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Fennell Family Papers, SHM MS-44 1890's–1990's

SHM MS-44

Biographical Note

Cecil G. Fennell (1872-1958) was born in Chistlehurst, Kent, England and came to America at the age of 18. Seven years later he settled in Prescott, Arizona area. He was an early mining entrepreneur in Prescott, Mayer, and Humboldt. He developed and managed Gladstone and McCabe gold mines. There, he gained the nickname "the Duke of McCabe." Fennell started the Val Verde Copper Smelter in 1899, which he sold in 1906. He left the smelter to become Vice President of Traylor Engineering Works in Allentown, PA. He traveled widely in the U.S., including Alaska, as an independent consulting mining engineer. From 1935-1953, he developed silver-lead-zinc mines (one was named “Conjecture”) in the Pend Oreille region of Idaho. They were sold to Federal Uranium Co.

Fennell married Grace Reeve of Greenville, TN on May 17, 1897. He and Grace lived at, and managed, various mining projects throughout the U.S., returning to Phoenix in 1951, after he had a stroke. They had two sons, Gordon and Ernest, and one daughter, Geraldine "Gerry", who later became Mrs. William C. Eliot. During their time in Arizona, they became friends of Senator Henry F. Ashurst (one of the first of two senators of Arizona) and Sharlot Hall. Cecil died on January 26, 1958, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix. Grace died in 1970.

Their daughter, Geraldine "Gerry" (Fennell) Eliot (1900-1997), created a portion of the Fennell Family Papers. She served as a four-term Arizona State Representative from 1957-1964. Gerry became a successful realtor, and her husband William C. Eliot was the first full-time Phoenix City Attorney. She was part owner of the Chino Hacienda Ranch located northwest of Paulden, Arizona, out on Big Chino Road (previously known as the Tabosa Ranch, L-Bar-K Ranch, or the Mable Evans Ranch). She sold this ranch to Lew and Patty King, who later developed it into residential property and renamed it the Lew King Ranchettes.

Scope and Content

The Fennell Family Papers consists of correspondence, photographs, ledgers, journals, a diary, notes, appraisals, and real estate information which span the 1890’s through the late 1990’s. These encompass the lives of both Cecil G. Fennell and his daughter, Geraldine "Gerry" (Fennell) Eliot. Of note, there is correspondence between Cecil and Moses Bonsall Hazeltine (then President of the Bank of Arizona). There is a series which details a ranch part-owned by Gerry, and its sale to Lew and Patty King.

System of Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished and published manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder. The Sharlot Hall Museum may not own copyright to all parts of this collection. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the State of Arizona and the Sharlot Hall Museum - this includes its Board of Trustee officers, employees, outside contractors, and agents from and against all claims made by person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Custodial History

This collection includes items from many various previous collections, the original locations of which are notated on individual folders. Some of this material was previously in Document Box 6, Folder 3, items 1 and 2; Document Box 25, Folder 10; Document Box 32; Document Box 100, Folder 7, items 2 and 3; Document Box 195, item 7; Ledger Shelf 38; Photo Box 59, Folder 4; Photo Box 144, Folders 1 and 2; Photo Box 148, Folder 17. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 92.083; 99.162; and 2000.096. Because of newly discovered family collections, more biographical information may be forthcoming.

In addition to the family collection, information on Grace Reeve Fennell (wife of Cecil), who is commemorated in the Sharlot Hall Museum Territorial Women’s Rose Garden, can be found in RGC-MS-39. Also, their daughter Geraldine Fennell Eliot narrated an oral history, which can be found on Oral History Tapes 941 and 942, and other information can be found in the Geraldine Fennell Surname vertical file. Lastly, a map of the Gold Bar Mine was donated by Elizabeth E. Langdon (daughter of Geraldine Fennell Eliot), see map 191.

Preferred Citation

Fennell Family Papers, SHM MS-44. Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives.

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