1913 Who's Who
Below are excerpts from Who's Who in Arizona, by Jo Conners, published in 1913.
Page 8
The first copper smelter in the State, built of adobe bricks, is said to have been located at the Ajo mines in Yuma County, and to have been operated about 1852.
Page 11
In transportation facilities Arizona is well to the front, having within its limits more than two thousand miles of railroad, consisting of great trunk lines, branch lines connecting all the important cities and mining camps, and intimate connection with Mexican business. The first railroad to build through the State was the Southern Pacific, which entered from the west at Yuma in 1878, and extends across the southern portion. The Atlantic & Pacific, now a portion of the Santa Fe, was built five years later. Next in importance is the El Paso & Southwestern, with lines now reaching many of the important cities, one into Tucson recently opened, and others building.
Page 78
Yuma County, one of the four original sub-divisions of the Territory of
Arizona, has been almost totally dependent on mining and cattle raising as
sources of revenue, but with the installation of the Yuma project, one of
the greatest of irrigation projects, it is confidently expected that its
agricultural possibilities will be thoroughly developed, and fanning assume
the place as one of the county's resources that it can only where there is
the amount of sunshine and growing weather that Yuma County affords. This
land in its natural state is comparatively worthless, the rainfall at Yuma
being only 2.50 inches per annum, but supplied with abundant water by
irrigation, it becomes the most fruitful in the world. The Yuma Valley and
the South Gila Valley and the Yuma Mesa are parts of the Gadsden purchase,
having been acquired by the United States from Mexico shortly after the
close of the Mexican war, at which time the boundary line between the two
countries was definitely and permanently fixed. That part of the Yuma
project lying north of the Gila river and on the Arizona side of the river
were acquired from Mexico by conquest, in the war of 1847-48. These five
parcels of land, the Indian reservation on the California side of the river,
the North Gila, the South Gila, the Yuma Mesa and the Yuma Valley on the
Arizona side of the Colorado, make up the Yuma project, or the land which is
to be irrigated by water taken from the Colorado at Laguna dam.
The greatest development under the Yuma project has taken place, up to this
time, in the Yuma Valley, that part of the project lying immediately south
of the town of Yuma. This valley contains some 53,000 acres. It extends from
the corporate limits of Yuma to the Mexican line, twenty-one miles down the
river, and is bounded on the west by the Colorado, and on the east by the
mesa. Practically all of this land is in private ownership. There is some
school land which can be leased from the state, and a few T scattered small
tracts of government land and Indian holdings.
Since the completion of the siphon, under the Colorado river, and the
turning of the water through that giant concrete tube, June 28, 1912,
gravity water has been furnished by the Reclamation Service to those farms
and to all others that were ready to receive the water. The water is now
cheap and abundant for this valley. Dozens of farmers are engaged in
clearing and levelling their land, and it is believed that 15,000 acres of
land in the Yuma Valley will be in cultivation during the season of 1913.
More land will be brought in, year by year, until every acre of this unit of
the project will be contributing its part to the fruitfulness and prosperity
of the valley. The Yuma Valley part of the project will be the first of the
project on the Arizona side of the river to be completed.
The land in the North Gila Valley, about 15,000 acres, is largely in private
ownership, although there is some government land which will be thrown open
to entry when the project is completed. These lands are now receiving water
from Laguna dam, and the development of this beautiful valley is well under
way.
The lands covered by this project are most favorably situated for
agriculture, the soil and climate being unsurpassed, and the water supply
unlimited. In the bottom lands the following products may be grown with
excellent yields: barley, corn, alfalfa, wheat, milo maize, alfalfa seed,
potatoes, onions and other vegetables, cantaloupes, Egyptian and upland
cotton. It is also a most favorable dairy country. Figs, dates, grapes, and
various fruits are grown in small quantities, the returns indicating that
good results can be obtained with this class of crop, and it is anticipated
that the areas now covered by these products will be extended. At the
present time there is one citrus grove of about 75 acres, on the mesa,
producing grape fruit and oranges of a very high quality. Because of the dry
climate, the Arizona trees are remarkably free from scale and other kindred
diseases which affect these growths in less favored spots.
The value of land in this section has already increased rapidly. That worth
from $15 to $50 an acre seven years ago is now worth from $60 to $200, as
people realize that the water supply is cheap, abundant and permanent, and
there will be further notable increases in these values. There are thousands
of acres of land in Southern California on which are grown orange and lemon
orchards and walnut groves, that are selling in the open market from $1,000
to $2,500 an acre, and that produce an income that makes the investment
attractive in that high-priced land. The great need of Yuma County is
capital and real farmers.
Of this irrigation project which is to mean so much to the future of Yuma
County, the following by F. L. Sellew, engineer of the project, is very
comprehensive and to date:
“The Yuma Irrigation Project is one of the results of the Reclamation Act
passed by Congress in June, 1902. Developments under way and now about 75
per cent, completed, provide for the irrigation of approximately 140,000
acres, 16,000 acres being in California, along the Colorado river, and the
remainder on the opposite side of the stream, in Arizona. The principal
features of the work are: Laguna Dam, nearly one mile in length, which
provides for the diversion of water from the river about fourteen miles
above Yuma; over 400 miles of main and lateral canals, ranging in capacity
from 1,700 second-feet to 10 second-feet; an inverted siphon of 14 feet
internal diameter, conveying the water from the main canal, under the
Colorado river; numerous canal structures, and some seventy-five miles of
levee for the defense of the bottom lands against the periodic rises of the
stream.
