 Mahlon Irvine, about 1886-1898 Drowned in a Canal Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 5, Lot 2, Grave 1 (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers Cemetery Association, Inc.) During warm weather, the canals that ran through frontier Phoenix were an irresistible temptation to children, with predictable consequences.
Edward Irvine and his son Joseph had come to Phoenix in 1870. Mr. Irvine owned a "book and news depot," located directly west of the City Hall plaza. Besides selling print materials, Irvine acted as a news correspondent for a Prescott newspaper and as a lawyer. He also purchased several lots in Phoenix; the Irvine Addition was named for him. Edward Irvine and his third wife, Izora Elizabeth Jackson, had several children. Mahlon, born in 1887, was one of them. On the morning of April 23, 1898, Mahlon’s parents were out of town; they had gone to visit Mrs. Irvine’s parents in Buckeye. Young Mahlon had gone with his friends Walden Kemp and Newton Levy to look for birds’ nests. Eventually they arrived at the confluence of the Maricopa and Salt River canals, about four miles north of downtown Phoenix. There was a dam below the Consolidated head where the water was estimated to be about fifteen feet deep. The day being warm, Mahlon suggested that they jump in to cool off. The two younger boys did not know how to swim and thought the water too cold, so they decided simply to wade near the edge of the canal. Mahlon, however, paddled about for a short time, showing off, before he suddenly gave a cry, went under and did not reappear. Alarmed, the other two boys ran for help to Bernard’s roadhouse nearby. Four or five men came back with them but, due to the coldness and depth of the water, they were unable to locate the missing boy. About an hour later, Dr. Scroggs was passing by the canal in his carriage. Noticing the commotion at the spot, he stopped, dove in and retrieved Mahlon’s body. Mahlon’s parents learned the sad news as they were returning from their day trip. Justice Kincaid empaneled a coroner’s jury to hear testimony from the two boys who had been with Mahlon, and they described what had happened. The verdict was as expected: accidental death by drowning. Mahlon Irvine was buried two days later in the Masons Cemetery, next to his little niece Lillie May who had died in 1885. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 17 July 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!
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 Daniel Geisinger, 1834-1886 Freighter Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown (Sketch by Edwin Forbes, artist, 1863. Library of Congress.) Before dams were built upstream, crossing the Salt River could be a hazardous undertaking. It’s how Daniel Geisinger lost his life in 1886.
Daniel Geisinger was born on November 20, 1834, in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, to John Geisinger and Mary Ann Bachman. Pennsylvania was home to large numbers of German immigrants, and Geisinger (or Geissinger) was a common surname there. Daniel had seven siblings. The family seems to have moved every few years, so evidently they were not farmers. The 1850 census lists John Geisinger as a miller. In about 1854, several of the older Geisinger siblings—Rebecca, David, Mary Ann—moved to Dixon, Lee County, Illinois. Late in life, David moved further west to Iowa. Although the younger Geisinger children remained in Pennsylvania, Daniel was perhaps restless and looking for adventure. On March 27, 1855, he signed up at Newport, Kentucky, for a five-year term in the U. S. Army. The enlistment contract described him as being 5 feet 7 inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was assigned to Company A, 3rd United States Cavalry. At the end of the war with Mexico in 1848, the U.S. Army had reverted to its peacetime size. Since its principal duties were guarding the border with Mexico and protecting frontier settlements from Indian attacks, Daniel very likely served somewhere out West. He mustered out with the rank of corporal at Fort Garland, Colorado Territory, March 27, 1860. Reportedly, Geisinger arrived in Arizona around 1863. In 1876, he registered to vote in Yavapai County; by 1882, he was in Pinal County. Newspaper accounts as early as 1875 identify him as a long-distance freighter, hauling supplies for Arizona mercantiles. Geisinger died on April 26, 1886, while fording the Salt River at Phoenix. A sixteen-mule team was pulling a loaded freight wagon, and Geisinger was riding his favorite mare alongside the lead mules when the strong current swept several off their feet. In the ensuing confusion, Geisinger leaped from his saddle in an attempt to keep the mules from drowning, but he became entangled in their harness. Although his companion, Grant LeBarr, tried valiantly to save him, Geisinger too was swept away downstream. Geisinger’s body was recovered several days later, and he was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery. At his funeral, the old mare he had been riding on the day of his death was draped in black crepe as a poignant reminder of the tragedy. Geisinger’s grave has no surviving marker. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 8 July 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Martha Richey Beatty, 1829-1902 Patron of Education Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Section 119, Lot 11, Grave 2 (Grave marker photo courtesy of the PCA) In an era when bathing involved heating water on a hot stove, filling a bathtub and emptying it afterward, some Phoenix residents preferred to use the public baths at Frank Shirley’s barbershop…and that is where Martha Beatty met her end.
