By Tom Collins
Carrie Stephens, the daughter of Arizona pioneer Varney Stephens, was married off to a scoundrel and poseur named W. Claude Jones when she was just 15 years old. Her groom, 49 years old, who had been Speaker of the House of Representatives for the First Territorial Arizona Legislature, deserted her after just a few months of marriage. Unbeknownst to the Stephens family, he absconded to Hawaii, where he wormed his way into politics and married a young Hawaiian girl descended from nobility.
Just a year after her divorce, on July 8, 1868, at the age of nineteen, Carrie married Benjamin Henry Weaver (1837-1920), one of the owners of the Arizona Miner newspaper, in Prescott. Justice S. E. Blair conducted the ceremony at the residence of the bride’s parents. Benjamin had come West with Richard C. McCormick, appointed Governor of the Arizona Territory in 1866, and through his business practices and personal relationships he had acquired a reputation as an honorable and exemplary citizen. The newlyweds built a home at 320 S. Marina in Prescott. In February 1872, Benjamin dissolved his partnership with J. H. Marion and P. W. Dooner in the J. H. Marion & Co. firm and purchased one-half interest in the Arizona Miner Printing Office.
Benjamin and Carrie had six children: Cora Elizabeth (b. April 1869); Georgia Myrtle (b. July 1871); Benjamin Varney Weaver (b. November 1873); Josephine Edith (b. June 1877); Pearl Ivy (b. 1879); and Dorothy “Dotty” Amy (b. February 1884). The Weavers suffered a terrible loss when little Dotty died on February 1, 1885. But apparently they were a prosperous and happy family. The Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona (1901, p. 689) noted, “In his domestic relations Mr. Weaver has been blessed.” The same could be said for Carrie. It was a sad day, though, when the 1892 Prescott fire destroyed their home. They subsequently moved to upper Montezuma St.
Carrie was likely pleased that her daughters married men close to their own ages, evidently for love and not because of parental compulsion. In March 1892, Cora married Anthony Arthur Jones, who became a Deputy Sheriff and President of the Arizona Wool Growers Association. In December 1892, Georgia married John M. Aitken, initially a farmer and then a bottler of soft drinks and manager of an ice and fuels plant. In February 1898, Josephine married Rudolph Baehr, a painter and decorator. Finally, in October 1903, Pearl married Joseph Everett Wilson, a clothier and later an employee of the Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, CA.
Carrie belonged to the Congregational Church, and around 1908 she joined the Rebekah Lodge, a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which her husband was a charter member. She died on October 6, 1915, and was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Prescott. Carrie’s obituary in the Weekly Journal-Miner (October 13, 1915, p. 3) recalled that “she was of an en[n]obling character, was fearless in facing the perils of the long ago, was self-sacrificing, and above everything else made the Stephens [Weaver] home a haven. … How many are there of the olden days who can recall the splendid acts of charity of this woman, and who is there to say one word that shows the slightest disinclination on her part in the trying Indian days to assist and succor the struggling. Her pathway through life is blessed with the foot prints of benevolence to all and her beautiful home life is reflected in what she has accomplished.”
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1 The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.