Rev. Freeman D. Rickerson (1837-1892) - Baptist Minister

 

Bing AI

Freeman D. Rickerson was born on the 23rd of November, 1837, in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York.   He was the son of Daniel Wilcox Rickerson and his second wife, Malina Corpe. 

Rickerson received his theological education in Rochester, which had a Baptist seminary founded in 1850 (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School today).   Instead of remaining in New York state, however, Rickerson felt called to minister in the Midwest.  He moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he was licensed to preach in October of 1858.  After serving a period as an assistant pastor in Grinnell, Iowa, he was ordained in April 1859.  Thereafter, he was instrumental in founding and/or serving Baptist congregations in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

While he was in Grinnell, Rev. Rickerson met and married Eunice Langworthy.  Like him, she and her family were from New York state.  They eventually had a daughter, Melina May, born in 1870 in Waukegan, Illinois.

In addition to being a man of the cloth, Rev. Rickerson was a high-ranking Mason, advancing to the rank of commander and grand prelate in the Grand Commandery of Illinois.  He was convinced that his religious faith and his Masonic ideals went hand in hand and so preached.  He is said to have been learned, honest and broad-minded, attributes not always evident in frontier preachers.

The Rickersons came to Phoenix in 1889, after Rev. Rickerson was appointed to fill the pulpit of the Baptist Church at 2nd Avenue and Jefferson.   When he arrived, Rickerson found the church in a neglected state and the treasury empty.   He remedied this by soliciting donations from more affluent churches back east, and a new building was eventually raised.

Rickerson proved to be tireless in his work but, after less than three years, heart disease cut short his tenure in Phoenix.  Although he was known to have been in declining health, his death still came as a shock to his congregation.   He was visiting at the home of B. F. McFall when he suffered an apoplexy and died on March 29, 1892. 

Chaplain Winfield Scott from Scottsdale preached the funeral sermon.  Rickerson being the  prelate of the Phoenix commandery at the time of his death, he was buried in Masons Cemetery, as befitting his high status in the order.

The Rickersons’ daughter Melina or “May”, as she preferred, wed John Swilling, Jr. in Phoenix in 1916.  It was a second marriage for both parties.  However, the union seems to have been of short duration; by 1920, May was living with her widowed mother in California.   

-by Donna L. Carr           

               

 

 

John B. Kelly (1837 - 1896) - Butcher and Saloon Owner

PCA Archives

John Barnes Kelly (or Kelley) was born about 1837 in Hermon, St. Lawrence County, New York.   Although he and his older brother Henry initially went to California in 1851 in hopes of finding gold, they instead made their fortune in the butchering trade. 

J. B. married Elizabeth Ann Morrow on July 8, 1860, in Jackson, Amador County, California.  They had four daughters, including a set of twins born in Sutter Creek, Amador County, California.

Apparently Elizabeth died in 1874 or 1875, as J. B. then married Laura E. Hoyt on December 1, 1875.  They had a son and a daughter while living in California, after which they relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, and had three more daughters.

As a butcher, J. B. worked closely with the Balsz family of Phoenix.  The Balszes operated a large ranch near Yuma as well as feedlots in Phoenix, and J. B. was one of the butchers who turned steers into steaks for local restaurants.   The Kellys lived in a fine house at Center and Monroe Streets.   J. B. joined the local Masonic lodge and made a foray into politics; he ran for sheriff but was narrowly defeated.

Men outnumbered women in 1880s Phoenix, so J. B.’s three oldest daughters were a welcome addition to the social scene.  All three married local men.  Harriet Lillian married J. J. Sweeney, a butcher like her father.  Addie married Daniel P. Conroy, and her twin, Ada, had a career as a schoolteacher before and after her marriage.

J. B. died on February 24, 1896, of a stomach hemorrhage (possibly a perforated ulcer?)  He was buried with Masonic and Episcopalian rites in Phoenix’s Masons Cemetery.  

The Cabinet, his upscale saloon on Washington Street, he left to his widow.  She sold it two months later and eventually returned to her home state of California, where she settled in Oakland.  She was last recorded on the 1930 federal census, living with her youngest daughter, Laura R. Kelly.

- by Donna Carr

 

 

Christian Hanny II (1837 - 1893) - Men's Clothing Merchant

 

Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.), 04 Oct. 1921. 

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 

<https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020558/1921-10-04/ed-1/seq-13/>

Christian Hanny II was born November 25th 1837 in Gertsenzay, Canton of Bern, Switzerland.  His father Christian I brought him to Ohio in 1854.  They moved to Cairo, IL where Christian II opened a men’s clothing store.  

Victor E. Hanny was born in Cairo, IL September 26th 1873 to Christian II and Ursula Jane Hanny, nee Gaither.  Ursula died in the 1880, and with a severe depression, Christian II came to Phoenix in 1887 bringing his children Victor and Florence.   

Christian II took Vic and Florence to Long Beach CA where he enrolled them in school and boarded them in a private home.  Christian II returned to Phoenix and was employed with a men’s clothing store.  Vic returned to Phoenix in 1888 and Florence was enrolled in a school in Ohio.  Vic attended a predecessor of Phoenix Union High School until Christian II died in 1892.   

Vic boarded with the Drachman family and accompanied them to Tucson in late 1892.  This period was recorded in the book Chicken Every Sunday where Vic was mentioned as “Walter” Hanny. 

Vic met Alice Hughes in Tucson and they were married October 27th 1903 in Buffalo NY.  They returned to Tucson where Vic and his partner, Phil Brannen, opened the men’s clothing store “Brannen and Hanny”.  They were also very active with the Twin Buttes Mining Company and were also partners of the Twin Buttes Railroad.  

For information on the Hanny's store or Vic Hanny, come down to the PMMP!

James Broomell (1837 - 1896) - Soldier for a Cause

James Broomell - Porter Cemetery - PCA Files

James Henry Broomell was born August 2, 1837. The location of his birth was probably Upper Oxford Township in Chester County, PA. 

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