DeForest Porter (1839-1889) - Territorial Justice and Mayor of Phoenix

Donna Carr

 

The man who would one day be the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, was born on February 2, 1839, in western New York state.  He was the youngest of nine children belonging to George A. Porter and his wife, Anna Gillett.

Young DeForest grew up in Albion, Orleans County, New York.  He enrolled in St. Lawrence University with the intention of becoming a Unitarian minister.  However, while campaigning for Lincoln in 1860, his imagination was fired by politics.  Upon graduation, he was ordained but decided to go into law instead, as had his older brother George, Jr.

According to sources, Porter enlisted in the Union Army and received a severe wound at the Battle of Gettysburg.  After the war, he married Julia Sophia Trowbridge and they settled in Brownville, Nemaha County, Nebraska, where Porter opened his law office and began his political career.

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant nominated Porter to the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court. He moved to Arizona City (now Yuma) in April to become an associate justice.  Because the summers were so hot, Porter’s wife Julia was staying in California when their son, DeForest Jr., was born in 1875.  In 1876, Maricopa County was added to Porter’s judicial district and he moved to Phoenix, an agricultural area where it was marginally cooler.

After Julia’s death in 1878, Porter married Lois "Lulu" Gertrude Cotton on December 29, 1880.  They had one daughter, Marian.  Porter acquired considerable land in Phoenix, and he also had mining interests.

Porter resigned from the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court in 1882, hoping to be elected to some legislative office.  Although initially unsuccessful in that, he was elected mayor of Phoenix in 1883.  Among the achievements of his first term was the establishment of the fraternal cemeteries that occupy Block 32 [Neahr's Addition] of the Phoenix townsite. They are now part of the PMMP. 

Porter served briefly in the territorial legislature in 1885-1886 before being elected to a another term as Phoenix mayor.  During his second term, the Normal school in Tempe (now ASU) was established as well as the Territorial Insane Asylum, and Porter lobbied the heads of the Southern Pacific Railroad to lay rails to Tempe from Maricopa.

Porter's health was adversely affected by Arizona's hot climate.  On Feb. 17, 1889, he  died following a severe bout of erysipelas.   Although originally buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, he was moved to Porter Cemetery in March 1890, after his widow had had the new Porter cemetery laid out.  His remains, and those of his first wife, were moved to Greenwood in 1916, where the Porter and Cotten families share an impressive monument.

- by Donna L. Carr

Manuel Harvey Reno (1831-1899) - Kentucky Judge

 

PCA Archives

Manuel H. Reno was born January 28, 1831, in Ballard County, Kentucky.  He was one of nine children belonging to Richard D. Reno and Celia Bohannon, a farming couple.  The federal census of 1850 suggests that the Renos had moved to Kentucky around 1830 from Alabama.

Around 1855, Reno married Ann D. Ellis in Ballard County, Kentucky.   Their first child, a daughter named Mary Belle, was born on March 23, 1856.  She was followed quickly by Susan Theodocia, born 1857, William Richard, born 1858, and Maggie, born 1862.

No evidence has been found that Reno was ever in the Confederate army.  Kentucky being a border state, it is possible that his sentiments aligned with the Union.  He seems to have remained a small farmer throughout the war. 

By 1880, the Renos were farming in Clinton, Hickman County, Kentucky.  Although there is no mention of where he read law, Reno eventually became a county judge in Kentucky.

The Renos retired to Phoenix around 1892.   Although Reno doesn’t seem to have practiced law in Arizona, he was active in local politics.  Originally a member of the Grange Party, he later became a member of the Populist Party which supported Buckey O’Neill’s short-lived political career.

In 1894, Reno launched an Arizona chapter of the Child’s Aid Society, which seems to have been an insurance company benefitting the children of deceased members when they came into their majority by providing them with a small fund to get a start in life.  In an era when fathers could not necessarily count on living long enough to see their children grow up, this might have been an attractive option.

Reno was an officer of the Hopeton Baptist Church and taught Sunday school there.

He died on December 11, 1899, of valvular heart disease.  After a funeral sermon preached by Rev. Lewis Halsey of the Baptist Church, he was buried in Ancient Order of United Workmen Cemetery. 

At the time of Reno’s death, his eldest daughter, Mary Belle, was teaching school at the Sacaton Indian Agency.  Although she had married James Zimmerman in Kentucky in 1883, she may have been a widow by 1899.

