1913 Who's Who in Arizona
This book by Jo Conners was published in 1913. A small sampling of extractions are provided below.
- Greenlee County, pages 97-99
- Arizona Copper Company & Shannon Copper Company, pages 138-143
- First National Bank of Clifton, pages 250-253
- Biographies
Charles B. Keppler [Page 448]
Charles
B. Keppler, Chief Deputy to Sheriff John Patty of Greenlee County, was born
in San Angelo, Texas, July 2, 1877. He was reared and educated in New
Mexico, however, as the family removed there when Charles was but a small
boy. His first occupation was mining and prospecting, which he followed in
both New Mexico and Arizona, and in this State he has also been interested
in ranching. Mr. Keppler came to Arizona and located in what is now Greenlee
County, in 1893. In 1902 Sheriff Parks appointed him one of his deputies,
and until 1908 he was thus employed, having during this time made a record
that can scarcely be excelled for ability, keenness and perseverance. During
the term of Sheriff English, Mr. Keppler returned to ranching, but when John
D. Patty was elected Sheriff of the County, he appointed Mr. Keppler his
chief deputy, despite the fact that Sheriff Patty was elected on the
Republican ticket, and Mr. Keppler is a consistent Democrat. The appointment
was made February 15, Statehood Day. One of the feats which has been notable
in Deputy Sheriff Keppler's career is the trailing of the men who killed two
deputies, the chase having included a large part of New Mexico before he
succeeded in capturing them. He has practically been in charge of the field
work In the county during this administration. Mr. Keppler is a member of
the Eagles and the W. O. W. He was married April 14, 1913, to Miss Dona C.
George, of Carlsbad, New Mexico, and they make their home in Clifton.
Joseph Wiley Aker [Page 451]
Joseph
Wiley Aker, Superintendent of the Schools of Greenlee County, was born in
Grant County, Va., July 7, 1881. His father, A. D. Aker, died the next year,
leaving five children who were soon forced to support and educate themselves
with the aid of a devoted mother. Their efforts in this respect have been
well rewarded, as two of his brothers are successful ministers and the
remaining one a teacher. Their only sister died at an early age. When but 17
years old, Wiley Aker joined the 4th Tennessee Volunteers and spent four
months in active service in Cuba. Having been mustered out he returned to
his home, and proceeded to the coal fields of West Virginia, where he was
employed until in 1901 in a wreck he lost his right hand and right foot. The
following September he began attending school at Princeton, W. Va.,
continued studying and in 1906 was graduated with a B. S. degree from Emory
& Henry College. He next went to Lordsburg, N. M., where he served three
years as minister of the M. E. Church, and was married to Rae Miller, a
music teacher of that town. In 1909 he took charge of the M. E. Church at
Clifton, Arizona, and when Greenlee County was organized in 1910, he was
elected to the position he now holds, when he resigned his work in the
ministry. For the present term he was elected by a large majority. Mr. Aker
helped make the first school law of the State, and at a meeting of school
officials at Tucson in 1912 was made a member of the committee to get up a
course in moral instruction for the pupils of the State. Mr. Aker is deeply
interested in school work. He is also author of several short stories, and
one book of fiction, which is now in course of publication in New York City.
His family consists of three sons, Malcome M., Cecil E. and Greenlee M. Mr.
and Mrs. Aker are interested workers in all church and educational affairs.
Frank Bray Laine [Page 505]
Frank
Bray Laine, Judge of the Superior Court of Greenlee County, came of a line
of distinguished jurists. His father, Thomas Henry Laine, was one of the
ablest attorneys in California. He was a member of the Constitutional
Convention of California in 1879, and the Constitution of the State was
drafted largely from one written by him and submitted to the Convention. He
was also a member of the State Senate in the 20th and 21st Legislatures and
was active in behalf of progressive legislation. An orator of much ability,
he was a potent factor in the Democratic party and an influence in the
national politics of that day. He was also prominent in the Masonic order,
and his son, Judge Laine, has kept the family name on the records of this
order in a most commendable manner. The Laine family has long been connected
with the development of the country. Judge Laine's grandfather having been a
pioneer bear hunter of Missouri. Judge Laine is a native of California,
having been born in San Jose in 1861. He was educated in the public schools
of the State and at Franklin Academy, a private school named in his honor.
He studied law in the office of his father, the first classical graduate in
the State, who was graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1858.
