N. Naga Mene (1867? - 1895) - Forgotten But "Found" in City Loosley Cemetery

Picture by Val (see below for more)

During one of our preservation days at the PMMP, Patty and fellow preservationists, angie and ann, found a grave marker lying on the ground in Loosley Cemetery.  All it read was "born in Japan".  Who was this mysterious unnamed individual buried in Loosely whose grave marker was unattached to a grave location?

Patty sprang into action and located the Thomas Hayden maps.  In the 1940's, Thomas Hayden visually mapped out all of the cemeteries in the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park.  He drew each existing grave marker and noted its epitaph and any identifying information.  It is a jewel of a record for the cemetery!

In the area in which the marker was found, Patty located the Hayden record.  There was a grave drawn in the same location on the map.  The record stated that the marker there at the time read "N. Naga Mene, Sept 5, 1895, Aged 30 Years, Born in Japan".  The upper portion of the marker was missing.  Our preservationists dug in the area of the marker's location, but did not find the rest of the stone.  

Donna, one of our living history researchers, stated that N. Naga Mene was definitely of Japanese descent, although his death certificate says "Mexican".  She suspects that the surname was probably "Nagamine" or "Nakamine".  

As an interesting note, she also stated that the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 did not apply to individuals from Japan, so they continued to immigrate to the United States.  In fact, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, many of those who came from Japan desired to learn about and adopt the West's technological innovations.  They came here to seek out information and new experiences.

We hope to learn more about N. Naga Mene, and continue to search for the rest of his marker.  

(Story told by Patty and Donna.  Photo by Val)

 

                                                    

                                                    

Jay H. Miller (1865-1895) - A Mystery of Long Standing

PCA Archive

For over a century, the Knights of Pythias Cemetery has held an unusual grave marker.  Unlike the typical headstone, it was a large, smooth, pink granite boulder inscribed with a barely visible inscription: “In Adoring Memory of Jay.”  But who was Jay? 

In the late afternoon of November 25, 2006, longtime PCA volunteer Diane Sumrall was picking up trash in the cemetery.  As she passed Jay’s boulder, she chanced to glance up at the underside of the stone.  The setting sun was just at the right angle to reveal another faint inscription that had been hidden from view.  It read “H. Miller.”  Mystery solved!

Jay H. Miller was born in California on January 7, 1865, to James Miller of Tennessee and Susan Sawyer Miller.  Mr. Miller seems to have died before 1870, as the 1870 census records only Susan, a seamstress, her son Jay, and her mother Abigale in Sacramento.   By 1880, Susan was living with teenaged Jay and her new husband, John W. Hughes.  

Jay Miller moved to Phoenix around 1887, where he began working for the newly established Maricopa & Phoenix Railroad.  He eventually became the Maricopa & Phoenix Railroad’s commercial agent in Phoenix, responsible for running its freight department.  

With increased responsibility came a better salary.  Around 1892, Miller acquired a large lot at the southeast corner of Seventh and Pierce Streets. He hired C. J. Dyer to create a plat map and subdivided the lot into 10 individual smaller lots.  By 1895, the Phoenix Street Railway system had been extended so it ran along Pierce Street in front of Miller’s property; easy access to the streetcar line must have increased its value and potential for development.

On the evening of September 7, 1895, Miller shared some drinks with companions at the Cabinet Saloon on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Washington Street.  Around 10 PM, he stepped out into the alley behind his office with a Mr. Conroy.  A few moments later, two shots rang out and Conroy ran for help, saying that Miller had killed himself.

The Arizona Republican newspaper covered the coroner’s inquest in great detail.  Almost 50 individuals testified about Miller’s activities that night, and several indicated that he sometimes seemed despondent and had spoken of suicide in the past.

Jay Miller was buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery.   Since he had died intestate, his mother was his sole heir.  Undoubtedly it was she who had the pink granite boulder inscribed with his name and installed on his grave as a tombstone.

-         - by Diane Sumrall, Debe Branning, Derek Horn

 

 

Preservation Day at the PMMP - February 16, 2025

Video and Photos by Val Wilson

It was a great preservation day at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park! Our preservation experts excavated for broken markers, reseated monuments, and restored epitaphs. Thank you to our dedicated preservationists for keeping the history of our pioneer cemetery alive!

#pcacemeteries #pcaevents #arizonahistory #phoenix  

Happy Valentine's Day - 2025

 

The Valentine

Library of Congress

Happy Valentine's Day!