- by Donna L. Carr

Ivy H. Cox (1825-1898) - Methodist Minister and Judge

 

PCA Archives

Ivy Henderson Cox was born December 29, 1825, in Dungannon, Scott County, Virginia.   He was the son of James Longhollow Cox and Nancy Finney, originally of Russell County, Virginia.

Upon graduating from William and Mary College, Ivy Cox was ordained a minister. He then went to Texas, where he was eventually elected the presiding elder of the Methodist Episcopal circuit.  He married Mary Jane Cook of Alabama on July 5, 1852, in Fayette County, Texas.   They had eight children, the first six born in Texas and the last two in California.

Notwithstanding that he was a family man approaching the age of forty, Ivy Cox felt it his duty to serve during the Civil War.  Accordingly, he became a chaplain in the 8th Texas Infantry (Hobby’s Regiment), C.S.A.  The regiment was charged with defending the seacoast installations at Galveston and Port Bolivar.  Cox’s military career ended in May 1864 when he took an extended leave and did not return to his regiment.

After the war, the Coxes moved to California.  By 1877, they were in Florence, Arizona. Shortly thereafter, they came to Phoenix.  The federal census of 1880 records Cox as a lawyer but, because he was also a minister, he continued to officiate at weddings.  Cox was said to be a pure soul, a lover of justice, but quite tolerant in public matters.  He served on County Board of Supervisors from 1879 to 1880 and again in 1895.   He also became a judge.  

By the time they arrived in Phoenix, most of the Cox children had reached adulthood.  Sons Melancthon and William went into the construction business, while Franklin Ivy became an attorney for the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The five Cox daughters married into local families.  Most of them were still living In the Ivy Cox household in 1880.

Judge Cox’s wife Mary Jane died 29 December 1886 and was buried in Loosley Cemetery.   Sometime thereafter, Cox went to Quitman, Texas, to marry a woman named Ann, who survived him.

The last years of Judge Cox’s life were spent on the family ranch four miles north of Phoenix, where he engaged in growing fruit and keeping bees.  Late in 1898, he was living at the residence of Joseph DuPree Reed.  He died there on December 20, 1898, of congestion of the brain and paralysis.  He was buried in Loosley Cemetery next to his first wife.

- by Donna L. Carr

 

Charles Henry Petersen (1851-1904) - Bricklayer

PCA Archives

Theodore Charles Heinrich Petersen was born on April 10, 1851, in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, to Jakob Petersen and Friederike Hansen. 

Although the Petersens were of Danish ethnicity, they had adopted some German customs, such as passing on the father’s surname unchanged.  In 1866, Germany asserted full control over Schleswig-Holstein and began conscripting Danish men into the German army.  That may have been why Petersen immigrated to the United States in 1874.

Family stories hold that Charles Petersen was working in Texas when he became a naturalized citizen.  On October 30, 1888, he married Pauline Amalie Nissen, who was also from Schleswig-Holstein.

The young couple took up residence in Campus, Livingston County, Illinois.  However, Pauline died less than a year later, two weeks after giving birth to a son named Paul.  Although born a U. S. citizen, baby Paul was apparently sent back to Bredstadt, Schleswig-Holstein, to be raised by his grandparents.

1892 found Charles Petersen in Phoenix, Arizona, where he married his second wife, Ernestina Lena Yostina Popken, on September 15.  They had several children in quick succession.  Petersen was in the brickmaking business and owned a 20-acre brickyard south of downtown Phoenix.  The Petersens lived on South Third Street, just a few blocks from Columbus Gray’s mansion. 

On November 6, 1900, Mrs. Petersen was at home alone with the children when noises in the back yard alerted her to the fact that a vagrant was trying to steal the family’s calf.  Armed with a shotgun, she ordered him to leave; however, when he charged at her, she fired, killing him.  The coroner’s jury reported that he had recently been released from jail.

While riding his bicycle down Washington Street on December 28, 1904, Charles Petersen turned in front of an oncoming streetcar, lost his balance and fell.   He was crushed between the streetcar and the rail beneath.  The newspaper reported that the widow’s grief was pitiful to behold; she was left with several children to raise, the oldest being only eleven, and she was nine months pregnant.

Petersen was buried in Block 12, Lot 1, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery.  Just a day or so after his funeral, his widow gave birth to a posthumous daughter.

