![]() Candido Diaz, 1889-1919 Copper miner and farmer Buried in Cementerio Lindo, exact location unknown (Photo courtesy of Dolores Mendez, granddaughter) Candido Diaz was born February 2, 1889, in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico. He was the oldest of ten children born to Juan Diaz and Maria del Refugio Garcia.
On January 17, 1913, he married Candida Guzman of the same town. The young couple is believed to have had two little daughters, although only the second, Maria Engracia, has a birth record. She was born on April 3, 1915, and christened a few days later. The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910, lasted until 1920. Perhaps the Diazes hoped to avoid being drawn into the fighting. By 1917, they were living in Tyrone, New Mexico, a mining town run by Phelps Dodge Corporation. Supposedly, their first daughter died there. In 1919, Diaz was a copper miner and farmer in Miami, Arizona, another Phelps Dodge town. When he contracted influenza, he was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, where he died on February 7. The virulence of the Spanish Flu epidemic made immediate burial necessary. His wife Candida, who spoke only Spanish, had to rely upon English-speaking strangers to make the arrangements. She never knew exactly where her husband was buried. Nevertheless, Candido's story was passed on for nearly a century, until his granddaughter, Dolores “Lola” Mendez, found his death certificate on line. As was often the case with Mexican names, Diaz's death certificate was incorrectly filed; it’s under 'Candido Garcia'4, his mother’s maiden name. Still, it was possible to positively identify him by the date of death. He had been buried in the Maricopa County Cemetery, now known as Cementerio Lindo. Although Candido Diaz has no grave marker and the exact location of his grave is forever unknown, his family is relieved to know that he was accorded a Christian burial and rests beside so many other victims of the influenza epidemic. © 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 2 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!
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![]() Robert E. Lee Brown, 1865-1902 Mining Engineer and Adventurer Buried in Rosedale North, Block 130 (Grave marker and photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) R. E. L. Brown may be one of the most unique characters in the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, both for his colorful life--and the speed with which he was forgotten after his demise.
Born May 31, 1865, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Laurence and Martha Brown, he trained as a mining engineer, then went out west to locate promising mines. In 1889, Brown was surveying potential mining claims in Washington state. During a violent labor strike in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1892, he started a newspaper called The Barbarian, which took the side of the mine owners versus the unionized miners. This earned him the nickname “Barbarian Brown." Threatened with death during the strike, he caused a cannon to be wheeled into the street outside his office. Much as he enjoyed the furor his newspaper editorials provoked, Brown remained first and foremost a mining engineer. He speculated in mines and was well regarded internationally for his expertise. Seeking new adventures, Brown journeyed to South Africa in hopes of securing some promising claims during a land rush in Witfontein in 1895. Competition was fierce for the best claims, but Brown hit upon a method that could outrun the swiftest horse: a heliograph! He set up heliograph stations by which he could transmit confirmation almost instantaneously to his confederates in the field who were waiting to stake his claims. On July 19, 1895, the day of the land rush, twelve thousand miners were gathered in Doornkoop to register their permits. But Brown had devised a plan to ensure that he would be first in line. A fan of American football, he recruited a group of rough men from local bars to form a “flying wedge” to cut through the crowd. The ruse worked; however, the Pretoria government initially refused to honor his claims. Brown sued the Boer government and eventually won a huge judgment, the exact value of which has never been ascertained. Having worn out his welcome in South Africa, the brash engineer returned to North America where, on September 26, 1898, he wed Maud Higgins in Victoria, British Columbia. Brown was in London in 1901 when he apparently contracted tuberculosis. In late 1902, he traveled to Phoenix in a private train car with his wife, his personal physician and a nurse. Unfortunately, he had left it too late; he died on October 3, 1902, scarcely a week after his arrival. Despite his fame and fortune, his death rated only a few lines in the local newspaper, and he was buried under a simple wooden headboard in Rosedale Cemetery. One can only speculate as to why Brown’s remains were not shipped back East and why a more elaborate headstone was never erected over his grave. © 2020 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 16 October 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! ![]() Lindley Hogue Orme, 1848-1900 Maricopa County Sheriff Buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 9, Lot 2, Grave 6 (Photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) The Orme family of Arizona has a long and distinguished history, making many of their descendants eligible for membership in the DAR and other patriotic societies.