Martha Richey was born in Ohio in August, 1829. On May 3, 1851, she married Benjamin Beatty in La Salle, Illinois. The Beatties had no children, although Martha's will mentions an adopted daughter, Blanche, who was in the household in 1870. By 1880, the Beatties were living in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where Benjamin owned a grocery store. He must have died between then and 1884 for Mrs. Beatty's will, dated February 15, 1884, does not mention him. Martha was living in Eddyville, Iowa, when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She determined to move to a more congenial climate and arrived in Phoenix around 1894. The 1900 federal census records Martha as a widow who owned her own home on East Jefferson Street, near the street car barns. One of her neighbors was a Mrs. S. J. Conley. Since it would have been difficult for an elderly woman to heat water and fill a bathtub in her own kitchen, Mrs. Beatty took her baths at Frank Shirley's Tonsorial Parlor (barbershop) in the basement of Goodman's Drug Store. The Tonsorial Parlor rented curtained cubicles for bathing, as most private residences of the time did not yet have indoor plumbing. On August 9, 1902, Martha went to the bathhouse, having arranged with Mrs. Conley to meet her there at 1 PM. However, Mrs. Conley was delayed and did not arrive until 2 PM. Imagine her horror when she entered the cubicle only to find Mrs. Beatty lying on her side with her face completely under the surface of the water. Dr. Plath was sent for, but efforts to revive Martha failed. The coroner's jury convened the following day and found that Mrs. Beatty must have fainted on account of the hot water and drowned. Martha Beatty's funeral took place on August 11, after which she was interred in Rosedale Cemetery. A petition for the probate of Mrs. Beatty's will was filed the next day. At the time of her death, her estate was valued at $3,292.50 (about $98,700 in 2019). She left only $5 of her estate to her heirs; the rest of it went to Lincoln University in Lincoln, Illinois. According to the newspaper reports, Mrs. Beatty had relatives in Lincoln who had refused to come to Phoenix and nurse her during her final illness, and it was for this reason that she decided to leave her property to the educational institution instead. The inscription on her monument reads, “A Patron of Education.” © 2020 by Patricia Gault. Last revised March 2020. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Elizabeth Mason Gardiner, about 1838-1895 Textile Mill Worker and Hotel Manager Buried in Porter Cemetery, Lot 46, Grave D (Generic image created using Dall-E 3 via MicroSoft Bing) England’s industrial revolution of the early and mid-1800s created jobs for many women in textile factories.
