Biography of Charles O. Brown

Charles O. Brown, who has been mentioned in these pages already, was born in New York, and when but a young man came west. He is said to have been a member of the Giant on band which was engaged in gathering scalps of the Indians in Chihuahua, for which they received $150 each. Reference to this band has been previously made. Brown had gone to California when Glanton and his associates were murdered by the Indians at Yuma. It is not certain when he returned to Arizona, probably about the year 1858. He was a saloon man and a … Read more

Biography of William S. Oury

William S. Oury was born in Wythe County, Virginia, on August 13th, 1816. In early life he drifted to the west and was with General Sam Houston, at the battle of San Jacinto. He came to Arizona in 1856, and engaged in stock raising and trading. He bore his part in the early history of the Territory, and was a member of several expeditions against the Indians. He organized the expedition against the Indians which resulted in what has been called the “Camp Grant Massacre.’ ‘ The following is his own story concerning it; and is a paper read by … Read more

Biography of George W. Deitzler, Gen.

Gen. George W. Deitzler, one of the famous “treason prisoners” to be taken from Lawrence to Lecompton, afterward prominent in the public affairs of the Territory and State of Kansas and prominent in the Civil war, was born at Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1826. He received a common school edncation and removed to Kansas, where he became one of the prominent figures of the free-state party. He was a delegate to the Topeka convention, and in May, 1856, was one of the seven men who were arrested at Lawrence and taken to Lecompton under guard of Federal … Read more

Christensen, Joyce Mary “Joy” Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Joyce “Joy” Mary Christensen, 62, of Baker City, died June 3, 2003. In lieu of a memorial service, a picnic will be held in her memory for friends and family sometime in July. For more information, please call Dan Christensen at 425/880-4949 or Wes Christensen at 523-5561. Joy was born on Oct. 24, 1941, in Butte, Mont. She spent her childhood moving around with her parents, working ranches all over the western United States and Canada, where she acquired her love of horses. She later married and settled in the Baker area where she raised … Read more

Cashmere, Donald Ray – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Donald Ray Cashmere, 40, died April 9, 2006, at his home in Baker City. His memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the McEwen Bible Fellowship in Sumpter. Pastor Mark Norenberg of Granite will officiate. Friends are invited to attend a benefit buffet-style lunch at the Sumpter Nugget Restaurant after the service. Don was born on Aug. 11, 1965, at Tucson, Ariz., where he lived until moving to Portland in 1969. In 2002, he moved to Baker City to be closer to Mommy. Finally settling down, Don made a commitment to a “speed … Read more

Biography of James Cyrus Preston, M. D.

James Cyrus Preston, M. D. One of the foremost men of Buffalo, Kansas, is Dr. James Cyrus Preston, the pioneer physician, and for many years the leader in medical thought in Wilson County, and the wise adviser and stable supporter of public enterprises which have assisted greatly in the town’s development. Doctor Preston came first to Buffalo after some years of medical experience in Arizona, and thus was well prepared for the hardships and handicaps that attended his early days here, in 1889, and with the exception of an interim of five years, had been a continuous resident and a … Read more

Pima County, Arizona Census Records

Pima County was one of the original four counties which comprised Arizona in 1864. 1870 Pima County, Arizona Census Free 1870 Census Form for your Research Hosted at USGenWeb Census Project Arizona 1870 Federal Census Index A B C-D E-F G-I J-L M N-Q R S T-Z Pima County Arizona 1870 Federal Census pg 5-10 pg 11-17 pg 17-24 pg 24-30 pg 31-38 pg 39-45 pg 46-51 pg 52-57 pg 58-63 pg 64-69 pg 70-75 pg 76-81 Hosted at Ancestry.com – 14 Days Free 1870 Pima County, Census (images and index) $ 1810-1890 Accelerated Indexing Systems $ Hosted at Census … Read more

Papago Indians

Papago Indians. Signifying “bean people,” from the native words paphh, “beans,” and  óotam, “people.” Also called: Saikinne, Si’-ke-na, Apache name for Pima, Papago, and Maricopa. Táh’ba, Yavapai name. Teχpamais, Maricopa name. Tóno-oōhtam, own name, signifying “people of the desert.” Vidshi itikapa, Tonto name. Papago Connections The Papago belong to the Piman branch of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic stock and stand very close to the Pima. Papago Location In the territory south and southeast of the Gila River, especially south of Tucson; in the main and tributary valleys of the Santa Cruz River; and extending west and southwest across the desert waste … Read more

Biography of John F. Stone

The Tucson Post prints the following concerning John F. Stone: “Stone Avenue was named for John F. Stone. Just how or why he came to the country no one now living seems to know. He was a man of considerable means and of magnificent physique. Of powerful build and wearing a heavy black beard he stood distinguished among his fellow men. A rich gold vein had been discovered in Apache Pass, and upon this he built a small reduction mill. While en route to Tucson with the proceeds of the first month’s run, he was killed by Indians in Dragoon … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Toby Noyes

William Toby Noyes was born August 22, 1836, in Durham, Cumberland County, Maine. His parents, John Henry and Sarah Webb (Toby) Noyes, were natives respectively of England and Wales. His father was a politician, and was elected as the first clerk of Pawnel, and was a profound student and a strong advocate of the temperance cause. He died at the residence of his son William, in California, in 1880, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Noyes came to California by water in 1863, and landed in San Francisco in May of that year. He had previously (in 1861) made a … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hon. Frederic W. Gregg