"The water supply from the Colorado river is unfailing; the lowest known
discharge of the stream being 2,700 second-feet, which lasted but a few
days. Seldom is the discharge lower than 5,000 second-feet for any material
period. In freshets the volume rises, at times, to 150,000 second-feet.
"The government works, which control the diversion of water and its delivery
to the farms, are of the most permanent and lasting character. Laguna Dam
creates no storage, is merely for the purposes of diversion and to furnish
the means by which silt may be removed from the water before the supply
enters the canals, and later, sluiced back to the river below the dam. The
structure is practically 250 feet broad across its base, resting upon
alluvial deposits of the stream, except at its ends, where it is firmly
connected to the rock abutments. The down-stream side of the structure is
protected from damage by erosive currents by a substantial apron, composed
of rock from one to two tons in weight. About ten miles below the dam a drop
of ten feet occurs, which is at present accomplished by means of a siphon
spillway. Later a power plant will be constructed at this point from which
about 1,200 horse power of electric energy may be developed. Some 2,000 feet
above the entrance to the Colorado siphon, a waste-way is constructed,
leading to the Colorado river. This makes an advantageous point of control
for the bulk of the project. Control at this point also allows a uniform
quantity to run through the wheels at the powerhouse above, giving a
constant load on the plant.
"This structure was completed in March, 1909. In June of that year the
annual freshet was sending 150,000 second-feet over its crest. The floods of
1909 and 1912 are probably as large as any that have ever come down the
Colorado River, and it is unlikely that the future will see them greatly
exceeded. The main canal, which originates at the Arizona end of the
structure, provides for but a few thousand acres of ground above Yuma,
crossed by the Gila River. This canal has a capacity of 250 second-feet, and
concrete gates control the various lateral canals which receive their supply
from it. Although the bulk of the land to be irrigated is in Arizona, the
main canal leaves the dam from the California end, because on this side was
found the most favorable route."
The cold wave which swept over the entire Southwest in January, 1913, and
did such damage to many orange groves, left the Yuma orange orchards
unscathed, neither the trees nor the fruit having been damaged in the least.
In addition to this evidence that the orange lands here are absolutely
frostless, this freeze demonstrated that the valley lands under the Yuma
project are safe for orange culture. Two nurseries of orange trees from two
to three years old and from three to five feet high, located in the coldest
spots in the valley, passed through that trying period without damage and
the early spring finds them in full fruit and flower.
Page 279
HORACE E. DUNLAP, cashier of the Willcox Bank & Trust Company, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1855. He w r as educated for a college professor, being graduated from Thiel College, Greenville, Pa., in 1877. He served as Latin tutor two years in the same institution, taking at the same time special studies preparatory to a post graduate course in an eastern university, but a general breakdown in health sent him to Arizona in 1882 to recuperate. Seven years of easy "Roughing It" on the cattle ranch of his brother, Burt Dunlap, in Graham County, restored his health in a measure, and, anticipating the coming business opportunities to be found in Arizona, he returned east and served an apprenticeship in Wick Bros. & Company's bank, in Youngstown, Ohio. The lure of the Arizona climate drew him back to a period in cattle ranching. From 1892 to 1900 he resided in Willcox, serving four years as accountant in the large stores, which did as much banking as the average country bank, and an equal period as publisher of the "Arizona Range News," a local livestock paper. From 1900 to 1903 he was in the employ of The Bank of Safford, going thence to Yuma to become cashier of the bank of J. W. Thornton & Son, which, during his incumbency in that office, was nationalized, becoming the First National Bank of Yuma. In 1905 he returned to Graham County to become cashier of the Bank of Safford, with which institution he remained three years, when the organizers of the new bank in Willcox, the Willcox Bank & Trust Company, sought and secured him for the position of cashier. Having previously held a responsible position with the Norton-Morgan Commercial Company of Willcox and, during his former residence there, gained a wide acquaintance with the stockmen and mining men of the entire district, he was, with his long experience in bank work, the logical man for the place, and the rapid growth of the institution under his management has amply justified the choice. Mr. Dunlap, in addition to being a stockholder and director of the bank, is interested in various enterprises throughout the state and owner of real estate in California and in the Salt River Valley. In 1893, during his previous residence in Willcox, he married Mrs. May A. Smith, who, like himself, has been active in church work and in the various lines of endeavor for the uplift of society. Gladys, their only daughter, has just been graduated from the Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles, and they have one son, Howard, aged 11. Mr. Dunlap is a member of the Willcox lodge of Masons, and was a Republican all his life until the last campaign, when he affiliated with the Progressives. He has never sought political office.
Page 296 - University of Arizona
The Agricultural Experiment Station deserves special mention. A staff of scientists, experts in plant life, the chemistry of soils, etc., carry on constant investigations and experiments in their lines, trying out their hypotheses by actual demonstrations first on small parcels of ground on the University campus and then on the University's farm lands. Allied with this work, but on a somewhat different basis is the department of agriculture, which is maintained not for research purposes, but for those of instruction. Owing to the wide variation of agricultural conditions in Arizona, it has been found of advantage to distribute the work so that each department is located, so far as possible, in the region most favorable to the accomplishment of its own special results, and there are branch stations at Tempe, Ariz., where the date farm is located; between Phoenix and Buckeye; at Yuma; a dry farm at Prescott, and another dry farm at Snowflake, Apache County. In addition, tests of dry farming and of underground water flows are being made by University authorities in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Cochise County.
