Mary Bernard Aguirre
(9-2 C 16)
Born
June 23, 1844 and died May 24, 1906. She was a Pioneer woman of New Mexico and Arizona,
coming to Las Cruces on the Rio Grande in 1863 with her husband, Epifanio
Aguirre. Epifanio was a large freight contractor, having done extensive
freighting from the end of the railroad to Arizona and New Mexico. He was
counted as one of the brightest businessmen in the southwest, but was killed by
the Apaches near Sasabe, 65 miles south of Tucson. Mary taught at the first
public school in San Pedro and because of so many Apache raids came to Tucson,
where she became one of the most efficient teachers of the area. She also was
head of the Spanish language and English departments at the University of Arizona
for many years. A book has been written about Mary and her family: ”A Journey
Of The Heart.” Many of Mary’s family (Bernard and Aguirre) are interred at
Evergreen Cemetery.
File #37662
John Brackett Allen
(25 County)
Born (November 10, 1919) October 22, 1818 Maine and died June 13, 1899 Tucson, Pima Co., AZ. John Brackett Allen was removed from old city cemetery and buried in the county section northwest corner of Evergreen. He was a Tucson Postmaster and served as Tucson Mayor for two terms: 1876-1878; and Territory treasurer for six years from 1867 -1873. Upon his arrival to Tucson in 1858 he began making and selling pies filled with dried apples (his nickname was “Pie”) but soon was operating a general store. John bought a farm and ranching land and after a trip to Los Angeles he brought back with him ten or twelve good milk cows and three hives of honey bees, the first in the territory. The dairy he established was also one of the first, if not the first, operating in Arizona. Like many pioneers he was unsuccessful in building a material Fortune and knew poverty toward the end of his life. John was an important figure in the history of Southern Arizona, and an honest, colorful character.
File #35299
Jules Verne Allen
(247 C 4)
Born 3/19/1942 4/1/1980 Waxahachie, Texas and died 4/1/1980 Tucson, Arizona. Jules Verne Allen was one of a handful
of authentic and documented cowboy singers and writers. Jules lived the life that his songs dealt
with. When songs were still a part of oral tradition, from the age of ten and a
participant in cattle drives, Jules began singing for the pleasure of his
fellow cowboys. He worked in law enforcement for many years as a peace officer,
deputy sheriff and El Paso policeman. Jules was also a composer and writer in
his own right and the earliest versions of “Home on the Range” and “Oh Bury Me
Not on the Lone Prairie are among his earliest notable authentic oral
traditions. Also wrote the book “Cowboy Lore” to hand down to the glamour and
glory of the southwest to history for others to learn what life was like in
those wild west days. File #42874
Mary Storrs Andersen
(64-2 D 2)
Born in 1880, died in 1946. She was a concert pianist and singer and was
a founder of Sigma Alpha Iota, National Music Fraternity which has a chapter at
the University of Arizona. She was the wife of Dr. Arthur O. Andersen, Dean of
the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona.
File #34754
William Henry Barnes
(101-3 B 16)
Born
May 14, 1843, died November 10, 1904. He was a prominent lawyer, member of the Bar
Association and Judge. Being a good debater and one familiar with the
technicalities of the law, he was an important participant in the proceedings. Mr. Barnes helped write the Arizona Constitution
that would be sent to Congress with a request for statehood. He was the first
president of the Territorial Bar Association, Attorney for the Southern Pacific
Railroad, and he and his partner, John H. Martin, represented copper magnate, William
C. Greene and the Greene Consolidated Copper Company. Barnes himself was
president of the Cieneguita Copper Company of Sonora, Mexico. In November of 1894
he was made a special assistant United States Attorney for Arizona.
File #32595
James Daniel Bailey
(38-2
D 2)
born February 27, 1869 and died January 18, 1944
After serving as a Arizona Territorial Ranger (1903-1906) he ended his years as
a cattle rancher.
File #18215
William Sylvester Bartlett
(18-1 G 1 )
Born
December 15, 1851 and died March 8, 1938. William is a direct descendant of
Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Left his father’s Virginia plantation to fight for the south in the Civil War.
Carried Confederate dispatches for General Robert E. Lee. Then started West and
in his career as a courier and scout for the Texas Army post of Fort Richardson,
was involved in many fights and Indian raids. Settle down after he married and
by wagon train moved his family to New Mexico. William came to Tucson in
1896.
File #39949
Thomas G. Beaham
(76D C
15)
born September 25, 1907 Kansas City, MO and
died May 2, 1967. Tucson, Arizona. Life-long Republican and State Senator. He
was elected to the State House from the old Pima County District 8 in 1964.
During his term there he promoted passage of smog control legislation and the
humane slaughter bill. Thomas also served on the House committees on Public
Institutions, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Irrigation. He was a
leading sponsor of a bill to establish a branch of the Arizona Children’s
Colony in Tucson. Thomas has been in the cattle business since 1932 and owner of
the Double X cattle ranch. Thomas married Virginia Ruthrauff, whose father
designed the old City Hall building and the 4th Avenue subway.
File
#114
Allen “Al” Cunningham Bernard (7-2 C 16)
Born February 11, 1859, Westport,(Neighborhood of Kansas City), Missouri
and died July 4, 1930 Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ. A mule skinner, surveyor, clerk,
Indian trader, cattleman, miner, Indian scout, legislator and member for
several years of the Tucson city council, he devoted his life to public service.