Hon. Frederic W. Gregg, of the law firm of Harris & Gregg, is a Green Mountain boy, born in Vermont, thirty-two years ago; was educated in Dartmouth College, celebrated as the alma mater of eminent men of action, men who have led in the fields of law and politics and commerce, where a combination of mental and physical vigor are the motive power of success. Graduating from Dartmouth in the class of 1878, Mr. Gregg studied law in the office of Hon. Frank Plumley, United States District Attorney for Vermont, and at the Columbia Law School. In June 1881, he … Read more

Berry, Steven D. – Obituary

Steven D. Berry, 30, of Tucson, Ariz., a former Baker City resident, died of heart failure on Oct. 22, 2006, at Tucson. A private service will be scheduled later. Steven was born on July 16, 1976, at Fort Carson, Colo., to Daniel and Sherry Brown Martin. He moved to Springfield at a young age and then to Yamhill where he attended Yamhill Carlton High School. He moved to Baker City in 1991. While in Baker City, he worked for Pizza Hut. In 2005, he moved to Tucson, Ariz. He loved music, playing the guitar and the keyboard and singing. “He … Read more

Biography of Norman M. Ruick

This distinguished practitioner at the bar of Idaho has been connected with the leading interests of the state for some years, and in all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men by his fidelity to duty and his devotion to the interests entrusted to his care. He comes from the far east, being a native of Connecticut. His birth occurred in Granby, that state, on the 4th of October, 1854, and his ancestry includes both Irish and Puritan stock. His paternal great-grandfather, a native of the Emerald Isle, emigrated to the New … Read more

Hand, Douglas – Obituary

Doug Hand Had Family Tie Here In supplementing the obituary in the Courier of Douglas Hand, former Haines schoolboy, we rely upon a life sketch of Doug and his beloved Baker valley family ties, by Doug himself over a year ago for the local Historical Society. Doug died at Tucson late in January, retired as a prominent citizen there after a successful army career. The Hand history in the west was due to the courage of the mother. Doug’s grandfather, a blacksmith in Illinois, James Douglas Hand, was a Civil War veteran. He died shortly after his father James L. … Read more

Biography of Hon. Theodore L. Stiles

HON. THEODORE L. STILES. – Honorable Theodore L. Stiles was born at Medway, Clarke county, Ohio, July 12, 1848, and was the only child of Daniel J. and Marie S. Stiles. His mother’s maiden name was Lamme; and she, too, was a native of the same county as her son. Mr. Stiles’ father was born of German and English parents, in Danplin county, Pennsylvania. His mother’s family were emigrants from Virginia in 1809. Until the age of sixteen, he remained at his birthplace, which was a small interior farming village. But, his mother having died in 1863, his father removed … Read more

Biography of Charles Trumbull Hayden

Charles Trumbull Hayden, whose name is linked with the early history of Arizona, was born in Windsor, Connecticut, April 4th, 1825. When eighteen years old he taught school in New Jersey, and afterwards near New Albany, Indiana, and in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1848 he loaded a wagon with merchandise, and left Independence, Missouri, for Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he marketed his goods and returned in the fall. He continued in business at Independence for some time, but when the gold excitement began in 1849, he outfitted a train of ox teams, and started over the Santa Fe Trail. … Read more

Fisher, Charles K. – Obituary

Former Haines Boy Served in Air Force Charles Fisher 30, native of Muddy Creek and the son of the late C. K. Fisher and Mrs. Lena Fisher of McMinnville, died yesterday at Tucson, Arizona after the motor scooter he was riding home from the air base at which he was stationed, was struck by a car. Charles was born May 29, 1928. He was graduated from Baker High School and has been in the air force a number of years. Surviving are his wife Irene and two sons, Ronnie and Donnie of Tucson, besides a sister Mrs. Elizabeth Rhodes of … Read more

Biography of J. W. Swilling

J. W. Swilling, known as “Jack Swilling,” was born in the state of Georgia in 1831. He emigrated to Missouri in early life, and there settled down. After having resided in that state some four years, his wife died, leaving one child, a girl, who afterwards married and lived in Missouri. About the year 1857, Swilling emigrated to Texas where he remained for two years, when he came to Arizona, and was in the employ of the Overland Mail Company for quite a length of time. During the Rebellion, Swilling was a lieutenant in Captain Hunter’s company of volunteers in … Read more

Biography of Samuel Hughes

Samuel Hughes, probably the oldest pioneer Arizonan now living, was born in Wales, British Isles, August 28th, 1829. In 1837 his father settled in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Hughes lived up to 1848, when he became a cabin boy on the Mississippi River, which vocation he followed until 1850, at which time he came to California overland from St. Louis. His first mining was done in Hangtown, California. In 1851 he went to Yreka, California. In 1852 he crossed the mountains to Rogue River Valley in Oregon, where he was one of the first to discover Rich Gulch at Jacksonville. In … Read more

Pima County, Arizona Cemetery Records

Most of these cemetery listings are complete indices at the time of transcription, however, in some cases we list the listing when it is only a partial listing. Following Cemeteries (hosted at Pima County, Arizona Tombstone Transcription Project) Bingham L.D.S. Cemetery East Lawn Palm Mortuary & Cemetery Evergreen Mortuary Cemetery & Crematory Holy Hope Catholic Cemetery South Lawn Cemetery Hosted at the Arizona Gravestone Project. Ajo Cemetery B’nai B’rith Cemetery Binghampton LDS Cemetery East Lawn Palms Cemetery Evergreen Cemetery Fort Lowell Cemetery Cemetery Holy Hope Cemetery Humphrey Family Cemetery South Lawn Memorial Cemetery