Elizabeth Mason was born about 1838 in Gloucestershire, England. On April 1, 1862, she married a local man named Jehoiada Gardiner in the Registry office in Stroud, Gloucestershire. The young couple had decided to emigrate to the United States in hopes of making their fortune there. Three weeks after their wedding, Jehoiada boarded the ship John J. Boyd, sailing from Liverpool to New York. He intended to send for Elizabeth after he had found employment. Unbeknownst to him, she was already pregnant. She gave birth to their son, John Mason Gardiner, in December 1862. At first, the couple exchanged letters. However, when the letters stopped sometime around 1869, Elizabeth assumed that Jehoiada had died. Left to raise her son alone, she found work in a woolen mill. In 1882, Jehoiada turned up while visiting England. What a shock it must have been for Elizabeth to discover that her husband was not only alive, but a successful businessman in Arizona and remarried to another woman! Jehoiada, who was now calling himself John J. Gardiner, arranged for Elizabeth and their now 20-year-old son to travel at once to the United States—but he asked them to remain in Salt Lake City while he broke the news to his second wife that they were not married after all. Two years passed, and John J. was still working on a legal settlement that would provide for the woman who had been living with him as his wife for nearly fourteen years. Frustrated by the long delay, Elizabeth and her son John moved to Petaluma, California, where she began divorce proceedings herself. This got John J.’s attention. He persuaded her to drop her case and remain married to him. In 1885, Elizabeth and her son finally joined John J. in Phoenix. Elizabeth helped to manage the Capitol Hotel, and John J. gave his son a job in the Phoenix Water Company. In 1887, Elizabeth’s son John wed Honora Reppy. In due course of time, they presented John J. and Elizabeth with a granddaughter named Hilda and son named Charles. Elizabeth joined the local Church of Christ. During the last year of her life, she contended with heart disease and asthma but bore her sufferings with Christian fortitude. Death was expected and came on April 13, 1895. Elder W. H. Matlock was in charge of the funeral, after which she was buried in Porter Cemetery. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 23 June 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Caroline Myrick Goodhue, 1837-1888 Opened First Ice Cream Parlor in Phoenix Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown (Image generated using ChatGPT’s Dall-E 3) Mrs. Caroline Goodhue’s ice cream parlor helped to bring a touch of sweetness and civility to a frontier community establishing its identity in 1883.
She was born Caroline Myrick in Ontario, Canada. She and her husband, Peter Waldron Goodhue, were living in Visalia, Tulare County, California, when their daughter Ella Mary was born in 1857. Peter was operating a livery stable in 1860. Ten years later, the Goodhues were raising livestock and growing oranges on their ranch. On December 5, 1876, Ella (or Eleanor) wed Allen John Stroud in Melrose, Alameda County, California. Allen was the son of Ira Stroud of Fresno, California. In April of 1878, Eleanor, Allen, and their infant son joined the Ira Stroud family in their move to Phoenix. Carrie Goodhue was also in Phoenix by 1882. Since Peter was no longer with her, it is likely that he had died by this time, and Caroline had decided to join her married daughter. Evidently, she had a good deal of money to invest. In 1883, she purchased several lots in Block 31, near the downtown area. Ads for Mrs. Goodhue’s ice cream parlor began appearing in local newspapers in April, 1883, offering day and evening hours for families and private parties. Located at Montezuma Street and Washington, the ice cream parlor was conveniently placed near the Arctic Ice Works and the Phoenix Ice Factory, two businesses that were vital to preserving perishables in the desert climate. Of course, Mrs. Goodhue’s establishment was more than just a business—it was a social hub, offering Phoenicians and their guests a genteel place to gather. During late June 1882, 1883 and 1884, Mrs. Goodhue’s booth was among several others at the fiesta grounds in Phoenix, where residents celebrated the Feast of St. John despite the summer heat. In the fall of 1884, Mrs. Goodhue traveled to Canada to visit relatives. On New Year’s Day, 1885, a newspaper article celebrated her return, recalling with fondness the “happy associations in the hearts of our belles and beaux” and how her parlor was known for its tastefully arranged rooms, ice cream, cake, and social gatherings. Since no more ads appeared after 1884, perhaps Mrs. Goodhue’s health was in decline. She died on January 7, 1888, and was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery. Mrs. Goodhue’s presence in the business sphere reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of pioneer women, who contributed to the cultural and social life of Phoenix as well as its economic growth. © 2025 by Val Wilson. Last revised 17 June 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Emma Beauchamp McGehon, 1861-1903 Ran a Stage Station Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, Section B10, Lot 2, Grave 9 (Photo of Mrs. Emma McGehon and her son, Van Murray McGehon, from the archives of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) Managing a hotel or boarding house was one way for a respectable lady to earn a living during the Victorian era.
