Thursday, September 10, 2020

THE DODGE FAMILY 

On the east side of the Presidio Museum, next to the wood palisade, is the stone foundation of a building. On the north side of the torreon are some melting adobe bricks. These are the remnants of the Dodge Boarding House, built between 1889 and 1896 on Lot 1 of Block 181, and torn down in late 1954.  Who were the Dodges? 

Herbert B. Dodge was born on December 23, 1859 in Albany, Green County, Wisconsin.  He was in Tucson by January 10, 1885, when he purchased Lots 1 and 2 of Block 181 for $300 from J. McElliot. In November 1885, he was elected Outside Watchman for Apache Lodge No. 5, Ancient Order of United Workmen. Herbert registered to vote in Pima County in October 1886. Around this time he was operating a grocery store on Congress Street.

Advertisement for H. B. Brown & Co., Arizona Weekly Citizen, 12 June 1886, page 3.

Herbert was married on January 11, 1888 in Tucson to Julia Simpson. Julia was born on January 2, 1872 in Saginaw, Michigan, daughter of John J. Simpson.  Mr. Herbert Dodge and Miss Julia Simpson were joined in wedlock by the Rev. U. Gregory on Wednesday evening last. Mr. Dodge is a popular young grocer, of the firm of H. B. Dodge & Co., of whom the CITIZEN, some time since, made mention as liable to become entangled in the matrimonial knot. Mrs. Dodge is a handsome young lady and, like her husband, has many friends in this city whom the CITIZEN joins in extending congratulations.

Dodge-Simpson marriage certificate, 1888.

Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Herbert was involved in Republican politics in Pima County, running for the legislature several times (and losing). He closed his grocery store in 1888. Between 1888 and 1895, Julia became the mother of five children.

Tragedy struck the family in September 1893: The five-month-old child of H. B. Dodge died Monday of this week. The child was in care of its grandmother, Mr. and Mrs. Dodge being at the World's fair. The World's Fair was being held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus sailing from Europe westward to North America.

Between 1889 and 1896, the Dodges built a four unit apartment building at the corner of N. Church Avenue and W. Washington Street. They lived next door, in the building to the south.

1896 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the apartment building is at upper right.

In June 1900, Herbert and Julia lived at 107 N. Church Avenue with their four living children- William C. (born October 1889), Charles H. (born December 1888), Winnifred U. (born January 1892), and Hazel U. (born January 1895). Also in the household was Julia's grandmother, Julia Simpson, who was born in October 1820 in Pennsylvania, as well as a roomer, Lorenzo Haley. Herbert was working as a grocery dealer.

In July 1908, Julia and daughter Winnie left for California, returning after a month.

The couple separated and apparently divorced. In April 1910, Julia, her four children (William, Charles, Winnie, and Hazel), and four roomers lived at 187 N. Church Street in Tucson. She was listed as being divorced and was working as a bookkeeper for a furniture company.  Her three oldest children were working at a grocery store. Meanwhile, Herbert was living at 803 Hemlock Street in Los Angeles, working as a clerk for a railroad.

In 1912, Julia was a clerk at Steinfeld's department store. She and her sons William and Charles lived at 187 N. Church Street. 

1912 Tucson City Directory.

In the 1914 Tucson City Directory she was listed as being "wid Herbt" while living at 187 N. Church. It was not uncommon for divorced women to call themselves widow, being divorced was looked down upon.

In March 1916, Julia was invited to a luncheon that included playing bridge. In March 1917 it was reported that Another fine apartment structure is being built for Mrs. Julia Dodge, at 187 North Church street, by D. S. Cochran, at a cost of $6000. It appears the Dodge home was being rebuilt.

In October 1917, Julia and "attractive daughter, Miss Hazel Dodge" left to spend the winter in California. In June 1918, it was reported that both her sons and both her son-in-laws were serving in the United States military during World War I. In 1918, Julia returned from living in California in October.

Julia was married a second time in Sacramento, California in April 1923 to Phillip Y. Freeman. He was born circa 1875 in Indiana. [A]fter a tour of southern California, the couple will make their home where the groom's business interest are centered. The couple lived in Portland, Oregon for a while.At the time, her son Charles H. Dodge was the Pima County Treasurer. 

In April 1930, Herbert lived at 4227 Mail Avenue in Los Angeles. He was working as a city employee. Herbert died on May 7, 1938 in Los Angeles, California. He was buried there in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.

In April 1940, Julia and Phillip Freeman lived at 187 N. Church Street along with three members of the Douthit family, who were paying $40 a month rent. The house was valued at $11,000.

