Tucson Arizona

Biography of Peter Kitchen

One of the earliest pioneers of Arizona was Peter Kitchen, who came to the Territory in 1854. He was born in Covington, Kentucky, in 1822. Little is known of his early life beyond the fact that he served in some capacity during the Mexican War. He was a man, as I remember him, about five feet ten inches in height, rather spare, always wearing a wide brimmed sombrero; very quiet in his manner; low and soft spoken. There was nothing about the man to indicate the daredevil of dime novels, which is associated in the Eastern mind with the pioneers … Read more

Biography of Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords

Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords was born in Chautauqua County, New York, in 1832. He laid out the road from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Denver, in 1858. In the fall of 1859 he came to Taos, New Mexico, and wintered in Taos. The following spring he went into the San Juan Mountains to prospect and mine. In 1862 he carried dispatches from Fort Thorn to General Carleton at Tucson. At that time, he was on the payroll of the United States Government as a scout, and piloted the advance companies of the California Column into New Mexico, to old Fort Thorn near … 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

Arizona Funeral Home Records

Funeral Log Books

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.

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

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

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

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 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 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

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 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

Biography of Henry Wickenburg

Henry Wickenburg was a native of Austria, born in that empire in 1820. In 1847 he came to New York. He went to San Francisco in 1853, and came to Arizona in 1862. He remained at Fort Yuma for a time, then went up the river to La Paz. At La Paz, he learned that a party of explorers had left there a few days before* to go through the country to Tucson. Henry took their trail and overtook them at what is now known as Peeples’ Valley, having travelled nearly two hundred miles alone through the Apache country. After … Read more

Biographical Sketch of W. H. Kirkland

W. H. Kirkland, who raised the first American flag in 1856 in the town of Tucson, was born in Petersburg, Virginia, July 12th, 1832, and emigrated to Arizona shortly after the Gadsden Purchase, eight or nine years before the organization of the Territory. He and his wife were the first white couple married in Arizona, being married in Tucson May 26th, 1860. In 1863 and 1864, he spent a good deal of time around Walnut Grove mining and ranching, about which time he purchased the ranch located by Pauline Weaver, and there engaged in stock raising. Later he settled in … 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 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

Biography of Peter Rainsford Brady

Among the early pioneers of Arizona, none bore a more prominent part in its development than Peter Rainsford Brady. He came, on his paternal side, from good old Irish stock. His mother, Anna Rainsford, was from Virginia. He was born in Georgetown, District of Columbia, August 4th, 1825; received his education, in part, at the Georgetown College, later entering the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, from which he was graduated about the year 1&44. After cruising around the Mediterranean Sea in the United States vessel “Plymouth,” he resigned from the navy, and left his home October 26th, 1846, for San … Read more

Brooks, Leonard H. – Obituary

Enterprise, Oregon Leonard H. Brooks, 86, died April 6, 2005, in Surprise, Ariz. He was born September 26, 1918, in Tucson, Ariz., to Leonard and Elisabeth (Adams) Brooks Sr. As a child, he spent two years living in Mexico and learned to speak Spanish. As a young teenager, he spent a summer living with the Apache Indians and learned the art of bow and arrow making and shooting. After graduating from high school he worked as a cowboy and as a powder man in the mines. During World War II, he was a bomber pilot flying B-25s over Italy. While … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles H. Meyer

Charles H. Meyer was a German, and settled in Tucson in 1854. From 1875 he served several times as City Recorder. His court was unique; every man, when first brought before him for any misdemeanor, he would treat leniently, sometimes giving him a lecture, but for the second offense, he usually imposed a heavy fine, and in addition, would send the offender to the chain gang. If the prisoner demurred to the sentence, the judge would generally double the time on the chain gang, saying: “Veil, I gifs you thirty days more on the chain gang for contempt of de … 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