Superstitions and Pioneer Cemeteries

Picture Created by Val (AI)

There are many superstitions surrounding pioneer cemeteries that have been passed down through generations. Some of these have stemmed from different types of cultures, while others have a religious root.  Here are a few of the notable ones:

walking over graves – it is believed that walking over a grave will bring bad luck or even summon the spirits of the dead. This belief may stem from the idea that the spirits of the dead are resting peacefully and disturbing their resting place could disturb them.

taking any item from a pioneer cemetery – this includes anything, such as a flower or a rock, glass, relics, or the headstones themselves.  It is thought that it will bring bad luck and is a sign of disrespect.  it will definitely bring you a citation for looting, as historical sites are protected. 

visiting a cemetery at night - this belief may be fueled by popular culture and horror movies that depict cemeteries as spooky and haunted places. However, there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that pioneer cemeteries are more haunted than any other location.  However, some cemeteries may be dangerous due to possible living individuals hiding or hanging out there. 

putting dirt or flowers on a coffin or into a grave – this symbolizes that the loved one is returning to the earth, or that family and friends are placing their “love and respect” with the individual.

putting rocks on a headstone – the rocks represent the celebration of the life of the deceased.  In religious customs, it is also placed there to protect the soul of the individual from evil spirits, and in some cases, to weigh down the spirit so it can’t wander around and get into mischief.  

Weekly Vintage Chuckle

Library of Congress

A mysterious building had been erected on the outskirts of a small town. It was shrouded in mystery. All that was known about it was that it was a chemical laboratory. An old farmer, driving past the place after work became curious, and seeing a man in the doorway, called to him:

"What be ye doin' in this place?"

"We are searching for a universal solvent—something that will dissolve all things," said the chemist.

"What good will thet be?"

"Imagine, sir! It will dissolve all things! If we want a solution of iron, glass, gold—anything, all that we have to do is to drop it in this solution."

"Fine," said the farmer, "fine! What be ye goin' to keep it in?"

-Toasters handbook, 1912

City Loosley Cemetery Scavenger Hunt - Like Vintage Recipes?

Photo by Sterling Foster

The Pioneer Military and Memorial Park is located at 1317 West Jefferson in Phoenix, Arizona.  It is composed of seven different cemeteries, which are City Loosley, A.O.U.W, I.O.O.F, K. of P., Masons, Porter, and Rosedale.  

To get you better acquainted with each cemetery, we will be posting some scavenger hunts for each cemetery from time to time.

When the early citizens of Phoenix decided that City Cemetery was a disgrace to their beautiful city, the bodies were reinterred and most of them to the City Loosley Cemetery.  A large mass grave can be found here for the unclaimed dead, but only a few there are known.  

One of our famous interments here is Jacob Waltz.  Waltz was prospecting in Arizona and is reputed to have found a gold deposit near the Superstition Mountain, known now as the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine. 

Now on to the scavenger hunt..............................

In honor of several benevolent saloon owners buried in City Loosley:

to each person who answers each question correctly (or close), we will send you 10 vintage Saloon drink recipes, some common, some not so common.  some of them are the apple of the 1800's bartender's eye!  Just send us an email letting us know you posted by March 24th:  pioneercem@yahoo.com.

The answers can be found on Find a Grave.  Our volunteers have placed all of our interred on this platform.  However, we do hope you will join us in Person soon.  Good Luck!

Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records

1.  Father and daughter buried together after having died a short time between one another in 1883.  

2.  A saloon keeper and a judge, and born in 1812.  His wife's name is Laura.

3.  Murdered in 1884.  Horse on grave marker.  

4.  Died in 1898.  His marker is a replica.  

5.  Also died in 1898 from a railroad accident.  His marker is a part of an enclosure.

Mary Florence Mann (1841 - 1897) - Educator (reposted)

 

Phoenix West End School, Library of Congress

Mary Florence was born about 1841 in Oswego, New York. She was the fourth of five children born to Daniel and Jane C. Shapley Card, farmers.

Mary Florence (she went by Florence most of her adult life) entered the Oswego Normal and Training School in her late teens, graduating in 1863 with a teaching degree. By 1867, she was earning $500 a year as a schoolteacher in Cuba, New York. Sometime in the 1870s, she married Henry D. Mann, a physician and surgeon. The young couple moved to Tiffin, Ohio, where Henry attended Heidelberg College. Later, he did his residency at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor before graduating from the Medical College in Albany, New York. He practiced for a short time in Ohio and Illinois before settling in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Florence continued to teach for a few years after marrying, but she is listed as a housewife on the 1880 federal census of Terre Haute. At some point thereafter, she and Henry separated but did not divorce.