Emma was born around 1861 in Santa Cruz, California, to Causten Van Rensler Beauchamp and Sarah Elizabeth Hinton, who was originally from Virginia. It should be noted that the name "Beauchamp" is usually rendered as "Beechum" in early documents, since that’s how it’s pronounced. The Beauchamp family moved to Phoenix from Santa Cruz, California, around 1878. They managed the Swilling Hotel (not as grand as it sounds—it was a simple adobe structure). Later, they operated the stage station on the Black Canyon Road near where it was crossed by the Arizona Canal. As her parents aged, Emma took over more of the management on the stage station. She cooked for the stage passengers and provided a few amenities to women travelers. She married William McGehon, a stage driver, in Phoenix on 6 March 1881. According to his World War I draft registration, their son, Van Murray McGehon, was born in 1879 (or 1880). Another male infant, born and died in 1883, is buried next to Emma. In 1902, Emma’s health began to decline. She died 17 October 1903 at St. Joseph’s hospital of shock and blood loss following surgery to remove a tumor. She was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, Section B10, Lot 2, Grave 9. © 2019 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 31 August 2019. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Mary Maud Peterson Kennedy, 1877 -1902 Dressmaker Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Block 4, Grave 3 (Image courtesy of Microsoft Word clip art) Sewing and needlework, although not very well-paid, have always been one of the few occupations open to respectable women.
Mary was born August 7, 1877, in Greenwood, Cass County, Nebraska, to George Peterson and Lucinda Bice. In 1900 the family had moved to Homer Township, Bates County, Missouri, where Mary’s parents were farmers, and Mary and her sister Nettie were listed as servants. Mary and Nettie, however, left Missouri soon after and, by early December, were living in Pleasanton, Kansas, where they opened up a dressmaking business. Mary became a member of the Royal Neighbor Lodge in Missouri. The Society was a progressive women’s fraternal benefit society established in 1895 and an auxiliary to Modern Woodmen of America. The organization focused on assisting women and children in need and offering life insurance for women--an option never before available to women. Royal Neighbor is now the largest women-led life insurer in the country. It was not long before Mary met Benjamin F. Kennedy, a cattleman from Belgrade, Montana, and nephew of Judge Daniel E. Peterson. They were married April 17, 1901, in Amoret, Missouri. Shortly after the wedding, the young couple moved to Montana. Like so many others at the time, Mary was soon diagnosed with tuberculosis, and a move to a warmer climate was recommended. The Peterson family arrived in Phoenix sometime between 1901 and 1902. Benjamin and Mary then came to Phoenix so that Mary’s family of origin could care for her. On February 18, 1902, she died at her father’s residence. Mary was buried in Rosedale Cemetery. Her sister, Elica Card, who died in 1904, and her brother, Benjamin, who died in 1911, are also buried there. © 2020 by Patricia Gault. Last revised 13 March 2020. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  George L. Godfrey, about 1841-1899 Cannery Manager Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, exact location unknown (Generic image created using Bing’s DALL•E 3) George L. Godfrey was born about 1841 in Madison County, New York, to Albert Godfrey and Rosina Putnam. When the federal census was taken in 1850, the Godfreys were living in Camden, Oneida County, New York, where Albert worked as a millwright. In 1860, he was recorded as a "carpenter and joiner."
On September 22, 1864, George Godfrey joined the Union Army as a private in Company K, 189th New York Infantry. In less than two months, he was promoted to sergeant and transferred to Company L, 15th New York Engineers--possibly a recognition of mechanical or engineering skill. The regiment served at the siege of Petersburg and was present for Lee’s surrender at Appomattox before being disbanded on June 13, 1865, at Fort Barry, Virginia. Immediately after his discharge, Godfrey returned home to Camden to support his widowed mother and unmarried sister, crafting chairs in the family’s workshop. Around 1868, he married Louisa A. Wightman. By 1870, he was employed in a local canning factory. The federal census of 1880 found Godfrey still working at the corn cannery. By then, the household included not just his wife, young son George Ernest and widowed mother, but also a couple of nieces and nephews. The Godfreys welcomed a daughter, Gertrude, in 1881. Although the 1890 federal census has not survived, Godfrey’s name appears in the veterans’ schedules, which did. He filed for a Civil War pension on September 18, 1890. Godfrey’s years of experience in the canning industry appear to have advanced his career. In 1891, he was managing a corn-packing plant in Faribault, Minnesota. Although he suffered a financial setback in 1892 when he was sued for failure to fulfill a contract, by 1895 he was planning to open another cannery in nearby Owatonna. Toward the end of 1897, George and Louisa Godfrey moved to Phoenix, Arizona. George died in Phoenix on April 13, 1899, at his home on East Van Buren Street. He was buried in a Roman Catholic section of Rosedale Cemetery, though no grave marker survives and the exact location of his grave is unknown. His name is commemorated with a brick in the PMMP memorial garden. After his death, Louisa Godfrey applied for and received a widow’s pension. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 29 May 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  John A. Brown, about 1837-1883 Union Veteran, Miner and Stockman Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown (Silhouette courtesy of Pixabay.com) John A. Brown was born in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York State, around 1837. He was the oldest of five sons born to Royal Horace Brown and Alida Potter. The Browns were farmers, but perhaps young John had other ambitions. By 1864, he was in California, eking out a living as a prospector or miner.
