Rockfellow in Tombstone, 1934

John Alexander Rockfellow was born January 30, 1857 in Mount Morris, New York. He first arrived in Yuma, Arizona "seeking health and adventure" by way of California on January 16, 1878. His trip was by rail, leaving Rochester, NY on December 27, 1877, and travelling through Chicago, Omaha, Sacramento, and San Francisco, then to the banks of the Colorado River where he took a steam ferry across. He borrowed $250.00 to make the trip and arrived with $50.00.

Rockfellow in 1876 (19 years old)

Flora Amelia McNair, n.d.

The following year Rockfellow came to southern Arizona and located a silver claim, the Frijole, in the Helvetia District south of Tucson. In 1883 profits from the sale of this mine enabled Rockfellow and two partners, Walter E. Servoss and "Jack" Spencer, to locate the NY Ranch in the Sulphur Spring Valley at the mouth of a canyon leading into Cochise Stronghold near Tombstone. In addition to maintaining the ranch, Rockfellow taught two years at the University of Arizona, served four years as School Superintendent of Cochise County, and maintained a civil engineering practice in Tombstone. He died in California on May 16, 1947.

John A. Rockfellow and family in a parade in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, c. 1900.

Father: Samuel Lodaski Rockfellow (born Rockefeller) b. August 4, 1826 and d. December 30, 1910. A resident of Mount Morris, a merchant and manufacturer.
Mother: Julia Lucinda Conkey, b. November 16, 1831 and d. July 10, 1908.
Sister: Annie Graham Rockfellow, b. March 12, 1866 and d. 1954.

Wife: Flora Amelia McNair, b. April 12, 1857 and d. October 5, 1937 in Glendale, California.
Children: Hugh b. January 7, 1891 in Tombstone, died in infancy; Julia b. August 29, 1893 in Mt. Morris, NY and d. December 3, 1991; Henrietta; John Phillip b. December 3, 1898 in Tombstone and d. 1963.

Education: public schools in Mount Morris and the University of Rochester. Fraternity: Delta Psi.

John Rockfellow in the Stronghold with his surveying eqipment.

Career:

• Justice of Peace, Willcox, Arizona Territory, 1893
• Cochise County Surveyor 1898-1904
• Cochise County School Superintendant 1905-1908
• U.S. Mineral Surveyor 1898-1929

Research Resources

• Arizona Historical Society Library catalog, URL: http://tinyurl.com/htcdl
• Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records holdings URL: http://www.lib.az.us/Bio/bio_browse.cfm?PleaseWait=OK&StartRow=2801&char=R
• Rockfellow, John Alexander. Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer. Tucson, Ariz.: Acme Press, 1933.