| Walter
Lee Lightfoot was born in the Territory of New
Mexico in 1900 He was the son of John and Dora
(Carter). As a boy, he worked around his father's
blacksmith shop in Duncan and at the age of
seventeen, he took his first real job in a garage
in Douglas having watched the early-day
automobiles being repaired in his father's
blacksmith shop. His mechanical knowledge and
experience in forging led to a job working for
Phelps Dodge and worked all through Mexico mining
in his spare time after he moved to the
Globe-Miami area. He worked in that area as an
auto mechanic for about twelve years and then
moved to Phoenix and worked for Anchor Body &
Steel and later for Utility Trailer Company.
Some of his
ornamental iron work included the Goldwater and
O'Connell homes, prison locks at Florence. He
also made the large hinges on cattle trailers by
hand, and became very skilled as a welder,
metalsmith, mechanic. He later owned and operated
of a nursery which grew house plants .
Grandad, as I knew
him, came into our family through his friendship
with my Aunt Ruth (Neagle). She and her husband
Bill Green, were good friends with Walter and his
first wife Mina (Lewis) and after Mina passed
away in 1959, Grandad married Ruth's sister
Connie who had also been previously married and
was the mother of three children - all of which
were out on their own at this time.
Walter and Connie
were married in Cortez, Colorado and lived in
Phoenix, Arizona and Ocean Side, California.
Their marriage lasted thirty years, until the
time Grandad passed away in 1990.
Grandad was always
an interesting character to me. I had heard
stories that he had was born in the territory
before it was a state, had lived in Mexico and
worked in the mines, but what I knew of him was
that he was an excellent photographer and had
traveled to many interesting places. He took my
8th grade graduation pictures and set up our room
just like a studio to do them. It was the first
time I'd seen him photograph although I have
since seen many of his beautiful photos. Some of
which were taken in Africa, still hang on my
grandmother's wall.
Grandad seemed a
stern man to me, but he was very intelligent and
that fascinated me. When I graduated early from
high school and he was out to Arizona for a
visit, he took me back with him to Oceanside in
his motor home. At that time, he was almost
eighty and the trip proved to be quite eventful!
He really was a wonderful tour guide, and stopped
at the ruins and told me about the trains and all
kinds of things on that trip with just the two of
us, and I'm so glad I had that opportunity to go
with him.
Since working
around all the machinery, Grandad's hearing
wasn't so good and he always had trouble hearing
me, but it never stopped me from wondering about
his life, his childhood, and his ancestry ... and
this is where and how I've begun to piece it
together.
When I began
researching my family history about a dozen years
ago, his second wife Connie (my grandmother) gave
me a copy of his delayed birth certificate, but
it was only recently that I began the search.
The certificate
gave me a few clues: Walter Lee Lightfoot was
born 16 August 1900 in Richmond, New Mexico. His
father was John, his mother was Dora (Carter),
both aged about 20 years old when he was born and
both born in New Mexico. John's place of birth
was indicated as Silver City and a "relative
present at his birth" was listed as Sarah F.
Herrell of Tolleson, Arizona.
From a July 1954
copy of the magazine, The Arizona Roadrunner,
which featured a story about Grandad which read:
"A Most Interesting Fellow ... Let's Meet
Him! Saga of Pappy Lightfoot" and from this
I figured he had lived in Duncan, Greenlee Co.,
Arizona as a small boy; in 1917 was living in
Douglas or Bisbee area of Cochise county; had
worked for Phelps Dodge throughout Mexico; was in
the Globe/Miami area of Gila county, Arizona from
about 1922 to 1934 and then eventually went to
Phoenix.
I first located a
Jacob Lightfoot, age 86 in the household of a
Robert and Sarah Herrell in the 1920 Federal
Census for Cochise County Arizona, and though
there was no John or Dora, there was a Sarah
Herrell of whom I still did not know the
relation, but knew now there was one.
Working back, I
located the family of Jacob and Sarah Lightfoot,
ages 47 with children Sarah and Margaret in the
1880 Federal Census for New Mexico Territory
living in Grant County. I then located Jacob
Lightfoot living with his son John Lightfoot and
daughter-in-law Dora in 1900 - this being again
in Grant County and now offering me a month and
year of birth for all three. Living next door to
the Lightfoots was the family of Robert Herrell,
wife Frances and son Robert C. as well as the
mother-in-law, Sarah Lightfoot, revealing now
their month and year of births.
Lastly, I located
Jacob and Sarah Lightfoot along with a grandson,
Hiram W. Lacy living in Graham County, Arizona
Territory in 1910. This federal census indicated
Sarah and Jacob had been married 37 years and
that Sarah was the mother of eight children,
three living. The only children I had located
thus far were Sarah, Margaret and John.
Therefore, I knew that Hiram had to be the son of
Margaret and that she had married a man by the
name of Lacy.
From this bit of
research I now speculate the following after
locating a family tree on-line regarding the
Herrell family.
Please remember
this information is a work in progress and I have
thus far used only census records and a delayed
birth certificate to piece together the life of
my Grandad. If you find you have a relation to
his family, I'd be happy to hear from you and
exchange information and ideas. You can contact Patricia Davidson-Peters.
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