Page 330
P. J. MILLER, member Tax Commission During the hardships through which the country went during the great civil war, to be correct, on June 24, 1863, P. J. Miller, the third member of the Arizona State Tax Commission, was born on his father's farm near the little town of Durhamville, in Oneida County, in the Empire State of New York. Two years after his birth the father died, the farm was sold and the family moved to Buffalo, where he attended the grammar and high schools and laid the foundation for the vast amount of practicable information he now has at his command. Mr. Miller went to Chicago at the age of 17, but in less than two years thereafter, the call of the West being strong within him, he started for Prescott, Arizona, where he arrived in the fall of 1883. He has been a resident of Arizona practically ever since. His first employment was secured with Superintendent Craig of the Dosoris silver mine and his job was ore sorting. When the mine shut down the young man took a job as storekeeper at Fort Whipple, using there to good advantage his knowledge of the general merchandise business gained in Buffalo and Chicago after leaving school. In those stirring days at Fort Whipple promotion came to him early and he was successively forage master, corral master and finally acting superintendent of the depot, with thousands of dollars worth of stores in his charge. This was during the Crook and Miles campaigns against Chief Geronimo and his Apaches. After leaving the service of the quartermaster's department of the army he went to New York and was employed as a salesman for a short time. In 1896 he was happily married to Miss Alice M. Waldby, of Little Falls, N. Y., but the lure of the West was again upon him and in the fall of 1900 he settled on a homestead near the town of Yuma, in the fertile Yuma valley. In his agricultural activities he soon became a leading member of his community and assisted in building the farmers' canals in that valley and ran the first water there for the farmers. Shortly after this he assisted in the organization of the Yuma County Water Users' Association and became its secretary, and as such was an important factor in bringing the reclamation service to a thorough knowledge of the needs and great possibilities of the valley so that a government project was instituted there. He remained secretary of the Water Users' Association until 1909, but in the meantime he became interested in politics and was elected councilman of the town of Yuma in 1906, and helped pass the first ordinance compelling the laying of cement sidewalks, street improvements and sewers in the thriving southern city. Soon after this he was appointed clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Yuma County, in recognition of his services to the Democratic party in the election of 1908 and held that position until his appointment to the Tax Commission by Governor Hunt. All his life Mr. Miller has been consistently a progressive man, affiliating with the Democratic party. He is a strong supporter of Governor Hunt's policy of running the business affairs of the State in a businesslike way. A man of varied experience and broad knowledge, with an acquaintance of land values in Arizona probably not equaled by any member of the commission of which he is a part, Mr. Miller is a material addition to the strong personnel of the Commission.
Page 336
MULFORD WINSOR, chairman of the State Land Commission, was born in Jewell City, Kansas, May 31, 1874. His father was editor of the Jewell City Republican, and when but seven years old, he began to get an insight into the work of a newspaper office, and much of his education was obtained in this way. In 1885 the family moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he worked at the printing trade and attended high school while serving as journeyman printer. With politics as with newspaper work, he early acquired a thorough knowledge of the subject, and since his coming to Arizona he has been a remarkable influence in the Democratic party, an influence distinguished by his consistent advocacy of progressive principles. He came to Prescott in 1892, where he remained two years, and then removed to Yuma. In journalism he is a leader in the state, and a writer of exceptional ability, being both fluent and accurate. Mr. Winsor was the first historian of Arizona, and his work in this particular is widely known. In 1896 he established The Yuma Sun, and he has also owned and edited The Tucson Citizen, Phoenix Enterprise, and Daily Globe, of Globe. As editor of the latter paper he wrote the first editorials appearing in the state advocating the Initiative, Referendum and Recall, and calling upon the Democratic party to champion the cause of popular government in connection with the work of framing Arizona's constitution. He was selected in Yuma county as delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and was Chairman of the Committee on Legislative Departments, which had charge of the Initiative and Referendum Article of the Constitution. Mr. Winsor was secretary to Governor Hunt until his appointment as member of the Land Commission. He is a member of the Yuma Lodge of Elks, and has served as District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, the highest honor to be conferred by this order in the state.
Page 342
FRANK S. INGALLS, Surveyor General, was born in Maine in 1851. His father, B. F. Ingalls, was a descendant of Edmund Ingalls, who landed in Massachusetts in 1629 a member of Captain Endicott's Company, and who was during the severe Puritanic reign fined two shillings for carrying an armload of wood on Sunday. Captain Ingalls' mother, formerly Miss Sophronia Thomas, was also a descendant of Puritan stock. Captain Ingalls received the benefit of the common schools, after which he entered the University or California. He was a classmate of John Hays Hammond, James Budd (afterward Governor of California) and other equally prominent men. He married before completing his course at the University. His wife was Madora Spaulding, daughter of N. W. Spaulding, a prominent Californian. Her father was several times Mayor of Oakland, Cal.; was U. S. Sub-Treasurer at San Francisco, and one of the best known men in California. He w r as a 33d degree Mason and prominent in other organizations. Captain Ingalls is serving his third term as Surveyor General, which will expire in 1916. He has held practically all the political offices in the County of Yuma, as well as being Mayor of the city of that name, and served as a member of the Territorial Legislature. He came to Arizona as a young man, in 1882, and has been actively identified with the advancement and up-building of the Territory since that time. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Territory when he first came to Arizona, and has since been connected with its official life. There have been born to Captain and Mrs. Ingalls six children, three of whom are living: Walter, draughtsman in the Surveyor General's office; Charles, an invalid; and Addie, Librarian Carnegie Public Library of Phoenix.