Lindley Hogue Orme was born December 18/19, 1848, in Montgomery, Maryland. He was the fourth of eight children of Charles Henry Crabbe Orme and Deborah Brooke Pleasants. When Lindley’s older brother, Charles Henry Crabbe Orme, enlisted in the 35th Virginia Cavalry (CSA) on March 1, 1863, Lindley accompanied him, although he was only about fourteen at the time. Military records say that the brothers served in White’s Battalion, known as “the Comanches." Lindley was a private in Company B, while Charles was in Company D. When Richmond, Virginia, fell to the Union Army on April 2, 1865, Lindley was taken prisoner. A few weeks later, he signed his oath of allegiance and was released. According to his obituary, Lindley and his brothers drove a flock of sheep to California at some point thereafter. Lindley then settled in Phoenix where he acquired three sections of land in central Phoenix and raised over 600 acres of grain. He is credited with bringing the first threshing machine to the Salt River Valley. Orme wed Mary Florence Greenhaw on March 15, 1876. Unfortunately, Mary Florence was suffering from tuberculosis, so she and Lindley had no children. She died on March 16, 1883. Lindley eventually married Mary A. Jeffries, with whom he had one son, Alfred. Orme served as sheriff from 1880 to 1884. During this time he was also appointed a deputy U.S. marshal, not bad for a former Confederate. Henry Garfias was one of his deputies. In April of 1883, a smallpox epidemic broke out in Maricopa County. As sheriff, Orme was directed to quarantine the afflicted families to prevent the spread of the disease. Water being essential to the future of Phoenix, Orme helped form the Agua Fria Water and Land Company in 1888. In 1891 and 1893, Orme was again elected sheriff. The county was growing at such a rate that a new courthouse and jail equipped with electric lights were needed. During Sheriff Orme's last term, he became something of a media celebrity when he foiled a plot by Dr. J. M. Rose to murder three members of a Williams family in Mesa. Lindley Orme died 24 September 1900, at the age of 52, having been in poor health for some months prior. He was buried next to his first wife in the IOOF Cemetery. © 2013 by Patty Gault, Val Wilson, Donna L. Carr. Last revised 2 September 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! ![]() Enrique "Henry" Garfias, 1849-1896 Phoenix’s First City Marshal Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown (Image - Garfias, Hi McDonald, and Billy Blankenship, courtesy of the Phoenix Police Museum) Enrique “Henry” Garfias was born on February 21, 1849, to Manuel Garfias and Luisa Avila, ranchers in Los Angeles, California. A well-educated, bilingual citizen of Mexican descent, Henry eventually decided to seek his fortune in Arizona instead of California. Between 1871 and 1874, he operated a freight-hauling enterprise between Wickenburg and Phoenix.
