For Your InforMaishon
250th
Anniversary of the arrival of Johann Georg Maisch in America
October
16, 1751 – October 16, 2001
A Newsletter for
Maish/Maisch Descendants
Welcome
250 years of Maish family history in America and to celebrate
Maish families around the country and world, past and present.
Time seems to have flown since the reunion in Tucson. and the 250th anniversary has come and gone. Although the lineage from Johann Georg is fairly well known, other Maisches are cropping in Pennsylvania in the 1750’s not to mention Maishes arriving well through the 19th century. The earliest recorded Maish in America was Stefan Maisch who arrived in 1749. His relation to relation to Johann will in time become clear so let us celebrate the arrival, struggles, and success of the entire Maisch family over the past two and a half centuries. This site is for personal use only and not for-profit use and reproduction.
German
Background
Pennsylvania
Indiana
Maish
Chronology
Maishes in America's Wars
Websites with Maish Information
Arizona Tales
German Background
The origins of the Maisch name in Germany, or more specifically Baden Wurtemburg are well known. It is probably not a coincidence that the ship carrying Johann Georg to America was the Duke of Wurtemburg. Although no specific tie has been made to a family in Germany, a search conducted of German phone directories shows a large number of Maisch families in the southwest around Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. Many of the historical church records from Germany point to towns with names ending in “ingen” such as Eppingen, Tubingen and Gerlingen which for the most part lie west and south of Stuttgart extending towards the Black Forest.
Endplate by an early 19th C Johan Maisch
of Nurnberg
Reunion
A reunion was held in Tucson Arizona to commemorate this founding of the Maisch family in America . Family members came from a number of states including Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Indiana, Texas, New Mexico and California. The reunion was held at Tohono Chul park, a desert botanical garden on Tucsons’s north side. The Tucson Maishes led by the efforts of Elissa Maish organized presentations of Maish memorabilia and plenty of time was devoted to socializing. A German pancake breakfast held at Millie’s and a cowboy barbecue was hosted at the Westward Look Resort. Thanks to the cooperation of the Arizona Historical Society, many of the reunion participant were able to look over the textiles of Myrtle Kelley , daughter of Martha Maish (Frank A. Kelley father) and niece of Frederick Maish that are housed in the archives of the AHS. One is on display in the Mining Hall.
Reunion attendees in front of " Old Main", first building of the University of Arizona
Although much information was added to
the Maish history, the reunion highlighted a mystery that only adds to the
puzzle of who the original JGM was.
Judy Maish of Hershey, Pennsylvania reported locating the tombstone of
a second Johan Georg. Added to this mystery is the arrival of two
Johann Georg Maisch’s, the first in 1751 and the second arrival in 1753. It would seem unlikely that the same Georg
would make another roundtrip to Germany and there appears to be a slight
difference in the two signatures upon arrival Philadelphia. This can be noted in the direction in which
the “J” is formed. Further
complicating issues are the names of several wives…. Catherina, Christina ,
Dorothea and Anna Margaretha, linked to Johann Georg. To add to the mystery,
Judy proposed that some Maisch’s may
have been classified as Baishes since the 18th G script was
very unlike the English script, and the M may have been misinterpreted as a B.
A quick inspection of18th century arrivals in Philadelphia also reveals related
names such as Meysch.
A brief history of Maisch
events in America beginning 1749
E(I)mmig date Name Listed Home Source
18th Century
1749 Steffe[1]
Maisch arrives PGP (Pennsylvania German Pioneers)
1750 Friedrich Meisch
arrives Philadelphia [2] PGP
1750 Johannes Miesch
arrives Philadelphia with above PGP
1751 Johann Georg[3]arrives (Catherina Ulp or Dorothea) PGP
1753 Johann Georg[4]arrives (Catherina Ulp or Dorothea) PGP
1754 John Mayes listed as chairmaker Philadelphia[5]
1757 George "Masch" at Sern baptism Williams Township, York [6]
1758 George Maisch at Odenwalder baptism [7]
1768-72 Births recorded 1768 (Eva Maria), 1770 (Joseph)and 1772(Daniel) to
and Dorothea[8] St. Michaels Lutheran Church, Germantown
Parents recorded as George and Dorothea
1770? Joseph born
1775-83 Joachim (Quebec) PILI307
(Palatine Immigration List)
1777-8 Valley Forge
1780 Mary Maish born (York Cemetery Cards)
1782? Dorothea born
1785 Eva Maria marries Heinrich Kramer[9] (First Trinity Reformed Church York, York County).
1786? Friedrich born
1790 Johann & Fam
arrive PILI1459
1796 Ignaz PILI1459
19th
Century
1802 Nov 2 Johann Georg Maisch death
children:
Maria
Christina
Dorothea
Joseph
David
Frederick
1819 Johann Ulrich PILI294
1827 Apr David Maisch marries
Maria Konig (in Irish book)
1831Apr Johann Georg XXXXX Gerlingen WEI132 (Wurtemburg Emmigration Index)
1834 Oct David Maisch marries Sarah
Neuman
1834 May Johann Georg&F[10] 26
Jul 1796 KayhHerrenberg WEIp128
1834 May Louise Catherine 14 Jul1831 Sulz
1834 May Agnes Catharina Sulz WEI
p128
1834 May Catherine Dorothea 4 May 1833 Sulz WEI
p128
1834 May Elisabetha 15 Nov 1819 Sulz WEIp128
1834 May Jacob Friedrich 4 April 1829 Sulz WEIp128
1836 David Maish to
Indiana
1847 Johann Friedrich 41 (& 5 fam) PILI107
1847 Johannes 16 PILI107
1847 Luise 13
1847 Johann Friedrich 8 PILI107
1847 Johann Heinrich 7 PILI107
1847 Johann Michael 5 PILI1107
1847 Feb Simon 28Feb 1839 Kuppingen WEIp128
1852 John M.[11] PILI1279
1852
Feb Christian 30 Sep 1852 Boeblingen WEI p126
1853 May Friedrich 19 Boeblingen "
1853Aug Christof 61Yrs Ditzingen WEI132
1854 J.F. PILI1459
1854 E.
PILI1459
1854 Jan Johann Michael Nagold WEI 128
1854Jul Rosina Dorothea 20Jan1826 Renningen WEI 132
1856 Joseph PILI1279
1856 Sep Barbara 9Feb1803 Grafenberg WEI 132
1857 May Maria Christiane 20 Nov 1835 Boeblilngen
WEI128
1857Aug Rosina Barbara 6Jun1838 Renningen WEI132
1858 Sep Johannes 30 Sep 1842 Boeblingen WEI128
1860 Aug Luise 16 Feb 1846 Boeblingen "
1861 Jan Marie
Friederike 29 Apr 1828 Boeblingen "
1861Mar Catharina 28 Jul 1840 Grafenberg WEI131
1862 Caspar PILI1459
1863 Johann Georg 23 Feb 1830 Kayh "
1863 Johann Michael 21 Mar 1843 Kayh "
1866 Christian PILI1279
1867 May Johann
Michael 26 Mar 1844 Kuppingen
WEI131
1868 Sep Carl 24 Dec 1852 Entringen WEI p128
1868 Sep Friedrich 25 Oct 1851 Entringen WEIp128
1869 Sep Christian Gottlobb 22 Oct 1841 Renningen WEI132
1873 May Anna Elisabethe 9Oct1878 Renningen WEIp132
1877 Frederick PILI1279
1878 Charles PILI1279
1880 May Jakob Friedrich&F 10 Jul1844 Renningen WEI132
1880 May Christina Katharina 20Dec1847 Renningen WEIp132
1880 May George Jacob 19Apr 1871 Renningen WEIp132
1880May Johannes 3yrs Renningen WEI132
1880May Karl August 18Jan1876 Renningen WEI132
1887 Gust PILI1459
1887 Aug Karl Christoph 13 Jan 1873 Neuffen WEI132
1888 May Rudolph 31 Oct1873 Neuffen WEI132
[1]ship Lydia
2 ship Royal Union
3ship Duke of Wurtemberg
4 ship
Richard and Mary
5 Abstracts of General Loan Office Mortgages of Province
of Pennsylvania
6 Pennsylvania Church Records
7 Tohickon Reformed Records
8 Humphrey,,
John T., Pennsylvania Births
Philadelphia County 1766-1780.
