ARIZONA -- THE YOUNGEST STATE
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July 1974
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W. S. GOLDSWORTHY
W. S. GOLDSWORTHY, general agent at Phoenix for the Santa Fe Railroad Company, has been connected with railway interests during the greater part of his life and through the stages of successful development and progress has reached his present responsible position. He was born in Linn county, Iowa, November 20, 1868, and at the usual age entered the public schools there while subsequently he continued his studies in Caldwell, Sumner county, Kansas. On starting out in the business world on his own account he obtained employment with the Wells Fargo Express Company with which he was connected for three years. He took up railroad work at the age of nineteen years, however, and has since given his attention to that line of activity. He was first with the Wichita & Western Railway, now a part of the Santa Fe System, at Wichita, Kansas, and there continued for two years, after which he removed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1889, spending three years in that city, and afterward one year in Albuquerque. The year 1893 witnessed his arrival in Arizona, reaching Prescott on the 23d of June. For twelve years he continued in that city with the railroad company and in 1905 removed to Phoenix, where he has since been general agent for the Santa Fe. His advancement in the railroad service has been continuous since he first entered the employ of the corporation with which he is now connected. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible and indicate how faithful, prompt and capable he has been in the discharge of the duties which have devolved upon him. On the 22d of January, 1902, Mr. GOLDSWORTHY was united in marriage to Miss Clara HOFFMAN, of Sebringville, Ontario, Canada. They have one son, George W. Mr. GOLDSWORTHY is a member of the Woodmen of the World camp and he and his wife are members of the Methodist church, finding in its teachings the motive springs of their lives. Diligence and enterprise have characterized him in all of his labors and with the great corporations where only merit wins advancement he has made continuous progress until his position is now one of responsibility, onerous and creditable. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 406-7 HARRY KAY A real estate business of large and gratifying proportions is now being controlled by Harry KAY of Phoenix, who, alert, enterprising and energetic, has carefully directed his interests and made wise use of his opportunities. He was born in Illinois in 1871, a son of C. W. and Rebecca (HEWES) KAY. The father arrived in Arizona in the spring of 1887 and purchased a ranch. In the succeeding fall he brought his family to the southwest and devoted his energies to cattle raising and ranching on a place south and east of Glendale. The family included four sons, the eldest two assisting in the development and improvement of the ranch. Upon that place C. W. KAY remained until 1904, when he removed to Los Angeles where he passed away in 1909. His widow survives and is now a resident of Whittier, California. In the family were eight children, six of whom came to Arizona. Of the number a brother and sister of Harry KAY are still residents of this state but the others are now in California. Harry KAY was a youth of sixteen years when the family came to the southwest. He supplemented his public school education by study in the Lamson Business College, which he entered the year of its opening. He has always been interested in ranching and stockraising, making a specialty of the cultivation of alfalfa and the raising of stock. He has ever recognized the possibilities of the state in those directions and his labors have brought him a substantial measure of success. In 1906 he became assistant cashier of the Union Bank of Phoenix but the following year left that position and opened a real estate office which he has since conducted, handling considerable city and ranch property. He has become thoroughly conversant with realty values and his judgment is most accurate in foretelling a rise in real estate prices. In 1898 Mr. KAY was united in marriage to Miss Ella SEARS, of Phoenix. Mr. KAY belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has taken the degrees of the York and Scottish Rites. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. More than a quarter of a century's residence in Arizona has made him largely familiar with the history of the state in all the phases of its development and progress and he has ever borne his part in the work of general improvement, realizing what can be accomplished here and wishing at all times to do his share toward placing this rapidly developing state on a par with the older and more thickly settled states of the east. