Behind the Epitaph
Stories from the Pioneer Military and Memorial Park and Territorial Phoenix
Monday, September 14, 2020
The Funeral 'Bus' - Mysteries in the Cemetery
Friday, September 11, 2020
Old Jails - 1800s
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Noah Broadway - Arizona Lawman
PCA Archives - Noah Broadway
Noah Broadway is believed to have been the son of William M. Broadway and Mary “Polly” Key. On the federal census of 1850, Broadway was living with his brother John in Kemper County, Mississippi, and his age was given as 19, making him born around 1831.
No photo of Broadway has ever been found, nor evidence of him marrying or serving during the Civil War. He seems to have been a somewhat solitary man.
Broadway is known to have been farming in the Salt River Valley by 1868. He and seven other men formed the Prescott Ditch company on 26 Sep 1870, and dug the Prescott (later Broadway) Ditch to irrigate his crops.
The Maricopa Crossing was on Broadway’s ranch. It was a nice crossing with a firm gravel bottom, and the stages usually crossed the Salt River there. The road which ran through Broadway’s ranch is known today as Broadway Road.
Broadway never sought public office but was nominated for sheriff by Dr. W. W. Jones and elected on the 14th ballot in late 1884. Although he was considered to be of good and honest character, some didn’t support him as he had publicly expressed a desire to ‘string up’ men who were selling whiskey to Indians.
Broadway was the first sheriff to have his office in the new, two-story brick courthouse between First and Second Avenues facing Washington, the previous office being in an adobe structure. The county jail was not very secure and security was lax; eight prisoners almost escaped one day when someone failed to lock up.
As sheriff, Broadway regularly conveyed prisoners to Yuma. Another of Broadway’s duties was conveying insane people to the hospital in Stockton, California. On 9 March 1885, the county approved the issuance of bonds to build an insane asylum in Phoenix.
Broadway’s term as sheriff was plagued by a rash of armed robberies. Men dressed as Indians held up stagecoaches carrying Wells Fargo boxes north of Phoenix. Detective work led to the arrest of one John Pennington and two cohorts. The massacre of the Martin family in 1886, supposedly by the Valenzuela gang led by S. P. Stanton, also occurred during Broadway’s watch.
By 1902 Broadway’s health was declining and his ranch was much neglected. When he died, his lawyer sold the ranch and liquidated his assets, which amounted $12737. Since Broadway had no other heirs, this sum was divided among his surviving sisters. - adapted story from Donna Carr
Friday, September 4, 2020
Old West Jail Food - 1800s
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Joseph Barnum - First Elected Sheriff of Maricopa Co.
PCA Archive
Joseph Thomas Barnum was born in 1832 in New York state, the son of Truman Barnum and Harriet Rich. Although he is said to have been a cousin of P.T. Barnum, the famous showman (Phineas was the son of Philo, while Joseph Thomas was the son of Truman), so far no proof has been found that Philo and Truman were brothers. By 1835, the Barnums were in Chicago, where Joseph Thomas's brother William E. was born.
No records of any Civil War service have been found.
The Barnums came to Arizona in 1864 and settled first in
Prescott, where Joseph Thomas met and married Jeanette Jane “Jenettie” Osborn,
daughter of John P. Osborn and Perlina Swetnam, on May 10, 1865. He was
33, almost 17 years older than his teenage bride.
When Barnum, who usually went by his middle name of Thomas, moved his family to the Salt River Valley in 1868, his wife was one of only four Anglo women in the rough settlement. Barnum was quick to see the Valley's potential and went into partnership with J. W. Swilling in digging irrigation ditches.
Barnum was a personal friend of John T. Alsap; in fact, the two families were sharing a household in 1870. Barnum was one of the signers of the original Salt River Valley Town Association pact on October 20, 1870 and is believed to have helped William Augustus Hancock lay out the original Phoenix town site, moving it from its location about four miles east of what is now downtown Phoenix.
When Maricopa County was created in 1871 from Yavapai County, it became necessary to elect county officials for the first time. After one candidate for sheriff, a man named Chenoweth, shot and killed another candidate, J. Favorite, in a gunfight, Barnum became the front runner for the office. He was elected and served from May until August, 1871.
