Tales of My Southwest

Storytelling may be an endangered art form in our information age, and that’s a shame.  Attorney and former Douglas mayor Ben F. Williams, Jr. reminds us of the old-fashioned charm of a good story, well told . . . Williams captures the small moments – childhood pranks and human foibles – that bring smiles of recognition because they say something universal about the human condition.

Journal of Arizona History

Arizona Historical Society

Bruce J. Dinges, Editor

Silent Partner

In 1894, my grandfather, Marion Williams, was living on a ranch at Jenoverachi, Sonora, Mexico, ten miles east of Cananea and eighty-four miles south of Naco in the Arizona Territory.  His beloved sister, Frances, and brother-in-law, Charlie Holbrook, lived nearby.  They made a meager living farming, had two children and were expecting their third child when Charlie “up and died.”

Frances asked my grandfather to find a way to take Charlie’s body to Tombstone for burial.  “Please,” she begged.  “You know Charlie didn’t want to be buried in Mexico.  He wanted to go home.”

“I’ll find a way.  Don’t worry, dear sister.  Just bring me Charlie’s best clothes and a hat.”

Marion dressed Charlie in his very best clothes and put the hat on his head.  He then wrapped Charlie’s fully-clothed body in a serape (a colorful, handwoven Mexican blanket).  With Frances’ help, he lifted Charlie onto the front seat of the buckboard.

As Granddad and his upright, but deceased, traveling companion approached the international border at Naco, he was greeted by the Mexican customs officials.  They knew him well because he crossed the border frequently.

“Good morning, Don Mariano.  Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“I am going to Tombstone with my brother-in-law.  He’s very sick.”

“What’s the matter with him?” they asked.

“He has smallpox.”

The palaver ceased and they waved him through.  “Pass.  Don’t stop.  Go quickly.  Get him out of here!”

Granddad popped his whip, and the horses and buckboard and his silent partner vanished in a cloud of dust on their way to Tombstone.  Arrangements were made, and Charlie Holbrook was laid to rest in Plot 3, Row 25, Section A, of the Tombstone Cemetery, where he “remains” to this day.