In 1909, Petersen’s son Paul returned to the United States to reclaim his American citizenship.  He served during World War I in the 38th U. S. Field Artillery against Germany.  It is not known whether he ever visited Arizona or had the opportunity to meet his half-siblings.

- by Donna L. Carr

Happy New Year! 2026

 

We wish you a fun and exciting new year!  

All the best from the Pioneers' Cemetery Association!

Merry Christmas 2025

 

Library of Congress

A Christmas Wish 

On this Christmas Day, we wish you moments of peace, warmth, and connection, whether shared with family, friends, memories, or quiet reflection.

May the spirit of the season remind us that kindness, community, and remembrance are gifts that never fade. 

Thank you for supporting history, preservation, and community throughout the year.

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas Eve! Have You Seen Santa Yet?

 

Library of Congress

We’re not entirely sure what he’s driving this year…

All we know is he’s making his rounds......🎄✨

If you spot him, let us know...and don’t forget to get to bed early tonight. 😉

I hear NORAD knows where he is.......NORAD Santa Tracker

Christmas Carols in Territorial Days

Library of Congress, 1897

Long before radios, recordings, or streaming playlists, Christmas carols were shared the old-fashioned way by singing together.

In territorial communities, families gathered in homes, churches, and sometimes outdoors to sing familiar hymns and folk carols. Many songs were passed down orally or sung from hymnals, with simple accompaniment like a fiddle, organ, or nothing at all.

Caroling wasn’t about performance. It was about connection. Voices carried comfort, faith, and a sense of togetherness during long winter nights on the frontier.

For many families, these shared songs were the celebration.

Check out "Christmas Carols and MidSummer Songs" at Project Gutenberg: 

 

Amelia Kleinlogel Geiges (1856-1898) - Health Seeker

 

Photo:  Donna Carr

Amelia Kleinlogel was born about 1856 in Ohio to Talla Kleinlogel who had been born in France.  She was the second oldest of five children which included Charles, Theodore, Louisa and Albert.  Her father had died sometime between 1864 and 1870, which may have been why the family moved from Ohio to Michigan.

In 1870, the Kleinlogels were living in Solon, Kent County, Michigan, in the same household with several other people, among them 23-year-old Henry Geiges, an immigrant from Germany.  Geiges was a sawyer in a local sawmill, as was Amelia’s older brother Charles.

Henry Geiges had been born 1849 in Schleswig-Holstein.  He and Amelia were married on August 17, 1875, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.   Their first child, Lillian, was born about 1880 in Michigan.  Daughter Minnie was born February 1, 1884, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Amelia eventually contracted tuberculosis, which was rife at that time.  Around 1896, the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, for her health.  However, on December 28, 1898, she died at the family home at 235 East Taylor Street.  With Woodmen’s Circle paying for the interment, she was originally buried in Rosedale Cemetery.  Sometime later, possibly in the 1920s or 1930s, her remains were moved to Greenwood Cemetery.

Henry and their two daughters moved soon afterward to Los Angeles, where Lillian eventually married Guy Hidden Lawrence.   Henry Geiges died August 2, 1905, in Los Angeles, only a few months after his daughter’s wedding.

Daughter Minnie married Robinson P. Kane, a Seventh Day Adventist, in Los Angeles on June 30, 1908.   Unfortunately, he died just a few years later, in 1911.

Lillian later returned to Phoenix with her husband.  In 1929, they built a house at 6234 North Central which is on the National Register of Historic Places today.

- by Donna L. Carr

 

 

Christmas Stories in the ArizonaTerritorial Days

Library of Congress, 1897

Before televisions, radios, or piles of presents, Christmas storytelling was a cherished family tradition, especially on the frontier.

Families gathered by lamplight or the fire to:

• Read Bible passages, especially the Nativity
• Share favorite poems and moral tales
• Tell family stories, memories, and accounts of journeys west

Books were precious, so stories were often read aloud and shared across generations. In many homes, storytelling was the entertainment—bringing comfort, faith, and connection during long winter nights.

Have a favorite Christmas or Holiday story? Tell us in the comments!

Photos: Library of Congress, 1861

 

Henry Hiram Wilky (1838-1900) - Farmer

 

PCA Archives

Henry Wilky began life as Heinrich Wilke.  He was born on January 8, 1838, in Duchy of Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany, to a farm family.