9 Irish,
Donna R., Pennsylvania German Marriages, Baltimore 1984
10Passenger
Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore list
Agnes age 34. He is listed at being a turner by trade from Nordhausen arriving
on the Napier 9 Aug 1834.
11probably the pharmacist author of Organic Materia Medica 1882. Also Civil War pharmacy director.
____________________________________________
Pennsylvania
Transition from Baden Wurtemburg
Johann Georg Maisch (JGM) came to America in 1751. Although it is unclear where he was born, he most probably came from the Black Forest area of Germany in the present state of Baden Wurtemburg. Records from the Latter Day Saints show a high concentration of Maisches in the area around and to the south and west of Stuttgart. Investigations by James A. Maish of Illinois (1996) discovered three Johann Georgs born between 1721 and 1729. The JGM born on April 17, 1721 is recorded as dying October 30, 1750. This would have made him 29 years old. Curiously this is almost exactly one year before JGM came to America. This may be the same person who left and was assumed dead. He was married to Anna Gaenslin. Another JGM was born in November of 1725 but and died in Germany in 1802. His father was Laurentius Maisch. Another Maisch was born on November 29, 1729 to Lorenz and Margaretha. He is recorded as dying in 1805 in Germany. Yet another JGM was born in 1725 in Malmsheim near Stuttgart.
Another family on Duke of Wurtemburg
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/9058/heim/Heim3.html - jgh
Passenger lists show Johann
Georg sailing from Rotterdam on October 16, 1751 on the Duke of Wurtemburg
(sometimes "Wellington") with Montpelier as Captain. Johann is listed in the passenger lists of
ships headed to Pennsylvania. He landed
in Philadelphia two months later after a stop in Cowes (Gibson's History of
Pennsylvania Part II p98). Curiously
another JGM is listed as arriving on September 17, 1753 on the Richard and Mary
commanded by John Moore. This is a full two years later. Is this the same person or yet another
JGM? Passenger lists also show a Steffe Maisch arriving before
the first JGM.
Pennslyvania Counties
Maisches in
Philadelphia
Georg arrived in Philadelphia
in 1751 but did not record a land purchase until 1766 in Somerhausen. This suggests he lived in Philadelphia for
15 years prior to the move to Somerhausen. Did he practice his trade as a wood
turner in Philadelphia? There is a record of a furniture maker by the name of
John Mays, but this may not be one and the same. In researching these points,
Judy Maish pointed out that the county political boundaries have changed in the
past 250 years in the Philadelphia area.
Therefore the counties cited in 18th century records may
today be in other county’s records. Coupled with a lack of marriage records, it
is difficult to ascertain the whereabouts of JGM after his arrival. Johann was commonly the father’s or
baptismal name while the second name was the child’s name. Johann Michael or Johann Georg or Johann
Valentin may be referred to then as
Michael and George and Valentin. There
are many surviving records of marriages, births, baptisms, and
confirmations. Maisches were also
witnesses or communicants at the confirmations of others, and are occasionally
listed. Many Maisch records in
Philadelphia are associated with St. Michaels Church in Germantown
and a stroll in the church
graveyard quickly confirms the German
heritage. Maisch records also turn up later in counties surrounding
Philadelphia.
Investigations by James A.
Maish of Illinois (1996) discovered three Johann Georgs born between 1721 and
1729. The JGM born on April 17, 1721 is recorded as dying October 30,
1750. This would have made him 29 years
old. Curiously this is almost exactly
one year before JGM came to America. This may be the same person who left and
was assumed dead. He was married to
Anna Gaenslin. Another JGM was born in
November of 1725 but and died in Germany in 1802. His father was Laurentius Maisch. Another Maisch was born on November 29, 1729 to Lorenz and
Margaretha. He is recorded as dying in
1805 in Germany. Yet another JGM was
born in 1725 in Malmsheim near Stuttgart.
Passenger lists show Johann
Georg sailing from Rotterdam on October 16, 1751 on the Duke of Wurtemburg
(sometimes "Wellington") with Montpelier as Captain. Johann is listed in the passenger lists of
ships headed to Pennsylvania. He landed
in Philadelphia two months later after a stop in Cowes (Gibson's History of
Pennsylvania Part II p98). Curiously
another JGM is listed as arriving on September 17, 1753 on the Richard and Mary
commanded by John Moore. This is a full two years later. Is this the same person or yet another
JGM? Passenger lists also show a Steffe Maisch arriving before
the first JGM
Somerhausen – Chesnut Hill
http://www.chestnuthillpa.com/
JGM’s early life is
associated with Somerhausen Chestnut Hill.
Somerhausen is the southeasterly half of Chestnut Hill Between Rex
Avenue and Mermaid Lane. This was one
of the original four divisions of Germantown. Family Records indicate JGM owned
a lot in Somerhausen. In the History of Germantown (Keyser) only two lots are
listed as 200 acres, Lots 1 and 2. Lot 1 was owned by Germantown founder Daniel
Pastorius in 1714 and owners listed in
1768 included Christopher Yagell, Bachman, Chrs, Hubb’s heirs, Mich’l Hillegas,
Jorn Bons and others. Lot 2, also 200 acreas, was owned in 1768 by Henry
Kibler, Conrad Switzer and others. These
lots were laid out in a long a narrow German style. In this manner, the houses could be closer together on a street
while the lots extended behind them.
.In his historical report of
the Maisch family dated October 16, 1909 the honorable David F. Maish states
"Johann Georg Maish settled at Chestnut Hill above Germantown,
Philadelphia County PA prior to August
19 ,1766 on which date he and John Jarret gave a mortgage to Frederick Schenkel
for a horse and plantation in the upper part of the German township formerly
called "Somerhausen Chestnut Hill". In this record he is described as
a turner." This is consistent with the signet ring that bore the emblem including woodturning tools.
"On April 19 1773
Johann Georg Maisch of German Township Philadelphia Co. PA for 408 lbs bought
of Joseph Whiteside 200 acres of land in Newberry Township, York, Co. PA. He
moved to York County and was residing there March 27, 1776 when he mortgaged
said 200 acres to John Jarrrett of White Marsh Philadelphia."
JGM Married Catherine Ulp in
the vicinity of Harrisburg PA (date???).
Their 7 children were:
Joseph 1770 - 1846
David 1771
Frederick 1786-1822
Maria Maisch-Reaneerd
Christiana Maisch-Weitzel
Dorothea Maisch-Umberger
Catherine Maisch-Goughnaure
JGM wrote his will on March
6 1802 probated 3/6/1805
Some Maisch records suggest a
Frederick Maisch was a soldier in the Revolution and died of camp fever at
Valley Forge during the winter of 1777 - 1778.
This is before the birth of JGM's son.
Could this have been a mercenary
from Germany? Or another migrant. He
left one son who moved to New Philadelphia, Ohio and was killed by accident
(History of York Co. PA Gibson Part II p98).