In 1878, Garfias ran for and was elected constable. The first major incident in which he was involved as a lawman was the apprehension of Jesus Romero, “The Saber Slasher," in 1879. Garfias and a deputy sheriff captured and returned him to Phoenix where he was jailed. Romero might have served out his sentence quietly had it not been for the murders of Luke Monihon on August 19th and popular saloonkeeper Johnny LeBar on August 21st. Incensed by the murders of two upstanding citizens in as many days, a lynch mob gathered. In spite of Garfias’ suggestion that the prisoners be moved to a secret location, vigilantes broke into the jail, shot Romero and hanged the two murderers in the Civic Plaza. After Phoenix incorporated in 1881, Garfias ran for marshal and was elected over two Anglo candidates. He served five consecutive one-year terms. The town marshal was not only the chief law enforcement officer, he was also responsible for collecting license fees and taxes, cleaning out irrigation ditches, issuing dog tags, and maintaining the streets. Garfias put prisoners in the city jail to work on street projects. Garfias soon developed a reputation for a cool head and personal courage, not to mention accuracy with his pistol. On August 2, 1882, he received news that three cowboys were “shooting up the town." He formed a posse and confronted them. When William Hardy responded by firing at him, Garfias was obliged to shoot to kill. On April 17, 1883, Enrique Garfias married Elena Redondo, daughter of a prominent family in Yuma. A daughter, Claudina, was born in 1884 and a son, Manuel, in 1887. Sadly, Elena died in 1890 following childbirth. In 1888, Garfias was employed by the city to move the bodies in the First City Cemetery to the new cemetery at 14th Avenue and Jefferson. Such was his reputation that he was elected constable again in 1892 and continued to be deputized for special assignments thereafter. In June 1891, Garfias married Dolores Ferreira, but the marriage was not a happy one. After the death of a baby son in 1893, Garfias sued for divorce. Enrique “Henry” Garfias died on May 8, 1896, from injuries sustained when his horse fell on him a few weeks earlier. He was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, presumably near his beloved Elena and children, although no gravestone marks the spot. © 2017 by Derek Horn. Last revised 22 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! ![]() Edward J. Lowry, 1855-1905 Sheriff in Ferry County, Washington Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, exact location unknown (Generic image created with Bing AI) Edward J. Lowry was born in 1855 in Carbon Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Irish immigrants Michael Lowry and Bridget Conley.
Huntingdon was coal-mining country, and Michael was a miner. He may also have been a member of the Molly Maguires, a secret society whose intent was to counter the exploitation and terrible working conditions of coal miners. The Molly Maguires are sometimes considered a precursor to the labor unions of later decades. If Michael was involved with the Molly Maguires, perhaps that was why the Lowry family left Pennsylvania for Saline County, Ohio. By 1870, Edward, aged 15, was himself working in the coal mines there. In 1877, Edward married Sarah Humphrey. The young couple moved to Boulder, Colorado, where their first child, Edward, Jr., was born in 1879. Edward continued to work as a miner, and he also became an organizer for a short-lived union, the Knights of Labor. Something must have intervened in the late 1880s to set Edward on a different path. Sarah was living temporarily with her parents in Bevier, Missouri, when the Lowrys’ second son, Ralph, was born on April 18, 1889. A decade later, in 1900, the family had reunited in Republic, Washington, a sparsely populated region in the far West. Edward and his older son were still working as coal miners until, in late 1900, Edward was elected sheriff of Ferry County. Apparently, Edward was pretty good at his job. The local newspapers printed detailed accounts of the sheriff’s activities, including the time when five prisoners sawed through the wooden ceiling of their cell and escaped via the roof on Christmas morning, 1901. Hot on the trail of the fugitives, Sheriff Lowry caught up with two of them three days later, just as they were in the act of robbing the customers of a saloon! January 1904 brought a case of a personal nature. Sheriff Lowry’s wife Sarah, who had been suffering from an unspecified mental illness, escaped from the Mount View sanitarium in Spokane. Fortunately, she was found the next day at a local hotel. By 1905, Lowry was suffering from tuberculosis. Seeking a warmer climate, he and his 16-year-old son Ralph set out by train for Phoenix, Arizona, arriving on October 9th. Perhaps the long trip had exhausted Lowry’s strength, for he died the following day. The Fraternal Order of Eagles arranged for his funeral and burial in Rosedale Cemetery. Lowry’s son Ralph graduated from Washington State College in 1917 with a degree in civil engineering. He was eventually employed as a senior engineer for the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and worked on the Hoover Dam, the Shasta Dam, and the Grand Coulee Dam. © 2013 by Joseph P. Lowry. Last revised December 30, 2024. 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! ![]() Noah Broadway, 1831?-1905 Maricopa County Sheriff Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Block 106, Lot 8/10 (Grave Marker Photo Courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) Noah Broadway is believed to have been the son of William M. Broadway and Mary “Polly” Key. On the federal census of 1850, Broadway was living with his brother John in Kemper County, Mississippi, and his age was given as 19, making him born around 1831.
