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Who's Who in Arizona

This book by Jo Conners was published in 1913. A small sampling of extractions are provided below.

Tucson and Pima County [Page 31]
By John F. Myers, Secretary of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce

The story of the development and growth of Tucson from an old desert pueblo to what has been very aptly termed "The livest-big-little city in the Southwest," is a story worthy of a master's telling. From the establishment of the San Xavier Del Bac Mission in 1687 to the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1878, it was a typical frontier town. Unprotected from the ravages of the Apaches and other tribes until the establishment of Fort Lowell in 1866, it offered but small inducements to the settler, but upon the completion of the railroad came first the miner and prospector, then the shop-keeper, and finally, hearing in some way of the wonderful healing qualities of the climate, the health seeker and tourist. The miner discovered an immense resource, and capital built great smelters, until Tucson became the center of the world's richest copper mining section. The tourist and health-seeker came to be the resident, built homes, hotels and business blocks, and today we have a modern up-to-date city of more than 20,000; a city of homes and schools and churches, a city of business houses, progressive and growing.

These forces have given the city a splendid foundation, and made possible its wonderful growth into the city of today from a town of little more than 1,000 in 1900. But 1912 has seen the development of another great resource, sufficient water to irrigate thousands of acres of arable land tributary to the city, and the birth of a new era. Tucson will soon have an agricultural back country capable of supporting a great population and making it a power in the development of the Southwest. And all because one man dreamed of such a possibility, believed in his dream and fought for it. To his belief and work is due the coming of the Tucson Farms Company, and its development work the clearing, irrigating and placing under cultivation of more than 6,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Valley. This is but the beginning of an extensive agricultural development, for other companies are now in the field doing a similar work.

Commercially, Tucson is located on the main trunk line of the Southern Pacific, at the end of a division, and is the present western terminus of the El Paso & Southwestern System. It is also the northern terminus of the great railway system now pushing down the West Coast of Mexico under the direction of the Southern Pacific, connecting Tucson with the Mexican seaports of Guaymas and Mazatlan, and destined to reach Guadalajara, and thence by the National line to the City of Mexico.

Politically, it is the official seat of Pima County, a county rich in mines and in grazing and agricultural lands, the area of which is equal to that of Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined.

The strength of the city is in the network of railroads reaching east and west and south. Here is the division headquarters of the Southern Pacific's Sunset Route and its repair shops and army of employees, and also the general offices of the Arizona Eastern Railway and of the Southern Pacific's Mexican West Coast Lines.

The short, direct line from Tucson to Nogales places Tucson in a strategic position, making it the gateway to that vast fertile region lying along the West Coast of Mexico, which is now being opened to settlement by Americans by the construction of the Southern Pacific's road down through Sonora and across the broad valleys of the Yaqui and Mayo Rivers.

In addition to this the El Paso & Southwestern has now built into Tucson from Benson, connecting Tucson with the mining towns of Bisbee and Douglas and the prosperous commercial city of El Paso, Texas. It is headed westward, and will connect Phoenix and Yuma with Tucson, while it has projected a spur to the rich mineral fields in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of the city, and a road from Sasco west of Tucson, to Port Lobos on the Gulf of California. This would make a fertile country in the extreme southwest tributary to this city and add another and shorter route to the Mexican Coast, the one actually in operation being the Southern Pacific line to Guaymas and Mazatlan.

Mining assets include not only the mines of Pima and Santa Cruz Counties, but largely of Pinal and Cochise counties and of part of New Mexico and the Mexican state of Sonora. This district is perhaps the richest copper mining district in the world. The opening of the plant of the Pioneer Smelting Company early in 1912 has caused a resumption of operations in the Helvetia, Mineral Hill and Twin Buttes districts and the development of other properties, and has brought $40,000 per month net into Pima County and Tucson. A great variety of copper ore is found in the county, and gold, silver, zinc, tungsten, lead and galena are produced here. The trade of the city in mining machinery and supplies of many kinds extends over a large area on both sides of the international boundary.

The Cattle Industry is one of the large resources of the county, and the value of range cattle shipped from Tucson in a single year has exceeded $900,000.

The county has always been famous for the abundance and quality of its beef cattle. This is due to the great area of grazing lands and to the nutritious and highly flavored wild grasses of the mountain slopes, which impart a sweetness and flavor to beef unattainable by fattening in the stall or even upon alfalfa.

Tucson is the chief educational center of the state, owing to the location here of the University of Arizona, with its score of professors and teachers, and of the United States Agricultural Experiment Station, with chemical laboratories and facilities for specializing in several important agricultural studies. The University of Arizona is situated a mile from the heart of the city. Through its Agricultural and Mining Departments, this institution has a most vital and intimate connection with the Southwest, and particularly with Arizona.