JGM wrote his will on March 6 1802 probated 3/6/1805
Umberger sites (related to daughter Dorothea).
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/1009/Vol1/umberger.htm
http://www.chm.davidson.edu/pagenweb/records/HillChurch.html
Surrounding Counties (Lehigh, Bucks, York)
Johann Georg, wife and children settled in several counties north and east of Philadelphia. Church records mention Maishes several times in baptisms, marriages and as witnesses. Maishes also operated different businesses including a ferry service across the Susquehanna and mill. Fire at the mill house prompted the family’s move to Indiana.
http://www.voicenet.com/~lchs/library/col/collections.html
Family Tree
Helen Grove has made
probably the most complete and accurate family tree. The earliest family tree
was written by David Fudge in the
1880’s. Several of us have tried
putting names into computer software.
Alexander Maish of Arlington and Jeff Maish of Los Angeles have tried
the MacIntosh Family Reunion software.
Jeff tried an initial printout as a poster (Version1) and reunion
members caught many mistakes and made many additions. One difficulty was the use of the same names between father, son,
grandson which led to some duplication of lines of descent which became very
apparent in the final output. Look for
a new more accurate poster version!
Indiana
In 1936 the Maish family
celebrated the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the family in
Frankfort Indiana. David Maish,
grandson of Johann Georg Maish arrived by Conestoga wagon with his wife Hannah
Tyson (whose family came from Crefeld, along the Rhine near Holland) and eight
children, Sarah, George, David, Mathhias, Joseph, Catherine, Henry, Hannah and
Frederick. Fredersick was 8 months old.
An article in the Frankfort Morning Times of July 8, 1936 states “While
farming has claimed the attention of most of the Maish family, many have
occupied positions of trust in professional life and in public office.” The reunion of 1936 included a pageant
describing different aspects of the transition from Pennsylvania to Indiana,
family members walking, and David and Mathias hunting game along the way. The trip of 600 miles took place in the heat
of summer.
One of the
Maish farms illustrated in the History of Clinton County Indiana
Original Photographs of
David and Hannah Maish
In something short of a miracle,
Helen Grove has located the original photos of David and Hannah. We are familiar with the engraved images
from the History of Clinton County Indiana but its quite impressive to see the
photographic images. Through some expert sleuthing and negotiation Helen has
located and acquired two late 19th century tintypes of Hannah and
David Maish of Frankfurt Indiana. The children of Hannah and David established
a Maish dynasty in Indiana and several of their children, nephews and nieces
moved west to Arizona establishing the western branch of the family. It would
be great to continue with Helen’s work as there are many 19th
century photos of Maishes available but spread around the country. I would like to gather a digital library so
if you have a photo, please scan and send it to Jeff Maish at jpmaish@msn.com. I will try to compile these and hopefully publish them for the
family.
Maishes
in America’s Wars
American Revolution
Family lore states that
Frederick Maisch died of camp fever at valley Forge during the infamous
Winter. However, family records
indicate that Frederick wasn’t born till after the Revolutionary War, and that
Frederick Maisch moved to Ohio. So, why
the story? Could there have been
another Maisch? It would be interesting
to focus on this question. A quick
review of Valley Forge records shows no Maisch at Valley Forge. Is this a lack of recording? Most of the records indicate soldiers of
English descent. Were German units
subject to the same record keeping or separate documentation? To add to the confusion are various names at
the time including Mash, Mays, Maiz,and Maize which may have existi as
distinct names. For example, the Index of Revolutionary Service Records records
a John Maiz, corporal in the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment and Joseph
Maize private in the 5th PA Regiment. Records of the War of 1812 also show no Maishes.
Civil War
Lewis Maish was involved in
the battle at Cold Harbor on June
1. Captain Maish was in the
Pennsylvania Volunteer Army also
referred to as the 87 Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Thomas A.
Scott Regiment. (87th Regiment, Third Brigade, Third Division and Third Army
Corps under General French).
On June 22 the regiment
moved with the 6th Army Corps towards St. Petersburg. the 87th was flanked by Rickett's movement the next day. Captain Maish of Company B was captured and
sent to Libby Prison at Richmond and then to various Southern prisons. He spent roughly a month at Macon, two
months at Savannah and two months in Charleston where he escaped into Union
lines. He was mustered out of service
on March24, 1865 and moved to Minneapolis in 1867.
In the battles surrounding Antietam September 17, Lieutenant
Colonel Levi Maish of the 113th Regiment (York) was struck by a minie ball that
lodged in his right lung and remained there during his life.
Other Maishes were involved in the Civil War as well. An Indiana website includes a photo of a Civil War veteran’s reunion with a Maish veteran in the crowd. Can you pick him out?
39th NJ VI Company A Private William Maish on roster
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lane/5626/39th/muster/co_a.htm
Chancellorsville order of battle
http://www.civilwarhome.com/chancellorsvilleaop.htm
74th Indiana Infantry group photo with Private Philip H. Maish Warsaw, Indiana (somewhere!!)
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inkosciu/74reg.htm
WWI 
An e-mail communication has revealed that a Howard Maish may have been a member of either the Escadrille Lafayette or the Escadrille Americaine duing WW1. As America was still not technically at war when the former was active, there may not be a US record. Following the war he became a barnstormer in the Midwest. It would be great to get further information on Howard and maybe even a photograph next to his biplane. Please e-mail me any information you might have.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7749/ww1links.htm
WWII
http://www.interment.net/data/us/hi/oahu/natmem/hawaii_mamal.htm
Korea
http://www.distantcousin.com/Military/Korea/PA/M.html
Vietman
Maish Individuals and Professions
Levi Maish (US Congress) links
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/lmaish.htm
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000072
TRUE TALES OF THE MAISHES
OF THE
ARIZONA TERRITORY
Frederick
Maish James
Polk Maish
Rancher/Hotelier/Businessman/Mayor
of Tucson Businessman/Brother
of Frederick
The following text was typed for the Maish 250 Family Reunion and distributed to participants in Tucson. It is included here for on-line access.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fine dining on the dusty trail
Siesta
ambush
The Prince of Arizona hotels
Encounters with the local indigenous population
Election of local mayor
A Christmas Party at Dobbs Station
Anecdote regarding the habits and manners of one
Frederick Maish
MARSH'S RESTAURANT
THIS IS THE
BEST EATING-HOUSE
EVER KEPT IN TUCSON.
Special pains are taken and no expense spared
to always have the table supplied with an abundant variety
of choice meats, vegetables, etc. etc., and prepared by
experienced cooks.
Entrance on Meyers Street near the Custom House
and stage office.
MARSH & DRISCOLL
Proprietors
Arizona Citizen, October 12, 1872
______________________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Pritchard, cattle dealer, sold in the city this week to Marsh (sic.) & Driscoll fourteen head of Devon cows averaging about $62.50 a head. They are as fine looking lot of cows as we have seen in this market and Marsh & Driscoll are to be congratulated on securing them.
Arizona Weekly Star, 11/14/1878
(Left column, , Page 3)
______________________________________________________
Last Friday evening, while Fred Marsh was lying in bed at his home, on Meyers Street, he heard a noise on the outside, and on his going to the door a Mexican attempted to enter, while an American standing by his side fired a pistol shot at Marsh, fortunately missing him. Marsh sprang out of range, whereupon the assailants ran to the window and again fired into the room, but with the same fortunate inaccuracy as before. After this second failure the assailing parties, consisting of two Americans and one Mexican, departed. The cause of the attempted assassination is unknown.
Arizona Star, 8/5/1879, 3-1.