Judge Laine has attained high honors in Masonry in both the York and
Scottish Rites, having taken the 32nd degree. He is also a member of the
Knights Templar; is Past Master of the Coronado Lodge No. 8 of Clifton, and
in 1910 was appointed Grand Orator for the State Lodge. He is also
interested in other fraternal organizations and is Past Exalted Ruler of the
Clifton Lodge of Elks No. 1174. In his manner of dispensing justice, which
has been highly commended for fairness and depth of knowledge, Judge Laine
has shown the benefits derived from his thorough training in law. His eldest
son, Thomas Henry Laine, is now a student in the office of Charles S.
Wheeler, one of San Francisco's well known attorneys, and his other son,
Harry Nicholas Laine, is taking a special course at Stanford University.
Everett Victor Horton [Page 536]
Everett
Victor Horton, first County Attorney of Greenlee, has also the distinction
of having been the first District Attorney of Greenlee County, upon its
formation. He was elected to his present office by a large majority,
principally because of the fine record he made while serving under the
Territorial laws. He was born in Maxwell, Tennessee, in 1880, finished the
common school course in that State, and then attended Burritt College, where
he took the degree of B. S. He then taught school for several years, until
he came to Arizona, in 1903. Here he was first connected with the Arizona
Copper Company in a clerical position for three years, after which he
returned to Tennessee and took a course in law in Vanderbilt University,
Nashville. He received his diploma in 1907 and at once returned to Arizona,
was admitted to practice, and, until he was elected one of the last
officials of the Territory, was engaged in building up a substantial
practice. Mr. Horton is a Democrat of the Progressive type, and has become
well known over the State as an able attorney and a strong prosecutor. Among
the notable cases he has handled are the famous cattle thieves' conviction,
and the securing of a life sentence for the murderer who recently killed two
Deputy Sheriffs of the County. Mr. Horton married Miss Katherine Jean
Anderson, a native of Waverly, Tennessee, and to the union has been born one
son, Edward. Mrs. Horton is a descendant of one of the old southern
families, and with her husband takes a prominent part in the social life of
their home town. Mr. Horton is a member of the Odd Fellows and Moose lodges.
John D. Patty [Page 542]
John D. Patty, Sheriff of Greenlee County, was born in Columbia, S. C., in 1868. His parents were both natives of South Carolina, his father, Mark Patty, having been owner of a large flour mill for many years, and his mother was Hannah Cable Patty. Mr. Patty was educated in his native State and lived there until 1889, when he came to Arizona. Here he at once became associated with Wade Hampton in the cattle business and is still in partnership with him, being a member of the well-known Patty-Hampton Cattle Company. Before the organization of Greenlee County, while a resident of Graham County, Mr. Patty was appointed deputy to Sheriff Anderson, and was in charge of the eastern end of the county, and when division was made, he was elected Constable and made Deputy Sheriff, in which capacity he served in all five years. His record as peace officer was so high and his experience so broad that he had no difficulty whatever in securing the election to his present position, having been much in the lead of his ticket, and elected by a large majority over the incumbent at that time. Not only in a business and political way is Mr. Patty well known and popular, but in a fraternal way also, as he is a member of the Scottish Rite Masons, the Shrine, and the Elks. He was married December 22, 1912, to Mrs. Grace Kreuder, a native of Kansas.
James H. Kerby [Page 566]
James
H. Kerby, first Assessor of Greenlee County, was born in Huntsville, Mo.,
April 30, 1881. He is the youngest son of Cliff T. and Cassie Rutherford
Kerby, whose parents were among the most prominent and influential residents
of Missouri. His father died when James was but three years old, leaving a
widow and five children, four boys and one girl. Mr. Kerby was reared upon a
farm, and received only the advantage of a graded public school education.
Not being satisfied with this, through his own efforts he completed a
commercial course in one of the best schools of Quincy, Ill., after which he
located in the City of St. Louis, where he was associated with William
Seely, Circulation Manager of "The St. Louis Star," for about a year. Mr.
