Description

This photo shows John "Jack" Nelson (on the right) at a work site with Henry Brinkmeyer, Jr. (on the left).

John "Jack" Hugh Nelson (b. 1896 – d. 1960) was born September 8, 1896 in Prescott. He was the son of John Nelson and Esther Rebecca Harrington. He attended school in Taylorville, Illinois, returning to Arizona in 1914. He was a resident of the Crown King area for more than 30 years. A veteran of the First World War, he also worked as a mill man for several Crown King-area companies including Randolph and Gemmill, the Swastika and the Golden Turkey near Cleator. He also was associated with his grandfather, George P. Harrington, in the development of the Philadelphia Mining Company, located on claims originally filed by his father. He died June 23, 1960. At the time of his death he was survived by two sons: John David and Charles Anthony Nelson of Crown King and a daughter, Mrs. Martha Jane Stewart of LaMesa, Texas.

Henry Brinkmeyer, Jr. (b. 1895 – d. 1957) was born February 2, 1895. He was the son of Henry and Ina Muzik Brinkmeyer. His father was a prominent Prescott businessman and owner of the Brinkmeyer Hotel and Bakery. The Brinkmeyer home at 605 West Gurley, Prescott is on the National Register of Historic Places. Henry Jr. attended Stanford University and became a civil engineer. After serving in the Navy, he returned to Prescott and assumed bookkeeping duties and supply ordering for his father’s business. He continued the bakery business after his father’s death in 1941, but closed it in 1942 although he continued the hotel. He died February 17, 1957 and his widow Louise kept the hotel going for a time.

Sources: The Journal of Arizona History, Autumn 1999; Family Search; Sharlot Hall Museum, Brinkmeyer Family Collection; Prescott Evening Courier, obituary, “Rites Held for City Native John H. Nelson,” June 28, 1960.