Patrick Hamilton (1843-1888) - Newspaper Editor

 

Obituary from 

the Arizona Daily Star, December 23, 1888

Patrick Hamilton was born in January, 1843, in County Cork, Ireland.  According to his newspaper obituary, he and his parents arrived in New York in 1846, at the beginning of the Irish Potato Famine.  He received a liberal education in New York schools.

At age 20, he went west to Colorado, where fur trapping had given way to prospecting.  At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hamilton claimed to have joined the 3rd Colorado Volunteer Infantry and participated in several engagements.  However, no evidence of his actual enlistment has been discovered.  Possibly he was employed in some civilian capacity.

Hamilton was in Arizona by 1876, and the 1880 federal census records him as a miner in Prescott.  He became a member of the Correspondents’ Club and went into the newspaper business, managing the Prescott Democrat before buying The Expositor.

Hamilton had hoped to be named Arizona’s territorial secretary, but the legislature appointed him Commissioner of Immigration instead.  His duties included compiling a comprehensive list of Arizona’s natural resources with a view toward dispelling the image of Arizona as a vast wasteland and encouraging people to settle there.

Hamilton threw himself into the project enthusiastically, moving to Tombstone to report on the silver mining boom there.  Having earned a reputation for colorful editorials in his newspaper, the Tombstone Independent, he got crosswise of Samuel Purdy, editor of the rival Tombstone Epitaph.  in September 1882, Purdy challenged Hamilton to a duel.  Since dueling was illegal in Arizona, the two men crossed the border into Sonora.  The entire incident came to naught, however, as they could not come to an agreement about which pistols to use.

While in Tombstone, Hamilton made the acquaintance of a widow, Mrs. Frances McBride, and they declared their intention to marry.  They finally achieved their objective on September 2, 1886 in San Diego.

Between 1881 and 1886, Hamilton travelled extensively throughout Arizona, first writing and then updating his 270-page book, The Natural Resources of Arizona.  It was well-received and went through several editions, with over 10,000 copies printed.  An inveterate Arizona ‘booster’, Hamilton had excerpts published in Arizona and California newspapers.

Like so many others, Hamilton contracted tuberculosis and died in Phoenix on December 20, 1888, of a pulmonary hemorrhage.  He was buried in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery.  There is no marker.

- Donna L. Carr

 

 

#9 Mary A. List Mosier (1843-1897) - Farmer’s Wife

 

PCA Archives

Mary Ann List was born August 15, 1843, in Pennsylvania.  She was the oldest of seven children belonging to David J. List and Ursula Newell.

The Lists had moved to Lee County, Iowa, by 1858, when Mary Ann married Benedict Mosier at the tender age of fifteen.  Soon thereafter, the young couple moved to Tyler Township, Hickory County, Missouri, where Mary Ann bore eleven children between 1860 and 1875.  Six survived to adulthood.  The Mosiers were farmers and, apparently, quite successful ones.  Mary Ann’s parents moved to Missouri at about the same time.

In the summer of 1861, Benedict Mosier enlisted in Company C, 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, serving in Captain William C. Human’s company.  The mission of the regiment was to prevent Confederate forces from establishing a foothold in southwestern Missouri.  The soldiers went on numerous scouting patrols and engaged in a few skirmishes.  Since Mosier’s duties kept him fairly close to home, he was able to make periodic visits to his family. 

Mary Ann’s father, David List, served in the same regiment although he was more than forty years old at the time.  He died in Missouri in 1868, leaving his wife and five children.

Although the Mosiers had a productive farm in Missouri, they moved to Arizona around 1884, as did Mary Ann’s widowed mother and several of her siblings.  Possibly the Mosiers’ son Sydney was ill and required a warm, dry climate.  He died on 30 May 1886 and was buried in City Loosley Cemetery.

Mary Ann undoubtedly lived the life of a farmer’s wife.  In addition to the usual household chores, she occasionally worked in the fields and forked hay for the cattle.

Late in life, Mary Ann developed heart problems.  In April 1897, she resigned her position as a Sunday School teacher because of ill health.  While driving home on 14 December 1897, she apparently suffered a stroke.  A neighbor moving cattle noticed that the horse and buggy had stopped in the road and came to her aid, but attempts to revive Mary Ann failed.  She too was buried in City Loosley Cemetery.

Following Mary’s death, Benedict Mosier was much chagrined to learn that Arizona was a community property state and that Mary’s property would be split between him and their children.  It had never occurred to him that his late wife owned anything, much less half of the marital assets.

Mary Ann’s mother, Ursula Newell List, outlived her, dying in Glendale, Arizona, in 1906.

Benedict died on 4 October 1908 and was buried in the family plot in City Loosley.

-by Donna Carr