 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!
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 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!  Charles H. Knapp, 1845-1898 Veteran, Court Clerk, Mason Buried in the Masons cemetery, Block 10, Lot 2, Grave 2 (Grave marker photograph courtesy of Pioneers’ Cemetery Association) Charles H. Knapp was a longtime court clerk in frontier Phoenix, Arizona.
Knapp was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1845, to Charles Knapp and Susan Ludlow. While yet a child, he moved with his parents to Terra Haute, Indiana in the spring of 1850. He was subsequently educated at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He was but 19 when he accepted a bounty to enlist in the Union army on March 11, 1864, for a term of three years. Assigned to Company I, Eleventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer infantry, he was promoted to corporal on May 2, 1865, and discharged on July 26, 1865, the Civil War having ended. Following the war, he lived for a time in Chillicothe, Missouri, before moving to McPherson, Kansas. On October 8, 1873, Knapp married Anna Rezzer in Newton, Kansas. They had one son and four daughters. In April of 1881, the Knapps moved to Phoenix. Charles served as either deputy clerk or clerk of District Court for the rest of his life. He was said to have been a popular and capable official, discharging his duties in a most satisfactory manner. In 1884, the Knapps had a fourth daughter, Anne, but she died on June 26, 1886, at the age of two. Mrs. Knapp died on January 30, 1889, ten days after giving birth to a fifth daughter. Both was interred next to little Anne in the family plot in Masons Cemetery. Two years later, Charles Knapp married Mary Ann Davidson. She was twenty years his junior and from Alexander, Louisiana. Charles Knapp was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, (GAR) and became a commander of the Phoenix Knights Templar. Being only 53 at the time of his death on November 28, 1898, he had not yet filed for a military pension. He was laid to rest with his first wife and children in the Masons cemetery, Block 10, Lot 2, Grave 2. His grave has a military headstone. His widow applied for a widow’s pension but her application was initially rejected. She tried again later and it was accepted on October 19, 1916. © 2016 by Val Wilson. Last revised 27 April 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!  Newton Jasper Coyle, 1843-1912 Veteran and miner Buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, exact location unknown. Memorial marker in the PMMP memorial garden. (Image generated with Bing AI) Coyle was born in Estill County, Kentucky, probably in March, 1842. He was one of several children born to Tilford Coyle and Malvina Alcorn. Although he was mistakenly indexed as Andrew on the 1850 federal census on FamilySearch, it is obvious that the entry was for Newton Jasper. Coyle’s father died in 1858, and his mother remarried twice thereafter.
On September 4, 1861, young Newton enlisted in the Union Army and was assigned to the 4th Kentucky Mounted Infantry. This unit saw action in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Early in 1864, he fractured his clavicle and was placed on leave. He was formally discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, on June 16, 1865. By February 24, 1864, Newton Coyle was back home in Irvine, where he married 17-year-old Susan Williams. Their first two children were born in Kentucky. The Coyles then moved to Arkansas by 1877 and on to Montgomery County, Kansas, by 1880. Apparently Coyle could not make a go of farming in Kansas, and the family returned to Benton County, Arkansas, the following year. Susan bore three more children before her death in 1887. Perhaps fed up with farming, Newton Coyle seems to have struck out alone for Montana, leaving his by then adult children to care for the younger ones. On October 13, 1891, he married a widow, Lizzie Perry, in Missoula County. The marriage didn’t last; by 1900, Newton was divorced and working as a silver miner. Montana’s winters and hard work in the mines took a toll on Coyle’s health. In 1904, he checked into the Old Soldiers’ Home in Leavenworth, Kansas. After applying for an invalid pension, he was moved to a veterans’ hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee. Records show that he was blind in one eye and had significant hearing loss. The 1910 census found him back in the Old Soldiers’ Home in Leavenworth. By 1912, Coyle’s youngest son Joseph was in Phoenix, Arizona, trying to find work on a ranch. Joseph and Newton were sharing a dwelling on Cave Creek Road when Newton passed away on October 5th of pneumonia. He was buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery. Records do not indicate whether this was the old K of P Cemetery at 13th Avenue, between Madison and Harrison Streets or the Knights of Pythias section of Forest Lawn north of 23rd Avenue and Van Buren. Afterward, Joseph returned to his wife and children in Arkansas. When their next baby was born in 1913, he was named Newton Jasper, for his grandfather. © 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 18 February 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!  Annie McMurtry Trott, 1859-1906 Surveyor’s Wife Buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 22, Lot 2, Grave 7 (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association) Margaret Anna McMurtry is believed to have been born on July 8, between 1856 and 1858, in White County, Illinois, to James Harrell McMurtry and Martha McMurtry neé Sharp. While the inscription on Annie’s grave marker says that she was born in 1859, her death record gives her birthyear as 1858.