The public schools, of which there are five, and the high school, were built at a cost of over $300,000 and are among the best looking structures in the city. The schools are so well distributed that scarcely a home in the city is more than a five-minute walk from one of them. The new high school building has fifteen recitation rooms, with laboratories for physiography, chemistry and physics and a fine assembly hall with a seating capacity of more than eight hundred.

The city has several private and denominational institutions.

The Methodist School for Mexican Girls, conducted by the Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, cares for 48 girls in a $16,000 home. A training school for Pima and Papago Indians, conducted by the Women's Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church has an enrollment of over a hundred and fifty. The institution has a one hundred and sixty-acre farm near the city and $50,000 has been spent on its buildings.

More than 125 pupils are instructed at the Papago Indian School, maintained at the San Xavier Mission by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The work in behalf of the Papagoes is supplemented by the United States Government, which has a $10,000 school house and dormitory.

In the city itself the Catholic church is active in the educational field, maintaining an excellent parochial school with an enrollment of nearly 400, and St. Joseph's Orphanage, the home of 40 children. A most important work is also done by the St. Joseph's Academy, a boarding school for girls and young ladies. This institution has an enrollment of 200 and offers a very thorough course of study, not only in the elementary branches but also in high school study, music, art, etc. Their full course prepares for regular College work.

The climate of Tucson, especially in the winter months, is acknowledged to be the best on the American continent. In the past three years there have been but ten days in which the sun did not shine in this city. This is the great feature of the region the amount of sunshine and it is in arid regions that the sun attains its greatest vivifying influence. The germicidal power of sunshine is well known, and here the chemical activity of its rays is not lost in clouds or fogs, but exerts its full force. There is no other portion of the United States that will compare favorably with that in and about Tucson for the relief of pulmonary affections. That is the opinion of eminent physicians and scientific climatologists, and the basis of this opinion is the maximum of sunshine, the clearness of the atmosphere and the rapid radiation which brings a tonic and refreshing coolness to the night. And the summer is dry. The experts of the Experiment Station say that to get the sensible summer temperature here it is necessary to subtract fifteen to thirty degrees from the maximum. That is to say, the dryness of the air makes Tucson that much cooler than the East under corresponding temperatures.

The average rainfall for forty-one years at Tucson is 11.66 inches. The average for the past ten years has been 11.78, the greatest precipitation occurring during July and August, with December a good third.

The summer storms are short, uncertain, refreshing. The air parts with its humidity rapidly, and the clear, tonic, dry atmosphere returns quickly.

Travelers say this atmosphere of Southern Arizona has the same bracing and exhilarating qualities as the air of the Sahara, and that it is drier than any part of the valley of the Nile north of the Cataract.

Water for the city comes from wells located in the valley four miles distant. The capacity of the present water works has been outgrown, and is now being enlarged, a bond issue providing $125,000 to cover the cost. In a small way windmills are made use of for irrigation, but power pumps are most relied on, water being obtained at from 10 to 150 feet.

The economic aspect of pumping for irrigation has been well threshed out, the conclusion being that while not so cheap or convenient as ditch supplies from rivers, the productivity of the land in this climate and the increased market value of the products, make the slightly increased cost of pumping economical, while there are some important advantages over ditch irrigation. Well supplies are continuous and fairly uniform throughout the year, and water is available when it is most needed.

The Tucson Gas, Electric Light and Power Company supplies power for manufacturing as well as gas and electricity for domestic use. Several miles of line have also been thrown out into the surrounding country to supply pumping plants for irrigation.

Tucson is essentially a city of homes. The residential streets and districts attract attention for their beauty and adaptation of the architecture to the climate, and because of the gardens and trees.

On the social and religious side Tucson is the equal of any Eastern city of the same size. There are twelve churches: two Methodist, two Baptist and two Presbyterian, as well as Catholic, Episcopal, Congregational, Christian, Christian Science, Lutheran and Jewish.

Practically all the fraternal organizations are represented, and there are several clubs, four of which occupy buildings of their own. The Old Pueblo Club building was recently completed at a cost of $60,000, and the Eagles have just finished splendid clubrooms in their own building. There are organizations for women also, including the Woman's Club, the Collegiate Club and the Music Club.