No photo of Broadway has ever been found, nor evidence of him marrying or serving during the Civil War. He seems to have been a somewhat solitary man. Broadway is known to have been farming in the Salt River Valley by 1868. He and seven other men formed the Prescott Ditch company on 26 Sep 1870, and dug the Prescott (later Broadway) Ditch to irrigate his crops. The Maricopa Crossing was on Broadway’s ranch. It was a nice crossing with a firm gravel bottom, and the stages usually crossed the Salt River there. The road which ran through Broadway’s ranch is known today as Broadway Road. Broadway never sought public office but was nominated for sheriff by Dr. W. W. Jones and elected on the 14th ballot in late 1884. Although he was considered to be of good and honest character, some didn’t support him as he had publicly expressed a desire to "string up" men who were selling whiskey to Indians. Broadway was the first sheriff to have his office in the new, two-story brick courthouse between First and Second Avenues facing Washington, the previous office being in an adobe structure. The county jail was not very secure and security was lax; eight prisoners almost escaped one day when someone failed to lock up. As sheriff, Broadway regularly conveyed prisoners to Yuma. Another of Broadway’s duties was conveying insane people to the hospital in Stockton, California. On 9 March 1885, the county approved the issuance of bonds to build an insane asylum in Phoenix. Broadway’s term as sheriff was plagued by a rash of armed robberies. Men dressed as Indians held up stagecoaches carrying Wells Fargo boxes north of Phoenix. Detective work led to the arrest of one John Pennington and two cohorts. The massacre of the Martin family in 1886, supposedly by the Valenzuela gang led by S. P. Stanton, also occurred during Broadway’s watch. Water rights were a contentious issue in frontier Phoenix, for land was virtually worthless without it. Broadway occasionally had to fight for his rights in court. He owned the NW quarter of Section 30, Township 1N, Range #E. He later acquired the NE quarter and the NE quarter of Section 25, Township 1N, Range 2E. In time, Broadway and Michael Wormser became the two biggest landholders in south Phoenix. By 1902, Broadway’s health was declining and his ranch was much neglected. When he died in 1905, his lawyer sold the ranch and liquidated his assets, which amounted $12,737. Since Broadway had no other heirs, this sum was divided among his three surviving sisters. © 2014 by Donna Carr. Last revised 27 June 2018. 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! ![]() Joseph Thomas Barnum, 1832-1909 Maricopa County Sheriff Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, Block 3, Lot 14 (Image from Maricopa Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5) Joseph Thomas Barnum was born in 1832 in New York state, the son of Truman Barnum and Harriet Rich. Although he is said to have been a cousin of P.T. Barnum, the famous showman (Phineas was the son of Philo, while Joseph Thomas was the son of Truman), so far no proof has been found that Philo and Truman were brothers.
The Barnums came to Arizona in 1864 and settled first in Prescott, where Joseph Thomas met and married Jeanette Jane “Jenettie” Osborn, daughter of John P. Osborn and Perlina Swetnam, on 10 May 1865. He was 33, almost 17 years older than his teenaged bride. When Barnum, who usually went by his middle name of Thomas, moved his family to the Salt River Valley in 1868, his wife was one of only four Anglo women in the rough settlement. Barnum was quick to see the Valley's potential and went into partnership with J. W. Swilling in digging irrigation ditches. He was also one of the signers of the original Salt River Valley Town Association pact on 20 October 1870. When Maricopa County was created in 1871 from Yavapai County, it became necessary to elect county officials for the first time. After one candidate for sheriff, a man named Chenoweth, shot and killed another candidate, J. Favorite, in a gunfight, Barnum became the front runner for the office. He was elected and served from May until August, 1871. Besides enforcing the law, Barnum's duties included developing a tax roll and collecting taxes for the new county. He also had to take convicted felons to the state prison in Yuma and transport the insane to the nearest mental hospital which was in California. Being out of town so often made it difficult for Barnum to attend to the running of his ranch, so he resigned as sheriff in August of 1871. The federal census of 1880 lists his occupation as "saloonkeeper." Barnum’s ranch eventually prospered but, between 1873 and 1884, he and his wife mourned the loss of five of their thirteen children. As he had demonstrated earlier in digging irrigation canals, Barnum was willing to invest in the future. In 1901, he was among the signers of the articles of incorporation for the Phoenix Independent Telephone Company. Like many other Arizona pioneers, he also had mining interests and became a partner in the Gold Coin Mining Company in 1901. Barnum died on 26 January 1909 at the age of 77. Although his death certificate says he was buried in "the Catholic Cemetery," it is believed that he was actually buried in the Catholic section of Loosley Cemetery, next to his five little sons. The rest of the Barnum family is buried about a mile away in Forest Lawn Cemetery. © 2014 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 6/27/2018. 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! ![]() Amos J. Dye, 1847-1905 Judge and Ohio State Legislator Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 17, Lot 3, Grave 3 (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association) Amos J. Dye was born April 2, 1847, in Marietta, Ohio. He was the son of Amos J. Dye, Sr., and Maria Taylor. In 1860, the Dyes owned a large and valuable tobacco farm.