Germany saw much political turmoil in the following years, as a revolution in 1848 failed and Prussia became the most powerful of Germany’s many duchies.  Europe was also undergoing an industrial revolution, as farms with mechanized equipment were soon outcompeting small farms that depended on hand labor.  Prussia’s imperial ambitions also led to the conscription of young men into the military.  Wilke may have left Braunschweig for any of these reasons.

He arrived in New Orleans in 1855 and made his way up the Mississippi River to Burton, Adams County, Illinois, where he found employment on the farm of Peter Rump.  The Rumps were originally from Hanover--only 40 miles from Braunschweig. 

Henry obviously intended to remain in the United States, as he filed a naturalization petition in 1860.  By 1861, he had a farm of his own and, on April 2^nd, he married Sophia Lutgerding, a neighbor.  She was the daughter of George Lutgerding and Elizabeth Rump (possibly a relative of Peter Rump) of Adams County, Illinois.

The Wilkys had six children:  George L., born 1862; William H., born 1865; Frederick Daniel, born 1867; John Adolph, born 1870; Clara Ellen, born 1877: and Lena Madelia, born 1880.  The family very likely spoke German at home.  By 1870, they had moved to Marion County, Missouri, where the census recorded them as Wilkys.

By 1882, the oldest Wilky sons were adults and needed farms of their own.  Henry and Sophia sold their property in Missouri and came by train to Maricopa in November.  From Maricopa, they traveled by wagon to Phoenix.   At first, they homesteaded in the area of 99^th Ave and Indian School but, due to lack of water, they had to move to about 67^th Ave and Indian School.

The Wilkys’ last years were marked by the loss of close relatives.  Their son John Adolph died in 1886 and son Frederick Daniel in 1900.   Henry Wilky himself died on December 22, 1900, of septicemia.  He was buried in the family plot in City Loosley Cemetery.  Sophia followed him in 1908.

The Wilkys’ descendants prospered in Arizona.   More than a century after their arrival in the Valley of the Sun, they generously donated funds for a wrought iron arch for Rosedale Cemetery.

- by Donna L. Carr

 

🎄 Christmas Cards in ArizonaTerritorial Days ✉️

 

Library of Congress, Christmas Cards 1860-1913

Christmas cards didn’t become common on the American frontier until the late 1800s. Before that, sending a holiday greeting was a luxury. Paper was expensive, printing was limited, and mail service could be unreliable.

When cards did appear in territorial towns, they were often:

• Simple printed cards
• Winter imagery, children, birds, trees
• Purchased from a general store or sent from back East

Many people still preferred handwritten letters, postcards, or notes tucked into packages. Receiving a Christmas card wasn’t just festive. It was proof that someone, somewhere far away, was thinking of you.

On the frontier, a small card could mean connection, comfort, and hope during a lonely season.

George W. DeGroot (1842-1903) - Railroad Employee

PCA Archives

George Washington DeGroot was born on January 3, 1842, in New York City.  His parents were Edward DeGroot and Hannah West.  The surname ‘DeGroot’ suggests Dutch origins.

In 1850, George’s father was listed on the federal census as a ‘clothier, someone who made and sold good-quality men’s clothing.  He might have had a small shop.  Living on the same street near the DeGroots were a shoemaker and a tailor.

Between 1855 and 1860, Edward DeGroot moved his family to Adams County, Illinois, where he became quite a well-to-do farmer.  Although George registered for the Civil War draft in 1863, no evidence of Civil War service has been found to date.  George was working on his father’s farm in 1870.  

On December 11, 1878, George married Laura F. Garner in Illinois.  Over the years, they had five children:  Eugene Dawe, 1879; William Clyde, born 1881; Edith and Harry Lester (twins), born 1886; and Robert Stanley, born 1889.

Instead of continuing as a farmer, George DeGroot became a railroad employee, possibly for the famous Rock Island Line.  For some years between 1886 and 1890, the DeGroots were in St. Louis, Missouri.  By 1900, they were back in Rock Island County, Illinois, and George and his son Clyde were working as a baggage handlers.

In 1901, after 23 years of marriage, Laura DeGroot divorced George on the grounds of cruelty and infidelity.  Not long thereafter, DeGroot seems to have come alone to Arizona.

He was living at 4^th Avenue and Jackson near the railroad tracks when on December 13, 1903, he died of pulmonary tuberculosis.  He was buried in Rosedale North, where he has a grave marker.

- by Donna L. Carr