Page 155

SAMUEL L. KINGAN, attorney-at-law, Tucson, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1867. He passed his early life in that city and was educated in its public schools. Mr. Kingan took his law course in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated, and he was admitted to practice in 1889. Two years later he came to Arizona, and he has since been the senior member of the firms of Kingan & Dick and Kingan & Wright. During the years of his residence here Mr. Kingan has built up an excellent practice and has become prominent in legal circles, having been successful in theconduct of some highly important cases, in both the local and United States Court. Mr. Kingan is a Republican, and while he has never held a political office, he has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He was one of the Pima County delegates to the Constitutional Convention, and served on the Judiciary, Schedule, Mode of Amending and Miscellaneous Committees. He is a member of the Masonic Order and belongs to the local lodge. He married Miss Mary Tucker, of Illinois, in 1889, and to the union was born one daughter, Mary.

Page 176

SYLVESTER W. PURCELL, one of the prominent attorneys of Tucson and Probate Court Judge of Pima County for two terms, was born at Baxter Springs, Kansas, May 3, 1870. The Purcells came to America in 1664, and located in Virginia. Their descendants are numerous in the Southern States, especially Virginia and Kentucky, of which last named state Judge Purcell's father and grandfather were natives. His brother, Dr. W. B. Purcell, practiced for many years in Tucson. His mother, Mary Walden Purcell, was a native of Virginia, and his grandmother, Eliza Clay Walden, was a first cousin of Henry Clay. In 1880 the family removed to Denver, Colo., where Judge Purcell attended the public schools, and also took up the study of law. With a few other law students he organized a class of which he was president, and the school was conducted in the Maish building of the University of Denver. In 1894 Dr. Purcell and family moved to Texas, where Judge Purcell continued his studies, and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state in 1895. The following year he came to Tucson, where he has since been engaged in practice. He was elected Probate Judge in the year 1897, assuming office January 1st, 1898. At the expiration of his first term he was nominated by acclamation and re-elected. Judge Purcell is attorney, counselor and financial agent for several large corporations doing business in Arizona and Western States, and is personally interested in important mining properties in the southern part of the state.

As an attorney he is considered among the foremost of Arizona. He is a good judge of law as well as of men, and conducts all business with a strict regard to a high standard of professional ethics. As a Democrat he takes a prominent and influential part in political affairs and is active in public life, and above all a booster for his home city, Tucson, and for Arizona.

Page 216

THE CONSOLIDATED NATIONAL BANK, Tucson, is the oldest and largest bank in the city, and in its history is interwoven a portion of the history of many of the ablest financiers in the Southwest. The first bank in Tucson was The Pima County Bank, organized in the early seventies, which subsequently became known as The First National Bank of Tucson. The Bank of D. Henderson was later organized, and in 1887, The First National Bank of Tucson, having surrendered its charter some years previous and become The Bank of Tucson, was merged with the bank of D. Henderson, and thus was formed the Consolidated Bank of Tucson. M. P. Freeman, who had been cashier of The Bank of D. Henderson, was instrumental in this consolidation and became cashier of the newly formed bank, while Mr. B. M. Jacobs, organizer of The Pima County Bank, and until recently president of The Arizona National Bank, was the first president, and Mr. D. Henderson, first vice president. Shortly afterwards a national charter was obtained and the name changed to The Consolidated National Bank, by which it is now known. In 1898, owing to ill health, Mr. Freeman retired from The Consolidated National Bank, and the following year, having fully recuperated, was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Santa Cruz Valley Bank. In 1895 he again became associated with The Consolidated National Bank as its vice president. At that time H. E. Lacy was president, and H. B. Tenney, cashier. On Mr. Lacy's retirement from the presidency, Mr. Freeman was elected to this position, which he continued until late in the year 1910. During the latter year, Mr. Charles E. Walker, now cashier, was first employed with this institution as assistant to President Freeman, and at the close of the year on the latter's retirement, a reorganization of the officials followed, when Albert Steinfeld became president, Epes Randolph vice president, and Charles E. Walker, cashier. During Mr. Freeman's later association with The Consolidated National Bank his influence on its development was material both in a personal way and as regards the benefits derived from his superior knowledge of financial affairs, sound judgment, and general executive ability. The Board of Directors of this institution includes the above named officials, Mr. Freeman, F. H. Hereford, Charles H. Bayless and Leo Goldschmidt.

The Consolidated National Bank is a U. S. Depositary and continues to grow with most gratifying results. Its last statement, dated Feb. 4, 1913, shows total resources amounting to considerably more than two millions, and deposits of almost one and three-fourths mil- lions. The capital stock of the bank is $100,000, with a surplus of the same amount and undivided profits of $50,000.

While sound banking principles and reliability are the keynote of the success attained by The Consolidated National Bank, its continuous policy of employing thoroughly capable assistants in each department, and of according to the public the utmost courtesy, has been a valuable aid toward this end.