The 1860 federal census found the widow McMurtry living in the household of a George W. Overton and working as a seamstress. Ten years later, the McMurtrys were farming in Gallatin County, Illinois, and Ann was recorded as being 13 years old. On February 22, 1879, Annie married Franklin P. Trott, in El Dorado, Saline County, Illinois. Trott was a civil engineer. Their first child, a daughter named Nellie, was born about five months later. The 1880 federal census recorded Annie and her baby daughter living with Martha, who was managing a boarding house in El Dorado. Franklin, a station agent for the Santa Fe Railroad, was not in the household (he was temporarily in Benton, Franklin County, Illinois), although he must have rejoined it shortly thereafter, since the Trotts had another daughter, Bessie, born in 1881. Shortly thereafter, the Trotts, accompanied by Annie’s widowed mother, moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Franklin worked by turns as a civil engineer, county surveyor, deputy sheriff and water commissioner. As head of the zanjeros in Maricopa County, Trott was generally well-regarded. The Trotts had a home at 472 North 2nd Street in Phoenix and seem to have enjoyed some years of relative prosperity during the 1880s. Sadly, both of their daughters fell ill with scarlet fever in 1890. Nellie recovered, but Bessie, aged nine, died in December and was buried in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery. Like so many others of the time, Annie was eventually diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. Not wanting to spend the summer in Phoenix, she traveled to Los Angeles in 1906, accompanied by her daughter Nellie. Annie died there on August 11, and her remains were returned to Phoenix for burial in the family plot. Franklin P. Trott lived until May 2, 1936. He and his daughter Nellie are buried in the Encanto Mausoleum at Greenwood Memory Lawn in Phoenix. © 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 14 February 2025. 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!  Norma Jackson Helm, 1863-1891 Southern Belle Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 12, Grave B (Grave marker photo courtesy of Donna L. Carr) Norma Jackson was born December 1863 in Madison, Morgan County, Georgia, to newlyweds Jesse Wade Jackson and his wife, Julia Tunnell. Although Madison is near Atlanta, it escaped destruction during General Sherman’s March to the Sea in 1864 because it was home to a pro-Union congressman, Joshua Hill.
Surprisingly for a white Southerner, Norma’s father was a Republican. As a matter of fact, he became a personal friend of Ulysses S. Grant, who arranged an appointment in the U. S. Revenue Department for him in 1881. The Jacksons resided in Washington, D. C. until March 1887, when Jesse passed away. His body was returned for burial in the family plot at Buckhead, Georgia. As her parents’ only child, the move to Washington had benefitted Norma. Raised in the genteel traditions of the Old South, she was expected to act as a gracious hostess at the tea parties and social events befitting her station in society. When she came down with consumption, she travelled to Los Angeles to visit an aunt. While there, she met Dr. Scott Helm and became engaged to him. In February 1890, a Los Angeles newspaper reported, “Miss Norma Jackson, of Capitol Hill, the only child of the late Jesse W. Jackson, was married on the 12th instant, at Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, to Dr. Scott Helm, a native of Kentucky, a graduate of Princeton College and Rush Medical College, [and] of Heidelberg, Germany. Miss Norma is well-known in Washington, where her grace, beauty and accomplishments won her many admirers. She was on the Pacific Slope visiting her aunt, where she was wooed, won and wed by the fortunate doctor.” As the wife of Dr. Helm, the foremost surgeon in the Arizona Territory, Norma entertained frequently and became known for her charm and hospitality. Her circle of acquaintances included her half-aunt, the much-married Mary Taylor Woolsey Sullivan Fry Baxter. Norma’s health took a turn for the worse late in 1890. In February 1891, the Helms celebrated their first—and last—wedding anniversary with an excursion to the Hole in the Rock near Scottsdale, where the party was serenaded by a local singer known as “Monsieur Mumm." Despite Dr. Helm’s expert ministrations, Norma died on April 30, 1891, at the age of 28, and was buried in Porter Cemetery. Dr. Helm did not remain a widower for long. In November, 1892, he married Miss Jane Beeler of Kentucky. © 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 4 January 2025. 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!  Louise Cora Clough Dunn, 1840-1896 Miner’s Wife Buried in City Loosley Cemetery, Section 11, Grave 7 (Photo courtesy of her descendants) Louise Cora Clough was born in Maine around 1840. When she was a young girl, she appears to have been known as Caroline. The family eventually moved to Douglas County, Kansas, where her father, the Rev. Mace Richard Clough, was a Methodist circuit preacher and farmer. Judging from the birthplaces of their children, the move took place between 1850 and 1857. At the time, Douglas County was at the epicenter of “Bleeding Kansas," with settlements sharply divided between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.
Louise married William B. Walling on November 22, 1857, in Lawrence, Kansas. Like herself, Walling was a New Englander, born January 31, 1835, in Vermont. Walling seems to have been in the lumber industry, so it was only natural that, around 1859, the couple would leave treeless, windswept Kansas for the mining towns of Colorado. The Wallings settled near Central City, Colorado, where William built a sawmill. Over the following years, he and Louise had several children: an unnamed child who died at birth around 1858, Frederick A. (1859-1946), Herbert Benjamin (1864-1947), Edward (~1867-), Addie (~1868-), May (1870-1953), and Elmer Ellsworth (1871-1965). After a dispute with his business partner which culminated in a shooting in self-defense, Walling moved his sawmill to Caribou, Colorado, and branched out into cattle-raising and real estate sales. He constructed a small steamboat and, on the Fourth of July, 1872, launched it at a popular amusement park built on a small lake south of Central City. Residents appreciated the novelty and lined up to buy tickets for excursions. But all was not well with the Walling marriage. They divorced on June 16, 1875, and Louise married John Casper Dunn in Denver just thirteen days later, on June 29, 1875. Dunn was a miner and a Union veteran of the Civil War. The year 1880 found the Dunns living in Denver, where Louise’s youngest child, Elmer Ellsworth, had adopted the Dunn surname. None of Louise’s other children, who had continued to use the Walling surname, were in the household. The Dunns may have moved to Phoenix, Arizona, after Louise developed pulmonary tuberculosis. The family was living near Five Points when she died quite suddenly on September 9, 1896. She had reportedly eaten a hearty supper and was washing dishes afterward when stricken with a hemorrhage from which she died a few minutes later. Louise was buried in Loosley Cemetery, Section 11, Grave 7. © 2022 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 16 November 2022. 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! |