PALACE HOTEL
Meyers Street
Tucson . . . . . . . . . . . . Arizona
By Maish & Driscoll
This elegantly appointed and centrally located hotel will, under the present management, be run in the first class style, and the prices charged will be reasonable. The table will be constantly supplied with the best the market affords. Large, well-ventilated, and finely furnished rooms, either single or an (sic) suite. Billiard and sample room attached.
Advertisement - ARIZONA WEEKLY STAR - 2/12/1880
(Note: by Maish & Driscoll later became
Rayfield and Lesher, and was
preceded by John King.)
PALACE HOTEL
The Prince of Hotels in Arizona
Business Enterprise Illustrated
oOo
That Tucson has lacked for suitable hotel accommodations is apparent from the fact that during the past few months every available space, room, and even corral, has been filled with sleepy travelers. Men with means, who were willing and anxious to pay large prices for lodgings, have been obliged to sit by the fire all night and sleep in chairs. Before the present railroad facilities have so nearly joined us with our sister cities and towns; when to reach Tucson we were obliged to stage from 500 to 600 miles; when travel was so scarce but that now and then a stranger appeared on the streets, it was hardly necessary to keep up anything but an ordinary inn to suit the few people who would frequent a hotel. Within the past two years, the exceeding richness of the mines, together with the railroad facilities now being offered to southeastern Arizona, have brought many strangers and capitalists to our town, and they demand something better and more pleasing to the taste than salt pork and beans straight. Although the hotel accommodations of Tucson were equal to any in the territory, still they did not come up to that degree of perfection which the New York capitalist, or even the Bostonian, looked for. Messrs. Maish and Driscoll, the proprietors of the Palace Hotel, with a keen lookout for the future, and a knowledge of the coming rush to Tucson, concluded that the times demanded more rooms and a more decided improvement in the dining room than they then possessed. Accordingly, a large force of men were put to work on their house; a second story built and a large number of rooms added below and above. That the readers of the Star may have a knowledge of the extent of these improvements, we propose giving a brief sketch of them in our columns. In January 1869, Messrs. Maish and Driscoll arrived in this town from the Black Hills. They became the possessors of a large tract of land which is known as the Canoa Ranch, comprising about 17,000 acres, which is one of the best, if not the best, ranches in Arizona. Having accumulated some means, and being the owners of the Palace Hotel building, which had been leased to Mr. John King, they last year took the business in hand, and immediately set about improving the place. Another story was added to the old building, and the rooms below improved in appearance and comfort. The partition between the office and rear part of the house was taken out and an arch turned, and what was the porter’s room is now a handsome billiard parlor, fitted up with three first-class tables. The dining room was enlarged, giving a seating capacity for about ninety people. The hotel business is managed by Mr. George Rayfield, whose gentlemanly ways and cordiality makes him the friend of all, both guests and employees of the hotel. The dining room is under the supervision of Mr. P. McAuliffe, a steward of much experience and tact, who makes the wants of the guests his first aim. His corps of assistants are gentlemanly and polite, and each one tends to his station with diligence. The kitchen is under the immediate direction of Mr. Wm. Devony, the chef de cuisine, and Thomas Burke, the second cook. The table speaks for itself in favor of the accomplishment of Mr. Devony and assistant. No better table is set this side of San Francisco than that of the Palace Hotel. The night clerk, Mr. C. Coolidge, tends to his duties with the alacrity of a printer with a full case and a fat take. There are in all fifty-five rooms with sleeping capacity for eighty people, allowing one person to a bed. The rooms downstairs are comfortably fitted out with beds and cots. Mrs. Woods has charge of the rooms above, while Mr. Shortridge, with his force of porters, look out for the lower floor. Everything throughout the hotel is run systematically and order, each man doing his work well, or his services will soon be dispensed with. The bar is supplied with the best liquors the market affords. In the rear of the billiard parlor is a fine club room, where those inclined can while away their time in such games as they may wish.
We have thus given but a brief sketch of this hotel, which, if we had time and space could elaborate more minutely. To show that these improvements have not been an experiment merely we are informed that nightly the entire sleeping capacity if occupied, and many are often refused beds for want of rooms. Much credit is due to our enterprising citizens, Messrs. Maish & Driscoll, who, in the face of the street clamor of the downfall of Tucson as soon as the railroad reaches it, in thus expending nearly $8,000 in furnishing Tucson with a hotel which is a pride to the place, and which will stand as a monument to the spirit and enterprise shown forth by them. May their coffers be filled to overflowing and their highest expectations realized, is the earnest wish of all well-thinking citizens of Tucson.
Since the above article was in type, we understand that the Messrs. Maish & Driscoll are engaged in getting out material preparatory to adding sixteen more rooms.
Arizona Star, February 19, 1880 - Page 3, Col. 7
THE PALACE HOTEL
This is Sunday, and the heated term being upon us, many there are who will take their dinners away from home. The Palace Hotel, on Meyers Street, is the place to go for that dinner, for there you will find upon the tables all the market affords in the way of beef, pork, mutton, fowl, vegetables, prepared by one of the best cooks in Arizona. In the dining room you are met and served by lady waiters who are always polite, kind and attentive to your wants and who endeavor always to please you in every respect. A dinner at the Palace at any time, is always a luxury, but more so on Sundays, and no one should miss them.
Arizona Daily Star - June 16, 1889 (p. 4, c. 2)
______________________________________________________
Tucson, May 24, 1886
Mr. Mordecia Maish
Dobbs Wells
Sir:
I want to inform you that the Indians are very right close to Tucson, and it is very possible that they will come your way so look out and be sure that you keep near the house, and don't let the boys run about away from home. The Indians have taken one boy prisoner within sight of Tucson.
I send you herewith the rope which costs 2 dollars, and the pulley which I borrowed, and which you must send back as soon as you get through with it, about 25 cents worth 20 vegetables.
Yours,
Maish (signed)
Letter in Arizona Historical Society
______________________________________________________
APACHES
Affidavits of the
Outrages
Perpetrated by
Indians
Official Inquiry
into Two Years
of Deviltry;
Statement of the
Individual Losses.
[Affidavit]
Frederick Maish, Sworn, resides 18 miles from Tucson, is engaged in stock-raising. Since January 1st, 1870, has met with the following losses, to wit:
January 1870, lost seventeen head of cattle: April and May, 1870 lost eight head of cattle: July 1870, lost four head of horses: September 1870, lost six head of cattle, making total loss of $1,250.
And says that depredations are more frequent than two years ago, and that the roads are unsafe for small parties.
Ref: Arizona Enterprise, March 10, 1892 (page 1, column 3)
(The above affidavit filed by Frederick Maish was one of many filed by various ranchers, farmers, and U.S. Cavalry personnel.)
Arizona Citizen - November 30, 1894
______________________________________________________
ABANDONED
Indian Cattle
Thieves Drive
Out the Cattlemen.
MAISH &
DRISCOLL MOVE.
They Will Leave the Proctor and
Fresnal Ranches to
the
Papagos and go
to Canoa.
Soon the broad plains west and south from Fresnal and the Santa Rosa Valley will be turned over to the coyote and the jack rabbit. All other life there will be gone. No Indians will roam there, contented and lazy and fat; no herds will bawl and paw there. Save some keen-eyed smuggler or half-lost nimrod; the vast tract from Gunsight to Fresnal and 30 or 40 miles wide will see no living form.
The working out of this effect may be gradual. First will come a move that has become inevitable, and which is a scheme. The Maish & Driscoll herd are to be removed from that vast range, and all might as well be desert as otherwise. With the removal of the cattle will be the loss of livelihood for the Papagos and they will go.
