Cochise County Collection
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ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 949 East Second Street Library and Archives Tucson, AZ 85719 (520) 617-1157 [email protected] MS 180 Cochise County (Ariz.) Records, 1881-1929 (bulk 1881-1885) DESCRIPTION Records of Cochise County offices including correspondence, petitions, plat books, reports, ledgers, and civil and criminal case files, mostly from 1881 to 1885 and 1915 to 1917. 60 boxes and 1 oversize folder, 38 linear ft. ACQUISITION Most records were picked up after they were abandoned in the old Tombstone Courthouse when the County seat was transferred to Bisbee in 1929; others were donated by individuals. In 1974, Carl F. Vidano donated the Justice Court Docket books, dated from 1885 to 1896, in memory of Carlo Vidano and Baptista Caretto. Edward G. Francis donated the plat books and other records in 1979. RELATED MATERIAL Related records: ** AHS MS 1079 George Chambers Collection. ** AHS MS 1077 Medigovich Collection. ** Arizona Historical Foundation, Arizona State University, MS FM MSS 108 Goldwater Ephemera Collection. ** Cochise County Recorder’s Office, Bisbee, Arizona. ** Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Phoenix, Arizona. ACCESS Originals are restricted due to fragile condition; microfilm copies are available for patron use at #634. The microfilm reel numbers are noted in the Box and Folder List. COPYRIGHT Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be addressed to the Arizona Historical Society - Tucson, Archives Department. PROCESSING The collection was processed by Kim Frontz, January 2001. 1 HISTORICAL NOTE Cochise County was created from part of Pima County on February 1, 1881. It is located in the southeastern portion of the State of Arizona. The area was home to Apache Indians for many years before it attracted interest for its mining possibilities in the late 1870s. The mining boom towns of the 1880s also attracted outlaws and the County briefly gained a reputation for lawlessness. Mining, farming and cattle ranching were the County’s chief industries. The County Seat was transferred from Tombstone to Bisbee in 1929. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Records of the operations of Cochise County offices mostly in the 1880s but some up to 1929. There is information pertaining to the creation of Cochise County and its separation from Pima County as well as correspondence and petitions concerning establishing schools and roads, appointing officials, and building the jail, courthouse, and hospital. There are plat books, 1908 to 1912, showing property ownership in towns. The largest portion of the collection consists of court records, mostly civil cases relating to debts, divorces, water rights and contested titles to mines and town lots. Most case files contain legal action documents for the case but transcript files contain the testimony of the case The civil and criminal cases involve men and women, and persons of Anglo-American, Mexican-American, Chinese and other heritages. An index to names and places is in progress. The materials provide information about water rights, public health, racial issues, social and community concerns, and more in a newly developing county government. There are many gaps in the collection. The existing records of Cochise County offices have been scattered among many archives and individuals. A 1938 survey of court record locations can be found in the AHS Library at Call No. 010 I62 [B]. See the “Related Material” note for further information. SERIES DESCRIPTION Series 1: Board of Supervisors, 1881-1887 There are copies of various state legislative acts relating to creating the new county as well as correspondence and financial records relating to dividing Cochise County from Pima County including a 22-page listing of outstanding Pima County checks issued April to December 1880. This list includes many prominent pioneers. Appointments for public offices include petitions signed by residents of various communities. There are bids for services including feeding prisoners and providing indigent sick care and bids, contracts and specifications for building the County jail, courthouse, and hospital. Included here is a report on smallpox cases prepared by Dr. Goodfellow. Correspondence and petitions are present concerning creating and building roads and bridges. Series 2: County Assessor, 1881-1885, 1908-1929 Includes assessment books with names of property owners for 1908, 1916-1917, 1932-1949 for various towns. There are also auto license applications for 1929. A few assessment protest letters are present dated 1881 to 1885. Series 3: School Superintendent, 1881-1886, 1910-1919 Correspondence, petitions, and reports about creating new school districts, hiring teachers, and community issues such as scarlet fever, smallpox, and influenza outbreaks, vaccinations, problems with teachers and trustees, and teaching Mexican- American children. The 1881 to 1886 material is primarily petitions to create new schools; these are signed by local residents. The