By Marjory J. Sente
March 1, 1900, when free mail delivery was instituted, was a big day for Prescott’s mail services. From 1864 until February 28, 1900, anyone who received mail addressed to Prescott, Postmaster A.T. had to pick it up at the post office. The Prescott Post Office’s new status meant people living in Prescott could have free home delivery, provided they had a mail receptacle, fixed their sidewalk, put up a house number and used their street address for mail delivery. Businesses still had to retrieve mail at the post office.
The city’s first letter carrier was Charles Born (Charles). He and June Freeman took the federal test for mail carriers in December 1899. Because Charles scored highest, he was hired first, holding the position for seventeen years.
Freeman was also hired to carry the mail. Each earned $720 in 1900. Monroe Redden was hired as substitute carrier at $100 per year.
The initial routes covered approximately a square mile from Virginia Street in east Prescott to Willow Street on the west side of town. The delivery area was later extended to Brush and Washington streets. The carriers walked the routes twice a day, six days a week, collecting and delivering mail mornings and evenings. According to the March 7, 1900 Arizona Weekly Journal Miner, “There will be a delivery in the morning of all the mail from the south, and one in the evening of all the mail arriving from the north and by stages. Collections will be made about 2 p.m. for the southbound train and about 6:30 p.m. for the night train.”
Shortly after becoming a letter carrier, Charles’s other skills were called into use during Prescott’s great fire of July 14, 1900. No water to fight the fire required that The Dudes Hose Company destroy buildings to make a fire break. Given his experience with explosives, Charles, a member of the Dudes, was tasked with blowing up buildings on north Montezuma. To avoid buildings’ owners second guessing him, Charles blew up his own bicycle shop first.
Charles’s knowledge of the city led to other opportunities. He and W.S. Marks were hired to conduct the 1900 Federal Census. It’s said that Charles completed most of it from memory and filled in missing information while delivering the mail.
From 1900 to 1914, Charles took the annual Prescott School District census, enumerating all youth living in Prescott between the ages of 6 and 21; determining if they were in public, private, or no school; their race and sex; and whether native or foreign born.
Son Charles Dewey Born (Dewey) helped his father deliver the morning mail on days he didn’t have school. Most homes didn't have a mailbox on the street, so the carrier delivered mail directly to the person or to a box attached to the house. Dewey noted in “Stories of Early Prescott” that his father gave him mail to be delivered to the homes of the ladies who liked to visit and made it hard to break away. However, dad paid Dewey enough to keep him in candy.
Dewey also recalled personal service beyond the call of duty that his father provided for Mrs. Jack Martin. Jack was a miner who spent years working mines in Poland and the Bradshaws, while Mrs. Martin lived in Prescott. When a letter from Jack arrived on the afternoon train, Charles didn’t wait for his next scheduled delivery. Hopping on his bicycle, he would immediately deliver it or have one of his sons take it to her. Dewey allowed, “Pop knew that Jack’s work was dangerous, and he knew she worried about him.”
Charles carried Prescott’s mail until 1917 when he resigned to work full time managing the Elks Opera House.
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.