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 407 SAMUEL L. PATTEE Samuel L. PATTEE, formerly state code commissioner of Arizona, was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, October 22, 1869. He acquired his education in the public schools of New Hampshire and afterward read law in that state. He was admitted to the bar of Minnesota in 1893 and practiced in Minneapolis for a few years, coming to Arizona in January, 1899. He opened an office in Prescott in that year and soon became well known in professional and public circles, serving as district attorney of Yavapai county. He came to Tucson in 1906 and was associated with E. S. Ives in the general practice of law. They remained together until May, 1912, when their association was dissolved, Mr. PATTEE continuing in practice alone. Mr. PATTEE was married in 1902 to Miss Eva M. SANBORN, a native of New Hampshire, and they have one son, Richard. Mr. PATTEE is now serving as assistant United States attorney, being appointed by the attorney general of the United States. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 406 MARY FORD PLATTEN Bright-eyed "Aunt Mary" PLATTEN, colorful long-time Arizona resident says she will observe her 93rd birthday today by baking an applesauce cake and welcoming friends who come to call. Aunt Mary is known as the first white child born in Alaska after it became an American possession. Her father, Sgt. Patrick FORD, was one of two officers and 20 men sent to Kodiak Island after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Mary FORD was born ... . In 1878, her father was stationed in California when orders came for the 12th Infantry to move to Ft. Whipple, Arizona. Aunt Mary says she remembers the trip to Yuma by rail and from there to Ft. Whipple by covered wagon. The family stayed at Ft. Yuma over night. A soldier died the night we were there," she recalls, "and I can remember the other soldiers talking about it the next day, saying the soldier came back during the night to get his blankets, because it was colder in hell than in Yuma. We traveled along with the infantry, making about 20 miles a day," she continued. "I can remember making camp where there was nothing but desert and prickly pear. We arrived at Ft. Whipple in August of 1878." After her father was discharged at Ft. Whipple in 1881, the family moved into Prescott. In 1901, Mary went to Washington to help care for an orphaned niece. She spent much of her time working in patriotic societies. She was much sought after to give readings at prominent functions. In 1910, she gave a reading Columbia's Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, her greatest honor. She said Territorial Congressman Ralph CAMERON did most to get statehood for Arizona. ... She also joined a temperance union and helped destroy $3,000 worth of whiskey at Harrison's Castle, where Sen. HARRISON of Missouri lived. She initiated Sen. HARRISON and Mr. and Mrs. Cordell HULL into the temperance union. The inauguration of Teddy Roosevelt was another bright spot. "Oh, he had a good inauguration," she related. "He had cowboys, Indians, Cuban soldiers, the Rough Riders, and Sitting Bull and Geronimo in the parade. Teddy Roosevelt was a good president." Following the inaugural parade, Aunt Mary shook hands with Geronimo and Sitting Bull. ... Mary FORD returned to Arizona in 1911, homesteaded at Davenport Lake, 6 miles east of Williams, and married Indian fighter, Fred PLATTEN, whom she had met earlier at Camp Verde. PLATTEN, as a cavalryman, fought Indians in Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Arizona. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for action in the Indian Wars. ... PLATTEN died in 1930 at age 84. Aunt Mary lived at the ranch until 1956 when she moved into Williams. ... Taken from an article by Helen PEARSON Published in the Arizona Republic 6/11/1962. JACOB SCHEERER Jacob SCHEERER, now living retired in Douglas, is one of the well known pioneers of Cochise County, where for many years he successfully operated a cattle ranch. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1853 and is a son of Jacob and Mary SCHEERER. The parents were natives of Germany but were married in America and passed the early period of their domestic life in Pennsylvania. They subsequently removed to Michigan, thence to Illinois and later to Missouri. In 1869 they went to Kansas, taking up a homestead in Osage County, on which they passed the remainder of their years. Of the four children born to them but two are now living: Jacob and George W., who is living on a ranch in this county. Jacob SCHEERER passed the first twenty-two years of his life under the parental roof. In the acquirement of an education he attended the public schools of Missouri and Kansas and when not occupied with his lessons assisted his father about the farm. About 1875 he left home and started out to make his own way in the world. He located at Chico, California, and ran an engine in a sawmill for several years, thus acquiring a good general knowledge of that industry. In 1880 he came to Tombstone, Arizona, where he bought a freighting outfit, consisting of three ox teams and equipment, for which he was to pay three thousand two hundred dollars. Although he did not have any capital he was not asked to give a not but paid for the outfit as he was able, meeting with no difficulty in the final settlement. He followed that business for twelve years, during which time he also engaged in various other activities. In 1883 he purchased a half interest in a sawmill located in Mormon Canon, Cochise County, and operated it for