Arizona Archives – Access Genealogy

A Pictorial Souvenir of Tombstone, Arizona

A Sketch of Allen Street, Tombstone in 1940s

In this pictorial souvenir of Tombstone, Blythe endeavors to present to you the buildings of Tombstone as they looked in 1940s through pencil sketches, although the majority of the buildings were built between 1879 and 1882. One of the prime highlights of the town is the old Bird Cage Theatre, which offered in its heyday, “stupendous, colossal attractions” by night, gambling and drinking by day, has been turned into a museum and is filled with mementos of the town’s early history. You have missed a prime sight if you fail to see Tombstone, heart of the old Southwest where history was written with six-shooters.

AZGenWeb – Arizona GenWeb

A list linking to the AZGenWeb county and state websites. AZGenWeb is created by a group of volunteers as part of the USGenWeb Project working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county in Arizona. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone.

A History of Chandler, Arizona, 1912-1953

“A History of Chandler, Arizona, 1912-1953,” authored by Robert Conway Stevens, is an insightful academic work published by the University of Arizona Press in 1955. This book is a master’s thesis, presented to the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Arizona as part of the requirement for a Master of Arts degree. Over the course of 106 pages, Stevens embarks on a detailed exploration of the foundational years of Chandler, Arizona, from its establishment in 1912 up to 1953.

A history of Williams, Arizona, 1876-1951

Williams in 1883 Bill Williams Mountain in Background (Courtesy Labratory of Anthropology Library, Santa Fe, New Mexico)

James R. Fuchs’ “A History of Williams, Arizona, 1876-1951” chronicles the development of the small Arizona town of Williams. Established in 1881, Williams began as a post office, then a railroad camp. The town’s economy shifted from ranching and railroading to lumbering, and finally, to tourism thanks to its proximity to the Grand Canyon.

Arizona Funeral Home Records

This page links to known Arizona Funeral Records whether they be available online or offline. Funeral records are an invaluable source of genealogical information that can provide insight into the lives and deaths of our ancestors. They offer a wealth of details on the deceased and their family, including their names, ages, dates of death, causes of death, and other key information. While funeral records can be found in a variety of places, genealogists must be careful when interpreting the information they contain, paying close attention to accuracy and cultural context. By using funeral records in their research, genealogists can gain a deeper understanding of their ancestors and build a more complete picture of their family history.

1876-1878 Pacific Coast Business Directory

The Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1876-78

“The Pacific Coast Business Directory is intended to be a triennial publication, which will contain the name and post office address of each merchant, manufacturer, and professional engaged in business in the States and Territories bordering on or in the immediate vicinity of the Pacific Coast, with such information connected with the resources of that section of the country as will best exhibit their variety, character, and extent; together with any other data of general interest that will add to the value of the work as a useful manual of reference.” The above extract from the preface of the first … Read more

Some Descendants of Thomas Rowley of Windsor, Connecticut

Some descendants of Thomas Rowley of Windsor. Thomas Rowley. Thomas Rowley (Rowell) a cordwainer, was in Windsor Connecticut as early as 1662, and Simsbury Connecticut by 1670. He died 1 May, 1705/8, estate inventory dated 1 May 1708. Married at Windsor, 5 May, 1669 by Rev. Wolcott, Mary Denslow, daughter of Henry, Windsor, born 10 Aug. 1651, died at Windsor 14 June, 1739, ae 91. Mary was admitted to Windsor Church in 1686. Thomas served in the Colonial Wars. On the list of those who gave to the poor. Contents: Book Notes:

United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955

3,907 land management tract books containing official records of the land status and transactions involving surveyed public lands arranged by state and then by township and range. These books indicate who obtained the land, and include a physical description of the tract and where the land is located. The type of transaction is also recorded such as cash entry, credit entry, homesteads, patents (deeds) granted by the Federal Government, and other conveyances of title such as Indian allotments, internal improvement grants (to states), military bounty land warrants, private land claims, railroad grants, school grants, and swamp grants. Additional items of information included in the tract books are as follows: number of acres, date of sale, purchase price, land office, entry number, final Certificate of Purchase number, and notes on relinquishments and conversions.

Chronicling America Historical Newspapers

Chronicling America is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.

Arizona World War 2 Casualties – Army, Air Force

This database contains War Department casualties (Army and Army Air Force personnel) from World War II for Arizona. Information provided includes serial number, rank and type of casualty. The birthplace or residence of the deceased is not indicated. An introduction explaining how the list was compiled, a statistical tabulation, and the descriptions of the types of casualties incurred are also included.

