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From:
Subject: [AZCochise] Martin Griffin Brophy/Bisbee Arizona
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2003 12:43:41 EDT

Hello, listers. I'm new to the list and would like to post my interests.

My grandfather, Martin Griffin Brophy, was born in Halifax in 1878, the
grandson of John Brophy and Judith Keating who immigrated to Halifax from
County Carlow, Ireland, about 1828. I mention this because I know there is a
large Brophy population in Arizona who seems to descend from a Brophy family
from County Laois and who don't seem to be related to my Brophy ancestors. I
don't know of any Brophy relatives in Arizona, although there were several
children born in Halifax in the 1830s and 1840s that I haven't been able to
trace beyond their baptism, so it is possible. They would have been children
in Martin's parents' generation.

Martin Brophy served in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and was
discharged in 1901. He spent some time in San Francisco and according to
family legend, he was there during the 1906 earthquake. The next confirmed
date I have for him is in 1916, when he married my grandmother in Boston, MA.
Some time between 1906 and 1916, he spent time in and around Bisbee, Arizona.
Again, according to family legend, during part of this time he was a deputy
sheriff in Bisbee. We have his old Harrington-Richard 38 short revolver,
which had the font site removed for quick draw from a concealed location such
as a pocket, and we assume this was his gun from his deputy sheriff days.
There's also a story that he was a driver for the 20-mule teams through Death
Valley. One of my cousins remembers Martin watching the old "Death Valley
Days" television program in the 1950s, and that he would get very upset and
yell, "That's a lie," and "It didn't happen that way!" about some of the
things he saw on this program. My brother also remembers a story that he
worked for a time in the Copper Queen Mine. When I asked if he was sure it
was the Copper Queen Mine, he said it had either to be the Copper Queen or
that he had his own claim. That's a possibility, but no such info has
survived to today about it. Martin was a very generous man, and there are
still stories today about all the money and present he sent back East to the
family while he was in Arizona, so he had a source of income from somewhere
beyond being a deputy sheriff or a mule team driver. His love of gambling was
legendary, though, so it might have been as simple as his being a good poker
player!

Martin also had a brother named James Peter Brophy, who was born in 1877 in
Halifax. James also served in the Spanish American War, and he was also in
Arizona when my grandfather was there. James had TB and apparently spent some
time in Arizona for "the cure."

I'm wondering if anyone knows where I might write to find more info about any
of these topics. I'd particularly like to verify that he was a deputy sheriff
in Bisbee, as my father and brothers were in law enforcement. I wonder if
there's any info available about the 20-mule team drivers, or the Copper
Queen miners, too. Or are there other lines of research about this time and
place that I could pursue that I haven't thought of? I'd be grateful for any
advice any of you could give me.

Regards from Newburyport, MA,
Donna Stevens

This thread:

• [AZCochise] Martin Griffin Brophy/Bisbee Arizona by

  • [AZCochise] Re: Martin Griffin Brophy/Bisbee,AZ Douglas, Arizona - It's First 75 years "And a Few Before" Cochise County Arizona Past & Present, Both books by Ervin Bond There is a James and Mike Brophy are listed in both books. If you can't find copies, I own a by "Wilola Follett" <>