By Dorothy Chafin

(Editor's note: This is part of a continuing reminisces of the author about her "hometown".)

During the war, my employment with the Harmon Audit Company (offices in Prescott, Phoenix and Santa Barbara) was one of the most wonderful things that ever happened to me.  It kept me busy during a time when I might have spent all my days and nights worrying about my husband whom I cared for deeply.  It gave me a satisfactory amount of income and it introduced me to some of the most interesting people I have ever known.

I was given ranch accounts as my specialty, since I knew a steer from a cow.  So I knew what was going on when the Phoenix office had a man who claimed depreciation on a steer as part of the breeding herd.

I had the privilege of meeting Leo V. Belden, who wrote the only million-dollar check I have ever seen, in the days when a million dollars was a lot of money.  He owned a seat on the stock market, but that didn't prevent him from bringing me tape receipts that had little identification as to what or how the items were purchased.  However, I quickly forgave him when he returned from New York with nylons for the office receptionist and me.  Nylons were the most treasured gift anyone could find during World War II.  Nonetheless, I didn't tell my mother about this perfectly acceptable gift.

I met and worked with many interesting people.  Bud Lighton, who produced and directed such movies as "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," bought a ranch in Big Chino and later went to live on the island of Mallorca in Spain.

Bill Leeds of New York City, whose wealth came from railroad and tin mining, bought the Jerome Eddy ranch in Skull Valley.  He was afraid New York might be bombed during WWII, so he moved many valuables and his secretary to the ranch.  During the time he owned the ranch, I not only did their books in our office, but also got the privilege of staying at the ranch for a week or so to take care of daily office demands when his secretary was ill.

What an experience!  Solicitations came in every mail, from a request for $50,000 for China War relief, to a new dress for a distant cousin.  And that was the year that Roosevelt's brain trust thought it might be a good idea to let the wealthy keep $50,000 a year and take the rest as income taxes!

The Leeds ranch had a large home on the hill.  The original ranch house was for the secretary and the other houses for the help.  There were two swimming pools, one on the hill for the family and guests, and the other for the help.

Another person who greatly impressed me a great deal was J. W. Kieckhefer.  He was a handsome man who was efficient and sure of himself.  He had made millions with the Kieckhefer Container Company.  He was very nice to work for and I also had the pleasure of working for his son, Robert, who ran the ranch at Walnut Creek that was formerly owned by J. R. Williams of "Out Our Way" fame.  Clifford Koontz was advisor for the ranch at that time.  He was a gentlemanly, attractive man who was the model for the hero, Phill Acton, in Harold Bell Wright's "When a Man's a Man."

Larry Mellow, a nephew of Andrew Mellon, owned two ranches in this area typical of that era.  He was also a gentlemanly, quiet man and a pleasure to work for.  During WWII, he left the ranches in charge of E. Livingston Burrill.  After the war, he sold the ranches, took some medical courses, and then established a hospital in Haiti where he and his wife worked for many years.

Stuart Hall, who owned a ranch in Skull Valley, was active in community affairs.  He ran for the state Senate in 1952.  When he found out I had gotten more voted than he did, he never spoke to me again.  Frank Snell, a prominent Phoenix attorney, called Stuart and asked him to drop out of the race in order that we might get one Republican in office.  Hall refused.  When Snell told me that Hall would not drop, I volunteered to do so, but Snell told me not to.

We ended up splitting the ticket and the two Democrats, Charles Orme and Kel Fox, won.  At the time, Arizona was heavily in favor of Democrats.

Dorothy Chafin moved to Prescott in 1933, and is active in local arts and music associations in town.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (). Reuse only by permission.

The Harmon Audit Company was in the Bashford building on Gurley Street as shown in this late 1940s postcard as J.C. Penney.  Dorothy Chafin worked for Harmon during the war years and met some very "interesting people" many of whom had lived in other places, like New York, and owned ranches in Yavapai County.