The Papagos in that region number several thousand. The comprise fifteen villages. Their sole subsistence may be said to be the stock stolen from the cattlemen. They have a few head of their own, and every village has its particular brand, but after all, that too has come from the cattlemen in unbranded stock. The losses are estimated by stockmen from this source at 100 head a month. And when an Indian kills stock, it is not to be supposed that it picks out the poorest. This loss is $1,000 a month and, of course, ruinous to any business.
These methods are simple. Sharp precautions are taken to conceal the hide and the brand, and if possible also the meat. Some is sold at Quijotoa placers (?) for prices that would make Tucson buyers envious. Much is made into "jerky". They further get all their water from the adjacent ranches. There is a Fresnal ranch which comes in for first regard. It has a fine pumping plant and a well 700-feet deep, requiring an outlay of thousands of dollars.
When cattle were first driven in on the Fresnal ranges the Indians did not molest them. For years the stock were safe. The Indians living from agriculture done in depressions in the land where water had been and then evaporated, and supplementing this with support from the reservation. Here they raised good corn and vegetables and made an honest living. Then came a little stealing and a little more. Finally it came to the present status where all are thieves and no man's herds are safe but their own. Many of them have been caught at the stealing, and a few have gone to Yuma. But that deterred them little, except the more timid. The matter has come to where the only method to overcome them is to starve them out. Now they will have to come in to the reservations, as they did years ago, or go to Mexico.
The ranch was started years ago. "Reposos" or small reservoirs have been built about it. Here the Indians have come daily for water for many years. They have further become rather insolent and look upon the privileges given them as rights. Once when a mule belonging to one of them came to the corral riderless, with the saddle under its belly, the saddle was removed by the ranch people and put in a tree in the corral, and the mule turned loose. The thieves turned accusers and went to Agent Crouse of Sacaton with the story that they were being robbed of the saddle. A note demanding the saddle in peremptory terms was the result. The cattlemen have had many such aggravations to endure. The Frank Proctor Ranch, now owned by Maish & Driscoll will also be abandoned.
Another ranch that will probably have to go is James Quinlan's. It is scarcely possible that Mr. Quinlan can stand the thieveries of the Indians singlehanded. He too has been much harassed by the deviltries of the Indians, and has been instrumented (sic.) in bringing some of them to justice.
The agents have been consulted. Not once but a hundred times they have been complained to by the ranchers. The result has been evil. Agent Crouse, it is claimed, made little effort to help the cattlemen, always siding with the Indians, and Agent Young has been unable to. Mr. Young got a telegram from Washington not long ago requesting him to arrange matters with Maish & Driscoll, but he could effect nothing. The Indians are only nominally under his control.
The methods of the new move are as follows: The round-ups are about being concluded. The stock will be prohibited from the old range aforementioned, and will be kept at the Canoa Ranch. Vaqueros will constantly ride the range between there and the old range, and will keep them headed back.
The Canoa range has plenty of feed for cattle owing to late good rains, and the late cattle losses and sales. The range in question runs from the Santa Ritas south to the line. There the cattle will do well, and will not be the constant prey of the thieving Indians.
OoO
CITY ELECTION
The municipal election of Tucson was held yesterday. Quite a ripple of excitement was caused by a circular which appeared on the street early in the day which brought out 615 votes, resulting in the election of F. Maish, Mayor, A.V. Grossetta, Councilman-at-Large, George Leseur, Councilman from the 1st Ward, and F. Miltenburg from the 2nd Ward. Assessor and Tax Collector, Geo. Foster, Treasurer, M.P. Freeman, Recorder, Chas. H. Meyer, Marshal, Wm. Roche.
The following is the vote:
Candidates
1st Ward 2nd Ward Total Majority
Mayor
Fred Maish 166 183 349 83
W.E. Stevens 137 129 266
Councilman at Large
A.V. Grosetta 223 187 410 205
Leopoldo Carrillo 75 120 195
The Daily Star - December 13, 1888 (p. 4, c. 2)
His Honor, Mayor Maish elect is looking over the city taking observations, and when he takes his seat the Star predicts he will make many good recommendations.
The Daily Star December 11, 1888
______________________________________________________
Common Council Meeting
Last evening the council chamber was the scene of considerable excitement, it being the occasion of Hon. W.E. Stevens stepping down and out of the position of mayor, which he has held for the past year, to make room for Hon. Frederick Maish, who began his administration as chief executive of the common council. When Mr. Maish entered the room he was received with a very noisy welcome. Ex-Mayor Stevens introduced his successor with a few well chosen remarks, and the newly seated mayor at once entered into the discharge of his duties.
The following bills were approved and ordered paid: Tucson Gas Co., $151.60; E.W. Shortridge, $16.87; Philip Drachman, $2.50; J. Telford, $1.75.
The following bonds were accepted: treasurer, collector, recorder, marshal. The members of the new council are: Hon. Fred Maish, Mayor, F. Miltenberg, Geo. A. Hoff, P.A. Hartwell, George Lesure, John Gardiner, A.V. Grosseta, and George H. Meyer. New committees were appointed for the coming year and the council adjourned.
The Daily Star - January 8, 1889
(Note: Miltenberg/Miltenburg?; Lesure/Leseur?; Grosseta/Grosetta? - see Election Results from Dec. 1, 1888)
A GOOD RATE TO SHIPPERS
Maish & Driscoll have sold 3000 of two- and three-year-old range cattle for northern pasturing. The Southern Pacific Company has offered to ship to Deming for $32.80 per car, and as each car will hold twenty-six head the rate appears to be very reasonable. The same rate will be given to other shippers.
Colonel Noble being aware of the low prices the stock was selling at he made a strong effort and succeeded in getting the present special rate. It is more than probable that about 12,000 head will be shipped under this rate.
Arizona Daily Star - April 14, 1889 (p. 4, c. 2)
______________________________________________________________________________________
DOBBS STATION
Gave a Successful Dance
Christmas Eve
The grand dance given by the bachelors and widows of Dobbs Station, on December 24th, at their hall, proved a great success. The music, furnished by Prof. Geo. O'Bryan's band, was excellent. The dance was opened by a speech from James P. Maish. The supper was served by the long Kentuckian, and it was done justice.
Among the ladies present were Mesdames James Quinlan, Chas. Proctor, and P. Hortagon; Misses Louise Mendivil, Antonio and Nieves Morales, S. Varelas, A. and J. Madril, Annie True, Maggie Schneider, Mamie Black, Annie Cush, and Katie Shaw.
Among the gentlemen present were George O. Russell, George OíBryan, J. Kaiser, Charles Proctor, Dave Brock, William Quinlan, F. Kelly, H. Morales, James Anderson, M. King, J.P. Maish, F. Maish, Charles Maish, A.F. Young, and John W. Haythausen.
J.P. Maish was floor manager, J.W. Haythausen, cook, and George Russell champion "pie man".
At the conclusion of the banquet, J.P. Maish offered a toast in the name of Mr. S. Oterra which was drunk with great appreciation by all present.
Arizona Daily Star - December 27, 1889 (p. 2, c. 4)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Arizona Daily Star - January 31, 1890 ( p. 3, c. 1)
Mayor Maish has returned from his trip to the ranch where he has been looking after a shipment of beef steers to the California market. The cars are now in readiness. They will be shipped from this station.
Published Excerpts - The Daily Star - November 30, 1890 (p. 4, c. 2)
FOR MAYOR
At the request of a large number of citizens of Tucson, I submit my name as a candidate for re-election to the Office of Mayor.