On 18 January 1864, at the age of eighteen, Amos enlisted in the Union army and was assigned to Company H, 77th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Just a few weeks thereafter, he married Marinda Jane McCowan on February 11, 1864. On January 1, 1865, he transferred to Company D, 77th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was discharged March 8, 1866 in Brownsville, Texas, with the rank of private. Possibly his unit went there after the Civil War as part of the Reconstruction effort. Amos Dye and Marinda had a son, Herbert, in 1867, and a daughter, Ida, in 1868. He was admitted to the Ohio bar as a lawyer in 1877. By 1880, the Dyes were living in Huntington, West Virginia, where Amos was practicing law. Marinda died of stomach cancer in May, 1894, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she had been active in a fraternal society called the Knights and Ladies of Honor. Amos Dye himself was by then a Mason and a Republican state legislator. Soon, he became an attorney for the Ohio State Dairy and Food Department. Dye married Ida Selma Schaetzle, a divorcee, on December 12, 1895. A son named Amos was born in 1897 and a daughter, Selma, in 1901. Another son, Stelman, seems to have died in infancy. In 1896, Amos Dye was accused of accepting a $5,000 bribe from a representative of the Paskola Company on condition that the state would not prosecute a case against the company. Dye vigorously denied taking a bribe and countersued. Apparently he did not lose his state position since he continued to handle cases. Tiring of Ohio winters, Dye purchased the Rumney house on Grand Avenue in 1902 and thereafter, the Dyes spent their winters in Phoenix. The Dye family was living a mile and a half north of Grand Avenue when Amos died on December 30, 1905, of cardiac insufficiency. He was buried in the Masons Cemetery, Block 17, Lot 3, Grave 3. Dye’s widow Ida was left to raise their two surviving children alone. She filed for a widow’s pension on February 17, 1906, but her application was rejected on the grounds that Dye’s cause of death was not the result of his military service. She did not remain alone for long, though. Sometime in 1908, she married Peter William De Jong. Ida lived until 1954. © 2024 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 22 December 2024. This December, we will commemorate 12 pioneers from our historic cemetery who passed away during this month. Through this countdown, we honor their contributions to our community, reflect on the challenges they faced, and remember the impact they had during their time. While some of their stories are somber, they are an important part of our history, reminding us of the resilience and humanity of those who came before us. 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! ![]() Angeline “Angie” Piper, 1876-1899 Schoolteacher Buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 21, Lot 4, SW corner. There is no grave marker. Angeline Piper was born in 1876 in Kansas to Ray Piper and Sarah née Fortney. Angie’s parents had been married in Bourbon, Kansas, on October 22, 1874. Angie had a younger brother John, who was born in 1878, but he died in 1881. Nearly two years later, Angie’s father also died, leaving her mother to raise Angie and her sister Raye, born after Mr. Piper’s death. Since Angie’s mother did not remarry, perhaps she had sufficient means to raise two children on her own.
