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Czar
James Dyer (1846-1903)
Although
he was an authentic Arizona pioneer, the gentleman with the extraordinary
first name--Czar--was born in the state of Michigan and grew to manhood
there. The historical record indicates that C. J. Dyer was born
February 2, 1846, in Jackson, Michigan. He was the second of five
children of James A. Dyer and Eliza J. Brownell. Czar James Dyer
was baptized in the First Congregational Church in Jackson, Michigan, on
May 2, 1847.
At the
age of 18, Dyer enlisted in the United States Navy. He served
during the Civil War from August 20, 1864, to July 28, 1865 as a 'powder
monkey' aboard the U.S.S. Mattabassett. Upon discharge, he received
a small pension as a result of some injury to his eyes.
After
his year of service in the Union Navy, Dyer's travels took him to California,
where the Gold Rush was still drawing many prospectors. The
federal census of 1880 shows C. J. Dyer residing in Oakland, Alameda
County, California, in the household of Frank and Nellie Jones. He
gave his age as 31 and his occupation as 'artist'.
Shortly thereafter,
he moved to the Arizona Territory. It was the booming mining industry
near Prescott that first captured his adventurous spirit. Within
a few years, his restless yearnings lured him further south to the prospering
settlement of Phoenix.
Phoenix
had been founded in 1867. The original townsite selected was
between Van Buren Street on the north and Harrison Street on the south,
with Seventh Street on the east and Seventh Avenue on the west. A
visitor to the little outpost in 1868 observed "...about 50 persons who...displayed
great energy..." living in Phoenix. It is not known exactly when
Dyer came to Phoenix but, by the time he began to be recognized in
the settlement along the Salt River, the population of Phoenix had grown
to 1,208 inhabitants. Clearly, he had arrived on the scene as Phoenix
was in a period of rapid growth and development.
A personable
fellow, "C. J.", as he was popularly known, made the acquaintance of many
key individuals in town, thus immediately involving himself in local commerce
and government affairs. An artist, specifically a cartographer by profession,
Dyer was soon appointed official mapmaker for the growing city. Tourists
who visit the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park are encouraged
to take note of the large map titled "A Birdseye View of Phoenix" which
adorns the north wall in the dining room of Smurthwaite House. The
original was executed in 1885 and signed by its creator, C. J. Dyer.
C. J. Dyer served
as a two-term city councilman from the second ward during the mid-1880s,
and an interim mayor for three and a half months in 1889 (January through
April). Notwithstanding his prominence in Phoenix politics of
the time and his participation in business and industry, no photograph,
sketch or likeness of him has been found. There are pictures of
every mayor of Phoenix in the present [2008] City Council chambers--except
for mayor #18--Czar J. Dyer. Historians and genealogists alike hope that
some collateral relative of this man or a descendant of one of his many
friends will come forth with a photograph or artist's sketch of him.
Dyer never married
and is not known to have fathered any children. Of his Phoenix
addresses, 27 East Van Buren is the only one on record. It was
there that he was residing when he died on March 28, 1903, at the age
of 52.
C. J. Dyer is buried in a plot west of Smurthwaite House in Rosedale
Cemetery. Rosedale is just one section of the Pioneer &
Military Memorial Park located at the southeast corner of 15th Avenue
and Jefferson Street in Phoenix, Arizona. His grave is #11 on the
walking tour map of the cemeteries. The grave marker itself is a
standard military marble stone quarried in Massachusetts. It is scupted
in relief--but incorrectly, with an 'A' for Dyer's middle inital. The
stone should have been incribed with a 'J' for James. When you visit
the Rosedale Cemetery, be sure to observe this error on C. J. Dyer's gravestone.
--Biographical information compiled by Rosé
Sullivan
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