In 1890, Florence came to Phoenix and was hired to teach in the Phoenix school system. Based on newspaper articles, she became well known as an educator. Besides teaching in the elementary schools, she often provided professional council and training at the Maricopa County Teachers’ Institutes, where she excelled in mechanical and industrial drawing.

She even persuaded the Phoenix school board to open a free night school for children over the age of 10 who were unable to attend day classes because of family obligations.

In 1893 Florence was appointed to the Maricopa Advisory Committee on Textbooks and School Law. Her duties included selecting the textbooks to be used throughout the district.

After retiring from teaching, she opened an art studio in Phoenix. A gifted artist, she painted many scenes of animals and the “wild and untamed west” in oils and watercolors. And she continued to volunteer at the night school she had started.

Florence died unexpectedly around 8 PM on March 22, 1897, while on her way home from seeing her students at the night school. Passersby heard her cry out in the alley beside the Ford Hotel on Washington Street and 2nd Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, but she was gone before medical help arrived. Her doctor opined that she had died of an apoplexy—probably a cerebral hemorrhage caused by a burst aneurysm—as there were no signs of any trauma. She was 56 years old.  mary Florence is buried in an unmarked grave in City Loosley Cemetery.

-Val

Women's History Month - March

 

Apple Harvest - Graphic Fairy

In Celebration of Women's History Month, we will be introducing some of our notable women at the PMMP! Many of these women worked and fought hard to maintain their families, as well as careers, in the wild, wild west.  to meet more of them, stop in and see us soon!  We have a self-guided Walking tour highlighting some of the women and children in our cemetery that you can easily do, and meet some amazing people who helped build Phoenix! 

The Significance of the Pioneer Cemetery

Picture Created by Val (AI)

People often associate cemeteries with ghosts, zombies, and a multitude of other scary encounters.  However, the Victorian era encouraged the idea that cemeteries should be beautiful places in order to remember loved ones.  This can be seen in many cemeteries of the day that display intricate funerary art and architecture of the time period.

Pioneer cemeteries are a window to the past.  These cemeteries provide insights into the lives of the early settlers and their communities. By examining the headstones and markers, one can learn about the social and economic status of the people buried there, as well as their religious affiliations and cultural practices. Additionally, pioneer cemeteries can reveal information about mortality rates and causes of death, providing a glimpse into the health conditions of the time. 

In this way, pioneer cemeteries serve as a valuable resource for genealogists, historians, and researchers interested in understanding the history of a particular region or people.

 

John Bolton (1866 - 1902) - Politician

PCA Archives

John Bolton arrived in Phoenix about 1890. During his short life of 36 years, he journeyed from Kansas to San Diego, California, before relocating to Phoenix for his health. 

Bolton had been born in Tennessee. African-American and a barber by trade, Bolton began his career in Phoenix by working in Frank Shirley’s barber shop, The Fashion. Bolton’s wife Hattie worked at the Alhambra on Papago.
           

Bolton was not a man to be easily intimidated. While walking home from work late in December, 1892, he was accosted by a thief. Seizing a brick, Bolton hit the footpad in the face and made his escape unscathed.
           
Soon after his arrival in Phoenix, Bolton became active in local politics. He was elected as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from Maricopa County in April, 1896, the year in which William McKinley won his first term as president.
           
In June 1897, Bolton contracted to have a one-story brick residence built at Fillmore and North 2nd Street. A well-read man, Bolton was elected president of the Colored Literary Society in December, 1897. 
           
As Bolton prospered in his profession, he opened a barber shop in a more prestigious location, the new Adams Hotel in downtown Phoenix. In September 1898, he also took a civil service exam and became one of the first black letter carriers in the city. 
           
Bolton seems to have been a bit of a practical jokester. When he made the acquaintance of African American men recently arrived in Phoenix, he was not above engaging in a little hazing. First, Bolton would suggest that his new companion accompany him to a local park to meet some of the town’s young ladies. Once there, a confederate would jump out of the bushes and fire a couple of gunshots, causing the poor chap to take to his heels with Bolton close behind. Not until the newcomer stopped to draw breath would Bolton innocently remark that the shooter must have been the overprotective father of one of the young ladies.
           
