 George Washington Sanders, 1839-1904 Union Veteran and Mining Superintendent Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 35, Grave C (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) George Washington Sanders was born September 6, 1839, in Fort Covington, New York. He was the oldest of eleven children born to Eliphalet Pike Sanders and his first wife, Melissa Henry. In 1846, the Sanders family moved to Ashtabula, Ohio.
On September 9, 1861, George Sanders enlisted in the Union Army at Trumbull, Ohio, and was assigned to Battery C of the 1st Regiment Ohio Light Artillery. However, he did not see much action as he was often sick and in the hospital. On September 26, 1862, he was discharged for disability at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio. Despite his relatively short service, he became a devoted member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being elected commander of the Arizona Department in April 1903 at the San Francisco Grand Encampment. Sanders moved to Polk, Iowa, in 1863. In 1866, he married Mary Beebe, and they soon had two children, Albert and Ethel. After Ethel’s birth, Sanders moved the family to Salt Lake City. He and Mary had two more children in Utah—Ida and George. After Mary’s death in childbirth in 1877, Sanders took his family back to Iowa. By 1880 he was remarried to a woman named Lizzie. It wasn’t long before Sanders set his sights on the West again. This time he travelled to Arizona. By 1881, he and nine other men had created the Sanders Arizona Mining company which aimed to produce copper, silver, gold and other metals from mines in Pima County. It was right at the turn of the century and near the end of his life that Sanders experienced his greatest achievements and his greatest losses. By 1899, he had divorced his second wife Lizzie and lost his daughter Ethel and grandson Sanders in what was believed to be a murder-suicide. But it was also that same year when he became superintendent of the Vulture Mine near Wickenburg and began work to get the mine back into production. When Sanders first took charge, the Vulture Mine didn’t have enough water. By cyaniding the tailings, he recovered enough gold to finance drilling the mine deeper to locate an existing water source. In 1901, the mine struck a new vein of gold ore. As one of the financiers, Sanders received much of the initial profits. It was also during 1901 that Sanders was married for the third time--to Clara Glenn. On March 20, 1902, Sanders sustained serious injuries when he was thrown from a streetcar of the Phoenix Railway Company. He died on February 6, 1904, of heart complications attributed to his 1902 accident. He was buried in Porter Cemetery under the auspices of the local GAR post. © 2024 by Tricia Alexander. Last revised 10 November 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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 John Wren Owen, 1822-1877 Union Veteran and County Treasurer Buried in Loosley Cemetery, Block 6, Lot 8, NW corner (Photo of John Wren Owen, courtesy of Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) John Wren Owen was born December 16, 1822, in Franklin County, Illinois, the son of Thomas Harvey Owen and Mary Paine Wren, hence his middle name.
In 1850, shortly after the beginning of the California Gold Rush, his parents moved their family to Solano County, California, where they engaged in farming. By 1860, John Wren Owen was working as a real estate speculator at Suisun, Solano County. On November 30, 1864, Owen enlisted in the Union Army at the Presidio in San Francisco, California. He was commissioned a captain and given command of Company F, 7th California Infantry, on December 15, 1864. He transferred to Camp McDowell in Arizona Territory on August 2, 1865, after the Civil War had ended, and mustered out with his company at the Presidio on April 18, 1866. Apparently, Owen’s time in Arizona had made an impression on him for he returned to Pima County. He was elected to the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1868. The 1870 federal census shows him working as a clerk at Camp Crittenden in Pima County. In 1874, Owen was elected treasurer of Maricopa County and reelected in 1876. As treasurer, he was responsible for paying certain bills out of the county taxes; however, he seems to have exercised those responsibilities loosely. He made no quarterly report of the funds in his possession to the territorial treasurer on June 30 or on September 30, 1877. When Owen requested money for the public schools, the territorial treasurer authorized him to use the funds already in his possession, promising that he would be compensated later. On October 11, 1877, Owen replied that he did not have the money to hand but would have it by the end of the month. He then fell ill and died on November 4th. When his body was prepared for burial in the first City Cemetery, he had only $2 in his pocket. His fellow veterans turned out for his funeral and he was eulogized as "a man of few faults and many virtues." It appears that John Wren Owen never married, and his obituaries did not mention any next of kin. Following his death, a thorough search of his dwelling did not turn up any of the county's money. His friends speculated that perhaps Owen had loaned the money to someone and that that individual was keeping mum about it. A less charitable speculation was that he had spent it himself. At any rate, no money was ever recovered. Notwithstanding the missing County funds, the late Captain Owen seems to have enjoyed a good enough reputation that, when Union veterans established a post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in Phoenix in September 1885, it was named in his honor. © 2024 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 11 November 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 O. Schwartz, 1842-1904 Civil War Veteran and Adjutant General of Arizona Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 37, Space F (Photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association) Edward O. Schwartz was born in New York on February 19, 1842, to Louis Schwartz and Catherine Boese.