Fred Maish
The Daily Star - December 6, 1890 (p. 2, c. 2)
The fact that Mayor Maish has a clear field as a candidate for re-election as Mayor speaks volumes for his administration of city affairs for the last two years.
The Daily Star - Tuesday, December 9, 1890
CITY
ELECTION
There was an interesting struggle at the city election yesterday, as was manifested by the fact the 636 votes were polled. The principal fight was on councilman at large, councilman in ward one, recorder and marshal. M. Lamont took the first plum, George Lesure the second, Charles H. Meyer the recorder, and Billy Rocher the marshalship. The following is the vote:
FIRST WARD
The total vote cast in ward one was 354.
For Mayor
Fred Maish 327
Member of Council
George Lesure 168
J.W. Bement 113
R.V. Bloxton 64
Joint Councilman
M. Lamont 216
C.F. Hoff 134
Assessor
W.F. Scott 341
Treasurer
M.P. Freeman 351
Recorder
C.H. Meyer 260
F.K. Miller 90
Marshal
William Roach 209
A.J. Wakefield 140
Robert Fraser 5
Scattering for Mayor Spanish Mary 4,
Chas. Aire 4, Chas. Stifle 1, Frying Pan 3.
SECOND WARD
Total number of votes cast 282.
For Mayor
Maish 279
For Council
Miltenberg 256
Council at Large
C.F. Hoff 136
Lamont 148
For Assessor
W.F. Scott 281
For Treasurer
M.P. Freeman 279
For Recorder
Charles F. Meyer 195
F.K. Miller 87
For Marshal
William Roche 195
A.J. Wakefield 83
Robert Fraser 1
It is proper to state that Fraser had withdrawn from the race for marshal before the polls opened.
Arizona Weekly Star - January 29, 1891 (Page 2)
Mayor Maish came in from his "Deep Well" Ranch yesterday where he had been spending a few days. He says that cattle are looking fine, and that the crop of calves will be quite large this year. He brought in a lot of steers for the Tucson market.
Arizona Weekly Star - February 5, 1891 (Page 2)
NOTES FROM THE COUNTRY
J.P. Maish, brother of the mayor of this city, came in yesterday from the Coyote Ranch, or halfway station between this city and Quijotoa. Mr. Maish is engaged in the cattle business, and reports that industry in his section of country as (is?) prospering. He also keeps the station ìnotî as he said ìto make money, to accommodate my friends who travel from, and to, the Bonanza mines.
Mr. Maish is also the road overseer of Road District No. 3, and it was principally business before the Board of Supervisors in connection with his road district that brought him to the city this time. Besides other interesting matters he told the reporter that Frank Proctor is at work on his well at the Santa Rosa Ranch, trying to take out the boring tool which had become fastened in the well sometime before. Mr. Proctor proposes boring the well still deeper.
James Quiggle is at work on the John J. Devine mine, sinking for water. It is proposed to build a mill at this mine as soon as water is struck. The machinery has already been purchased and is on the ground. This is a gold mine, and the ore is free milling.
James Quinlan has removed his well-boring machinery on his new ranch in the Santa Rosa Valley, where he intends to bore for water. His ranch is about two miles south of the Silverbell and is said to be a very good one.
He further reported that stock of all descriptions was well and in tolerably good flesh for this time of the year. The most important item of all, he said, in that country was the probable sale of a mine to Eastern parties who were negotiating for the same.
Mr. Maish will return home tomorrow.
OoO
WHAT THE MAYOR SAYS
"Well, Mayor, how are matters opening for the coming year in this city?"
"Oh, fine; I am in favor of retrenchment in every respect. And now, by the way, since we cut down expenses in the payment of city officials, I think we can arrange to run a sprinkler at the cityís expense, and not increase the revenue a particle."
"How do you propose doing it?""
Well, you see, we will have a surplus in the salaries paid the assessor and collector, and treasurer to go upon. With this money I am in favor of putting the rest of the city, (or the main business streets), upon the established grade, which will cost at the rate of ten cents per square foot.
"Will you still have funds enough when you get through grading the streets, to sprinkle them?"
Yes, plenty, that is the graded streets are only sprinkled.
"Will the Council take steps towards this action at its next meeting?"
Yes, I think so. At least I shall bring the matter before the council, and if possible have some decisive steps taken in that direction.
"Is this all you expect to do this year?"
No, I have other matters of importance which will be attended in due time, one of which is the gas question; something has to be done to cut down that expense. I have a plan which, if it works, will reduce the gas bill at least 25 percent.
"Can you not give me an idea of how you intend to work that gas racket in order to reduce that expense?"
No, will do so in due time. I think my plan will work, and will be satisfactory to all.
With this the Mayor and Star representative bid each other good by (bye?) and departed.
Arizona Weekly Star - February 5, 1891 (Page 2)
WHAT THE MAYOR SAYS
An interview with Mayor Maish of this city reveals the fact that he is "forninst" the proposition of donating the Military Plaza to the Tucson Improvement company for hotel for any other purposes, and will not sign a deed under any circumstances conveying the same, no matter what the members of the city council may do. He would like to see a hotel there as much as any other man, and believes that it would be a paying proposition, but inasmuch as they, (the Improvement company) desire the city to donate them real estate valued at several thousand dollars before they will attempt to build a hotel such as they have proposed, to cost $100,000, and knowing that they city will not be so foolish as to donate them the coveted land. The idea of building a hotel of such colossal proportions is simply chemerical (chimerical?) and will never be done. He bases this idea upon the fact, he says, that the city cannot convert the Military plaza to any other use than that for which it was dedicated by the government. Such being the fact, and as the building of the hotel hinges upon the question of the donation of the plaza to them, it will never be built.
Arizona Weekly Star - February 12, 1891 (p. 3 col. 8)
ARIZONA ENTERPRISE
CATTLE ITEMS - TUCSON STAR - August 25, 1891
Maish and Driscoll are the owners of four large cattle ranches in the County, besides 8 or 10 smaller ones, all well stocked and their cattle numbers between 25,000 and 30,000 head. Both proprietors have lately visited their immense ranges and both report the cattle generally in good condition, especially those at the Fresnal ranches where they have 5000 head of picked steers and ready for the buyer, a thousand of which can be delivered within a few hours, if the buyer so desires them. The rains, though not general throughout their immense section of the country, have been sufficient to carry the herds through this year.
The same can be said of other cattle ranches south of the city. In order that their water supply may not run short or scant, they are continually making reservoirs in available places. These are called "charcos". They have five of them completed in the Fresnal country and are now at work on the sixth one which when finished will cover several hundred acres of ground. This firm expends thousands of dollars every year in this community, and were it not for them many poor Mexicans and white men too would suffer the pangs of hunger. They employ constantly from seventy-five to one hundred men, who receive a monthly stipend from $20 to $100.
In connection with the above, Mayor Maish informed us that we will yet have heavy rains and that they will occur during the Fall months, commencing with September. Rains never fall during this month, and no one who is interested in the stock business need despair.
(The same article appeared in the ARIZONA ENTERPRISE of August 29, 1891, p. 3)
ARIZONIANA (Page 23)
(Four page article by J.J. Wagoner)
OVERSTOCKING OF THE RANGES IN
SOUTHERN ARIZONA DURING THE
1870s and 1880s
oOo
Stock was raised to supply beef to federal troops and Indians. Many cattle died in a drought in May and June 1892; and after the second summer without rain cattlemen began to realize how overstocked the ranges were. During September and October thousands of Southern Arizona cattle were shipped to pastures in Texas, the Indian Territory, Kansas, California, Nevada, and as far north as Oregon. Rains finally came in July 1893. Conservative estimates place losses at 50% (from exodus and fatalities). Some ranchmen place losses as high as 75%. Experienced cattlemen began to consolidate their holdings into larger companies in order to develop artificial water and to market their cattle more profitably.
