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.