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Schwartz enlisted in the 8th New York Militia in April 1861 and mustered out in August of that year. He then enlisted in the 4th New York Cavalry in January 1862. Although he fell ill with typhoid fever later that year, he recovered sufficiently to achieve the rank of lieutenant. A year later, he was promoted to captain and, in March 1864, he became a major. Schwartz fought in several major battles which included the battle of Cross Keys, Virginia; Second Bull Run (Manassas); Chancellorsville; and Gettysburg. In 1864, he participated in General Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign and was present at the June 11-12 battle of Trevilian Station. He was honorably discharged at the end of the war. After the war, Schwartz went West. He was part of a military detachment that escorted engineer and geologist Clarence King through northern Arizona and other parts of the West in the Fortieth Parallel Survey of 1867-1873. Schwartz later relocated to New Mexico where he left service and married Angeline Flint in Santa Fe in 1880. Their union produced one daughter. A few years later, the family moved to Phoenix, where Schwartz engaged in various business enterprises. An engraver by trade, he was elected recorder of the City of Phoenix in 1890, a post he held for six years. In 1891, he joined the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), becoming commander of the Arizona GAR that same year. In April 1893, the new territorial governor, Louis Cameron Hughes, appointed Schwartz Adjutant General of Arizona. He served for six years and was regarded as an able commander. The Schwartzes left Phoenix in 1897 and moved to Seattle. From there, they went to San Francisco before returning to Phoenix in 1899. In a newspaper article, Schwartz declared, “Not until one leaves Phoenix does he appreciate the business advantages it presents.” One of the last services Schwartz performed for his community was organizing the Decoration Day service for the GAR which took place on May 29, 1903, at the city cemetery. There was no march, as it was deemed too much of a strain for the old soldiers, but Major Schwartz did invite veterans of the Confederacy to participate in the ceremonies too. Major Edward Schwartz died at home on March 1, 1904. On March 3rd, he was interred in the Porter Cemetery with full military honors. © 2017 by Mark Lamm. Last revised 15 November 2017. 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!  Alexander Chapman Lansdon, 1834-1899 Soldier, Miner, Carpenter Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, exact location unknown (Photo from FamilySearch, courtesy of Clinton DeWitt) Alexander Chapman Lansdon was born in Russellville, Kentucky, on July 18, 1834. He was the son of Zachariah Lansdon and Frances Hambleton. The family moved to Illinois sometime between 1834 and 1838. The federal census of 1850 records the Lansdons living in Eden, Schuyler County, Illinois.
By 1861, Alexander was in California. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in Company B (Old), 2nd California Cavalry in San Francisco on September 21, 1861. As a member of the historic California Column, he marched from Los Angeles County, California, to the Río Grande River early in the war. Private Lansdon re-enlisted in Co. B (New), same regiment, at San Francisco on July 1, 1864. He was promoted to sergeant five months later and saw service at posts in New Mexico and Nevada. On November 17, 1865, Lansdon was wounded in a fight with Indians at the Black Rock Mountains in Nevada. He was court-martialed for an undisclosed reason and dishonorably discharged at Fort Churchill, Nevada, on April 20, 1866. Around 1872, Alexander returned to New Mexico, where he met Maria Francisca Garcia. She had previously been in a relationship with a Captain George A. Burkett, by whom she had three children born between 1867 and 1872: Camilla, John C. and Mary Inez. Coincidentally, Burkett had been stationed at one of the posts where Lansdon had served, although there is no evidence that they were there at the same time. Since no marriage record for Captain George A. Burkett and Francisca has been located, it is not known whether they were ever formally married. At any rate, Lansdon and Francisca set up housekeeping in 1872 and remained together until his death many years later. By 1880, Alexander and Francisca had left New Mexico for Arizona, initially living in Bisbee where Alexander worked in the copper mines. Later, they settled in the small community of Dos Cabezas. Their household included Francisca's three children from her alliance with Burkett, as well as three more children she had with Lansdon: James, Lola, and Marguerite (Maggie). After the mine where Lansdon was working played out, the family moved to Willcox, where Alexander found work as a carpenter. He and Francisca had a fourth child, Henry, born in Willcox in 1889. Early in 1898, the Lansdons moved to Phoenix so that Alexander could seek medical attention for a throat affliction, likely the result of years of mining. They lived with Francisca's oldest son, John C. Burkett, who lived on West Lincoln Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Alexander died there on February 12, 1899, and was laid to rest in Rosedale Cemetery. Francisca passed away on September 4, 1901, and was also buried in Rosedale. © 2022 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 23 December 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!  Theodore Buck, 1824-1896 A Union Artilleryman at Vicksburg Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 33, Plot C (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers Cemetery Association) Theodore Buck claimed to have been born in 1824 in Prussia.
