James Henry Broomell

James Henry Broomell, 1837-1896
Union Veteran and Pioneer Farmer
 
Buried in Porter Cemetery,
​Block 32, Lot H

(Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc)

​James Henry Broomell was born August 2, 1837, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was one of several children born to John Broomell and his second wife, Esther Moore, who died in 1842. John then married Esther’s sister Sarah. The Moores were Quakers.
 
James was a schoolteacher when he enlisted in the 124th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on August 6, 1862, for a period of nine months. On September 17, with barely a month of training, Broomell received his baptism of fire at the Battle of Antietam. The regiment’s next major assignment was the Chancellorsville campaign in May, 1863, after which Broomell’s enlistment ended and he returned home.
 
Broomell reenlisted on June 15, 1863, this time as a private in Company A of the 29th Pennsylvania Militia Infantry. Although his regiment did not see action at Gettysburg, it did help evacuate the wounded after the battle.  Broomell was mustered out of service on August 1, 1863, at Harrisburg, his soldiering days over. 
 
In 1864, Broomell went to Arkansas to raise cotton on land that had been abandoned by Confederate sympathizers. While there, he met a Quaker schoolteacher, Mary Wickersham, who had come to teach the newly freed slaves. The couple married on July 11, 1867, at the Friends’ Meetinghouse in Rich Square, Indiana, and eventually had four children.
 
In 1870, the family was living in Chicago with James’ older half-brother, George D. Broomell. George was an assistant superintendent of schools and James was a school principal. 
 
By 1880, the Broomells had moved to Aurora, Illinois, where James became a cheese-maker. Unfortunately, their dairy went bankrupt, and the family moved to Phoenix in 1886 with only a few hundred dollars. 
 
Mary’s brother bought them 80 acres of undeveloped land in Maricopa County, and the Broomells’ two sons built a one-room house with curtains to separate each living area. Mary and the children grew vegetables, alfalfa, wheat and barley, while James devoted himself to beekeeping. Soon they acquired cattle and the ranch began to turn a profit.
 
James became a member of the Maricopa County Normal School board and its president in 1893. He was also president of the local beekeepers’ association and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization for Union veterans of the Civil War. 
 
By now suffering from tuberculosis, Broomell applied for and was granted Invalid Pension (# 680.261) in 1891. He died in Phoenix on September 6, 1896, from his illness. On his deathbed, he deeded his land to his wife, Mary. Broomell was buried in Porter Cemetery, where he has both a military and a private family headstone. 
 
© 2012 by Jan Huber, SUVCW. Last revised 6 November 2012.

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