Seely then left this position and became interested in the Seely-Van Dyke
Drug Company, East Orange, N. J., took Mr. Kerby with him, and for more than
a year he was in the employ of this company. Then, through correspondence
with an old schoolmate who was located there, he came to Arizona and made
his home in Clifton, arriving there in May, 1903. He first worked in the
drug department of the A. C. Co., and then took a position as bookkeeper of
the Cromb & Shannon meat market. In 1905 he returned to Missouri and was
married to Miss Cora Gibson, daughter of George D. and Emilio Gibson, one of
the prominent families of Howard County, of which her father served as
Sheriff for twelve years. On his return, however, he became dissatisfied
with working for a salary, and started for himself in the real estate
business. He was deputy to Assessor John J. Birdno from 1907 to 1911 in
Graham County, and because of his fair, impartial and fearless manner of
assessing, and his knowledge of taxation, he earned the reputation of being
one of the best officers who ever served the county in that capacity. In
January, 1911, Greenlee County was organized from Graham, making necessary
the appointment of an assessor for the new county. Certain interests fought
the appointment of Mr. Kerby, but he secured the appointment. He started out
with a valuation of $5,762,447.66, and at the end of the first year, though
having worked at a disadvantage on account of not having maps or plats, the
result w r as remarkable, as after the equalization was made it was found
that the county's taxable wealth showed an increase of $1,409,421.92. In the
fall of 1911, when county officers were elected, Mr. Kerby led his ticket in
amount of votes received by any candidate having an opponent. His assessment
for the year 1912 showed a more remarkable increase, for after the
equalization was made it was found that the taxable wealth of the county
amounted to more than $12,726,000.00, an increase over that of 1911 of more
than $5,503,000.00, or a total increase of $6,993,562.34 for two years. Mr.
Kerby became a member of the Arizona County Assessors' Association in 1911,
when it was organized, and has done some wonderful work in having this
association recommend tax measures to the legislature, among which is the
repeal of the bullion tax law. It was his draft of the measure creating the
Tax Commission that was adopted by the Attorney General, and at the time of
the appointment of this commission Mr. Kerby was offered the position of
Secretary, and after the resignation of one of the members was offered a
place on the commission, which he refused because he was offered the short
term instead of the one made vacant by the resignation. Mr. Kerby has the
reputation of being one of the best informed men in the State on the subject
of taxation, always interested in the equalization of assessments. He is a
progressive Democrat, interested in working for the best interests of
Democracy. He organized the first Democratic club in Greenlee County, and
the fruits of its labors are to be noted at each election. Mr. Kerby is a
member of Elks' Lodge No. 1174, and Coronado Masonic Lodge No. 8, F. & A.
M., both of Clifton.
William E. Kelly [Page 575]
William
E. Kelly, Recorder of Greenlee County, is the youngest county officer in
Arizona, and one of the youngest in the United States, having been but
twenty-two years of age when he assumed the duties of his present position.
He is a native of Arizona, having been born in 1889 in Tombstone, where his
parents, Michael and Julia Sullivan Kelly, were among the early settlers. He
was educated in the public schools and at St. Michael's College, Santa Fe.
Mr. Kelly has been thoroughly trained, and before election to his present
position was chief book-keeper at the Shannon Copper Company's store, where
he showed marked ability as an executive and accountant. His ability to
capably fill the position of Recorder of Greenlee County w r as evidently
recognized during the campaign, as he led the ticket and was elected by a
very large majority. Mr. Kelly is a brother of J. J. Kelly, Assistant
Cashier of the First National Bank of Clifton, and, like him, is a strong
member of the progressive Democratic party in the State. Genial, courteous
and popular, the people who have dealings with the Recorder's office speak
in highest terms of the manner in which the records of the county are being
kept, and of the treatment accorded them by the youngest county official in
Arizona. Mr. Kelly is also well known in the social life of Greenlee County,
and is popular in fraternal circles, being a member of the Knights of
Columbus and Elks, and actively interested in the affairs of both orders.
George H. Chase [Page 712]
George
H. Chase, Senator from Greenlee County, is a veteran of the Civil War, an
absolutely reliable business man, an all around booster, and one of the most
gentlemanly and substantial citizens of Arizona. He \vas born in New York in
1843, and has been a resident of this State since 1898.. While Senator Chase
can hardly be classified as a pioneer, he comes of a line of pioneers and
statesmen. His father, Samuel P. Chase, was a well known pioneer of that
section of New York in which the Senator was born, and like his
distinguished relative Salmon P. Chase, of national reputation, was known as
a progressive, wide-awake citizen whose word was as good as his bond. Since
coming to Arizona, Senator Chase has been actively engaged in its
upbuilding, and when Arizona was ready for admission to the Lnion, the
people of his county united in choosing him their first representative in
the State Senate, regardless of their political belief, for, although they
knew him to be a progressive Democrat, they also knew what manner of man he
is. George H. Chase is a fighter and builder, and he has aided in many of
the important building enterprises of the State, especially mining buildings
of Clifton-Morenci district, which bear the stamp of approval of competent
judges. Senator Chase is a Blue Lodge Mason of more than forty years'
standing, and is a member of Winnebago Lodge No. 33, of Portage, Wisconsin.
