Lindley Hogue Orme, 1848-1900 Maricopa County Sheriff Buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 9, Lot 2, Grave 6 (Photos 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!
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![]() Frank B. Moss, 1852-1906 Mayor and Fire Chief Buried in I.O.O.F Cemetery, Block 13, Lot 1, Grave 5 (Photo courtesy of the Phoenix Fire Department) Frank Benjamin Moss was born on September 15, 1852, in Slades Corners, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, to Francis Maas and Christina Schmidt. He grew up in Wheatland, Wisconsin, where he began at the age of 16 to learn the blacksmithing trade from his father.
As a young man, he moved to the boom town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he worked at his trade and also ran a lumberyard. He moved to Tombstone in 1878, where he initially worked as a teamster. Wagon trains crossing southern Arizona traveled mostly at night to avoid the day’s heat and attacks by Apache Indians. Reportedly, Moss came under fire on two occasions but escaped unharmed. About 1880, Moss relocated to Phoenix where he set up a blacksmith and wagon-making shop at the northeast corner of First Avenue and Adams Street. On May 31, 1885, he married Ida May Harriman in Mesa. They had three sons: Earl, Ralph, and Ernest. Business was good and Moss prospered. He invested in real estate, ranched and raised cattle, did some mining, and owned and trained race horses. He also joined the volunteer Phoenix Fire Department, where his skills as a blacksmith and wagon-maker were appreciated. By 1890, he was an assistant chief and by 1892 he was the chief. After being injured on the job, he had to give up his position as fire chief. Moss then turned his attention to city politics and, in 1894, won a seat on the Phoenix City Council. The political climate in the growing city was sometimes volatile. Fed up with the wrangling, Dr. Roland Rosson resigned as mayor on April 6, 1896. Moss was appointed acting mayor, a position he held until a special election was held on June 2, 1896. Moss returned to work in his new blacksmith shop on the corner of Washington Street and Fourth Avenue. On December 4, 1898, for unknown reasons, Moss moved out of his home and separated from his wife. Citing abandonment as the cause, Ida filed for divorce on June 14, 1899. Scarcely a month after the divorce became final, she married Orrin W. Lawrence, a Phoenix policeman. On July 10, 1905, Moss again became acting mayor. This time, he held the seat for almost a year. During his stint, he signed into law several progressive city ordinances. On the evening of March 19, 1906, Mayor Moss rode his bicycle to City Hall. While climbing the steps, he complained of chest pain and medical help was summoned. Moss died between 9 and 10 PM, likely of a heart attack. He was 53 years old. Throngs of citizens viewed Moss’s body as it lay in state at City Hall. After the funeral, he was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery. ©2015 by Mark Lamm and Derek Horn. Last revised 26 May 2023. 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! ![]() Benjamin Joseph Franklin, 1834? – 1898 Arizona’s 12th Territorial Governor Buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Block 36, Grave 7 (Photo from the Arizona State Archives website) Benjamin Joseph Franklin was born in Kentucky. By 1860, he was practicing law in Leavenworth, Kansas. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Franklin, a Southern sympathizer, moved to Missouri so that he could enlist in the Confederate Army. He served for the duration of the war, rising to the rank of captain.
Since Franklin had been an officer, he was forbidden to practice law or hold public office after the war until he had taken an oath of allegiance. From 1865 to 1868, he farmed in Columbia, Missouri. After taking the oath of allegiance in 1868, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and opened a law office. Franklin was married to Anne Barbour Johnston, stepdaughter of Alfred William Morrison, previously the treasurer of the state of Missouri. From 1871 to 1875, Franklin was the prosecuting attorney for Jackson County. In 1875, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served two terms before returning to his private law practice. In 1885, Franklin travelled to Washington, D. C., where he successfully lobbied President Grover Cleveland for an appointment as U. S. Consul to China. His family accompanied him to Hankow, where they lived for the next five years. In 1890, the Franklins returned to California. By 1892, they were in Phoenix. Aware of efforts to have territorial governor Hughes removed from office, Franklin decided to seek the office himself. He persuaded several prominent local men to send letters on his behalf to President Cleveland. Cleveland responded by appointing him the twelfth territorial governor of Arizona on 18 April 1896. Franklin’s son Alfred served as his personal secretary. During his term in office, Franklin pushed for statehood and tax reform, feeling that many businesses and individuals were not paying their fair share of taxes. Although as a fiscal conservative he was averse to soliciting funds from Congress, he knew that only the federal government could build the dams that Arizona so desperately needed. In January 1897, Franklin had suffered a heart attack but recovered through “sheer force of will”. After Republican William McKinley was elected President, he replaced Franklin with a man of his own party, Myron Hawley McCord. On 22 July 1897, Franklin left office and returned to his private law practice in the Fleming building, with Alfred as his partner. Franklin is generally regarded as having been personally honest and competent although not particularly effective as a governor, given his short tenure. After he left office, Franklin’s health declined further. When he did not wake from a nap on 19 May 1898, it was determined that he had died of a recurrence of his heart trouble. He was buried in Rosedale Cemetery following an Episcopalian funeral service. © 2012 by Donna Carr. Last revised 12/7/2012. 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! ![]() John Tabor Alsap, 1830-1886 First Mayor of Phoenix Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 3, Lot 1, Grave 5 (Photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Alsap) John Tabor Alsap was born 28 February 1830 in Frankfort, Kentucky. He was the only son of Rev. John Alsap (sometimes spelled Alsop) and his wife Keziah Randall. After studying medicine in Ohio, young John went to California in 1853, intending to practice medicine there. Once in California, however, he developed an interest in mining—an interest which brought him to the Walker diggings in Yavapai county in November 1863.
Alsap’s medical skills came in handy in 1864 when he accompanied King Woolsey's second punitive expedition against the Apaches as the party's surgeon. His reputation thus established, he was appointed territorial treasurer in late 1864 by Gov. John Noble Goodwin. He soon opened the first saloon in Prescott, a shrewd business move which brought him into contact with much of Prescott’s electorate. On 6 June 1866, Alsap married Louise A. Osborn, daughter of pioneer John Preston Osborn. Tragically, she died barely a year later. Alsap became Yavapai County's representative to the territorial legislature in 1868. However, his larger political ambitions were not to be fulfilled in Prescott. In 1869, he moved south to the Salt River Valley, where he helped to select the 320 acres comprising the original Phoenix townsite. He was one of the original commissioners of the Salt River Town Association, formed in 1870 to promote settlement along the Salt River. Alsap now turned his attention from the practice of medicine and mining to the practice of law. As the fledgling community along the Salt River gained a foothold, he petitioned to have a new county created, with Phoenix as its seat. Following the creation of Maricopa County in 1871, Governor Safford appointed Alsap its first probate judge. As judge, he sometimes officiated at civil weddings when no minister was available. He also served as superintendent of public education. Between 1873 and 1879, Alsap held a seat in the territorial legislature. On 7 September 1876, he wed Anna Dugan Murray, one of the eight daughters of William P. Murray and his wife Margaret. All the Murray girls married well-connected men and founded some of Phoenix’s "first families." Alsap's contributions to the city of Phoenix were recognized when he was elected its first mayor in 1881. Alsap was an ardent Mason throughout his life. A photograph taken in Contra Costa, California, shows him dressed in his Masonic regalia. He was the first master of the Azlan Masonic Lodge in Prescott and also of the Arizona Masonic Lodge in Phoenix, and he chartered the Royal Arch Masonic Lodge. Upon his death in 1886, he was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Phoenix. A modern granite headstone marks his grave. ©Donna Carr, 2013. Last revised 7/24/2013. 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! |
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