Page 381
JOHN C. FOREST, Assistant United States District Attorney for Arizona, was born on a farm near Wausau, Wisconsin. His father, Peter N. Forest, was a sawmill man who cleared his land after the timber had been removed and established a farm in the midst of the wilderness. Mr. Forest was educated in the public schools of Wausau, and shortly after having been graduated from the high school, came to Arizona. He reached here in 1889, and engaged in teaching for some years in Yuma and Yavapai Counties, meanwhile devoting his leisure time to the study of law. He completed the course in the office of the Honorable Henry D. Ross, member of the first Supreme Court of Arizona, was admitted to practice, and for the first year thereafter was associated with Judge Ross. Mr. Forest gradually built up a nice practice, and won recognition in the profession in the State. He served one term as Assistant District Attorney of Yavapai under Robert E. Morrison, and in February, 1910, Attorney General Wickersham appointed him Assistant to United States District Attorney Joseph E. Morrison. His associations in these positions have been of distinct political value in a professional way, and Mr. Forest has made the most of the opportunities presented. Mr. Forest is a Republican and a member of the B. P. O. E. He is Past Exalted Ruler of Lodge No. 330, at Prescott. Mr. Forest is married and has one son, John, Jr. At the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Forest expects to take up private practice of his profession in Phoenix.
Page 395
H. H. DONKERSLEY, Major Second Battalion, N. G. A., was born February 15, 1864, in Marquette, Michigan, where his father, Cornelius Donkersley, was Superintendent of the M. H. & O. Railroad. The family later removed to Appleton, Wisconsin, and after completing the public school course, Major Donkersley attended and was graduated from Lawrence University. He first came to Arizona in 1880, and with the exception of three of the intervening years, spent in Colorado, has since been a resident of this State, most of the time in Yuma County. Having served in the National Guard in Wisconsin, Major Donkersley naturally drifted into the service in Arizona, and in 1901 enlisted in Company "H" as private, and has gradually advanced in the service until he attained to his present position of Major and member of the General Staff. Prior to 1900 he followed freighting, trucking and teaming as a regular occupation, and during that year formed a partnership, of which he is still a member, to cover livery, rock crushers and allied interests. During his residence here Major Donkersley has been active in political affairs, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Yuma County and three terms as member of Yuma Council. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks, Knights of Pythias and Alianza Hispano- Americana; with the Odd Fellows, of which he is Past Grand, and the Eagles, of which he is Past Worthy President. Major Donkersley was married in 1902, in Maricopa County, to Miss Ida M. Crane. They have three sons, Raymond B., Harry H. and Lee C.
Page 411
JOHN MILTON CLARK is best known for the part he took in quelling two outbreaks at the Yuma penitentiary while he was an official of that institution. He served under five governors and five superintendents. Mr. Clark's reputation was such that United States Marshal Daniels, after his appointment, selected him as an office deputy. He has served his apprenticeship in the saddle as cow puncher and sheepman, and has been interested in all other kinds of work. As manager of C. A. Clark & Co. he has shown his ability as a merchant. While without political aspirations, he has been prominent in the affairs of the Republican party, wields a large influence, and although refusing office, has been chairman of the county central committee of the G. O. P. J. M. Clark married Miss Agnes Martin, daughter of George Martin, of Tucson, who played a prominent part in the creating of the state out of the prairie wilderness. Mr. Martin was one of the earliest pioneers and was active in the earliest struggles of the settlers about Yuma, Tucson, Prescott and other pioneer towns of the state. George Martin helped to welcome the first governor to Arizona. Mrs. Clark's grandfather, Stephen Rodondo, was a member of the first territorial legislature of Arizona.
Page 512
FRANK BAXTER, Superior Judge of Yuma County, even before coming to Yuma,
was one of the best known and most popular attorneys in Arizona. Since his
residence in Yuma county he has held nearly every position within the gift
of the people of that county. He has been successively City Attorney,
Assistant District Attorney, and at the last election was elected Superior
Judge by one of the largest majorities ever given an elective officer in
Yuma county.
Judge Baxter is a Virginian, having been born near Petersburg in 1853. His
father was Thomas H. Baxter, who was in the United States customs service
until the Civil War, holding an important position in Philadelphia. His
mother, before her marriage, was Miss Anna E. Van Horn, of the Van Horns of
North Carolina. So it will be easily seen that Judge Baxter came to Arizona
an ardent Democrat, eminently qualified to become a party leader, an
honorable attorney and a judge of ability and integrity, to whom the whole
people could pin their faith as to his honesty, fairness, justice and
ability; and such have the people of Yuma found him to be. As city recorder
of Phoenix he made an excellent reputation and was elected to the position
of probate judge, with the office of superintendent of schools ex-officio.