Unfortunately, the desert air was not restorative for John Bolton and he died at his home on North Second Street of a lung hemorrhage on December 26, 1902, leaving behind his wife and son. The funeral was attended by his many friends and customers. His grave in Rosedale Cemetery North is marked with a simple headstone.

-Derek Horn and Donna Carr.

Weekly Vintage Chuckle

Boy in Gardens, Library of Congress

Little William came home in a sad state. He had a black eye and numerous scratches and contusions, and his clothes were a sight. His mother was horrified at the spectacle presented by her darling. she addressed him rebukingly:

"Oh, Willie, Willie! How often have I told you not to play with that naughty Smith boy!"

Little Willie regarded his mother with an expression of deepest disgust.

"Say, ma," he objected, "do I look as if I had been playing with anybody?"

The Belt Cook Family

 

                                                                Picture Created by Val (AI)

The Belt Cook family were African Americans who lived in Phoenix from 1887 on.  Belt Cook was born between 1845 and December 1846 in Maryland.  It is not known whether he was born a slave or free.  Around 1866, he married Rebecca Hall, who had been born in Pennsylvania and was, therefore, more likely to have been born free.  He and Rebecca had fifteen children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. 

The birthplaces of the Cook children show that the family moved back and forth across the country between 1869 and 1887, living in Nevada and California before finally coming to Arizona.  Since Belt and his son Charles were barbers and one of Belt’s sons-in-law was a porter, it is possible that they were either employed by the railroads or simply followed the railroads to the next boom town out West.

1881 saw the Cook family residing in the boom town of Globe, Arizona, where their son William Thomas was born.  The Cooks owned a house on Broad Street, and Belt appears to have invested in a silver mine there.  However, as placer mining gave way to large-scale operations like the Old Dominion mine, Globe reverted to the status of a small frontier town, and the Cooks moved on to Phoenix in 1887.

In spite of having moved around the country during their formative years, the Cook children seem to have received a good education for the times.  In 1900, son Elias Belt Cook was a member of the McKinley Club, a political organization of prominent colored men that included fellow barber Frank Shirley, barber and mail carrier John Bolton, and wholesale produce supplier William Powhatan Crump.

No matter their position in the community, though, the Cooks were still subject to the illnesses of the day.  Daughter Eva, aged 27, died in 1894 of what was probably meningitis.  Charles’s wife Lola succumbed to tuberculosis in 1897.  Daughter Lillie, aged 22, passed away in 1902, and son William Thomas, 28, died of tuberculosis in 1909.  All are buried in the Pioneer & Military Memorial Cemetery, as is an elderly man named Elias Cook who might have been Belt’s older brother.

-Donna Carr

John A. Rodgers (1873 - 1908) - Spanish-American War Veteran

Army Invalid card for John A. Rodgers, 1908

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

The month of February is Black History Month.  It is a time when we honor the contributions and sacrifices of those who are African descent, and celebrate their vibrant lives.  this week we will be highlighting several residents that are honored Phoenicians.  

John A. Rodgers, African American, was born around 1873 in Senatopia, Mississippi. On July 12, 1898, he enlisted in Company E, 23rd Kansas Volunteer Infantry. It was a segregated unit drawn from several Kansas communities founded by freedmen in the post-Civil War era. Black units were being sent to Cuba on the theory that African Americans would have some immunity to tropical diseases. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case.

By the time the regiment reached Santiago, Cuba, in August 1898, the shooting war was already over. The 23rd Kansas was tasked with guarding 5000 defeated Spanish soldiers awaiting transport back to Spain. During much of his tour of duty in Cuba, Rodgers was laid up with dysentery and then malaria.
 
On March 1, 1899, the 23rd Kansas boarded a transport ship for New York City. Rodgers was discharged on April 10 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he married a woman named Annie Pickett on October 3, 1900.
 
Rodgers’s military service had left him debilitated and unfit for heavy physical labor. Pension records show that he was 6 feet 4 inches , unusually tall for that era.  He became a tailor, possibly because readymade clothing did not fit him and he had to sew his own anyway. 
 
On May 26, 1906, Rodgers applied for and received a disability pension (Invalid Certificate #1022317). Owing to his bout with dysentery in Cuba, he was afflicted with large, protruding piles (hemorrhoids). Initially, he received $10 a month. Over the years, payment was increased to $17 a month.
 