MERRILL P. FREEMAN, LL. D., pioneer, financier, and retired business man of Tucson, has been a resident of that city during the past thirty-two years, and during this time has attained to a prominence in the financial, educational, political and fraternal life of the state that is rarely equalled in the span of one man's life. Dr. Freeman was born in Ohio, in February, 1844, but was removed to Iowa with the family when but three years of age, and crossed the plains to California by ox team when he was but eight years old. The latter trip, now to be made by rail in three days, then required five months, during which he rode horseback, driving loose cattle until his pony was stolen by the Indians. His playmates for the first few years of residence in California were only little Indian boys. In 1857 Dr. Freeman went by steamer from San Francisco via the Isthmus to the east, where he took a four years' academic course, and returned to California, as before, by ox team, this trip requiring the same length of time as the previous one, and although but seventeen years old, he did regular guard duty against the Indians. In 1862 he removed to Nevada, where, during the larger part of a residence of eighteen years, he was engaged in mining and banking. He also served as agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company at a number of points, and had charge of the western end of their overland stage line at the time of the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, in 1869. At various times during his residence in Nevada he held offices of political trust and honor, among which were Regent of the University, Receiver of the U. S. Land office, Postmaster, county treasurer and chairman of the Republican County Central Committee. In the winter of 1880-1881 he came to Arizona on mining business, and located at Tucson. In 1884 he was appointed postmaster of that city, but resigned this position in 1887 to accept the position of cashier of the Bank of D. Henderson. As cashier of the Bank of D. Henderson, he began what has proven to be one of the most notable and influential financial records in Arizona's history. This bank w r as afterwards consolidated with the Bank of Tucson and subsequently became the Consolidated National Bank, and during most of the intervening years it has had the benefit of Dr. Freeman's wisdom and foresight and has been guided to its eminent success largely because of adherence to his sound banking policy. In 1888 he severed his connection with The Consolidated National Bank, retiring for a time from active financial duties, and later established the Santa Cruz Valley Bank, now the Arizona National Bank, another of the state's soundest institutions. In 1895 he returned to his former field of effort, The Consolidated National Bank, as its president, and until compelled by a nervous breakdown in 1911 to retire, continued in the president's chair. Many years of close application to business in various lines had so impaired the health of Dr. Freeman that it seemed the part of wisdom to dispense with some of his arduous duties, and since then, although generally recognized as "retired," he is a keenly alive man of affairs, whose influence is still felt and whose advice is still sought on matters of importance. During the fifteen years Dr. Freeman was president of the Consolidated National Bank the deposits increased from something more than $100,000 to one and one-half millions, which, in addition to being an important factor in the history of the bank, is a high tribute to its management.

In 1889 Dr. Freeman became closely associated with the University of Arizona as a member of the Board of Regents, which position he has since filled at intervals for a total of sixteen years, ten of which he served as chancellor. At one period, at the earnest solicitation of the governor, resigning as chancellor of the University to fill a term on the Territorial Board of Equalization, he was subsequently returned to his old position as chancellor. In 1911, on nomination by the governor of the state, he was invested with the degree of LL. D., "for constant and conspicuous service to the state and university, for devotion to every detail of his high office as regent and chancellor."

In 1870 Dr. Freeman was made a Mason, and has since received every degree in Masonry to and including the thirty-third. He has been Grand Master of two separate jurisdictions, Nevada and Arizona, an unusual distinction, and President of the Association of Past Grand Masters of Arizona.

During his years of residence in Arizona, Dr. Freeman has taken an especial interest in its very early history dating back to Coronado's expedition of 1540 a fondness for which has developed into what may well be termed a hobby, and has acquired an extensive and valuable library on this subject, consisting of more than 400 volumes, some of which are very rare and from one to two hundred years old, many of them out of print and very difficult to get. What disposition will ultimately be made of this valuable collection, Dr. Freeman has not definitely decided, other than that it will never be permitted to leave Pima County. In knowledge of early events in the history of the southwest, he probably has no superior in the state, his store of information along these lines keeping pace with his accumulation of material bearing on the subject.

Having lost his wife, father and mother many years ago, Dr. Free- man makes his bachelor home in Tucson at the Old Pueblo Club, which he was largely instrumental in establishing.

