The Collections of John D. Rose
As many in the Earp field know, I have had an open door policy inviting so many to my home to view my collection. I've always wanted to share history, and seeing the excitement of another historian or collector react to items that I have shown them, takes me back to when I first saw it, and this has long been a source of joy for me.
But the collection has reached a level of value that I never anticipated, and so I have moved the more valuable portions of the collection out of my home, into secure vaults at financial institutions. With this in mind, I have decided to publish on our site a small portion of one of my favorite documents, and I may do more of this down the road should our readership enjoy this. The contents of the ledger have never been published in any forum that I am aware of, nor have I seen its contents in any Tombstone related writings.
From the ledger, here is a brief excerpt showing that A.C. (Arthur C.) Cowan was attending meetings of this group in Tombstone during the Earp era. It was A.C. Cowan, the Wells Fargo agent at Contention, who rode to Tombstone on the evening of March 15th, 1881 to notify authorities of the shooting of Bud Philpott. The "Edw Drew" is actually Edwin Drew, who hailed from England. He was a miner in Tombstone during the same period of time, thirty six years old in 1882, and not one of Drew's Station family.
Note, also, that Wells Spicer appears on the same page, who's "Spicer Hearing" was a key event in the Earp saga. He is among so many of Tombstone's luminaries of the day who appear in these numerous original pages, both for their status in the community, and for their important roles played in Tombstone's most celebrated drama. Other pages of the ledger also include one of the participants in the gunfight near the O.K. Corral.
I hope my readers enjoy this as I have.
-John Rose
Bud Philpott was a driver in the employ of J.D. Kinnear the night he was murdered in the wash south of Drew's Station. This entry showing J.D. Kinnear appeared in the Tucson and Tombstone General and Business Directory published in 1883. Though Tombstone and it's businesses had appeared in earlier directories such as the West Coast Business
Directory, this marked the first time that Tombstone had a local directory that it shared with Tucson, filled with names not just of local businesses but ordinary individuals showing that Tombstone had come into it's own in less than a half dozen years. Closer to a century in years, Tucson occupied 100 pages, as opposed to Tombstone, which occupied 103 pages. This image comes from the original Tucson and Tombstone Directory in the collections of John D. Rose, one of six known to exist.
Directory, this marked the first time that Tombstone had a local directory that it shared with Tucson, filled with names not just of local businesses but ordinary individuals showing that Tombstone had come into it's own in less than a half dozen years. Closer to a century in years, Tucson occupied 100 pages, as opposed to Tombstone, which occupied 103 pages. This image comes from the original Tucson and Tombstone Directory in the collections of John D. Rose, one of six known to exist.
As a collector it always amazes what things survive the ages and what does not. This paycheck from my collection is for labor at the Grand Central is from a group of personal papers of E.B. Gage. The check is signed by long term mill worker S.W. Woods, who became Supt of the Mill as this 1888 check shows. Woods also gave a deposition to the Garner vs. Gird case, which is a bonanza of information for Tombstone studies.
-John Rose
-John Rose