Card addressed to: Miss Kitt
Historical Society
Arizona University Stadium
Tucson, Arizona
Frankfort, Ind.
Jan. 22, 1942
Dear Miss Kitt:
Fred Maish was born in York County, Penn. Oct. 17, 1834, son of David and Hannah Maish. In the year of 1836 he came with his parents to Clinton County, Ind. I am not certain of the day of his death, but his body was brung back to Clinton Co. from Tucson June 16, 1913, and was buried June 18.
Grover C. Maish
Report "The Upper Santa Cruz Valley, etc."
by Dick Hall, Tucson, Arizona
In 1916, Manning sold the north half of the grant to the Continental Rubber Company. This company planted Guayule, a desert plant from which the plan was to manufacture synthetic rubber. The program failed as the amount of rubber material obtained from the plants was too small in proportion to the cost of production.
The present owners of La Canoa is the Duval Corporation. They bought the Howell Manning Estate in February of 1968. They are using the wells as the source of water for their mining operation on the west side of the Santa Cruz Valley.
HISTORY AND FACTS CONCERNING WARNER AND
SILVER LAKE AND THE SANTA CRUZ RIVER
By C. C. Wheeler
At different times the papers have mentioned items of these lakes, and several have asked me to describe them. And as this is to be a story concerning water, I will begin with the Santa Cruz River. Early writers tell that many years ago that the river was an ever flowing stream of clear water, not a large stream with a wide channel and deep as the present time, but enough so that fur animals were trapped on both it and the Gila River. Many lagoons or slews were located along the Santa Cruz. Two very large ones at Calabasas formed by the overflow of the Sonoita Creek and Santa Cruz, with others along the stream. The condition at Calabasas on account of this swampy land malaria was very bad and settlers suffered greatly with Chills and Fever and many were obliged to move from that section. There was also much swampy land south of Tubac, also another south of the San Xavier Mission, another about Nine miles Northwest of Tucson. The Santa Cruz valley then was a dense forest of trees and many ranchers were located along the river, several very large, Geo. Atkinson, Geo. Allison, Jos. and Morgan Wise, J. Piskorski, Casanega, and others near Calabasas, further north T. Lilly Mercer, Sabino Otero, and many others, Maish & Driscoll at the Canoa station, and others up to the Papago Indian reservation. The settlers cleared the land of the timber and irrigated lands from the river. Much of the land had been farmed by the Mexican people long before Arizona became a part of the United States. All varieties of grain, produce and considerable fruit was grown.
There was several acres of fruits close by the old Tumacacori Mission, some at Amado. Grapes, Peaches, Pears, Quinces, Pomegranates. Mr. Amado had an extensive ranch at this point and later a station was named Amadoville when the railroad was built. Later as the country settled up the great forest of timber was cut off for fuel and to clear lands for farms, Tucson and all the nearby mining camps was supplied from this source. It's often been said there was wood enough near at hand to last Tucson for a hundred years or more but the great consumption, and ruthless destruction it was not a great many years until wood was shipped from outlying districts, with much higher prices being demanded. ...
ARIZONA'S NAMES
X MARKS THE PLACE
Historical Names of Places in Arizona
by
Byrd Howell Granger
(Excerpts)
MAISH
Pima T16S R8E
Frederick Maish (b. 1815, Pennsylvania) arrived in Tucson in 1869 and soon had a ranch in what is now Avra Valley where he ran several thousand head of stock in partnership with Driscoll. The name has occasionally been misspelled Marsh.
Ref.:62; Arizona Enterprise (June 27, 1891), p. 3
MAISH-VAXIA See Covered Wells, Pima
MAISH VAYA See Covered Wells, Pima
COVERED WELLS
Pima T14S R2E
Covered Wells is so named because the wells were protected by wooden covers. This Papago village has houses in two main groups along an arroyo and each section has a separate name. The group of houses as the west wells is usually called Covered Wells, a translation of the Papago name.
In 1884 Covered Wells was a mining center for which its three wells furnished water. Although a townsite was laid out then by M.J. Walsh, J.M. Kinley, R.D. Ferguson, M.M. Rice and M. Redding, mining declined and the place returned to being an Indian village. Wheeler called this location Vavaho; the name is also spelled Maisk. It has also been called Pozo Tapado (1912 Lumholtz). See Quijotoa, Pima Ref.: 58; 262, p. 5, 57, p. 366; 308, p. 77
ARIZONA TERRITORY
1863-1912
A Political History
by Jay J. Wagoner
(excerpt)
(pgs 210-211)
Tucson was slower to appreciate its share of the spoils, the university. The people of the Southern District, which was then one of the political units for electing Council members, had elected an able lawyer, C. C. Stephens, to the upper house, in high hopes of getting the capital back from Prescott. But the entire Pima delegation was delayed in reaching Prescott. According to Stephens, "We were obliged to work our way around on the railroad to Ashfork, then stage it through the horrible rigors of an Arizona winter, making 56 miles in 48 hours, being stuck for one-third of that time in Hell Canyon without anything to eat or drink." During the interim, the backers of Prescott had been wining and dining the other legislators, and by trading and jockeying practically had the capital secured. Sensing this, Stephens, Selim Franklin, and others in the Pima delegation then joined the opposition in pledging themselves in support of retaining the capital at Prescott. Stephens even helped to give the asylum to Maricopa County by his vote in the Council.
Actually, the Pima legislators had met with Tucson business leader J. S. Mansfeld even before leaving Tucson. In assessing possibilities for an institution, they decided that a university might be the only plum available for Tucson though the capital, asylum, or prison would be more desirable from the standpoint of appropriations to bolster the local economy. But the citizens of the Old Pueblo were furious. At a mass meeting they clamorously decided to seek the capital and sent the redoubtable Fred Maish to Prescott with a "sack," or slush fund, of $4,000 to influence the legislature. The mission "paid off" in that the lower house passed a bill to move the capital back to Tucson. Stephens, however, refused to renege on his pledge to fellow Council members and so the capital remained in Prescott until moved to Phoenix in 1887.
Some of Stephens' friends knew he was "sitting on a hot seat" and thus helped him to secure the university. The indignant Arizona Daily Citizen, however, bitterly attacked him in editorials. In one of these the editor wrote, If C. C. Stephens thinks he can kick Pima County from one end of the Territory to the other, utterly ignore her and the wants of the people as if he were an avowed enemy, instead of a servant pledged to faithfully represent her interests in the Legislature and then after all his contemptible acts seek to smooth things over by the sop of a Territorial University [now the University of Arizona], that nobody asked for and which at best can be realized in a far distant future, he will find that it will not go down." When Stephens returned to Tucson and attempted to explain his actions, an enraged audience drove him off the rostrum with a shower of ripe eggs, rotting vegetables, and supposedly, a dead cat.
EARLY ARIZONA
Prehistory to Civil War
by Jay J. Wagoner
(excerpt)
The Canoa Grant
One of the oldest and most interesting land grants is San Ignacio de la Canoa, located between picturesque mountain ranges in the fertile Santa Cruz Valley south of Tucson. The Canoa ranch was probably given its name because of a hollowed-out cottonwood log " resembling a canoe " that was used as a watering trough. The Anza expedition stopped there in 1775 on its first night out of Tubac en route to California; both padres Font and Garc(s mentioned Canoa and noted the existence of a Papago rancher(a there. Ö It was not until September, 1820 ñ a year before Mexico gained independence ñ that Tom(s and Ignacio Ortiz, residents of Tubac, petitioned the intendente of Sonora and Sinaloa for four sitios of grassland around La Canoa for the purpose of raising cattle and horses. In accordance with the Spanish law, the land had to be measured, appraised, and auctioned before a title could be granted.