During the Civil War he served three years as cavalryman and was wounded
three times, and left the service a Sergeant-Major with two commissions in
his pocket, neither of which he accepted. Like his military record, his
record since has been without blemish, the credit for which he is perfectly
willing to share with Mrs. Chase, who is known throughout the Gila Valley as
"Aunt Maggie," where she numbers her friends by her acquaintances, and her
delight is in doing good. Mr. and Mrs. Chase are a splendid and interesting
old couple, though George H. denies being old. They have two daughters and
one son. At the first session of the Legislature Senator Chase was Chairman
of the Committee on Mines and Mining and member of five other committees,
and at the special session was Chairman of the Committee on Education and
Public Institutions and member of Enrolling and Engrossing, Labor, Mines and
Mining, Constitutional Amendments and Referendum, and Corporations
Committees. When the First Legislature of Arizona has completed its work,
there is no man whose record as a member will more readilv prove up under
the searchlight than the "Gentleman from Greenlee," one of the staunch sort,
of whom the State may well be proud.
Matthew H. Kane [Page 736]
Matthew
H. Kane, member of the First State Legislature from Greenlee County, was
born in Wisconsin March 4, 1869, and is the son of James and Anna Martin
Kane. In 1873 his parents removed to Nebraska, then very sparsely settled,
and there his childhood was spent with only Sioux Indians for playmates.
From them he thoroughly learned their language and the expert use of the bow
and arrow. For several years, up to the time he was eleven years of age, his
time was spent herding cattle. From the time he was eleven years until he
was twenty-one, he was employed as clerk, railway mail clerk, and traveling
salesman. About that time he removed to Butte, Montana, where he became
engaged in mercantile business, and there he was married in the year 1900.
In 1901 he came to Arizona to accept the management of the store department
of the Shannon Copper Company, which position he retained until the time of
the convening of the First State Legislature. During the regular session Mr.
Kane was Chairman of the Committee on Counties and County Affairs, and
member of several others, and at the special session he was member of the
Committee on State Institutions and Expenditures, known as the "Ax"
Committee; also of the Cornmittee on State Accounting and Methods of
Business, and Banking and Insurance, and Chairman of the Committee on
Counties and County Affairs. On the adjournment of the regular session Mr.
Kane purchased a ranch in the vicinity of York, to which he is now devoting
his time.
H. D. Keppler [Page 817]
H.
D. Keppler, Deputy Sheriff of Greenlee County, was born July 12, 1859, in
San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Jacob Keppler and Anna Martha Ludwich,
and a brother of Charles B. Keppler, Chief Deputy under Sheriff Patty of
Greenlee County. His parents are both natives of Germany, but were married
in San Antonio. Mr. Keppler was educated in the public schools of Texas, T
vas first employed at farm work, and then drifted into mining in Dona Ana
County, New Mexico. He came to Clifton, Arizona, February 18, 1885, and was
first employed in the mines, but was shortly afterward appointed deputy
sheriff, his first appointment having been under Billy Burchfield, of Graham
County. He has now served more than twenty years in this capacity in Graham
and Greenlee Counties. He was appointed for the present term by Sheriff John
D. Patty, who places the question of party affiliation in a secondary
position to that of fitness for the office, when one's ability and unusual
qualifications have been proven beyond a doubt by years of service. Mr.
Keppler has also served about eight years as Constable in Morenci. During
all these years he has had some very exciting experinces while in the
performance of his duty. He was in company with the deputies who were killed
at Eagle Creek, twelve miles from Morenci, hut his horse fell crossing the
river, causing Mr. Keppler to break his arm, and also to injure his leg. He
was one of the participants in the fight in 1895 when two hold-up men were
killed and one captured. Deputy Sheriff Keppler has taken part in all
activities of peace officers since 1895. He was married April 13, 1907, to
Mrs. Julia Smith, Their home is in Morenci.