In 1956, Julia donated baskets to the Arizona State Museum. Her daughter, Mrs. Warren Grossetta told a reporter, My mother, Mrs. Julia Dodge Freeman of 740 N. Sixth collected most of them in Tucson. At that time, the Indians sold baskets on the streets. They would come in at all times of the year bringing baskets to get money to buy groceries. I think all of the baskets in the collection were made by the Pima and Apache Indians. My mother also bought Papago baskets, but they were much coarser and she didn't keep them. My father, Herbert B. Dodge (deceased), traveled over the Indian reservations as a grocery salesman about 55 years ago and bought some of the baskets in the collections."

She was interviewed in April 1956 about her memories of the T. Ed Litt drug store, which opened in 1908.

Julia (Simpson)(Dodge)Freeman, Tucson Daily Citizen, 17 April 1956, page 27.

Julia died from pulmonary tuberculosis and a fracture of the right hip on October 31, 1856 in Tucson and was buried in South Lawn Memorial Cemetery. Mrs. Freeman, 84, Longtime Tucson Resident, Dies. A resident of Tucson since 1882, Mrs. Julia Dodge Freeman, 84, died yesterday in a local hospital. She was a native of Saginaw, Mich., and she came to the Old Pueblo during the territorial days when she was a young girl of 10. In the early days, she lived in a rambling adobe structure on Church street, but in later years she resided with one of her daughters, Mrs. Warren A. Grossetta, 2820 E. 6th. Besides Mrs. Grosetta, survivors include another daughter, Mrs. Hazel Hammond, of Hollywood; and a son, William C. Dodge, of Los Angeles, and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be announced by the Arizona Mortuary.

During its roughly 60 year history, the Dodge Boarding House transitioned from apartments where middle class European-Americans lived to offices and stores. A chiropractor and massage therapist used one office. Another occupant in April 1954 was the law office of Raul Castro, future governor of Arizona. The building was torn down later that year. In 2001, Desert Archaeology uncovered the foundations of the building and found a nearby privy pit and a soil mining pit, both filled with items tossed away by residents of the apartments. Some of those items, including a green porcelain teapot, a French porcelain spittoon, and a cup fragment with the words "Think of Me" on it are on display in the Presidio Museum.

1949 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.


Sources

Apache Lodge No. 8. Arizona Weekly Citizen, 7 November 1885, page 3, column 3.

Pima County Marriage Records, page 269.

Pima County Deed Record Entry 13:32-33.

Not about marriage. Arizona Weekly Citizen, 21 January 1888, page 4, column 1.

Notice. Arizona Weekly Citizen, 22 December 1888, page 1, column 6.

Note about child. Arizona Weekly Citizen, 16 September 1893, page 3, column 1.

1900 US census, AZ Territory, Pima, Precinct 1, District 49, sheet 18A, dwelling 415.

Fashionable Society. Arizona Daily Star, 26 July 1908, page 3, column 2.

Society. Arizona Daily Star, 9 August 1908, page 10, column 1.

1910 US census, AZ, Pima, Tucson Ward 1, District 102, sheet 17A, dwelling 360.

1910 US census, CA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Assembly District 73, ED 137, sheet 9B, dwelling 133.

Tucson City Directory 1912, Arizona Directory Company, Los Angeles, CA, page 46.

Tucson City Directory 1914, Arizona Directory Company, Los Angeles, CA, page 49.

Bridge Luncheon. Arizona Daily Star, 23 March 1916, page 7, column 2.

City Experiencing Biggest Building Boom in History. Arizona Daily Star, 30 March 1917, page 3, column 3.

Over Teacups. Arizona Daily Star, 7 October 1917, page 10, column 1.

Mrs. Julia Dodge is Another Proud Mother of U.S. Service Men. Arizona Daily Star, 8 June 1918, page 3, column 3.

Social Items. Tucson Citizen, 24 October 1918, page 3, column 4.

California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980, online at Ancestry.com.

Notified of Marriage. Arizona Daily Star, 17 April 1923, page 6, column 3.

Personals. Arizona Daily Star, 3 July 1923, page 3, column 3.

1930 US census, CA, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles (Districts 501-750), ED 562, sheet 7A, dwelling 138.

Herbert B. Dodge Memorial 137250679, online at Findagrave.com.

1940 US census, Arizona, Pima, Tucson, ED 10-21, sheet 10A, dwelling 201.

Julia Dodge Freeman, Certificate of Death, online at http://genealogy.az.gov/azdeath/0224/02242130.pdf

Julia Simpson Freeman Memorial 136927344, online at Findagrave.com.

Three State Museum Gifts Include Grossetta Baskets. Tucson Daily Citizen, February 29, 1956, page 25, columns 1-2.

T. Ed Litt Drugstore Holds Grand Opening Thursday. Tucson Daily Citizen, 17 April 1956, page 27, columns 4-6.

Mrs. Freeman, 84, Longtime Tucson Resident, Dies. Arizona Daily Star, 1 November 1956, page D5, column 4.


This blog is sponsored by


196 N. Court Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701
United States
540-622-0594

No comments:

Post a Comment