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Stuart Family Photographs 1880s-1950s (bulk 1930s-1950s)

CP ST

Historical Note

William Plato Stuart, 1879-1960

William Plato Stuart was born to Burton Alexander and Emma Newlin Stuart in Snow Camp, North Carolina on December 18, 1879. He was educated in the public schools of his native state and the Oak Ridge, North Carolina Institute. During 1897, he served with Cuban Insurgents. Between 1898 and 1901 he worked a cowboy in New Mexico.

In October of 1901, he came to Morenci, Arizona and worked as the credit clerk in the Detroit Copper Company's store. He was employed by the Greene Cananea Copper Company as a clerk from 1902 until 1905, when he was made executive accountant of the company, a position he held until 1909. He served in the same capacity for the Ray Consolidated Copper Company in Ray until 1911.

In 1912 he began his official newspaper career as a reporter for the Los Angeles Tribune. Later that year he became editor of the Arizona Democrat of Phoenix. He became the editor of the Mesa Tribune in 1914. He returned to California and served as news editor of the San Diego Union from 1914 to 1916. In 1917 he returned to Arizona as editor of the Douglas Dispatch (1917-1920). His association with the Prescott Courier began in 1921 when he took over as publisher. He also served as president of the Arizona Newspaper Association from 1940 to 1941.

In 1937 Stuart was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue, Arizona District. He organized the Central Arizona Broadcasting Company (Radio Station KCRJ) in 1939, serving as its president. He was chairman of the Yavapai County Democratic Committee from 1926 to 1938 and chairman of the Democratic State Committee from 1934 to 1936.

Stuart married Ruby Kelly (1884-1971) on September 16, 1903. The couple divorced in January of 1931, and Stuart married Della (Gillespie) Tovrea in 1936. He had one daughter, Dorothy (Stuart) Keesling (1904-1981), by his first wife. Stuart died of heart disease in Phoenix, Arizona on November 27, 1960.

Della Cora (Gillespie) Tovrea Stuart, 1888-1969

Della Cora Gillespie was born to James Stephens and Irene (Anderson) Gillespie in Blanco City, Texas on October 8, 1888. She was educated in the public and high schools of Texas and attended the University of Texas. She married Edward Ambrose Tovrea on December 26, 1906 and William Plato Stuart on November 16, 1936.

Della Tovrea was elected a director of the Tovrea Packing Company in June of 1932 upon the death of her first husband, Edward Tovrea. She was Secretary and Treasurer of the Prescott Courier in May 1936 and President of the Central Arizona Broadcasting Co. in September 1937.

Della Tovrea Stuart was a staunch supporter of democratic principles and had long been one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in Arizona. She served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Philadelphia in 1936, being the only woman delegate from Arizona to attend that year. On April 6, 1940 she was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from Arizona, a position she held until 1956. Della Stuart died in 1969.

Edward Ambrose Tovrea, 1861-1932

Edward A. Tovrea was born to Arthur T. and Rose (Hood) Tovrea (both Native Americans of French English ancestry) in Sparta, Illinois on March 20, 1861. He was educated in the public schools of his native state. In 1897 he moved to Northern New Mexico, where he engaged in freighting and construction contracting.

In 1883, he moved westward into Yavapai County, Arizona, where he freighted between Ash Fork, Jerome, and Phoenix. He later moved to Phoenix, where he established a prosperous meat market and began his career in the meat packing industry. From Phoenix he moved to Jerome and then to Bisbee in 1901 where he established a slaughterhouse from which he supplied his retail meat markets located in the Bisbee, Warren, and Douglas areas. In 1919 Tovrea moved back to the Salt River Valley and founded the Arizona Packing Company in Phoenix. This business later became the Tovrea Packing Company.

As one of the early pioneers of the Southwest, Tovrea played a major part in its development. He was active in the civic and political interests of the community, having served as mayor of Jerome from 1899 to 1900 and as a member of the Constitutional Convention of Arizona (1910).

Edward Tovrea was twice married: first to Lillian Isabella Willott (1865-1926) in 1885 and second to Della Gillespie. He had five children by his first wife: John Arthur (1886-1936), Fred E. (1888-1898), Harry Raymond (1890-1947), Clyde (1893-1916), and Philip Edward (1894-1962). Edward Tovrea died died of kidney and heart disease in Phoenix, Arizona on February 7, 1932.

Scope and Content Note

This collection houses 334 photographs depicting Della and William Stuart, members of the Gillespie and Tovrea families, and Tovrea Castle. Also included are commercial portraits of Democratic party conventions and functions and studio portraits of state and national politicians. The majority of the images are silver gelatin prints, but tintypes and dye coupler prints are also present.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own copyright to this collection. Distinctive Collections recognizes that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Credit Line

[Identification of item], Stuart Family Photographs, CP ST, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

Della Tovrea Stuart's estate donated these photographs to the Arizona Collection in 1969 (Accession #1969-00076A and #1969-00076B).

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