His wide experience as a jurist and attorney made him the logical candidate
for the speakership of the Seventeenth Territorial Assembly and he was
elected practically without opposition. He later served as chief clerk of
the Nineteenth legislative assembly. His record in official life was such
that when he left Phoenix to go to Yuma, Frank Baxter left a large circle of
friends behind.
He is a graduate of the Philadelphia public schools and later supplemented
this with a course at the Chester Military Academy, Chester, Pa. He studied
law in the offices of E. C. and V. S. Lovell of Elgin, Ill., the former a
probate judge of that county.
As Superior Judge of Yuma county he has presided with dignity and fairness
and no jurist in the state has a larger clientele of friends and admirers
than he.
In 1914, no doubt, he will be re-elected by an even larger majority than
that given him in 1911.
Page 530
FRED L. INGRAHAM, County Attorney of Yuma, has been identified with the political life of Arizona for a number of years, and is particularly well known for the part he took in the Constitutional Convention in 1910, having been a member of the committee which drafted the Corporation Commission provision, and also of the Style, Revision and Compilation Committee, and together with Mr. M. G. Cunniff, President of the First State Senate, and Lysander Cassidy, a well-known citizen of Phoenix. Mr. Ingraham was born in 1868, in Ohio, where his father, Richard Ingraham, was a merchant and farmer. His mother, Lucy Lewis Ingraham, was a descendant of one of the well-known pioneer families of that State. His forbears on both sides were among the pioneers of Ohio and Michigan. Mr. Ingraham attended public schools in Ohio and Michigan, and was afterwards graduated from the Law and Literary Departments of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. After completing his course he was for some time instructor in English at Ypsilanti Normal College, Michigan, where he established an excellent reputation as an exponent and teacher of pure English. In 1907 he was united in marriage with Miss Inez Jacobs, a daughter of one of the pioneer families of Arizona, her family having been among the early settlers of Yuma. To this union has been born one daughter, Alice. Mr. Ingraham not only takes a prominent part in the political life of the State, but is also a substantial business man, a stockholder and director of the Yuma National Bank, and a large landholder. During his term of office he has given general satisfaction as a prosecutor and has conducted the affairs of the office in a manner thoroughly satisfactory to the voters of the county.
Page 567
ALLAN B. MING, Assessor of Yuma County, having been identified with the up-building of the State since 1900, and having taken an active part in the development of the section in which he resides, is known as one of the most enthusiastic boosters for Arizona, especially for Yuma County, that is to be found in the Southwest. As Commissioner of Immigration he did much to make known to the outside world the advantages of Yuma County, and by means of his publicity campaign while in this position, and as President of the Chamber of Commerce, the county received a strong impetus in its development and made rapid strides because of the class of settlers who were attracted to the vicinity. Mr. Ming is the son of Charles H. and Louise Swackhammer Ming. He was born in 1874, in New Jersey, where his father was engaged in the lumber business. His ancestors were among the early colonial settlers, and can be traced back to Revolutionary times. Mr. Ming has been active in the Good Roads campaign, and is one of the directors of the Yuma County Association; he is also a director in the Yuma Chamber of Commerce, one of the most wide awake organizations of the Southwest. He is interested in mining, irrigation and farming projects, and is Secretary and Treasurer of the Thumb Butte Mining Company. In politics he is a progressive Democrat, and has held important positions in the party organization, both State and County, having been a member of the State Central Committee and County Chairman. He is a member of the Elks and Eagles, and of other fraternal organizations, is one of the best known and best liked men in his county, and his administration of affairs in the Assessor's office during the past year has met with the hearty approval of the people interested.
Page 578
JAMES T. HODGES, Recorder of Yuma County, is one of the younger officials of the State, but no veteran has made a record more gratifying than his. He was born in this State in 1883, and is the son of Frank M. Hodges, one of the most prominent pioneer Sheriffs who have held office in Arizona. His father also served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. James T. Hodges was the youngest of eleven children, of whom nine are living in Yuma, the other two having died within the past year. His father served as Sheriff of Pima County, and was also a member of the Legislature from that county in the early eighties. He was one of the first to enter the La Paz District, where he owned the mine that gave the section its name. It w T as there James T. Hodges was born. He was educated in the public schools of Yuma and Los Angeles, was graduated from the Los Angeles High School, and this training was supplemented by a business course. On his return to Arizona, for several years he was bookkeeper for his brother at Hodges' Meat Market in Yuma. He also served as book-keeper while his brother held the office of Treasurer of Yuma County. Mr. Hodges has a fine farm in the Palo Verde valley, California, and is interested in other enterprises in the vicinity. Capable, courteous and genial, he has made a most efficient Recorder, and the records of the county have been well and accurately kept during his term of office.