In 1887, a rabid dog bit Angie, her mother, and sister. According to one news report, only a “mad stone” (a bezoar stone found in the digestive tract of some animals) would save them from contracting rabies. One was found in Chetopa, Kansas, and all must have gone well, as they all survived. Angie began attending Oswego College for Young Ladies in 1893 and obtained a teaching certificate. At some point, she joined the Royal Neighbors Society. The Society, established in 1895, was a progressive women’s fraternal benefit association and an auxiliary to Modern Woodmen of America. It focused on assisting women and children in need and offering life insurance for women--an option never before available to women. Today, Royal Neighbor is the largest women-led life insurer in the country. In April 1898, Angie became quite sick while teaching in Fort Scott, Kansas, and her mother was sent for. Under her mother’s care, Angie recovered and, in November, her mother left for Arizona to visit relatives. Angie remained in Fort Scott at the home of an uncle, but later joined her mother in Arizona. Angie went to Arizona primarily to recuperate. Unfortunately, she developed typhoid fever and died December 30, 1899. Although she was initially buried in Rosedale Cemetery, her mother later had her remains moved to the IOOF Cemetery when Angie’s Royal Neighbors Society insurance policy paid out. © 2020 by Patricia Gault. Last revised 27 May 2020. This December, we will commemorate 12 pioneers from our historic cemetery who passed away during this month. Through this countdown, we honor their contributions to our community, reflect on the challenges they faced, and remember the impact they had during their time. While some of their stories are somber, they are an important part of our history, reminding us of the resilience and humanity of those who came before us. 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! ![]() Baldomedo Peralta, about 1852-1903 A Christmas Eve Tragedy Buried in Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown. (Generic image created using Bing AI) Descendants of Baldomedo Peralta believe that he was born in Rio De San Pedro, Cuevas de Batuco, Sonora, Mexico. He may have been the son of a Pedro Peralta. His birth year seems to have been somewhere between 1849 and 1854, but verifiable records do not begin until he arrived in Phoenix in 1880.
Apparently, Peralta and Guadalupe Baldenegro had been keeping company since at least 1879. They were on their way by wagon train from Superior to Phoenix in August, 1880, when their first child, Rosario, was born at a wagon stop called La Poste (now Apache Junction). Upon reaching Phoenix, the couple was married on September 19, 1880, in a civil ceremony—possibly because there was no Catholic priest available. Thereafter, the Peraltas had children at regular intervals. Descendants think there were twelve, although only six lived to adulthood. It is not known for sure where they were all born, although the Peraltas seem to have resided in Phoenix continuously and not migrated back and forth between Mexico and Arizona. A two-year-old daughter, Louisa, died in 1900 and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery. Her older sister Guadalupe, aged 9, died in 1902 and was also buried in Rosedale. Despite the vagueness of his origins, Baldomedo Peralta seems to have had some education. Apparently regarded as "white," he registered to vote in 1884, 1890, 1892, 1894 and 1900. He was active in a Latino mutual-aid society and was also a member of Phoenix’s volunteer fire brigade. On Christmas Eve, 1903, the Peralta family was enjoying a festive meal at their home when a kerosene lamp exploded, setting fire to the room. Although the family ran outside into the yard, Baldomedo and Guadalupe quickly realized that one of the children was missing. Peralta reentered the burning house, located the child, and passed him through an open window to the family outside. He then attempted to save some of the family’s belongings. When he emerged from the house, his hair and clothing were on fire. Although he stanched the blood flowing from a vein in his neck and walked to a doctor to be bandaged, his burns turned out to be more severe than was first thought. He was admitted to Sisters’ Hospital, where he died on December 27th. He was buried in the Catholic section of Loosley Cemetery. After Baldomedo’s death, the oldest Peralta son, Porfirio, became the head of the family. He too would eventually join the fire brigade. Porfirio and his family remained in Phoenix until 1921, when they followed some of the other Peralta siblings to California. © 2024 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 20 December 2024. This December, we will commemorate 12 pioneers from our historic cemetery who passed away during this month. Through this countdown, we honor their contributions to our community, reflect on the challenges they faced, and remember the impact they had during their time. While some of their stories are somber, they are an important part of our history, reminding us of the resilience and humanity of those who came before us. 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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