correspondence between 1917 and 1919 concerns community issues. Letters from Naco address overcrowding problems between 1917 and 1919. Some 1916 Douglas correspondence concerns problems counting the children for the census. Pomerene correspondence of 1918 from teacher Minnie Bisby concerns her views on teaching Mexican children. There is a report of the number of children, trustee’s names, teacher’s names and district numbers for all districts from 1907 to 1910 in folder 104. Series 4: County Recorder, 1881-1923 Legal documents such as property deeds, mostly for Tombstone, powers of attorney, and mining location notices are present from 1881 to 1885. There are plat books, showing names of homeowners by block and lot for most towns in Cochise County between 1908 and 1918. Series 5: County Treasurer, 1882-1926 One tax collection book contains names and property descriptions for Willcox, Dos Cabezas, Johnson, Russelville, San Simon and the Sulphur Springs Valley. There is incoming and outgoing correspondence relating to property taxes, exemptions, etc., 1909 to 1922. Series 6: County Sheriff, 1881-1919 Includes financial reports of Sheriff John H. Behan, 1881 to 1882, listing his law enforcement activity, and two bonds for Virgil Earp as Tombstone Chief of Police. There are examples of wanted posters, postcards, lists and correspondence about wanted men that were received in Cochise County; from 1892 to 1916; these all relate to criminals in other counties and mostly other States. Also present are coroner’s reports, mostly financial charges, 1881 to 1883. These include reports on inquests on Elihu Philpott, Peter Roerig, Thomas and Frank McLowery, and William Clanton, 1881 to 1882. The reports do not include medical information but do list property removed from bodies. 3 Series 7: Courts – General, 1881-1917 Grand and trial jury lists of jurors and reports of jury, 1881 to 1886, 1894 to 1902, 1904 contain names of jurors and attendance. The minutes of the 1886 Grand Jury summarize cases heard by the jury. The Grand Jury reports of 1881, 1886, 1894 to 1902, and 1904 summarize indictments and contain internal reviews of county offices including conditions of the jail and hospital. The 1904 report contains a great deal of detail about the poor conditions at the county hospital and problems at the jail with security and overcrowding. There are a few miscellaneous records present of the Probate, Juvenile, Justice of the Peace, Constable, and District Court offices. Series 8: U.S. District Court – Civil Cases – Case files and transcripts, 1881-1911 Series 9: U.S. District Court – Criminal cases – Case files and transcripts, 1881-1906 The District Court functioned in Arizona from 1864 to statehood in 1912. The Court had jurisdiction over all cases where the amount in controversy exceeded $100, all criminal cases not otherwise provided for, cases involving title to or possession of real property, and as appellate court to hear on appeal actions from Justice of the Peace and judgements of the Probate Court. Most of the case files in these files consist of legal documents for civil cases filed in the U.S. District Court. A lesser number of cases were criminal cases. There are a few transcripts of cases for each type following the case files. The civil cases are primarily concerned with debts, suits over ownership of real property or mines, and divorces and a few transcripts relate to contested water rights. The criminal cases involve writs of habeas corpus (including one for Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday), murder, robbery, burglary, incest, assault and other crimes. Series 10: County court – Case files, 1883-1887 The County courts were created in 1885, concurrent with the District Court, and were responsible for cases of equity, for cases concerning the title to or possession of real property, and for the legality of taxes and assessments when the amount of property involved was one hundred dollars or more, and for criminal cases amounting to a felony. In 1887, the County courts were discontinued. County case files involve debts, suits over title to real property and mines, and other civil cases. One case involves a suit by a woman to stop the exhumation of her late husband’s body during the woman’s murder trial. Series 11: Justice Court – Case files, 1880-1909 The Justice of the Peace court has authority in cases where the amount in controversy was less than one hundred dollars and in criminal cases involving misdemeanors. 4 These Justice of the Peace case files involve debt, recovery of property, grand larceny, murder, assault, burglary and robbery. There are also transcripts present for an abortion case against Dr. D. McSwegan. Series 12: Superior Court – Case files, 1912-1924 The Superior Court took the place of the U.S. District Court after Arizona was granted statehood. There are eight cases representing murder, debt, and summons for back taxes. Series 13: Miscellaneous court files, 1885-1919 Includes photographic exhibits from a few court cases, 1904 to 1919, and a payroll sheet from the Compromise G. M.