On March 26, 1864, he enlisted in the Union Army at Sacramento, California, and was assigned to Company D, 2nd California Cavalry. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, with brown hair and a florid complexion. He served for two years and mustered out on May 29, 1866 at Camp Union, California. Since Brown enlisted well after the famous California Column had departed for Arizona, his military service may have taken place entirely in California. Nevertheless, he must have heard tales about the mineral wealth that had been discovered near Wickenburg and Prescott. By 1880, John had joined his younger brother Sidney, who was running a saloon in Prescott, Arizona, and had filed on a homestead near Gillett, in Yavapai County. However, when the mines near Gillett closed down, the brothers decided to sell, and John’s brother departed for Nebraska. In early summer, 1883, Brown came to Phoenix to spend his share of the proceeds from the sale of his ranch. Evidently he had a problem with drink, for he remained more or less in a state of inebriation until he was found dead in a corral on July 12th. He was quickly buried in the first Phoenix cemetery, near the downtown area. When the Phoenix City Council decided a year later to close the first cemetery, Brown’s remains were presumably removed to a common grave in one of the new cemeteries at 13th Avenue and Jefferson. He has a commemorative marker in the memorial garden of the Pioneer & Military Memorial Cemetery. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 13 May 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers!  Horace B. Fitch, 1842-1900 Union Veteran and Grocer Buried in the Masons Cemetery, exact location unknown (Image generated using Bing Image Creator) Horace B. Fitch was a Union veteran of the Civil War and a grocer in early Phoenix.
Born on September 21, 1842, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, he was the son of Dr. Benjamin C. Fitch and Minerva Higbee. Horace never knew his father, who died barely a month after his birth. Thereafter, his mother married at least twice more. On April 27, 1861, shortly after war was declared, Horace Fitch enlisted in the Union army for a term of 3 months. He was assigned to Company I, 9th Indiana Infantry. When he reenlisted on October 19, he was assigned to Company F, 48th Indiana Infantry. It was present at the siege of Vicksburg in 1863. After doctors discovered that Private Fitch had diabetes, he was transferred to Company I, 17th Veteran Reserve Corps on November 4, 1863. The Veteran Reserve Corps were composed of invalid or partially disabled soldiers who worked in hospitals or did guard duty to free able-bodied men for service at the front. During the final year of his enlistment, Fitch apparently worked as a hospital steward. In 1866, Fitch married to Mrs. Mary (Porter) Relyea. At the time of their marriage, she had a baby daughter, Minnie, by her first husband. In 1870, Horace was working in a furniture shop in Mishawaka, Indiana. A year later, he and Mary had a daughter of their own whom they named Hattie. Unfortunately, the Fitch marriage ended in divorce in 1880. The 1880 federal census found Fitch living alone and working as an itinerant peddler of notions. Eventually, he saved enough money to open a small grocery store. Though inclined to be parsimonious, he was scrupulously honest in his dealings. In May 11, 1891, he married Mrs. Sarah (Thompson) Sult in South Bend, Indiana. Like himself, she too was a divorcee, with four children from her first marriage. Horace and Sarah had a daughter, Orla Mae, in 1893. The Fitches continued to live in Mishawaka until about 1893, when they moved to Arizona. Horace Fitch died on March 24, 1900, after being ill for eight days with typhoid pneumonia. He was buried in the Masons Cemetery; however, no grave marker has survived, so the exact location of his grave has been lost. He has is a memorial brick in the PMMP memorial garden. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 13 May 2026. If you would like assistance researching our interred, you can find more information on our website. You can contact us at [email protected] at any time. Thank you for your interest to preserve the history of Arizona's pioneers! |