, is still in the possession of Mr. Brown, their cattle brand being
Box O.
In 1890 Mr. Brown returned to
Prescott and, with his bother, C. Douglas, started the hardware
business of Brown Brothers. The firm carries all kinds of mining
machinery, engines, boilers, etc., and is the largest house of its kind
in northern Arizona. They represent the Fairbanks-Morse Company,
manufacturers of gasolene hoists and engines, and carry a general and
complete line of hardware. The affairs of the concern are carried on in
a store which is 50x150 feet in ground dimensions. Mr. Brown is also
the possessor of other property in Prescott. At Edinburgh, Scotland, in
1891, Mr. Brown married Isabella Richardson, of Scottish birth and
education. A Mason of long standing, he is a member of Aztlan
Lodge,
Prescott. With his wife, he is a member of the Congregational Church.
Source: Portrait and Biographical
Record of Arizona
F. M. MURPHY.
The development of the Santa Fe,
Prescott & Phoenix Railroad is in a large measure due to the wise
judgment and tireless energy of the president, F. M. Murphy, whose name
has been indissolubly associated with the enterprise from its inception
to the present time. Born in Maine, reared in Wisconsin, and identified
with the history of Arizona since 1878, he unites the solid and
substantial traits characteristic of New Englanders with the
progressive spirit that is a peculiarly western attribute. During the
period of his residence in Arizona, he, with his brother, the present
governor, has been an influential factor in the development of
territorial resources. His interests have been varied and many. As the
first superintendent of the Congress gold mine, he placed its affairs
upon a profitable basis, and its success was largely due to his .
foresight. At the present time he still owns a large part of the mine's
stock. Among his other interests may be mentioned the
Bashford-Burmister Company, one of the best known mercantile
establishments of the southwest. As president of the Prescott National
Bank, he has been instrumental in establishing a conservative policy
which has given that institution prestige throughout the entire
territory.
Intimate as has been his
identification with these and other enterprises, Mr. Murphy is best
known as president of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad. At
an expenditure of almost $5,000,000, this road was placed in working
order, and his successful management of this enormous responsibility
during the well-remembered panic of 1893 attracted widespread attention
and gave him a position among the recognized financial giants of the
country.
Source: Portrait and Biographical
Record of Arizona
HON. CHARLES H. AKERS.
The life of Hon. Charles H. Akers,
secretary of Arizona, has been an eventful one, and represents the
successful striving of a man who. unaided save by his own nobility of
character and great perseverance, has known how to conquer obstacles
and avail himself of opportunities.
The ancestors of the Akers family
were originally loyal subjects of the English crown, and their ambition
did not extend beyond the borders of their native island until the
latter part of the eighteenth century, when the paternal
great-grandfather, Peter Akers (or Acres, as the name was then
spelled), emigrated to America, landing at New Castle. Del., in the
year 1780. on this ocean voyage, William Akers, the grandfather of Hon.
Charles H., was born. Shortly after settling in this country the
great-grandfather, Peter, died, and his widow subsequently married
Joshua Lee, and henceforward made her home in Pennsylvania. William
Akers married Nancy Holmes in 1807, and settled on a farm near the
present site of the village of New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio. In
1822 he removed to Richland county, Ohio, and located four miles north
of the town of Mansfield. At the time of this removal there were eight
children in the family, the youngest being but one year old. John
Holmes, the father of Hon. C. H. Akers, was then ten years of age, and
drove one of the teams to the Richland county home. In 1834 the family
left Richland county and returned to their former home in Harrison
county in the vicinity of Athens. The children born to William and
Nancy Akers were : Elizabeth, John H., Mary, Abraham H., Margaret,
William, Rebecca, Susan, Eli D., and Thomas R.
John H. Akers, M. D.. was the oldest
son in his father's family, and was born in Harrison county, Ohio, in
1812. His early life was that of the average farm-reared youth, and in
1836 he married Nancy Rankin, who died in 1845. He was a man of marked
ability, and his achievements in later life more than realized the
promise of his youth. During the greater part of his active career he
was a prominent physician and surgeon, having graduated from an eastern
medical college. He first practiced in Ohio, and later settled in
Millersburg, Iowa, where he was not only a practicing physician but
also a prominent citizen. The most active part of his life was spent in
Kansas, to which he moved in 1859, settling in Shawnee, Johnson county.
During the latter part of the Civil war he served for a time as
government surgeon at Leavenworth, and was surgeon after the battle of
Westport, Mo. In tender solicitude for the wounded in this battle, his
wife walked the distance from Shawnee to Westport, and dressed the
wounds and alleviated the sufferings of those who had been injured in
the cause. Aside from his ability as a healer of men, Dr. Akers was an
eloquent speaker, and exercised his gift in advocating the principles
of the Republican party and in the cause of abolition. He was a devoted
member of the Methodist church, and convincingly preached the gospel of
kindliness and good will as occasion offered. One of his best
remembered efforts as a public speaker was at the first meeting for
securing the Terminal Railroad for Kansas City. Up to the time of his
death in March of 1881, at the age of seventy-two years, he was vitally
interested in the prosperity and development of Kansas, and was
regarded as one of the brightest lights in the medical profession in
the state. He was twice married, and of his union with Nancy Rankin
there were four children : Elizabeth, Christine (deceased), Nancy J.,
and Adatilda. Dr. Akers married for his second wife Almarine Harbaugh,
who was born in Trenton, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, being the daughter of
Benjamin Harbaugh, of Maryland. Benjamin Harbaugh was a cabinet maker
by trade, and an early settler in Trenton, Ohio. He served in the war
of 1812, and married Judith Knaus, a native of Pennsylvania, and a
daughter of Lewis Knaus, representative of an old Pennsylvania family.
