Arizona Biographical Database and Internet Archive

Scholefield Family Tree

Sometimes genealogical research happens in a very random manner for me (as you have probably noticed). I will work a bit on one person and then work on another person when I find myself at a minor dead end. Or I will work with one type of record, searching for ANYONE who might possibly be mentioned, meaning that I am looking at such a wide variety of people a person needs cue cards to keep up.

My use of the Arizona Biographical Database at this time is one of the situations where I will search for many people. Check my previous post if you get lost in all of these names. Luckily I have already located most of the infomation which they have indexed through other searches, but one never knows if there is more to find (or something newly indexed).

The Internet Text Archive, contains several of the texts that appear in the database. The archive contains scans of the pages as well as full text transcriptions. These books will appear if one does a search on Google for the title (add author and/or publication date if the title is not unique). I use the Google search because it will also catch digitized books on Google Books and other private sites.

Names cross-checked in the full titles available on the archive which did not provide any additional information: Kenyon, Crampton, Fitzgerald, Moore.


A biography that is an excellent find was this one for George P. Scholefield from the Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona:1

blockquoteNow extensively engaged in the cattle industry in the vicinity of Tucson, Mr. Scholefield was bom in Utica, N. Y., May 23, 1860. Of interesting ancestry, the best remembered of the family is the paternal great-grandfather, Sir William Scholefield, who was born in England, as was his son Arnold, the paternal grandfather. Arnold Scholefield was a dissenter from the Church of England, and in consequence was disinherited by his father, who cherished the old-time intolerance of all save his own method of worship. In search of broader and more liberal fields in which to preach the gospel as propounded by the Methodist Church, Rev. Arnold Scholefield came to America, and ministered to the spiritual necessities of his locality in New York state until his death.

The father of George P. Scholefield, Charles M., was born in Cooperstown, N. Y., graduated from Union College, and in after years became one of the prominent attorneys of the state. He spent the greater part of his active life in Utica, N. Y., and was a law partner of Roscoe Conkling. During the Civil war he enlisted as second lieutenant of a company of New York regulars, and was finally raised to the rank of major. He was affiliated with the Republican party, and served for three terms as assemblyman, and for one term as state senator. He arose to a high place in his profession, and was, with Chauncey M. Depew, attorney for the Vanderbilt railroads. He was also a prominent Mason, and identified with the most advanced undertakings of the city in which he lived. Mr. Scholefield lived to be fifty-two years of age. His wife was, before her marriage, Helen M. DeGraff, who was born in Amsterdam, N. Y., and a daughter of Emanuel De Graff, a native of Holland, and a farmer in the Mohawk valley. Mrs. Scholefield, who now lives in New York, is the mother of four children, of which George P. is the oldest and the only son.

In Utica, N. Y., George P. Scholefield received his early home training, and when eleven years of age became a page in the New York state senate, and after a service of two years, became a messenger in the New York assembly. He was later a clerk in the assembly for three years, and in the meantime had been diligently attending the public schools and later was graduated from high-school at Utica. In 1879 he became associated with the territory of Arizona, as auditor for the Centennial Mining Company, and after the expiration of a year was connected with the Old Dominion Copper Mining Company for a period covering four years. Incidentally he had become interested in the cattle business, first on the Coon creek, until the Tonto basin feud, and in 1885 he established a ranch in Pima county where, until the present time he has engaged in raising cattle and horses. The ranch is forty miles southeast from Tucson, in the Santa Rita mountains, and is one of the most successfully conducted affairs of the kind in the county.

It is doubtful if any in the territory are better informed on all phases of the cattle business than is Mr. Scholefield. In this connection he had received extended appreciation from his fellow cattlemen even before locating in Tucson. From the passing of the law requiring an inspector, he filled this important position from 1894 until 1898, at which time he located in Tucson. He was then reappointed inspector of district No. 3, and in 1899 started a live-stock commission business, real estate, mines, etc. He has built a residence in the city. At different times he has been associated with various organizations in the city and county, and was deputy collector of customs for two years. He was also secretary of the South Arizona Stockmen’s Association, which is now discontinued. Fraternally he is associated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics a Republican, he is an ex-member of the county and territorial central committees, and has held several local offices within the gift of the people.

In Globe, Ariz., Mr. Scholefield married Clara A. Moore, a native of San Bernardino, Cal., and a daughter of Capt. James Moore. Captain Moore was born in England, where he became in time a sea captain. Upon immigrating to America he still followed the fortunes of the deep until 1849, when he left behind him the roving life upon the main, and settled down to the mining of gold in California. When the fever had worn away he became interested in the stage business and ran a daily overland stage coach with six horses, between Yuma and Tucson. When the advent of the railroad diminished the receipts of the time-honored and now almost obsolete stage coach, he turned his attention to mining in the Globe district, where he eventually died. His wife is still living at Globe. To Mr. and Mrs. Scholefield have been born three children: Armour, who is superintendent of the home ranch; Helen, and Carl.


Research Plan:

  1. Check for photographs that are indexed in the database.
  2. Check the Hayden biographies for indexed vertical files.
  3. Research the information provided in George’s biography about parentage.

1. Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona: Commemorating the achievements of citizens who have contributed to the progress of Arizona and the development of its resources (Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1901) 879-880; digitized text, Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org : accessed 13 Nov 2008).

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