three years. At the expiration of that time he disposed of that enterprise and invested the proceeds in some land twenty-five miles north of Douglas where he established a ranch. He began with a hundred and fifty head of Mexican cattle and two freight teams, but developed the business during the intervening years until he disposed of it upon his retirement in 1907 for a hundred thousand dollars. It was one of the best and most capably directed cattle industries in his section and was known as the Double Rod Ranch. Since 1907 Mr. SCHEERER took up his abode in Douglas where he owns a very pleasant modern residence. He holds the title to twelve hundred and eighty acres of alfalfa and fruit land in Corcoran, California, and also owns several mining claims thirty-five miles north of Douglas, one of which he has under operation. Mr. SCHEERER was married in 1886 to Miss Virginia M. SMITH, a native of Virginia City, Nevada, and a daughter of B. F. SMITH. Her father passed away at Pearce, Arizona, but the mother is still living and makes her home in Cochise County. She is one of the pioneer women of Arizona, having come to this state in 1882. Her husband came in 1880 and later sent for his family. Six of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. SMITH are living. Mr. and Mrs. SCHEERER have two children: Pearl, who was born in 1887, and is now the wife of Earl REED of Bisbee and George W., who was born November 19, 1889, and is now taking the agricultural course at the University at Tucson and will graduate in June, 1916. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 348 JOHN D. WICK, Jr. Through successive stages of advancement John D. WICK, Jr., has made continuous progress in the business world until he occupies the responsible position of manager of the Gila Valley Bank & Trust Company of Globe. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1876 and is a son of John D. and Georgiana M. WICK, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Chicago, Illinois. The father was for many years engaged in steel and iron manufacturing in Youngstown, Ohio, but has now abandoned that occupation and is engaged in the wholesale coal business in Chicago. He and his wife have two sons: John D., Jr., of this review; and Philip A., bookkeeper for the Chicago Telephone Company. John D. WICK, Jr., acquired his education in the public and high schools of Peoria, Illinois, and after laying aside his books entered the Peoria Savings, Loan & Trust Company as bookkeeper, remaining in that position for four and one-half years and gaining during that time his first experience in banking. He then went to Chicago, where he spent one year as cashier of the Subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation and was then transferred to New York city, remaining in the employ of the same company as cashier for four years. In December, 1905, he came to Arizona and settled in Globe, where he became teller of the Gila Valley Bank & Trust Company, winning promotion in a short time to the position of manager, which he still holds. He has been active in the direction and control of the bank and has proved a courteous, obliging and capable official whose personal popularity constitutes one of the elements in the success of the institution. He is also connected in an official capacity with the Globe Improvement Association and has valuable property holdings in the city. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 359 JESSE B. WOODWARD Jesse B. Woodward, a practitioner at the Phoenix bar, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, his parents being Samuel P. and Adeline (BOSTWICK) WOODWARD. He represents one of the old Pennsylvania families of English origin founded in America in colonial days. Three brothers of the name crossed the Atlantic when this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain and settled in Connecticut, whence representatives of the family at a later period removed to the Keystone state. The father was an attorney, but died when a comparatively young man. Jesse B. WOODWARD was a pupil in the public schools of New York city and was afterward a member of the same class at Columbia University with Charles P. TAFT, a brother of ex-President TAFT. Mr. WOODWARD there pursued a course in law, being graduated in due time, after which he located in Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained in active practice for several years, during which period he served as county attorney there. Later he removed to St. Louis and in 1886 made his way to the southwest with New Mexico as his destination. For three years he practiced in that territory and was a member of its supreme court. In 1889 he came to Phoenix, where he is now engaged in general practice, having a large and distinctively representative clientage. He has never been a candidate for office, yet has held the position of United States court commissioner by appointment. In 1879 Mr. WOODWARD was married to Miss Honorine P. ARMSTRONG, of St. Louis, and they have two children: Dean, now of Phoenix; and Stanley, a resident of Douglas, Arizona. Volume III, ARIZONA BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916, page 359 |
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