​Dr. Joshua A. Miller Jr., 1846-1901
Superintendent of the Insane Asylum
 
Originally buried in Rosedale Cemetery; moved to Greenwood 1920

(Generic image created using Bing AI)

Joshua Abston Miller, Jr., was born in Macon County, Missouri, on May 5, 1846. His parents were Joshua A. Miller, Sr., and Nancy Jane Turner. 
 
Joshua attended high school on the other side of the Missouri River in Brownville, Nebraska, with the intention of becoming a physician. Under the tutelage of Dr. William Arnold, he applied for and was admitted to the University of Michigan medical school in 1868. While a medical student in Michigan, Miller met and married Mary Crampton on September 21, 1869. Upon graduation in 1872, Miller opened a practice in Michigan.
 
In 1879, Miller traveled to New York to gain additional experience at Belleview Hospital. He then moved his family to Kansas City in 1882, where he helped establish a medical school at the University of Kansas City. He was for six years the head of orthopedic surgery there.
 
Perhaps the deaths of two of their young children had strained Joshua’s and Mary’s marriage to the breaking point. At any rate, she does not appear to have accompanied Miller when he moved to Prescott, Arizona, in 1888. On December 16, 1890, Miller married his second wife, Minnie Hume, in Prescott.
 
In 1892, Gov. N. O. Murphy appointed Miller superintendent of the territorial insane asylum in Phoenix. When Miller assumed his position, there were 87 inmates, some of whom had originally been sent to asylums in California. Having them back in Phoenix made it possible for family members to visit and see that they were properly cared for. It appears that Miller took his responsibilities seriously. He had the asylum grounds landscaped with trees and walkways. His wife Minnie, who was a nurse, served as matron.
 
In 1898, Gov. Murphy again appointed Dr. Miller to take over management of the insane asylum from outgoing superintendent Dr. Hamblin. This time, there were 177 patients. 
 
One of Miller’s accomplishments was to help found the Maricopa County Medical Society so that the 12 to 14 medical practitioners in the Salt River Valley could meet regularly to discuss new developments in their profession.
 
Scientific curiosity led to Miller’s interest in prehistoric societies of the American Southwest. In 1895, he was elected president of the Arizona Antiquarian Society, and in 1901 he conducted the first excavation of Pueblo Grande, a prehistoric site east of Phoenix. 
 
Dr. Miller was on his way to New Mexico on Saturday, July 19, 1901, to observe the annual Hopi snake dance at Walpi when he fell ill and had to get off the train at Flagstaff. Taken to a hospital there, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He died on the evening of July 22nd. His body was returned to Phoenix for burial in Rosedale Cemetery.
 
© 2024 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 12 August 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!

Dr. Carl P. Wormser, 1856-1903
Iowa Physician
 
Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, North Section

(Photo courtesy of Pioneers' Cemetery Association)

​When Michael Wormser died in 1898, he was the largest landowner in Phoenix, Arizona, with 7,435 acres. It was speculated that he had a poverty-stricken childhood, and this experience may have carried over into his adult life.

Wormser was born on June 27, 1827, in Mittelbronn in the Alsace-Lorraine (now Moselle) region of France. He came to the United States in 1850 to join his cousin Benjamin Block in San Luis Obispo, California. After Block’s livery stable failed, Wormser moved to Arizona and went into business for himself. In 1864, he opened the first general store in Prescott in an adobe building near the corner of Goodwin and Montezuma Streets. 

In 1873, Wormser acquired a store in Phoenix. However, he lost it in 1876 when the price of grain dropped suddenly and his customers’ outstanding bills became uncollectable. Having acquired some land along the San Francisco Canal, Wormser had to resort to farming.

From his unsold store inventory, Wormser advanced seed, tools and provisions to his Hispanic neighbors along the canal. He also encouraged them to gain legal title to their land. Once they owned the land, it could be used as collateral to buy more supplies from “Don Miguel” as they called him. 

It was also speculated that this arrangement may have taken advantage of his neighbors’ who spoke Spanish to get hold of their land, as they often did not understand the contracts they had signed. When they fell behind on their payments and eviction notices were served, they had no legal recourse. In this way, Wormer managed to acquire ownership or control of about 9,000 acres of irrigable farmland along the Salt River in south Phoenix.
​
Wormer widened the San Francisco Canal and experimented with growing sugar beets.

As a major landowner, he was elected in November 1880 to a four-year term on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. 

1892 was the year of the Great Flood on the Salt River. Since Wormser’s irrigation ditches had been washed out, he became a plaintiff in a landmark Arizona water case, Michael Wormsor et al. versus the Salt River Valley Canal Company, et al. The case resulted in the Kibbey Decision which established the principle in Arizona that water belonged to the land and that early users of water had priority over later users.  The verdict was a victory for Wormser, as he was one of the “early users.” 

Wormser died on April 25, 1898, and was initially buried in one of the city cemeteries, probably Loosley. Charles Goldman, his executor, eventually valued his estate at $221,396, a considerable sum for 1900. Since Wormser had intended to donate land for a Jewish cemetery, Goldman set aside a parcel at 35th Avenue and Jackson for that purpose. Beth Israel Memorial Cemetery opened in 1903, whereupon Wormser’s body was exhumed and moved there. The cemetery is still active today.

© 2017 by Patty Gault. Last revised 27 September 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!

Dr. Scott Helm, 1862-1897
First Surgeon-General of the Arizona Territory

Buried in Porter Cemetery, Block 12

​Photo from Arizona Memory Project
 

A native of Kentucky, Dr. Helm was a graduate of Princeton College, Rush Medical College in Chicago and Heidelberg University in Germany. He was undoubtedly one of the best educated and respected physicians in Arizona. In 1891, he joined the National Guard of Arizona and was appointed surgeon-general, serving in that post for six years. During that time, he tirelessly promoted Arizona in medical journals as an ideal destination for sufferers of tuberculosis, arthritis and other ailments. He was also an active member of several fraternal organizations. 
 
In 1889, he met Miss Norma Jackson, a Southern belle who had come to Arizona for her health. They were married 12 February 1890. Unfortunately, even his expert ministrations could not cure Norma, for she died on 30 April 1891 at the age of 28.
 
In July 1891, Dr. Helm was accused by two other physicians of having performed an abortion on Alice White, granddaughter of Ira Stroud of Phoenix. The case went to trial and, in March 1892, Dr. Helm was acquitted of any wrongdoing.  Later in 1892, Dr. Helm married Miss Jane Beeler.
 
Helm loved horses, but he told friends that he would probably meet his death in a horse-related accident. His premonition came true on 8 October 1897. He was at the train station in downtown Phoenix when his fractious horse, Montrose, reared and fell, throwing Dr. Helm to the pavement. Dr. Helm died two hours later of intracranial bleeding. An impressive obelisk of polished red granite marks his grave, which is on the walking tour of Porter Cemetery.
 
© 2012 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 11/17/2012.
 
​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!