Small Town Newspapers

Small Town Papers gives you free access to the people, places and events recorded in real time over the decades or even centuries! Browse and search the scanned newspaper archive from 1846 up to the current edition! Their archives contain millions of names of ancestors not found anywhere else. Enhance your Ancestry research with their high resolution scanned newspaper archive. Find distant relatives and discover your ethnic heritage by reading the articles about family and friends written back in the day.

The Natchez and the French

But alas for the poor Natchez! An evil day brought the pale-faces among them in the year 1716, who built the Fort Rosalie among them and in it garrisoned, as a matter of course, a body of soldiers as a protection in their intended aggressions upon and usurpations of the Indians rights; and from that day the sun of the Natchez’s happiness began to wane, but to speedily set forever in the oblivion of utter extermination. As an introduction, Cadillac, on his way up the Mississippi river to search for gold and silver, stopped at Natchez. As soon as the Indian … Read more

Charles Montezuma

There always have existed among the North American Indians, and still exist, many examples of intellectual ability, of genius, of high moral feeling and as noble and pure patriotism as was ever found in any nation of people and as proof of this fact I relate the following: Some twenty-five years ago a photographer of Chicago, being in Arizona on a vacation trip, found and rescued from an Apache camp an abandoned Indian male infant of full blood. The photographer became possessed with a desire to take the boy home with him and adopt him. In spite of warnings that the … Read more

Massacre at Howard’s Well and Other Depredations – Indian Wars

Closely following the outbreak of the Cherokees and half -breed renegades at Whitemore‘s, Barren Fork, came on attack by a similar party of Indians, half breeds, and Mexicans combined, on a train of supplies, en route to Fort Stockton, at Howard’s Well, near old Fort Lancaster. The facts of this one of the most inhuman massacres in history were reported to the “War Department, by Col. Merritt, through General Angua, under date of April 29th, 1872. We give the report as written: On the 20th inst, I arrived with the cavalry of my command at Howard’s Well, a few hours too … Read more

Indian Slaves in the Rocky Mountains

All through the Rocky Mountains, except in what we have called the northeastern triangle, this system of human slavery extended, and it had obtained such a root that it was very hard to extirpate. In Colorado it was brought to a summary end, so far as white slaveholders were concerned, in 1865, through the efforts of the government. Indian Agent Head, accompanied by Deputy Marshall E. R. Harris, visited all owners of Indian slaves and informed them that they must be released. Says Mr. Head, “I have notified all the people here that in future no more captives are to be purchased or sold, as I shall immediately arrest both parties caught in the transaction. This step, I think, will at once put an end to the most barbarous and inhuman practice which has been in existence with the Mexicans for generations.

Apache Resist the Advance of the Whites

No more serious phase of the Indian problem has presented itself to the American people than that offered by the Apache tribes. Aided by the desert nature of their country, they have resisted the advance of the whites longer than any other Indian nation. They have fought with bravery and inconceivable cunning. They have committed atrocities that devils alone would seem capable of, and have been subjected to atrocities that devils might blush to commit.

The Outman Family goes on Alone

If an American who was not acquainted with the country might be seized by some supernal power and suddenly placed in Southwestern Arizona, he would never suspect that he was within the boundaries of the United States. Its soil, its vegetation, its sierra outlines, its dry, phantasmagoric atmosphere, its animal life, and its inhabitants, are all strange. Towards the Gulf of California the country for many miles is dry, barren, and desert, with no plant life but the cactuses, and even these seem depressed and hopeless, except when an angel’s visit of rain brightens them. A little farther back come … Read more

Olive and Mary Outman Driven North

While Lorenzo was making his weary way along the road, his sisters, Olive and Mary, were being driven across the desert north of the Gila by the Indians. As soon as the work of plunder was completed the savages moved away a short distance, made a fire, and prepared a supper of bean soup and ash baked bread. The girls could not eat. After the meal the Indians diverted themselves by terrifying little Mary. They would threaten and scowl at her until, in an agony of nervous fear, she would run to her sister’s arms, sobbing wildly. Then they would … Read more

Massacres of the Mountains

J.P. Dunn wrote Massacres of the Mountains in an attempt to separate historical fact from sensational fiction and to verify the problems that plagued the Indian tribes in this country of years. He doesn’t assign blame, but lets it fall where it belongs by meticulous research and the accurate, unbiased depiction of the true causes and subsequent results of some of the most famous Indian conflicts.

1910 Arizona Census Map