ALBERT STEINFELD, president of the Consolidated National Bank of Tucson, has been connected with banking and financial institutions for a number of years, but it is only during the past three years that he has become actively identified with actual banking business. Having had many years of experience in the mercantile business as the president and general manager of the large concern which bears his name, he is in a position to know the financial wants and needs of the public. Mr. Steinfeld has been a stockholder in banking institutions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, El Paso and other cities of the Southwest. He has also been a member of the board of directors of these institutions and was influential in their affairs. Three years ago he was elected president of the Consolidated National Bank, the oldest and largest bank in Tucson, and has since given his entire attention to the bank, his son and brother-in-law, H. J. Donau, having assumed charge of the mercantile house of Albert Steinfeld & Co.

Albert Steinfeld is a native of Germany, having been born in Hanover, December 23, 1854. His training and education have been obtained mainly in this country, however, as the family removed to New York City when Albert was but eight years of age, and he received a liberal education in the public schools. In 1869 he obtained a position in a large dry goods house, retained the same about two years and then came west. He located first at Denver, where he was employed by his uncle in the same line, but in January of 1871, he proceeded to Tucson, which has since been his home. Here he at once became connected with the house of L. Zeckendorf & Co., controlled by his uncles, Messrs. A. and L. Zeckendorf, and after several years of faithful service, was admitted to the firm and for years was resident partner and manager.

Mr. Steinfeld, being an alert and courteous business man, soon became immensely popular in commercial circles in and about Tucson, was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce and later vice president of the Board of Trade when it supplanted the Chamber of Commerce, and has long been recognized as the head of mercantile interests in the vicinity.

Mr. Steinfeld has long been identified with the various large industries in Southern Arizona, and no man has been in closer touch than he with the development of its resources, not only of enterprises with which he is directly or indirectly connected, but by sound advice and assistance afforded in numerous ways to others. The present firm of Albert Steinfeld & Co. is one of the greatest in the state, in general merchandise, and their stock is complete and of excellent quality. The relations existing between the firm and their employees are most admirable. Mr. Steinfeld is prominent in Masonic affairs, with which he has been connected for many years. He was married February 15, 1883, in Denver, Colo., to Miss Bettina V. Donau, daughter of Simon Donau, of San Francisco, formerly a manufacturer of San Francisco, who died in Los Angeles several years ago.

CHARLES E. WALKER, cashier of the Consolidated National Bank, was horn in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1880. He is the son of John W. Walker, a contractor of that place, and Sarah Elizabeth Voss Walker. His father was a captain in the Civil War. Mr. Walker was educated in the public schools, and for some years was engaged in railroad work. For five years he was treasurer of the Southern Pacific de Mexico Railroad, and was also general purchasing agent for the same company. He has been connected with the Consolidated National Bank since March, 1910, when he accepted a position as assistant to President Freeman, but in December of the same year he was appointed to his present position, cashier. He is also a director of this bank and a director of the Arizona Eastern Railroad. He is a member of the Masonic Order, in which he has received the 32nd degree, of the Mystic Shrine, and of the Elks. Mr. Walker was married in 1903 to Miss Alice Seward, also a native of Indiana, and a member of the Seward family of national reputation. Mrs. Walker is a descendant of the Irvin family, which figured prominently in the revolutionary war, and her great-great-grandfather was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have three bright interesting children, Frank S., Elizabeth V., and Charles E., Jr.

TENNEY D. WILLIAMS, assistant cashier of the Consolidated National Bank, was born in 1884 at San Jose, California, and was educated in the public schools of that city and Stanford University. At the University he took a special course in English and finance. His father is publisher of "The Evening News," San Jose, and Mr. Williams' first position was in the newspaper field. He continued in this work until 1909, when he came to Arizona, where he took up bank- ing as a regular occupation. His first position was as collector for the Consolidated National Bank, then bookkeeper, until by successive steps he reached his present position, to which he was appointed January 1, 1913. His grandfather, W. C. Davis, and his uncle, Herbert B. Tenney, were both organizers of the Consolidated National Bank, and early pioneers of Arizona. The former came to Tucson before the building of the railroads through this section, having come across the Santa Fe trail with a team of mules. Mr. Williams is a Mason and member of No. 4 F. & A. M., and in politics a Republican.

JOHN C. ETCHELLS, assistant cashier of the Consolidated National Bank, Tucson, is a native of this city, having been born here October 20, 1873. He is the son of early pioneers of Tucson. Mr. Etchells first attended the public schools and later took a business course and attended Orchard Lake Military Academy. He has been in the employ of the Consolidated National Bank during the past six- teen years, and in point of service is one of the oldest attaches of the bank at this time. His first position with this institution was that of collector, and he has advanced, step by step, to that of assistant cashier. In politics Mr. Etchells is a Progressive, and in the campaign of 1912 he was a candidate on the citizens ticket for the office of City Treasurer. He is a well-known member of the B. P. O. E., with which he has been actively associated for some years.

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