Besides enforcing the law, Barnum's duties included developing a tax roll and collecting taxes for the new county. He also had to take convicted felons to the state prison in Yuma and transport the insane to the nearest mental hospital which was in California. Being out of town so often made it difficult for Barnum to attend to the running of his ranch, so he resigned as sheriff in August of 1871. The federal census of 1880 lists his occupation as ‘saloonkeeper’. - by Donna Carr
Monday, August 31, 2020
Lawman of Territorial Phoenix
This week, we will be honoring our past Phoenix lawmen that are buried at the PMMP. The old west during this time period was a rough place, and lawmen were often searching for outlaws and trying to maintain order. In some cases, they wore many hats, such as tax collectors, and executioner. Follow us as we honor the Phoenix lawmen buried at the PMMP in Phoenix.
Friday, August 28, 2020
Civil War Recruitment
Both the Union and Confederate armies used creative ways in which to entice volunteers to join their ranks. Some recruits were offered bounties, and shortened time. Others were offered free school and land. They often used funny or enticing slogans in poster form. Take a look at some of the creative posters from many branches of service involved in the Civil War....
Monday, August 24, 2020
Benedict Mosier - Soldier and Farmer
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
John Porter - Lieutenant
John Singleton Porter was born 23 January 1873 in Blount County, Tennessee to Robert and Maggie Porter. He had at least two brothers, Samuel and Robert S. Porter, and a sister Jennie.
On 25 September 1888, he was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, at the age of 15, the minimum age allowed. He graduated in 1892, after which he embarked on the last requirement, a two-year cruise. He served aboard the USS Baltimore and the USS San Francisco. He returned to Annapolis in April of 1894 to take his final exams. Following a two-month leave, he was commissioned an ensign on 1 July 1894 and was appointed assistant engineer.
He was assigned to take additional instruction in marine engineering in Paris, France, on 3 October 1894. While there, he contracted a respiratory ailment, probably tuberculosis. Upon his return to the United States in June 1896, he took sick leave and travelled first to Denver in the hope that a warmer climate would aid his recovery.
Porter went back east for the funerals of his parents in 1896-1897, which only aggravated his condition. He was in the last stages of consumption when he came to Phoenix in December 1897. After seeking care from army surgeon Dr. Alex S. Porter, his health improved marginally, but he suffered a relapse and died suddenly on 11 February 1898 at Sisters Hospital. - Donna Carr
Friday, August 7, 2020
The Contents of Lincoln's Pockets after his Assassination
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Contents of Lincoln's PocketsLibrary of Congress Prints and Photographs Division https://www.loc.gov/item/2011646850/ |
The Library of Congress has a wonderful resource page of pictures and articles from the Civil War.Click the link below to see.One of them includes an article of the contents of Lincoln's pockets when he was assassinated. The contents are both typical and mysterious....... |
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
James Braswell - Civil War Soldier
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Confederate Prisoners
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During the Civil War, James enlisted initially as a private in Company B, 26th Alabama Infantry (O’Neal’s Regiment), but in August 1862, he and his brother W. D. deserted. They were captured by the Union Army at Camp Davies, Mississippi, on 28 December 1863. Five months later, on 31 May 1864, they took a loyalty oath and enlisted in the U. S. Army. Braswell’s own account was much more colorful.
After a year or two of soldiering, he and a comrade named R. A. Crowley were fighting in Georgia when they deserted for the first time. They were soon captured by their Confederate fellows. The South, being by then desperate for soldiers, did not execute the pair, but confined them to the guardhouse. Braswell and Crowley escaped a second time by knocking a guard down. Recaptured and confined yet again, they made a third attempt to escape, but were foiled. Despairing of keeping the slippery pair in uniform, the commanding officer ordered them to be shot the next morning at sunrise.
As the condemned men sat in the guardhouse that night, Braswell persuaded Crowley to make one last break for it, saying “Let us try one more run. The chances are that we won’t make it wand will most likely get killed, but what of that? We’ll only shorten our years by five hours.”
The pair surprised and killed a guard, fleeing into the night. Before morning they reached a dense swamp and made their way to Sherman’s lines, where they surrendered.