Buck was older than the average recruit when he enlisted in the Union Army on November 23, 1862, in Clinton, Illinois. While serving as a private in Battery F, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery, he suffered deafness in both ears, likely caused by the incessant cannonading during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. He was discharged July 27, 1865 with the rank of private. By 1878, Buck was in Phoenix, where he registered to vote. The 1880 federal census of Phoenix, Arizona, shows a Theodor Buck, born Prussia 1825, unmarried, living in the household of Miguel Peralta, a general store proprietor. Buck was working as a porter in the store. Theodore Buck was a founding member of the John Wren Owen GAR post. In 1887 and again in 1892, he visited the hospital at the Old Soldiers Home in Leavenworth, Kansas, for medical attention. He applied for and received invalid pension #771,427. When he died on October 24, 1896, Buck was living at the Star Lodging House and working as a janitor at the Five Points School. He was buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 33, Grave C. His grave has a military marker. © 2024 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 8 November 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!  William Lindsey George, 1832-1897 Farmer and Contractor Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 41, space B (Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) William Lindsey George was born April 29, 1832, in Shelby County, Kentucky, to James Whitefield George and Frances Booker, who were farmers. The Georges had a total of eleven children.
Shelby County was not far from Louisville and the Ohio River. Many of Kentucky’s agricultural products were floated down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on flatboats to New Orleans. So, after faraway Texas became a state, the Georges moved there, settling in Guadalupe around 1854. William married Eliza LeGette in about 1858 and they soon had an infant son, James. The federal census of 1860 records the family farming in New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas. William’s parents and younger siblings lived on a ranch not far away. After the outbreak of the Civil War, William waited until March 26, 1862, when he enlisted in Seguin, Texas. He was assigned to Company K, 8th Texas Infantry, CSA, later under the command of Colonel Ireland. The 8th Texas Infantry served in East Texas throughout the war, so William was able to visit his family occasionally. His wife Eliza gave birth to son Henry in September, 1862, and to William Jr. in March 1864. At the end of the war, William was discharged with the rank of captain. Big events were taking place on the Great Plains as the Transcontinental Railroad pushed westward. By 1870, the entire George family had moved to Kansas City, where they worked as cattle traders. William even became (briefly) the president of a Kansas City bank. In 1886, the Georges moved to Arizona, where William ran a freighting business and became involved in building railroads, canals and reservoirs. He was one of the contractors who built the Gila Bend canal and the Agua Fria reservoir. As a prominent businessman, William maintained a keen interest in local politics and was several times asked to run for office. In 1888, he yielded to voters’ entreaties but bowed out rather than stoop to the kind of unethical behavior needed to get elected. Thereafter, he was elected to the County Board of Supervisors strictly on his merits. In August 1897, William experienced a couple of angina attacks. Although the attacks passed, his doctor advised him to send for his wife, who was in California. She arrived in Phoenix just five hours before William died early on the morning of August 20th. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. W. E. Vaughan of the Methodist Episcopal church. A modest man, William had previously requested that there be no empty eulogies, but his friends and business associates attested to his honesty and moral uprightness. He was buried near his brother James Benjamin in Porter Cemetery, Block 41, space B. © 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 13 May 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!  Joseph Mitchell Dorris, 1827-1904 Planter and Farmer Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, North section, Block 116 (Family monument photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) Joseph Mitchell Dorris is believed to have been born April 4, 1826, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was the oldest child of James Harvey Dorris and Martha Ann Embrey.