No man in Arizona has done more valuable and far reaching work for the state in
the suppression of Indian troubles. He served as interpreter at the time of the
Geronimo uprising. He married Minnie Chouteau, the granddaughter of Pierre
Chouteau, founder of the city of St. Louis, Missouri and served as Sheriff of Pima
County, Clerk of the United States District Court of Tucson. He was member of
the territorial legislature and of the city council, and as mayor on several
occasions. He served as Tiler in the 385 lodge.
File #37396
Noah W. Bernard
(10-3
C 16)
Born June 4, 1854 Baltimore, Maryland and died March 23, 1907 Tucson,
Pima Co., AZ. Cattle rancher at Arivaca. And then owner of a ranch and mining
properties in the Oro Blanco district. Was a stockholder in the Tucson Ice and
Cold Storage Company. Member of the Pima County board supervisors and had a
seat in the 1905 legislature. Bernard
was best known and best liked resident of Tucson and Pima County.
File #37665
Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray (301
D 43)
Born September 14, 1910 and died March 19, 1998. Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Tucson Since 1947, Rabbi Bilgray helped build a new temple, worked for desegregation in Tucson public schools, and was on the board of the Tucson Medical Center, and was a charter member of Tucson’s Commission on Human Relations. He also taught Hebrew at the University of Arizona (1950 – 1978), initiating degree programs in religious studies, Hebrew language and literature, and Judaic studies.
Dr. Nelson C. Bledsoe
(44 B 18-1)
Born in 1876, died February 22, 1974. He worked
as a physician and eventually Chief Surgeon for the Calumet and Arizona mining
company in Bisbee. He moved to Tucson 1931 and became president of the Arizona Medical
Association. He was a potentate of the El Zoreba Shrine which was the only Shrine
Temple in Arizona at that time and very active in the Scottish Rite and in 1927
the cornerstone was laid for the Temple of Music And Art, he was the Grand
Master of Masons at that time and his name was added to the cornerstone. After
the death of Harry Arizona Drachman, Nelson was appointed by the Supreme
Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite to be the deputy and
then later Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Arizona. He held that office
until a few months before he died in 1974. Nelson was chief of staff at the
southern Methodist Hospital in Tucson which still stands but no longer a
hospital. He served as president of the Arizona Historical Society. You could
hardly mention a charitable organization that Nelson did not have a major part,
not just money but actually doing his own time and effort. One of his patients,
Sydney Berner (Civil War veteran) owned Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains
south of Sierra Vista, which was a bird sanctuary. Nelson purchased the estate
and when he died it went to the nature conservancy who still owns and operates
it. The sanctuary is known
internationally as a bird watching center.
File #29894
Charles "Judge" Blenman
(59 F 1)
Born December 18, 1859 and died May 8, 1936. Charles first visited Arizona
(Tombstone) in 1889 to defend an accused man on trial for his life. He liked Arizona
for “the better climate” and arrived in Tucson 1891 to set up law practice. He was
an active and fervent democrat and was the delegate to the democratic
convention at San Francisco. He was instrumental in establishing the San Xavier
Indian Reservation. He practiced law in Tucson for more than 45 years and was
known by the honorary title of “Judge” and “Barrister” throughout his career.
Charles was widely known for his wit, conversation, hospitality and abilities
as an anecdotist. Charles was appointed special assistant to the United States Attorney
in Tucson in war risk cases involving the U.S. Veterans’ Bureau and was a charter
member of the Tucson Elks Lodge. At his time of death Charles was considered
the Dean of Pima County lawyers and one of the outstanding barristers in the
state.
File #38067
Clara Ferrin Bloom
(155 B 43)
Clara was born in a house on the corner of Meyer Avenue and Cushing Street
(present location of the Cushing Street Bar) Clara, her oldest sister (Hattie
who married Charles Solomon) and younger brother all attended the old Congress
street school, which later was the location of Dave Bloom and sons clothing
store from 1931 to 1968. Clara graduated from the University of Arizona (three
were in her class). She taught at Safford Elementary School. Clara was life
member of the University of Arizona Alumni Association. She was a founding
member on the board of directors of the Tucson’s Women’s Symphony Association
and charter member of many organizations, including Phi Kappa Phi Honorary on
campus, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Tucson Festival Society. When
Clara died in 1973, she was the oldest member of the Temple Emanu-El
Congregation. Clara Ferrin Bloom Elementary School on East Pima was completed
just before her death. Clara and David had three sons, Herb, Dave and Ted. All
three boys were early members of the order of DeMolay in Tucson. Herb was a
state master counselor.
File #37890
Bloom, David Walter
(154 B 43)
Born November 19, 1879 and died November 2, 1956. Mr. Bloom immigrated
to the United States in 1894, arriving in Boston at the age of 15 and with 50 cents
in his pocket. He made friends with J. Cress Myers, a native of Melrose, Ohio.
David came west and shortly after his arrival to Tucson, MYERS joined him. They
opened up a variety store, carrying all types of merchandise, and then later
converted strictly to men’s furnishings. President of Southern Arizona Bank and
Trust Co., asked Bloom and Myers to take over Armstrong’s dry goods store, one
of the leading businesses at that time. With this good fortune, they moved to
the northwest corner of Congress Street and Scott Avenue. They installed glass
showcases and were one of the first businesses to protect their merchandise
from dust and dirt. Sales results seemed to justify this innovative idea. In 1930
the two men dissolved their partnership and Dave opened a new men’s store which
later on his sons joined him in the business. David was active in the Tucson Rotary,
Old Pueblo Club, Tucson Merchants Association, Temple of Music And Art, Tucson Symphony
Society, Tucson Chamber of Commerce, Tucson Country Club and various shrine groups.
File #37890