Description

Fourth Arizona State Legislature was constituted from January 1, 1919 to December 31, 1920.

Anthony Arthur "A.A., Tony"  Johns (b.1864 - d.1944) was born in Cornwall, England and came to the United States as a young man. HIs parents were Arthur Johns and Margurite Arthur Johns, both born in Cornwall, England in 1825.

Arthur served a single term in the Arizona State Senate during the 4th Arizona State Legislature, holding one of two seats from Yavapai County, as well as serving as President of the Arizona State Senate. He was a long-time resident of Prescott and one of the largest sheepherders in Yavapai County. He was a mine owner, including the United Eastern and the Silver King Mines. Arthur was a long-time member of the Prescott Fire Department, serving as chief from 1900-1914. He served as President of the Arizona Wool Growers Association, the oldest continuous association of its kind in the U.S.

On March 31,1892 he married Cora Weaver in Yavapai County. Cora was the first white child born in Prescott.

Johns was actively involved in the purchase of the Arizona Territory's original Governor's Mansion and surrounding property. In an excerpt from the Sharlot Hall Museum archives, describing how the museum came to be.
"..public support came at every level of government for Sharlot and her museum. Initial backing came from the very young State of Arizona when it purchased the deteriorating governor's home in 1917. Due to the efforts of AA "Tony" Johns, an Arizona Legislator from Yavapai County, "the building and what land remained was bought by the state with the intent to preserve the building and to use it as a museum of some sort. No definite plans for this were made and no fund set aside–so though the place was supposed to be in the care of the City of Prescott –no one was in position to do anything." The building remained abandoned..."

He was one of eight pallbearers for Sharlot Hall when she died in 1943.

Arthur died on May 24,1944 in Prescott. The location of his cremains is unknown.

Sources: findagrave.com; U.S. Census 1900, 1920, 1930; Arizona, Yavapai County, Voting Records, 1875-1932; familysearch.org.