Some people eat, sleep and chew gum, I do genealogy and write...

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Rare Historic Photo found in Overson Photographic Collection


Note: There is a comment disputing the identity. Any other opinions?

The bearded man above is John Lorenzo Hubbell, a famous early Arizona trader and founder of the world famous, Hubbell Trading Post National Historical Site. From Wikipedia:
Don Lorenzo Hubbell (November 27, 1853 – November 12, 1930) was a 19th-century trader instrumental in promoting the sale of Navajo art. He was also sheriff of Apache County, Arizona, a member of the Arizona Territorial Legislature, and after statehood a member of the Arizona Senate. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1914. 
He was born John Lorenzo Hubbell, but gradually came to be addressed as "Don", a Spanish term of respect. (NPS) He was born in Pajarito, New Mexico, in San Miguel County, New Mexico. He died in Ganado, Arizona.[1] (Correction made to entry)
He spent his early years as a Spanish interpreter for the U.S. Army
He started a trading post in 1878 that became very successful financially. He eventually created an empire of 30 such trading posts in Arizona, New Mexico, and California
He helped many Navajos become economically self-sufficient by showing them the patterns of blankets most likely to sell for a profit. He was well respected in the Navajo community for his fair dealings with them. 
His 1878 trading post, now known as the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, still stands on the Navajo reservation, and is a National Historic Landmark. Another trading post, purchased by Hubbell in Winslow, Arizona in 1921, is designated as the National Register of Historic Places listing. 
He is said to be the only caucasian buried on Navajo land.
This photo was found in the Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Photographic Collection. The photos in this collection date back into 1860s. Most of the photos were taken by Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson or her father, Charles Godfrey DeFriez Jarvis. I would guess that most of the residents of Apache County are found in these photos between the years of 1880 to 1940 or so.

I am in the process of uploading this entire historic collection to FamilySearch.org. You can find the photos by looking at Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson KWZZ-YBN or using the Memories find function and searching for "St. Johns" including the quotation marks.

1 comment:

  1. That's not J.L. Hubbell. Wrong size, shape, beard, hairstyle - not him. Don't even recognize it as Hubbell Trading Post, though it could be one of his other posts. That totem-like thing at the right foreground is strange!

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