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

 

Pleas Hutchinson (1887-1941) - World War I Veteran

National Archive

Unidentified Soldier

Pleas Hutchinson, African American, was born on May 26, 1887, in or near Forrest City, Saint Francis County, Arkansas.  Forrest City was named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate general and founder of the Ku Klux Klan, but historically it has had an African American majority population.

Pleas was the son of Allen Hutchinson and his first wife, Viney Brandon.  After Viney died in 1894, Allen remarried a woman named Leanna Snipes.  Although Pleas was thirteen years old in 1900, he had had only about two years of schooling.

The federal census of 1910 found the Hutchinsons farming near Eufaula, Oklahoma.  Living next to the Hutchinson farm was a family named Perkins.  Pleas married Mamie Perkins in 1911.  By the time he registered for the World War I draft in 1917, Pleas was already the father of three children.

Although the shooting was over by the time Pleas joined the U.S. Army in December, 1918, the Treaty of Versailles was not signed until June, 1919, making Pleas a veteran of World War I.  During and after the war, racially-segregated African American units unloaded supplies from ships, cleared out trenches and buried the United States’s war dead.

By 1920, Pleas was at home again in Oklahoma, farming near his father and brothers.  However, in 1923, the family moved west to Phoenix, Arizona.  Pleas and Mamie were living at Buckeye Road and South 15th Avenue when they gave permission for their oldest daughter Olive (or Ollie) to marry in December 1927.  Just a month later, their two youngest daughters, Mildred and Zenolia, died of meningitis and polio respectively.  Both were buried in the nearby Maricopa County Cemetery.

Pleas was the owner of a small farm near South 15th Avenue in 1930, when the federal census listed his assets as $1000.  The Hutchinsons had three more children during the 1930s, but the Depression may have cost them their farm.  By 1940, Pleas was working for WPA, doing highway construction.

Late in 1940, Pleas suffered a stroke brought on by chronic hypertension.  He died on May 12, 1941, at his home at 1325 West Sinola Street, Phoenix, and was buried in the Maricopa County Cemetery, now known as Cementerio Lindo.  Although the exact location of his grave is not known, he has a cenotaph in the cemetery’s memorial garden.

-By Donna Carr

 

  

Solomon Dotson (1894 - 1940) - World War I Veteran

 

Val Digital Art and AI

Although no contemporary record of his birth has been found, Solomon Dotson is believed to have been born on Christmas Day, 1894, in Jacksonville, Cherokee County, Texas.

As early as August 1916, Dotson was serving as a private in Company H, 365th Infantry, U.S. Army.  The 365th was a racially-segregated, all Negro regiment.  However, it was somewhat unusual in that, unlike most other segregated units, it had African American officers.  Dotson’s commanding officer was Captain William Washington Green.  Green was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for his heroic actions during World War I.  Therefore, it seems likely that Solomon Dotson too saw combat during the War.

Solomon had several service tours throughout his life.  Promoted to the rank of private first class, Dotson continues to appear on the 365th ‘s roster until January 31, 1919, when he was presumably discharged.

Proud of his World War I service, Dotson was active in veterans’ organizations throughout his later years.   In 1936, he was the finance officer for the William F. Blake American Legion Post #40 (the post appears to have been renamed the Tilden White Post at a later date).   Dotson’s teenaged daughter Lonnie was president of the post’s junior auxiliary.  Dotson also belonged to the Virgil Bell Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1710, which still exists.

1940 was an election year, and Solomon Dotson was active in the ‘Wilkie for President’ club.  However, he didn’t live to see the outcome of the election as he died on October 15th of a cerebral hemorrhage associated with hypertension.  His funeral took place at the Calvary Baptist Church, after which he was laid to rest in the Maricopa County Cemetery (now Cementerio Lindo).

-story shortened, story by Donna Carr