The first Anglo-American to bring cattle to the Canoa was Bill Kirkland; he drove 200 head from Sonora in 1857, but they were apparently stolen in 1860. Another famous pioneer who lived on the ranch was a Kentuckian named Pete Kitchen. Stubbornly defying the Apaches who frequently attacked, he fortified his ranch houses with adobe walls, first on the Canoa where he lived from 1855 to 1862 and later at the Potrero, near Nogales. Kitchen was about the only settler to hang on after the American troops withdrew during the Civil War. He curtly described the road through the desolated country between the walled pueblo of Tucson and Sonora with the phrase,"Tucson, Tubac, and to Hell."
After the war, despite incessant Apache hostilities, fresh attempts were made to reoccupy the stockless ranges. Among the new migrants to Arizona were Frederick Maish and Thomas Driscoll, who bought a controlling interest in the Canoa from the Ortiz heirs. The surveyor general recommended confirmation of their title but Congress took no action. Maish and Driscoll started their ranching about 1870 with some 300 head of long-horned Texan cattle bought from emigrants at $15 apiece. In an interview, several years later, Maish commented, "It went very slow. The first three years we did not make our salt. The Indians stole us blind. Afterwards we had smooth sailing." By 1884, the firm was grazing 10,000 head on the Canoa and adjacent public ranges ñ twenty miles up and down the Santa Cruz and about twenty-five miles from mountain to mountain. "We have eight different camps in the stretch of territory," Maish said. 'The river furnishes abundant water and there is always plenty of gramma grass." The first profits were made from a government contract in 1874. In accordance with this contract, beef was supplied at 12-1/2 cents per pound dressed. In 1884, Maish sold 2,600 head for $65,000, mainly for the San Carlos Indian Reservation, but also at markets in Tombstone and Los Angeles. The firm's capital of $75,000 was invested in livestock including 400 Durham and Devon bulls, steam pumps, about 500 horses, houses, and corrals. Land was no problem until the government forbade all enclosures of the open range in 1885. With fencing of the public domain prohibited, the overplus lands seemed more desirable.
In 1893 a claim for 46,696.2 acres ,considerably more than the four sitios (17,353.84 acres) in the original grant , was brought before the Court of Private Land Claims. This court confirmed the larger amount, which included overplus lands, but the federal government appealed the case and the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower tribunal in these words:
".we think that the grant should be sustained for the four sitios purchased, petitioned, and paid for, and for no more.î After an official survey, the title of Maish and Driscoll was confirmed for 17,208.333 acres, slightly less than the four square leagues in the 1821 grant. "
Buenavista Grant
(Maria Santisima del Carmen or Buena Vista)
The Buenavista land grant, located east of Nogales on both sides of the present international border, is another Spanish stock ranch that was abandoned in the eighteenth century and then reoccupied in the early nineteenth century. The lands on the Arizona side were acquired in 1881 by the enterprising Canoa claimants, Maish and Driscoll. They paid $4,000 for the rights to the grant and were allotted 5,733.41 acres by the Court of Private Land Claims. The court traced the grant back to 1826, when Francisco Jos( de Tuvera petitioned for the deserted rancho, then called ìMar(a Sant(sima del Carm(n.î He died during the proceedings and the application was then sought in the name of his widow, D(na Josefa Morales. A title was not issued until 1831 because there were defects in the original measurements of the four sitios and the land had to be resurveyed. The grant was purchased at the appraised price of $190 and occupied for stockraising by Tuveraís heirs until 1851, when it was sold to Hilario Gabilando. In 1872, the tract was transferred to Jos( Mar(a Quiroga for the sum of $500. He in turn sold it nine years later to Maish and Driscoll, making an eight-fold profit on his investment. The modern Arizona real estate boom was obviously being nurtured years ago.
TUCSON
THE FABULOUS STORY OF ARIZONA'S
ANCIENT WALLED PRESIDIO
1692 - 1900's
by Bernice Cosulich
(excerpts)
One of Kitchen's cronies was Fred Maish, whose idea of a whisper could be heard a block away and who, when speaking in full voice, needed no amplifier. Maish was a rarity in that period when visitors remarked about "the quietness of their (Tucsonans) manner and the low tone in which they usually spoke to their neighbors. They were quite (sic) in dress, in speech, and in conduct , a marked difference from the more thoroughly dramatized border characters of later days."
Kitchen and Maish were both exceptions to Bourke's observations. Kitchen discarded his serape one day while being photographed in a checked shirt and a rough tweed coat, also loudly checked. That picture shows him with a drooping mustache outlining a firm mouth set above a jutting, up-tilted chin; his eyelids overhang his eyes like a caveís jutting roof and his bushy eyebrows were like rugged foothills below the mountainous slab of his forehead where only a few wrinkles made small horizontal canyons.
Fred Maish owned the Palace Hotel and Saloon, once owned Silver Lakes' resort concessions, and once served as Tucson's mayor. He and Kitchen and the famous Jeff Milton, that Tombstone Wells Fargo agent and U.S. Immigration Service employee, were the closest of friends. Maish roared out his ludicrous speech blunders in a heavy German accent. Once when Kitchen's spleen was giving him trouble and Dr. Handy was attending him, a group of cowboy friends tiptoed into the sick room, awkwardly whirling their hats and standing ill at ease. John Rockfellow and Fred Maish were also in the room.
"Fred, what seems to be the matter with Pete?" one of the cowboys whispered.
"O!" roared Maish, "Doc says his screen's out of whack."
Bad luck seemed to be pursuing several of the pioneers. Fred Maish and Thomas Driscoll had been interested in Silver Lake's development and patrons of their Palace Hotel on Meyer Street were urged to relax at the lake’s gambling table and bar, if not in the "swimming baths." The Arizona Citizen at one time commented, "It is to be sincerely hoped that this arrangement (for free baths) will induce certain members of the community to wash themselves occasionally even if they have a constitutional antipathy to taking water in therein." But the emphasis on race tracks, gambling and the saloon seemed not to have profited either Maish or Drescoll (sic), for Sheriff Shibell had to take over the Palace Hotel for debts. The former mayor, Maish, and his partner recovered from that difficulty and Freeman's "The Regeneration of Tucson" remarks that in 1914 they were owners of the Canoa Ranch and "they just refused $250,000 for its 17,000 acres and 5,000 head of cattle."
The resort at Silver Lake had been used by civic groups, Sunday school classes and families as a place for outings. The city fathers visualized a horse-drawn street car line being built to the lake and a new residential subdivision opening there, but the rowdy and questionable quality of the men and their "soiled doves of Gay Alley, " who did patronize the resort soon prevented "respectable" people going there. Silver Lake became Tucson's first road house and night club and wild were the parties given there. Many a be-ruffled entertainer was thrown into the lake, squealing and kicking, and many a drunkard was pulled out of it, mumbling protestations through chattering teeth.
CURRENT CONTEMPORARY MAISCH/ MAISH SITES
http://www.buehlerzell.de/maisch/
OTHER RELATED FAMILIES
http://www.angelfire.com/la/ancestors/Rowler.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rdanner/grgfindjacob.html
http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/linkslst.htm
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Contact Jeff Maish jmaish@msn .com for corrections, additions, comments .