Mahlon Irvine

Mahlon Irvine, about 1886-1898
Drowned in a Canal
 
Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 5, Lot 2, Grave 1

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

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During warm weather, the canals that ran through frontier Phoenix were an irresistible temptation to children, with predictable consequences.
 
Edward Irvine and his son Joseph had come to Phoenix in 1870. Mr. Irvine owned a "book and news depot," located directly west of the City Hall plaza. Besides selling print materials, Irvine acted as a news correspondent for a Prescott newspaper and as a lawyer. He also purchased several lots in Phoenix; the Irvine Addition was named for him.
 
Edward Irvine and his third wife, Izora Elizabeth Jackson, had several children. Mahlon, born in 1887, was one of them.
 
On the morning of April 23, 1898, Mahlon’s parents were out of town; they had gone to visit Mrs. Irvine’s parents in Buckeye. Young Mahlon had gone with his friends Walden Kemp and Newton Levy to look for birds’ nests. Eventually they arrived at the confluence of the Maricopa and Salt River canals, about four miles north of downtown Phoenix. There was a dam below the Consolidated head where the water was estimated to be about fifteen feet deep.
 
The day being warm, Mahlon suggested that they jump in to cool off. The two younger boys did not know how to swim and thought the water too cold, so they decided simply to wade near the edge of the canal. Mahlon, however, paddled about for a short time, showing off, before he suddenly gave a cry, went under and did not reappear.
 
Alarmed, the other two boys ran for help to Bernard’s roadhouse nearby. Four or five men came back with them but, due to the coldness and depth of the water, they were unable to locate the missing boy. About an hour later, Dr. Scroggs was passing by the canal in his carriage. Noticing the commotion at the spot, he stopped, dove in and retrieved Mahlon’s body.
 
 Mahlon’s parents learned the sad news as they were returning from their day trip.
 
 Justice Kincaid empaneled a coroner’s jury to hear testimony from the two boys who had been with Mahlon, and they described what had happened. The verdict was as expected: accidental death by drowning.
 
Mahlon Irvine was buried two days later in the Masons Cemetery, next to his little niece Lillie May who had died in 1885.
 
© 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 17 July 2026.

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