In mid 1908, John Rodgers was experiencing heart problems, although he was only 35 years old. He left his wife in Hot Springs and went to Los Angeles, possibly to the Old Soldiers Home in Sawtelle. Thereafter, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he rented a room at 30 North 2nd Avenue. To support himself, he placed ads in the local newspaper, asking for work repairing old carpets and refurbishing used clothing.
 
John A. Rodgers died on November 14, 1908, of aortic insufficiency, mitral regurgitation, and hypertrophy of the left ventricle.  He was buried in Rosedale Cemetery.
 
Several days after Rodgers’ death, Marshal Moore of Phoenix received an urgent letter from a Mrs. Jennie Reeves, asking the marshal to take charge of Rodgers’ body and effects. She also said that the deceased was a military veteran and asked that Rodgers’ body be returned to Arkansas for burial or sent to the National Cemetery. Her request could not be accommodated, however, because Rodgers was already buried and no one could attest to Mrs. Reeves’ legal rights to Rodgers’ property.
 
- Donna Carr

Pioneer and Military Memorial Park - History

PCA Newsletter Archives

As seen on the website of the Pioneers' Cemetery Association:  

"the Pioneer and Military memorial Park (PMMP) is located at 1317 West Jefferson in Phoenix.  The cemeteries at this location were not the first in Phoenix. During the 1870's, when Phoenix was still a small settlement, burials took place in the 'old' city cemetery which was located approximately between Fifth and Seventh Avenues and Jackson and Madison Streets, near the downtown train station. After Phoenix incorporated as a city on February 25, 1881, citizens and community leaders became concerned that train passengers' first glimpse of Phoenix was a cemetery "right at the door of our beautiful city and in the most irregular, dilapidated, and disgraceful condition...a disgrace to the town" [Daily Herald, 27 May 1884].

To remedy the problem, the fraternal orders of the city purchased Block 32, Neahr's Addition, keeping the east half to establish their own cemeteries and selling the west half to others for cemetery use. Families moved their loved ones from the old cemetery to the new one, and the City reburied the unclaimed bodies in a common grave.

The Pioneer & Military Memorial Park is comprised of seven historic cemeteries which were in use between 1884 and 1914.  they are City Loosley, Masons, K. of P., A.O.U.W., I.O.O.F, Porter, and Rosedale,  After a law forbidding further burials within city limits went into effect in 1914, the cemeteries were declared closed. They fell into disrepair until private citizens rallied decades later to restore them.

       
In May 1988, the seven historic cemeteries were officially designated as the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park with the dedication of the Avenue of Flags and the new fence. Over the years, visitors from all over the United States and several foreign countries have come to pay their respects to Phoenix's pioneers. Among the notables buried here are Darrell Duppa, King Woolsey and Jacob Waltz."

We are an amazing Place!  Come visit us soon!

Arizona Trivia #5

Nebraska State Historical Society, [Digital ID, e.g., nbhips 12036]

This city in Arizona was named after a hand in a card game.  What city is it?  

Answer:  Show Low

James Moore Hall (1838 - 1903) - Troubles Unbearable

James Moore Hall was born August 1838 in Tennessee. He was the son of John Mabin Hall and Elizabeth White Moore.

Judging from the birthplaces of James’s siblings, the Hall family moved to Mississippi around 1844. Their mother Elizabeth Moore died soon thereafter. In 1846, the family moved to Locust Bayou, Ouachita County, Arkansas, where John Mabin Hall wed his second wife, Elizabeth Jane Dowdle.

James’s father died in 1864 and his adult siblings scattered. By 1870, he was married to Mary Hudson and living in the household of his brother-in-law, Warren F. Hudson.

James and Mary remained in Texas until at least 1881, with perhaps a brief sojourn in New Mexico between 1875 and 1878. This is based on the birthplaces of their children as listed on the 1880 federal census.

The Halls moved to Phoenix around 1884. In June 1899, James, Mary and their daughter Lula Bell were among the founding members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Phoenix. Perhaps this afforded Mary some spiritual solace, as she died 8 October 1899 of cancer.

Following the death of his wife, Hall is reported to have suffered from bouts of despondency. In 1903, he sold most of his property to his son John, then gambled away the money he had received in the vain hope of recouping his lost fortune, and died tragically in 1903. - adapted from a story by Donna carr.  

For more information on James Hall, come visit us!