Page 585
EUGENE J. TRIPPEL, chief clerk of the State Land Commission, has been a resident of Arizona since 1884, when he came to Globe and entered the employ of The Old Dominion Copper Company, and remained with the company until 1887. In the year 1886 he was elected to represent Gila County in the 14th Territorial Assembly. Shortly afterward he was appointed Deputy U. S. Collector at Yuma, and at the expiration of his term, founded and conducted the Yuma Times. Mr. Trippel had been w r ell educated in various lines in the east, having attended first the public schools of New York and Brooklyn, then Nazareth Hall Military Academy in Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated, and subsequently the School of Mines, Columbia University. For four years prior to his coming to Arizona, Mr. Trippel was employed at assaying and mining in Nevada, and during this time he also engaged in journalism and took up the study of law. Mr. Trippel has had much experience in newspaper work, and while conducting the Yuma Times was special contributor to some of the leading magazines and newspapers, and in 1892 he removed to San Francisco to take up journalism, and for some time was coast news editor of the Chronicle. He returned to Yuma on being appointed Secretary of the Territorial Prison and during Cleveland's administration served as Register of the Land Office at Tucson. In 1899 he was Secretary of the Council of the 20th Legislature. For nine years succeeding this he was Grand Recorder of the A. O. U. W. of Arizona, but resigned in 1909 to become Auditor of The Consolidated T. T. & E. Co., and later opened offices as private accountant, specializing in general accounting and auditing. He served as member of the Special Board of Examiners of State Institutions, being appointed by Governor G. W. P. Hunt during the spring of 1912. Mr. Trippel has been a lifelong Democrat, and was appointed to his present position shortly after the coming of statehood. His home is in Tucson, and he is a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Fraternal Mystic Circle, Woodmen of the World, and Elks in that city. Throughout the state he is one of the best known and popular citizens.
Page 617
Miss C. LOUISE BOEHRINGER, Superintendent of Schools in Yuma County, the only woman Superintendent in Arizona, who is well-known as an educator in several States, was born thirty-five years ago in Morrison, Illinois. Her parents, Jacob and Louise Greenawald Boehringer, came to America shortly after the close of the Civil War. They removed to St. Louis when she was four years old, where she entered the kindergarten at the age of five, and there acquired her first knowledge of the English language. She later attended the public schools, but as the family returned to Illinois when she was about ten, her education was completed in that State. Having been graduated from the High School she took a two years' course at the State Normal, at Normal, Illinois, then a critic course at the DeKalb Normal, from which -'he received her diploma in 1902. Meanwhile, however, she had teaching experience in the rural and grade schools, and has since held various positions of responsibility. She was Director of Normal Department, Genessee, Illinois, from 1903 to 1905, and in charge of the Training School of the State Normal at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for one year. While in the latter position the new Normal at Springfield, Missouri, was opened, and Miss Boehringer was asked to organize and superintend the Training School, which position she accepted and filled for five years. The following year she spent in study in New York City, and in 1911 received a diploma in supervision from Teachers' College, New York, and the B. S. degree from Columbia University. The next year she was Superintendent of the Springfield, Illinois Training School for Teachers, and resigned this position to spend the following year with her family in Yuma. Miss Boehringer has been recognized as an authority in the matter of courses of study for children for six years by the Missouri State Department, and is author of the work in literature, language and nature study in the Missouri State Course of Study for Rural and Village Schools. She has also been an active club worker and member of the most progressive clubs in the various communities in which she has lived, and now holds membership in the Ocotillo and Commercial Clubs of Yuma, the only woman member of the latter ; Woman Suffrage League and Woman's Trade Union League, Springfield, Illinois; The Helmet Club, composed of women selected for scholarship and personality, Teachers' College, Columbia University, and at their banquet, held during the Superintendents' meeting in St. Louis in 1911, was one of their speakers. She has also been an active member of the N. E. A. since 1908, and usually attends the Superintendents' meetings in midwinter. Miss Boehringer has always been interested in rural life and its problems, and five years ago purchased a small ranch near Yuma; here she has spent a part of each year, and during the past year made her home. She first became identified with educational work in the county by teaching in the rural schools and speaking before the county institutes. When the present recall election was first discussed, Miss Boehringer was approached by several and asked to become candidate for the office of County Superintendent. She consented and was the first woman candidate in the field, but later three other women announced their candidacy, and the campaign was an intense one. The general feeling was that a woman should fill the position, because it deals largely with young women, many of whom are far away from home, and because this was the first opportunity to recognize woman in an elective position since Arizona granted suffrage to its women. Miss Boehringer, w r hose unusual qualifications for the position had been recognized, w r as a popular candidate from the beginning, and was elected by a surprising majority. Since her election the feeling displayed toward her has been the most cordial, even by those who voted for her opponents, and many have assured her of their interest and support for the welfare of the schools. She has high ideals and standards for the schools, which are substantiated by her valuable experience in other pioneer situations. It is her aim to raise the office of County Superintendent from one that is largely clerical to one that will do constructive work for the schools of Yuma County, and so great has she has been in office, no doubt is felt that her strong personality, wide experience and exceptional ability will enable her to thoroughly develop her ideals, to the great benefit of Yuma County schools.