Mrs Akers, who is now living in Prescott, Ariz., is the mother of four
children. Of these John B., met a tragic death while superintendent of
a sawmill near Prescott, November 19, 1887. When fifteen years of age
he enlisted in the Civil war in the Sixteenth Kansas Regiment, and was
slightly wounded at the Battle of Westport. In 1865 he started for the
far west with ox-teams and wagons and spent two years on the government
trail, subsequently settling in Prescott, where he lived until his
death. The other members of the family are: Josephine, who is now the
wife of K. L. Mills, of Kansas City, Mo.; Charles H., and J. W. who
came to Arizona in 1882, and is now postmaster at Prescott.
Charles H. Akers was born in
Millersburg. Iowa, September 21, 1857, and until his fourteenth year
was reared in Shawnee, Kans., and educated in the public schools. At
fifteen he started out to face the bread winning and responsible side
of life, accompanied only by the splendid enthusiasm of youth, and a
firm determination to succeed. For three months he worked in a brick
yard, and then obtained employment with Banning & Gallup, a large
railroad and ditch contracting concern, whose mules and horses he
herded at night for two and a half years. Upon returning to Shawnee,
Kans., he attended school during the winter, and in the spring of 1875
went to Creston, Iowa, and was in the employ of Thomas Hall in the
stock business for one year. He later assumed charge of the
engine-house in Creston, and had the training of the first team used in
the house which eventually became the prize team in the state. In 1879
the mining boom of Leadville stimulated him to a journey westward, and
for a year he prospected with ups and downs in the mining regions
around Leadville. An unexpected drawback presented itself in 1880 when
he was taken with pneumonia, and his recovery was equally on the
unexpected order. In the meantime his father had died.
In December of 1880, Mr. Akers
started for Arizona, journeying by rail to Albuquerque, and thence by
horseback to Prescott. His first employment in the territory was in a
sawmill, working for his brother John in the Curtis mill. After six
months he engaged in mining, and in 1882 struck some good luck, and
from then on looked at life through more ambitious glasses. For two and
a half years he was subsequently employed in a sutler's store, owned
and managed by C. P. Head & Co., at Camp Verde, but was again
overtaken by the mining fever in January of 1885, and prospected and
mined at the Tip Top mines for two years This proved an unsuccessful
venture, and in hopes of improving his future prospects Mr. Akers came
to Phoenix and entered the employ of the Maricopa & Phoenix &
Salt River Valley Railroad Company, under Mr. Porter. In the spring of
1888 he became a bookkeeper for James Dougherty, a general merchant in
Prescott, and in September, of the same year, was nominated county
recorder of Yavapai county on the Republican ticket, and elected the
first Republican recorder of the county, and the third Republican to
hold any office in the county. The popularity of Mr. Akers may be
estimated when it is known that in a strong Democratic community he
received one hundred and sixty majority. In 1894 he was re-elected by a
majority of six hundred, and served for two terms. In the fall of 1892
Mr. Akers was nominated sheriff of Yavapai county, but was beaten in
the election. He served as recorder until 1892, and in 1893 was
appointed clerk of the board of supervisors, which position he held
until December 31, 1896. From September 1894 until 1896 he served as
chairman of the Republican County Central Committee, having been
elected in 1894 by a unanimous vote. In that election, out of thirteen
candidates, nine were elected in the county. Since that time Yavapai
county has not elected a member of the Republican Party to office.
In 1896 Mr. Akers was elected a
delegate to the Republican convention at St. Louis. Six of the
delegates were from the start in favor of the nomination of Mr.
McKinley. To the admirable services of Mr. Akers in this regard is
undoubtedly due his later appointment as secretary of Arizona. In
January of 1897. he opened an abstract office in Prescott, and May 19,
of the same year, was appointed secretary of Arizona by President
McKinley. July I, 1897, he assumed the duties of his responsible
position, and a few days later, upon the removal of Governor Franklin,
he became acting governor until Governor McCord was sworn in. It is
doubtful if any man in the territory could invest this position of
trust with greater satisfaction or dignity, or with greater credit to
himself and the wonderful territory which he represents. Mr. Akers was
further honored by the people of the territory in 1900, by being
unanimously elected chairman of the Republican delegation to the
Philadelphia National Convention, and was appointed a member of the
committee on platforms and resolutions.
In addition to the numerous political
responsibilities to which Mr. Akers seems by nature and adaptability
heir, he is interested fraternally and socially in many of the
organizations of the city of Phoenix. He is a number of the Benevolent
Protective Order of Folks, the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias, of which he is Post
Chancellor and member of the Grand Lodge, and the Moderns and Masonic
order. He is a member of the Maricopa Club, and attends the Episcopal
church, of which his wife is a member. April 10, 1889, Mr. Akers was
united in marriage with Emily Philpot, who was born in Salisbury, Mo.,
and was a niece of John C. Herndon. of Prescott. Mrs. Akers died on her
wedding journey while in Kansas City, Mo., May 26, 1889. Mr. Akers was
married December 1, 1891, in Phoenix, to Jennie Bryan, a native of New
York state, and a graduate of Mills Seminary. Of this union there are
three children ; Bryan, John Kelsey, and Henry Harlow.
Source: Portrait and
Biographical Record of Arizona