James Braswell married his first wife, Mary Jane DuBose in Indiana in 1863. After the war, Braswell’s skills as a brickmason were undoubtedly in demand as new settlements sprang up out West. By 1870, the Braswells were living in Elk City, Kansas, and were the parents of three children, Sophronia Belle, George Belton, and James Elliot.
Around 1884, the Braswells moved to Arizona, accompanied by James’s old friend Crowley. Their last five children: Claude, John Wesley, Maude Pauline, Audrey and Joseph Franklin, were born in Phoenix. Although Braswell claimed to have been the father of 24 children, only 14 have been documented.
Although Braswell had been an industrious and skillful workman for most of his life, he took up drinking during his last years. When he expired on 13 January 1898, bottles of laudanum and paregoric were found in his pockets. Thinking that he might have committed suicide, Justice Johnstone ordered an inquest. The cause of death was cleared up when Mrs. Braswell testified that he habitually carried them to relieve a persistent ear ache.
James Braswell is buried in Porter Cemetery. Come visit us, and learn more about this soldier at the PMMP! - adapted by a story from Sue Wilcox
Monday, August 3, 2020
The Young Volunteer - Life as a Soldier in the Civil War, 1865
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Click to See and Read the Document from the Library of Congress |
Friday, July 24, 2020
James Broomell - Soldier for a Cause
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James Broomell - Porter Cemetery - PCA Files |
On the 1840 Census, James Broomell was listed as 12 years old along with his grandmother Lydia Broomell, father John Broomell, and mother Sarah Broomell, along with the following siblings: George, Latitia, Elizabeth, Seneca, and Samuel.
At some point in 1860, he became a school teacher, and then later became soldier. The 124th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was organized to meet the threat of the Confederate invasion of Maryland in August 1862. The length of service for the volunteers was to be 9 months. James Henry Broomell enlisted on August 6, 1862, at Oxford, PA. He was assigned the rank of Corporal in Company C and was mustered in on August 11, 1862.
Corp. Broomell’s Regiment was ordered to Washington D.C. on August 12 and they went into camp at Fort Albany, two miles south-east of the Capital. The 124th was next ordered to Rockville, MD, on September 7. It was ordered to march to meet the enemy the afternoon of the 9th. Then, on September 17, it was in the thick of the fight in the infamous Miller’s corn field during the Battle of Antietam. This battle was the “bloodiest” day of fighting in the entire Civil War; in fact the “bloodiest” day in United States history. The 124th lost 50 men in killed and wounded that day. Total casualties were some 23,000 soldiers.
By December 10, the 124th Pennsylvania was camped in the neighborhood of Harper’s Ferry. It was ordered forward by a forced march in bad weather to participate in the looming battle at Fredericksburg, VA. By the time it arrived, the fighting was over.
The next major assignment of Corp. Broomell’s Regiment was the Chancellorsville campaign. It formed a line of battle on the afternoon of April 30, 1863. The fight with the Confederate army began the next morning. The Union troops were gradually forced into a strictly defensive situation and all hostile action ceased by May 6. The 9-month term of service for this Regiment ended on May 9 and it was returned to Harrisburg, PA, where Broomell was mustered out on May 17.
One month later, the governor of Pennsylvania was informed that Confederate General Robert E. Lee was again intent on invading the North. Governor Curtin issued a proclamation on June
12 asking for men to volunteer into “emergency” militia regiments. President Lincoln also called for 100,000 men from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia to serve for 6 months or as long as necessary during the emergency. Broomell again answered the call to serve and enrolled June 15, 1863, at Oxford, PA. He was mustered in on June 19 at Harrisburg as a Private in Company A of the 29th Pennsylvania Militia Infantry and immediately promoted to Sergeant.
This regiment was organized by June 23 and immediately put to work building fortifications around Harrisburg. It experienced some combat when a mounted Confederate force raided some nearby Pennsylvania towns and threatened Harrisburg. Private Broomell’s regiment did not engage in fighting in the Gettysburg area. The main purpose of these “emergency” militia regiments was to guard railroads, bridges and fords over major rivers and to protect Federal property in Pennsylvania. Private Broomell was mustered out of service on August 1, 1863, at Harrisburg, PA. His soldiering days were over.
For more information on the life of James Broomell, and to see him in Porter Cemetery, come to the Pioneer Military and Memorial Park when it opens! - adapted from a story by Jan Huber