Early Preservation at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park - 1940

Arizona Republic

February 13, 1940

Early Preservation at the PMMP - In the 1940's, there were many damaged and missing grave markers at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park. In this article from the Arizona Republic that was published on February 13, 1940, members of the Pioneers' Cemetery Association watch a stone mason repair a broken marker in City Loosley Cemetery. After years of caretaking, Mary Armstrong still looks good today (PCA Photo Archive)!

PCA Archives

Candido Diaz (1889-1919) - Copper Miner and Farmer

 

Courtesy of Grand Daughter

Candido Diaz was born February 2, 1889, in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico.   He was the oldest of ten children born to Juan Diaz and Maria del Refugio Garcia.

On January 17, 1913, he married Candida Guzman of the same town.  The young couple is believed to have had two little daughters, although only the second, Maria Engracia, has a birth record.  She was born on April 3, 1915, and christened a few days later.

The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910, lasted until 1920.   Perhaps the Diazes hoped to avoid being drawn into the fighting.  By 1917, they were living in Tyrone, New Mexico, a mining town run by Phelps Dodge Corporation.  Supposedly, their first daughter died there.

In 1919, Diaz was a copper miner and farmer in Miami, Arizona, another Phelps Dodge town.  When he contracted influenza, he was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, where he died on February 7.

The virulence of the Spanish Flu epidemic made immediate burial necessary. His wife Candida, who spoke only Spanish, had to rely upon English-speaking strangers to make the arrangements. She never knew exactly where her husband was buried.

Nevertheless, Candido's story was passed on for nearly a century, until his grand- daughter, Dolores “Lola” Mendez, found his death certificate on line.  As was often the case with Mexican names, Diaz's death certificate was incorrectly filed; it’s under 'Candido Garcia'4, his mother’s maiden name.  Still, it was possible to positively identify him by the date of death.   He had been buried in the Maricopa County Cemetery, now known as Cementerio Lindo.

Although Candido Diaz has no grave marker and the exact location of his grave is forever unknown, his family is relieved to know that he was accorded a Christian burial and rests beside so many other victims of the influenza epidemic.

- by Donna L. Carr

 

Early Attempts of Improvement at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park - 1939

Arizona Republic, December 27, 1939

 

Some "forgotten" picture of early preservation attempts at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park, 1939. Note the "fence" of trees. The PMMP has taken on quite a few "appearances" in its day. (Arizona Republic, December 27, 1939)

Robert E. Lee Brown (1865-1902) - Mining Engineer and Adventurer

 

PCA Archives

R. E. L. Brown may be one of the most unique characters in the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, both for his colorful life--and the speed with which he was forgotten after his demise.

Born May 31, 1865, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Laurence and Martha Brown, he trained as a mining engineer, then went out west to locate promising mines.

In 1889, Brown was surveying potential mining claims in Washington state. During a violent labor strike in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1892, he started a newspaper called The Barbarian, which took the side of the mine owners versus the unionized miners.  This earned him the nickname “Barbarian Brown”.  Threatened with death during the strike, he caused a cannon to be wheeled into the street outside his office.

Much as he enjoyed the furor his newspaper editorials provoked, Brown remained first and foremost a mining engineer.  He speculated in mines and was well regarded internationally for his expertise.  Seeking new adventures, Brown journeyed to South Africa in hopes of securing some promising claims during a land rush in Witfontein in 1895. Competition was fierce for the best claims, but Brown hit upon a method that could outrun the swiftest horse:  a heliograph!  He set up heliograph stations by which he could transmit confirmation almost instantaneously to his confederates in the field who were waiting to stake his claims. 

On July 19, 1895, the day of the land rush, twelve thousand miners were gathered in Doornkoop to register their permits.  But Brown had devised a plan to ensure that he would be first in line.  A fan of American football, he recruited a group of rough men from local bars to form a “flying wedge” to cut through the crowd.  The ruse worked; however, the Pretoria government initially refused to honor his claims.  Brown sued the Boer government and eventually won a huge judgment, the exact value of which has never been ascertained.

Having worn out his welcome in South Africa, the brash engineer returned to North America where, on September 26, 1898, he wed Maud Higgins in Victoria, British Columbia. 

Brown was in London in 1901 when he apparently contracted tuberculosis.  In late 1902, he traveled to Phoenix in a private train car with his wife, his personal physician and a nurse.  Unfortunately, he had left it too late; he died on October 3, 1902, scarcely a week after his arrival.   Despite his fame and fortune, his death rated only a few lines in the local newspaper, and he was buried under a simple wooden headboard in Rosedale Cemetery.  

One can only speculate as to why Brown’s remains were not shipped back East and why a more elaborate headstone was never erected over his grave.

- 
 -  by Donna L. Carr