Honoring Valor: The Restoration of a Veteran's Grave Site

 

PCA Archives

Amer DeShane McGinnis was born around 1849 to John and Laura McGinnis.  He enlisted in the military in 1867 when he was a farmer at 21 1/2 years old, and participated in the Indian Wars, as a soldier in Company A, 32nd United States Infantry. He was discharged June 28, 1870.  He married Annie Pickering, the widow of William L. Pickering on November 27, 1890 at Vulture City, Arizona. William had died in Vulture City. He was the owner of a saloon there. Unfortunately, Annie died on July 23, 1891.

Later, Amer would be appointed as a U.S. Postmaster at Calderwood, Maricopa, Arizona on January 26, 1892. Amer died on November 8, 1905, and is buried next to his wife Annie in City Loosley. 

-Val

 

Recently, we were honored to have volunteers from the Travis Manion Foundation help with placement of a military marker for Amer McGinnis and a weed cleanup in our cemetery. The new marker was a replacement for the old one that had weathered to the point where the Amer's name was no longer visible. Veterans of the group joined together to place the marker, which weighs 220 pounds.  The mission of the TMF is to empower veterans and families of fallen heroes to develop character in future generations.  Thank you all.

-Patty

 

Dennis Flynn (1849 - 1906) - Construction Foreman

 

PCA Archives

Dennis Flynn was born about 1849 in Ireland.  He came from Ireland to Boston at a young age, and an uncle provided for his schooling.  He was in Virginia City, Nevada, during the height of the Comstock Lode in the 1870s.  From there, he moved to Austin, Nevada, and Grass Valley, California.   His name being a common one, it has not been possible to document his movements before he arrived in Arizona.

After moving to Arizona, he resided mostly in Yavapai County.  He was a construction foreman on the Walnut Grove Dam at some point between 1886 and 1890.  From about 1898 on, Flynn lived in Yarnell. 

The 1900 census recorded Flynn living in a boarding house in Wagoner, Yavapai County.  He was single, said he came to the United States in June 1884 (perhaps he meant Arizona?) and was not a citizen, although he had registered to vote in Arizona from 1892 on.  In 1900, he was a foreman at the Crown Point mine owned by Alexander Brodie.

Flynn was a miner for about 25 years, although he apparently supplemented that income with other jobs.  In 1905, he was road overseer for the county road from Kirkland to Congress and Octave.

Somewhere along the way, Flynn contracted tuberculosis and his health began to fail.    Seeking a warmer environment, he came from Peeples Valley to Phoenix on December 7, 1906, and took lodgings at the Commercial Hotel.   Scarcely a day later, he was stricken unexpectedly and taken to Sisters hospital by his friend Ross Moore.  That hospital being full, he was taken to the County hospital, where he died on December 9th.   Another friend, Leopold Wallrath, arranged the funeral.   Flynn’s obituary describes him as being of a pleasant and kind-hearted disposition who would be missed by those who knew him.  He had no known relatives in this part of the country.  

come see him in Porter Cemetery! 

-by Donna Carr