 Trinidad Silvas 1866-1911 Struck by Lightning Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown. (Image courtesy of Microsoft clip art) Trinidad Silvas was most likely born in Mexico around 1866. In the summer of 1911, she and her long-time partner, José Alvarez, were working for a local rancher and temporarily living in a tent on his property about four miles northeast of the Phoenix townsite.
During the night of July 16th, a terrific thunderstorm blew up. Alvarez had been lying awake on his cot and listening to the roar of the thunder for quite a while. Then, all of a sudden, he saw a bright flash of lightning and heard a loud thunderclap. It seemed to him that a ball of fire rolled into the tent! Alvarez was tossed across the floor of the tent and lost unconsciousness for a few minutes. When he came to, he ascertained that his thirteen-year-old daughter, who was lying on a pallet, had not been harmed—in fact, she had not even awakened. Trinidad, however, had died instantly, the hair on one side of her head burned away. Alvarez ran to the nearest habitation and poured out the tragic news. Coroner Johnstone was summoned and ordered that the body not be moved pending an inquest on the following day. The investigation revealed a small hole with charred edges, burned in the tent canvas. It was speculated that the tragic event had been an example of a rare phenomenon known as "ball lightning". In the same neighborhood—and almost at the same time-- a valuable gray horse belonging to W. Bivins was also struck and killed by lightning. Trinidad was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery. It is not known what became of José Alvarez and the couple’s young daughter. © 2011 by Debe Branning. Last revised 9 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!
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 Magdalena Mendivil Donnelly, -1905 Rancher’s Wife Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Northwest corner (Photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) Maria Magdalena Mendivil was born sometime between 1832 and 1839 in Altar, Sonora, Mexico. She came north around 1857 with three of her brothers. While her brothers went on to Monterey, California, in search of work, Magdalena remained with family friends in Yuma. By the time the brothers returned, however, they found that Magdalena had moved in with George Kippen, an agent for a mining company, who was about twenty years older than her.
To date, no record of an actual marriage has been found. Very likely this was because George Kippen was already married to Jane A. Nichols of Fairfield County, Connecticut, by whom he had three children. Sometime after the birth of the third child, George left Connecticut for good. By 1852, he was working as a miner in California. The 1860 federal census of Colorado, San Diego County, California, shows George Kippen and Madalena Maldives [sic] living there in the same household, although not married. Their first son John was born 1860. John was quickly followed by a daughter, Delfina. Having had little success at mining, Kippen got a contract to haul supplies from California to the military outposts in Arizona. He was at Camp McDowell, working as a sutler’s clerk and pharmacist, when he died suddenly on 22 February 1868 and was buried in the post cemetery. Because Kippen was a civilian employee, his body was not transferred to the national cemetery in San Francisco when the post was decommissioned in 1891. His headstone can still be seen today at Fort McDowell. With Kippen dead, Magdalena was hard-pressed to support her children. By 1870 the family was living in the household of a Charles Foster in Arizona City, Yuma County, Arizona. They appear on the 1870 federal census under the surname “Kippin”. Around 1871, Magdalena met and married a wagon master, Frank “Owen” Donnelly, in Yuma, Arizona. Donnelly, an Irish Catholic, had been born around 1837 in the village of Tyme, County Cork, Ireland. Upon immigrating to the United States, he found few job opportunities for Irish immigrants. So, on 21 June 1859, Donnelly enlisted as a private in Battery F, 2nd U. S. Artillery, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and served until he was discharged on 2 May 1862. Frank “Owen” Donnelly and Magdalena’s first child, Amelia was born 12 April 1872 in Yuma. Isabelle “Lizzie” was born 7 April 1874, and Katherine “Kate” Inez was born 6 December 1878. The Donnellys eventually moved to a ranch near Florence, on the San Pedro River. By 1890, Frank Owen Donnelly was infirm and living in the Old Soldiers’ Home in Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, California. He died there on 21 September 1894 and was buried in the National Cemetery in Los Angeles. Magdalena received a widow’s pension based on his Civil War service. On the 1900 federal census, Magdalena was recorded living in Pinal County, Arizona, on the Donnelly ranch with her son John Kippen, daughter Kate Donnelly, and granddaughter Elsie Harrington. She died of pneumonia in Phoenix on 11 February 1905 and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Phoenix. ©2012 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 30 November 2013. 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!  Elena Redondo Garfias, 1862-1890 Wife of Marshal Henry Garfias Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery. There is no grave marker. (Photo from the archives of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.) Elena Redondo was born in 1862, probably on the family ranch outside of Yuma. She was one of eight children born to Piedad Contreras and Jose Maria Redondo.
She married Henry Garfias on April 13th, 1883, in Yuma, Arizona Territory. The newlyweds subsequently established their home in Phoenix. They had two children: Maria Claudina, born in 1884, and Emmanuel Henrico “Manuel Henry” in 1887. Elena died 22 March 1890, apparently due to complications from her third pregnancy. Elena’s husband, Henry Garfias, led a colorful and well-documented life in Phoenix. However, his wife's family history is also a notable record of Hispanic influence in the Arizona Territory; California; and Sonora, Mexico. The Redondo family's roots go back to Spain, but they had been in Sonora, Mexico, for several generations prior to Elena's father and other family members going to the gold fields of California in 1849. Jose Maria Redondo married Piedad Contreras in California and in 1859, they and their two children (with one more on the way), moved to Yuma, Arizona Territory, along with Piedad's extended family. They first established a home in Laguna outside of Yuma, where they ran a bakery and store in the mining community. Eventually, Jose acquired a very large ranch in Yuma called Hacienda de San Ysidro. He dammed the Gila River and used the water to irrigate vineyards, orchards, and fields of grain and vegetables as well as growing fodder for cattle, horses and sheep. He was the first grower of lettuce in Yuma County. He had mining interests as well and served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature, where he was instrumental in getting the Territorial Prison located in Yuma. Elena's brother, Jose “Joe” Redondo, ran the first Hispanic newspaper in Phoenix, El Progresso. Although there is little information about Elena after her marriage, Henry Garfias' status in Phoenix must have meant they were socially active in both the Hispanic and white communities. Elena is buried in the City/Loosley Cemetery at the Pioneer Military and Memorial Park in Phoenix, Arizona. © 2018 by Susan Wilcox. Last revised 28 October 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! |