In 1834, the Dorris family had moved to Mississippi to take up land from which the indigenous Choctaws had been recently evicted. The 1850 federal census recorded James as farming in Carroll County. Joseph Mitchell Dorris wed Nancy Jane Powell on February 10, 1847. Over time, they became the parents of twelve children. By 1860, Joseph was living in nearby Choctaw County on a plantation adjoining that of his father, who by then owned over 700 acres and fifteen enslaved persons. Although a mature man of 34 when the Civil War began, Dorris joined Turner’s Battery, Company C, 1st Mississippi Light Artillery, CSA, with the rank of corporal on March 27, 1862. When Vicksburg fell to Union forces on July 4, 1863, the entire regiment was captured. After the soldiers were paroled, Company C was sent south to defend Mobile. In January 1864, Dorris was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was absent without leave for a month between May and June 1864; apparently he went home, as his wife gave birth to another baby on March 29, 1865. Dorris was back with his unit in Mobile, Alabama, later in 1864. Following the War, Dorris returned to Choctaw County, where the census of 1870 listed him as a farmer. Sometime thereafter, the family moved to Montgomery County, where his wife Nancy died in about 1884. Around 1885 or 1886, Joseph’s son Elias moved west to Phoenix, Arizona. His reports were favorable enough that his siblings Caswell, Robert, and Joseph joined him two years later. Sarah and Veronica, their sisters who had both married Stovall men, also made the move around 1898. Dorris, a Mason and a Baptist, continued to live most of time in Kilmichael, Mississippi, with his older adult children. However, in 1901 he began spending his winters in Phoenix with the others. He died during one such visit on February 2, 1904, of old age and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery, North section, Block 116. © 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 17 April 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!  James Belton Braswell, 1835 to 1898 Served Under Both Flags (Buried in Porter Cemetery, Ex-Confederate Section, exact location not known) James Belton Braswell is believed to have been born 7 September 1835, in South Carolina. He received training as a brick mason and later worked as a building contractor.
When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted initially as a private in Company B, 26th Alabama Infantry (O’Neal’s Regiment), but in August 1862 he and his brother W. D. deserted. They were captured by the Union Army at Camp Davies, Mississippi, on 28 December 1863. Five months later, on 31 May 1864, they took a loyalty oath and served out the war in the U.S. Army. Braswell’s own account was much more colorful. As he was wont to relate in his later years, he and a comrade named R. A. Crowley were fighting in Georgia when they deserted for the first time. They were soon captured by their Confederate fellows. The South being by then desperate for soldiers, the pair was not executed but were allowed to return. After they made two more attempts to desert, the commanding officer ordered them to be shot at sunrise. As the condemned men sat in the guardhouse that night, Braswell persuaded Crowley to make one last break for it. This time they were successful. Before morning, they reached a dense swamp and made their way to Sherman’s lines, where they surrendered. James Braswell married his first wife, Mary Jane DuBose in Indiana in 1863. After the war, Braswell’s skills as a brick mason were undoubtedly in demand as new settlements sprang up out west. By 1870, the Braswells were living in Elk City, Kansas, and were the parents of three children. The Braswells’ next home was in Missouri, where three more children were born. Braswell’s wife Mary is presumed to have died around 1877 since, in 1878, Braswell married Virginia-born Sarah Elizabeth Hughes in Texas County, Missouri. They soon had another three children of their own. Around 1884, the Braswells moved to Arizona. Their last five children were born in Phoenix. When Braswell expired on 13 January 1898, bottles of laudanum and paregoric were found in his pockets. Thinking that he might have committed suicide, Justice Johnstone ordered an inquest. The cause of death was cleared up when Mrs. Braswell testified that he habitually carried them to relieve a persistent ear ache. Braswell was initially buried in the section of Porter Cemetery reserved for Union veterans of the Civil War. However, it was soon discovered that Mr. Braswell was “seated in the wrong pew," so a few days later, his coffin was taken up and reburied in the Confederate section of Porter. © Profile by Sue Wilcox. Last revised 14 April 2014. 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! |