Maricopa County AZ Archives Biographies.....Sheldon, A. C. 1837 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/az/azfiles.html
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 8, 2005, 4:33 am

Author: McFarland & Poole

p. 600-601

  A. C. SHELDON. It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a country
lies not in its machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but in
the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high
and unselfish effort, and their devotion to the public good. Among those in
Arizona entitled to due recognition is A. C. Sheldon, the president of the Rio
Verde Canal Company. Mr. Sheldon was born December 3, 1837, in Essex County, New
York, and is descended from one of first families of the East, members of which
were among the pioneers of that country. A. C. Sheldon was one in a family of
seven children, five yet living, born to the marriage of Aiken E. and Phoebe
(Perry) Sheldon He received a good education in youth and at about the age of
sixteen years began teaching school. This occupation he continued until about
the year 1861, during which time he also attended school, perfecting himself in
the higher branches of learning. Having taught school in his native State and in
Michigan and Wisconsin, he returned to New York State and began the study of the
law. In 1862 he entered the law department of the Albany University, from which
he was duly graduated, and admitted to the bar, in 1863. He commenced practicing
his profession in Essex County, but the winter of 1863-4 was made deputy clerk
of the New York General Assembly, in which capacity he served three successive
years. Believing that a young man had better chances for success in the great
and growing West, he went to Pike Countyy, Missouri, in 1866, and there
practiced law until 1881 when, owing to ill health, he passed the succeeding two
or three years in the more favorable climate of North Dakota and Minnesota. His
health still failing, he removed from Minneapolis, in January, 1889, to Phoenix,
Arizona, and within five months time, owing to the outdoor life he had selected,
he was on the high road to permanent recovery. The healthfulness of the climate,
and the belief in the future greatness of the Territory, decided Mr. Sheldon to
make it his permanent home. After considerable time and money spent in examining
the Salt, Gila and Rio Verde Rivers, he became convinced that a canal from the
latter river would be a paying investment for capital: and acting upon this
belief he was instrumental in the organization of the Rio Verde Canal Company,
in September, 1891, and since that time has been president of that organization.
A firm believer in the future greatness of Phoenix and the Salt River Valley,
Mr. Sheldon has been the soul and life of the company of which he is president,
and it is through his instrumentality that the enterprise is an assured success.
Socially he is prominent in Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor circles.
September 13, 1865, he married Miss Ellen M. Havens, only daughter of Palmer E.
Havens, of Essex, New York, by whom he is the father of one child now
living—Edmund Perry, a graduate of Minnesota University, and tutor of botany in
that institution. The mother died in 1873. In 1876 Mr. Sheldon was united in
marriage with Emma E. Gushing, of Canada, who has borne him five children:
Benjamin C, Don G., Nellie A., Edward A. and Brooks.


Additional Comments:
From:

A Historical and Biographical Record of the Territory of Arizona
Published by
McFarland & Poole, Chicago, 1896

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/az/maricopa/bios/gbs104sheldon.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/azfiles/

File size: 3.9 Kb