Page 622
CORNELIUS O'KEEFE, American Inspector of Customs at Nogales, was born in Ireland, August 5, 1864. He is the son of John and Margaret Toomey O'Keefe. "Con" O'Keefe, as he is familiarly known, came to this country with his father in 1875, and located in Glenns Falls, New York. In 1880 he came to Arizona, was first employed in the mines at Clifton, for a short time in Tombstone, and then removed to Long Beach, California, where he worked on the Bixby ranch for three years. Returning then to Arizona, he lived successively in Yuma, Prescott and Jerome, having been engaged in general merchandise business for nine years in the latter place. In 1899 Mr. O'Keefe joined with George Mitchell, Colonel Greene and William Adamson in the organization of the Cobre Grande Copper Company, of Cananea, which was finally merged with the Greene Consolidated, and was its first general manager. He opposed the merger, but a compromise was finally effected. He then engaged in mining on his own account in the Altar District, Mexico, but in 1903 sold out his interests to capitalists and removed to Nogales. The following year he was elected County Treasurer on the Republican ticket, one of the first officials of Santa Cruz elected on that ticket. In June, 1908, President Roosevelt appointed him Collector of the Port of Nogales, and President Taft reappointed him in 1912. His commission expires August 16, 1916. His right to hold a Federal office has been questioned on the ground that his father was not a citizen of the United States, but in February, 1912, Attorney General McVeagh decided the question in Mr. O'Keefe's favor, and his record in office is an excellent one. In both official and private life Mr. O'Keefe is held in high esteem. He was married at Prescott in September, 1894, to Miss Hannah Shay, and to them have been born one daughter, Margaret, and three sons, John, Charles and Cornelius, Jr., all bright, energetic, and apparently endowed with the spirit of the true Arizonan. Mr. and Mrs. O'Keefe are well known and highly esteemed throughout Santa Cruz County, both for their civic interest and as trustworthy friends.
(family portrait on page 622)
Page 661
IKE PROEBSTEL, member of the Board of Supervisors of Yuma County, was born at La Grande, Oregon, in 1868, educated in the common schools and Blue Mountain University, at La Grande, having been graduated as Mining Engineer from the latter institution, and that has been his chief occupation most of the time since. He came to Arizona in the spring of 1904, and in the comparatively short time he has been a resident of the State, has proven a remarkable force in its development. Mr. Proebstel has given to his undertakings here the benefit of his years of experience in various countries. He has been engaged in mining in South Africa and Australia, as well as in different parts of this country, and in the sugar industry in the Hawaiian Islands. For two and one-half years he was Superintendent of the Arizona Consolidated Mines at Welton; was promoter of the Antelope Irrigation Company, which has 8,000 acres of land under water and much of it under cultivation, and he is now Vice President of this Company. He is also owner of a ranch of 160 acres at Welton. He is an old-time Democrat, an interested worker in the party's affairs, and during his residence in Washington was County Auditor, the first elective position which he held. He is a well-known member of the Elks. Mr. Proebstel was married to Miss Mollie Wright on May 19, 1912.
Page 703
BURT DUNLAP, a resident of Arizona the past thirty-one years, during
which he has dealt extensively and with corresponding success in cattle and
stock raising, mining and ranching, is one of the best known business men in
the State. Mr. Dunlap was born in Niles, Ohio, in 1858, attended the public
schools of that city, and at the age of sixteen entered Thiel College,
Greenville, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1879 with the
degree of A. B., and later received the degree of A. M. He then began the
study of law in Greenville, but after a time decided to map for himself a
different future, and in January, 1882, came to Arizona, and first engaged
in cattle raising near Fort Grant, in the Aravaipa Valley. In this he was
very successful from a financial viewpoint, as well as having earned a
reputation for thorough knowledge of the business. Mr. Dunlap was one of the
many stock men who lost heavily through Apache depredations, and on one
occasion his foreman and another man in his employ were killed by the
Apaches. He was for a time government contractor, furnishing supplies to the
various military posts in Southern Arizona, and later made his home
successively in Willcox and Tucson. For some time he was deeply interested
in the development of a mine in Cochise County, which produced in paying
quantities copper, lead and silver, and owned a number of claims in the same
locality in the Dragoon Mountains. In political matters Mr. Dunlap is a
progressive Republican, and at the hands of his party he has been the
recipient of many positions of trust and honor, in all of which he has an
excellent record. In Graham County he was twice elected member of the
Territorial Council and County Commissioner, and Probate Judge in Yuma
County. During his legislative service he stood uncompromisingly for woman
suffrage, and in the 18th legislature his vote defeated the effort to
abolish the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for the
Territory. During both sessions he was Chairman of the Committee on
Education, and was particularly active in his efforts toward the founding
and up-building of the University of Arizona. He was also Chairman of the
Live Stock Sanitary Board during Governor Murphy's administration. In 1896
he was delegate to the convention at St. Louis that nominated William
McKinley for President, and his many friends in Arizona were disappointed
that he was not appointed Territorial Governor in the place of Governor
McCord. Mr. Dunlap has recently joined forces with the Progressive party,
but is no longer so actively interested in political affairs as formerly,
his entire attention being required in his personal business, consisting of
cattle, land, irrigation and mining. He has always been found in the first
column of progressive movements as a State builder, and made a record which
is part of the history of the Territory and State of Arizona. He makes his
home on the famous "Dunlap Ranch," known throughout the country because of
its portrayal by Augustus Thomas in his popular play, "Arizona," which was
written in the immediate vicinity of the ranch, and the scenes of three acts
of which are laid at the "Dunlap Ranch," situated just thirty-two miles from
Fort Grant.
Mr. Dunlap was married August 4, 1896, to Miss Jessie Ballance, of Peoria,
Illinois. Mrs. Dunlap is the daughter of Charles and Fannie Greene Ballance,
and a descendant of a long line of patriotic ancestors, among whom are
General Nathaniel Greene, and General John Ballance, an uncle. The latter
was an officer in the regular army for many years, and distinguished himself
in the Indian wars. In recognition of illustrious services in the
Philippines, General Ballance was commissioned Brigadier General and
appointed Governor of the northern provinces of Luzon. Her grandfather,
Judge Charles Ballance, raised the first regiment of Peoria volunteers for
the Civil War, and at the same time her father resigned as naval cadet to
enter the army. Her grandfather also assisted in the formation of the
Republican party, and was for years a close personal friend of Abraham
Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap have two sons, Gordon Ballance and Stuart Burt,
now high school students and in preparation for a University course.
