Description

Pictured left to right are: Charles "Charlie" Gray with raccoon, Robert "Bob" Brow and Dan Thorne.

Charles "Charlie" Gray [Grey] was born in Maryland in 1856. His parents were both born in Maryland. He married his wife, Cassie, who was born circa 1854, in the Washington Territory. The 1880 census listed him as a laborer. He also worked as night watch security at the English Kitchen and as a caterer.

Robert "Bob" Brow (b. 1857 – d. 1909) was born in Missouri in July, 1857 and died in Prescott, Arizona on September 12, 1909 of stomach cancer. He is buried in the Odd Fellows’ cemetery in Prescott. He was married to Clara Huntington (b. April 4, 1852 – d. December 15, 1888). His father was Jacob Brow and he had three brothers, one of which, Albert also lived in Prescott.

Brow arrived in Prescott in 1883. He was a merchant, saloon keeper and carpenter. He was connected with the building of the Walnut Grove dam until it broke in 1890 causing significant financial hardship for him. He was a charter member of the Toughs Hose Team No. 1 and was one of the men who established the Prescott Fire Department on April 2, 1885. He was one of the businessmen who launched Prescott’s Elks Lodge #330 in January, 1896.

He was the original owner of the Palace Saloon. Destroyed by fire in 1883, Brow rebuilt it in brick, with a stone foundation and iron roof. On July 14, 1900, much of downtown Prescott burned to the ground, including the "fireproof” Palace Saloon.

Dan Conner “D.C.” Thorne, originally from New York, headed west to find gold in California. Like many his personal results were disappointing. In 1867, he moved to Prescott and invested in several mines. On February 28, 1870 he married Mary Wilson and built a home on North Montezuma Street. With income from his mine investments, in 1874 he built and opened the Cabinet Saloon which became the heartbeat of Whiskey Row. In 1880 his wife died after giving birth to a baby girl.

In 1884, he grabbed the reins of the Eclipse Saloon from Roerbt Brown, but it closed in 1885. In 1886, he took over proprietorship of the Palace saloon which he held onto until 1892 when he left the saloon business to focus on mining. The family moved to Maricopa County in 1897. By 1902 Thorne was residing in New York City and died there in 1913.

The Great Fire of 1900 destroyed the Cabinet Saloon.

Sources:  Days Past Articles by Brad Courtney, “Whiskey Row’s Dynamic “D. C.” Thorne – Part 1, November 18, 2017 and Whiskey Row’s Dynamic “D. C.” Thorne – Part 2, November 25, 2017. Sharlot Hall Archives folder “Whipple Fort.” Arizona Gravestones.org. www.elks.org “The History of Prescott 330, Arizona’s First Elk’s Lodge.” Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner June 8, 1887; August 7, 1889; January 23, 1889; January 13, 1891.