By Dr. Ken Edwards

Morris Goldwater lived in Prescott from 1876 until his death in 1939 at the age of 87. During that period, he rose to be arguably the most prominent and important man in town. In 1964, at the time of the Prescott Centennial, he was voted the City's "Man of the Century." His father, Michael, also served briefly as mayor. Morris' accomplishments are impressive. In addition to operating one of the most important stores in town, he served as mayor for a total of twenty years - over a forty-eight year period, from 1879 to 1927. He was also a bank president of Commercial Trust and Savings Bank for a number of years. He was an active Mason, and the 1907 cornerstone on the Masonic Temple on Cortez Street honors his dedication to the order.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

Brothers Michael and Joseph Goldwater (along with Michael's son, Morris) rented the newly built Howey Hall on the southeast corner of Cortez and Goodwin streets to establish their first J. Goldwater & Bro. mercantile store in Prescott in late 1876. Within three years, they were prosperous enough to build their own store on the southeast corner of Cortez and Union streets less than a block away. In 1880, Michael and Joseph dissolved their nearly three decade partnership and the store was given a new name: Michael Goldwater and Son. The son, of course, was Morris.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

Brothers Michel and Joseph Goldwater escaped from Poland during the Russian persecution of Jews and immigrated to California in 1852. Their first business venture was a saloon in Sonora. When it failed, they moved to Los Angeles where they found their niche in the mercantile business, eventually peddling their goods to the goldfields of southern Arizona Territory.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

His father was a peddler, his brother founded a highly successful department store in Phoenix and his nephew was a famous Arizona senator who ran for president of the United States. But Morris Goldwater established his legacy in Prescott. This is the first of four articles about Morris and his family who played an important part in the early history of Prescott.

By Jan MacKell

"The ancient card faces painted on the layout were doubtless faded and worn, but to my boyish eyes they glowed like a church's stained-glass window.... (Gaye) started drawing the cards one by one from the battered old silver box. As he drew, I could see his lips move and knew he was making bets for imaginary customers." So did Nugget (the main character in Conrad Richter's book "Tacey Cromwell") describe how his brother practiced to become a faro dealer in Bisbee during the late 1800s.

By Vicky Kaye

Ellen "Nellie" Cashman was a mere five years-old when she immigrated to America in 1850 with her mother and sister. Today, she is remembered as a pioneer, miner, entrepreneur, businesswoman, organizer, leader and "angel" throughout the West, Canada and Alaska. She was always searching for opportunities related to her first love - mining. She always paid her own way in the mining boomtowns by establishing businesses, buying and selling mines and actual hands-on mining. With any excess funds, she supported charities (and encouraged fellow miners to do the same), established hospitals, churches and schools, grubstaked other miners and helped the poor or needy from Arizona to Alaska, wherever she happened to call "home" at the time.

By Vicky Kaye

On a lonely stretch of the Richardson Highway near Paxson, Alaska, is a highway historical marker that gives tribute to the "gold rush women." With a backdrop of the Alaska Range, Prescottonian Melissa Ruffner and I (a recent transplant to Alaska) discovered quite by accident that one of our heroines from our home state of Arizona had a much more exciting life than we had imagined.

By Carol Powell

Louis Clair Miller was an ex-constable and himself a troublemaker in Prescott who was jailed for forging a check in 1897. In last week's Days Past, I began the final chapter of his life story.

By Carol Powell

Nearly nine years ago, Dec. 14, 2003, my first entry in Sharlot Hall Museum's Days Past was published. I had posted information on the Internet seeking help with my husband's genealogy and, to my surprise, I had two replies. Both thought my husband's ancestors were interesting enough to publish stories about them. One was the Genealogical Society's Copper State Journal. In its July 2003 issue, they ran my article, "Just a Railroadin' Family."

By Kathy Krause

It was July 1973 when the new Sharlot Hall Museum director, Dr. Ken Kimsey, came on board to lead activities for the next 17 years. Up until the early 1970s, the University of Arizona "museum studies" classes made field trips to visit Sharlot Hall Museum in order to observe "museum problems" and learn how not to run a museum! According to museum curator Norm Tessman, "It was Dr. Ken Kimsey's era, the fruits of his hard work and insight" that ended the field trips to Prescott. Under his leadership, "the quest for museum quality was to continue and accelerate in the years ahead." There was a new sense of professional pride, not only by the museum workers but by the community as well.