Page 720
FRED W. WESSEL, Senator from Yuma County, is one of the representative men of Yuma. He is a native of Mississippi, but has been reared in the Southwest, having been educated in California in the public schools and later was graduated from the Placerville Academy. He married Miss Mary Pettijohn, of Colton, California. Mr. Wessel has been a resident of Arizona since 1891, and all of this time has made his home in Yuma County. Here he has had a varied experience as prospector, merchant and rancher, and has served as Justice of the Peace and as County Superintendent of Schools, and as citizen and official, in any capacity in which he has served, Mr. Wessel has won the highest esteem of his fellows throughout the county, which fact has been demonstrated by his majority when a candidate for his present office. In the Senate he is one of the most able workers, and is now serving as Chairman of the Committees on Mining and Enrolling and Engrossing. He is also serving on the following committees: Printing and Clerks, Appropriations, Corporations, Public Lands, and Education and Public Institutions. Fraternally, as politically, Senator Wessel is well known, and he is an active member of the Masons and Elks.
Page 774
MEL GREENLEAF, Sheriff of Yuma County, is one of the best known peace officers in Arizona, and has been identified with the official life of the Territory for many years, his present term being the fourth he has served as sheriff. He was well fitted for this position when he was first elected in 1893, but since that time has had a variety of experience which has made him even better qualified to act as the executive head of one of the largest counties in Arizona. While he is best known as a cattleman, he has been active in railroad circles, having held a position as yardmaster of the Southern Pacific Company in Yuma for some time. He was also engaged in farming, teaming and other enterprises necessary in the up-building of a new country, and has spent large sums of money in the development of different mining properties. Mel Greenleaf is a native of Missouri, where his parents, E. F. Greenleaf and Lucy Ann Sweet Greenleaf, were among the pioneers. His father was a prominent physician, and was identified with the political, social and fraternal life of Missouri and of California, having moved to the latter state when the present Sheriff was but a lad. During the early days Mel Greenleaf was one of the best known Sheriffs in the State, and many noted criminals were brought to justice through the efforts of himself and his deputies, especially the cattle rustlers who had made their headquarters in that section before he was elected. Sheriff Greenleaf takes a prominent part in the political life of the State, and is one of the strong factors of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Elks, Moose and the Spanish-American Alliance, and takes an active part in the different organizations with which he was affiliated. Mrs. Greenleaf, who was formerly Miss Braxton, has on various occasions been deputized by her husband to officially take charge of women prisoners, and has disposed of her charge in a highly capable manner.
Page 790
THOMAS M. DRENNAN, of Yuma, came to Arizona in 1894 to accept a position on the Colorado River Indian Reservation at Parker under the United States government, and remained in this position until June 30, 1900. He was born in Christian County, Illinois, September 22, 1870, and is the son of John L. and Henrietta Drennan. Mr. Drennan received his education in the public schools, and at the age of thirteen was employed in a real estate and abstract office. He continued in this business until the time of his coming to Arizona. He was First Lieutenant of Company B, Fifth Regiment, Illinois National Guards. Mr. Drennan is one of the most enterprising citizens of Yuma County, and has been instrumental in the development of many of its most important business undertakings. He is President of the Colorado River Supply Company, and of the Parker Bank & Trust Company. In the First State Legislature, to which he was elected by a very large vote, he has proven one of the strongest men in the House, several of the bills introduced by him at the first session having become laws, among them being the Carey Act. At the special session Mr. Drennan was Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation, and served on the Public Lands, Mines and Mining, Corporations, and Banking and Insurance Committees. He is a member of the B. P. O. E., Lodge No. 330, of Prescott; of the State Democratic Club of Arizona, and of the Sierra Madre Club, of Los Angeles. On December 10, 1900, Mr. Drennan was married to Miss Blanche J. Soule, and they have one daughter, Mary Henrietta. They make their home in Parker.
Page 805
JAMES ROBERTS KERR, Representative from Yuma County, was born in Asheville, North Carolina, June 9, 1850. He is of Scotch-English ancestry and the son of W. M. and Harriet Kerr. Mr. Kerr was educated in private schools in North Carolina and Virginia, and has had a varied career. He has been on the frontier since 1870, most of his life since that time having been spent in the open as railroader, cowpuncher and prospector. He spent three years in Alaska, one winter of which he was north of the Arctic circle. He has been employed as railroad conductor in southwestern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and removed to San Diego, California, in 1893, where he engaged in real estate and insurance business, and during five years of his residence there served as Deputy Sheriff of the County. He has been living in Arizona since 1908, when he located in Yuma. Almost immediately Mr. Kerr became interested in local and State politics, and, although a comparative newcomer, his judgment and influence in matters of importance are highly regarded. He has been appointed member of the Panama-California Exposition Commission, and selected Chairman of the same, while his election to the First State Legislature by a large majority is an unquestioned evidence of his popularity in Yuma County. Mr. Kerr, in the special sessions, has been a diligent worker on the following committees: Labor, Appropriations, Good Roads, State Accounting and Methods of Business. He is an active member of the B. P. O. E. and Knights of Pythias.
