Person:Mahonri Fish (1)

MAHONRI LAZELLE FISH, "ML" & MINNIE ROSE ADAMS Mahonri, son of John Lazelle Fish and Melvina Cheney Born 22 Oct 1890, Pinedale, Navajo Arizona. Died 26 Jan 1958 Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. Mahonri, married Minnie rose Adams 23 Dec. 1907 Minne was born 6 May 1891, ShowLow AZ Daughter of George Mason Adams & Martha Louise Devey

Shortly after the birth of Mahonri Lazelle at Pinedale, Arizona to John L. and Melvina Cheney Fish, the family moved to Holbrook where Mahonri's father worked as a clerk in the ACMI store there. The John L. Fish family was a happy one filled with love. All the children were taught the principles of the gospel; they were taught to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord. Mahonri was a happy, good-natured lad with a wonderful sense of humor. At the age of 13 his mother's untimely death was a sobering blow to him. She called him to her bedside and told him she was dying. Because he was the oldest of her children. He readily accepted responsibility and with it matured more rapidly than most boys do. He always felt strongly the impact of his mother's admonition "be a man." Mahonri remembered his mother vividly and often told others about her. He says he could remember as a small child seeing her stand on a platform in a long white dress with a matching parasol as she sang at the dedication of the Navajo County Court House in Holbrook. In his memory her appearance and singing were as those of and angel. Even as a child he felt great pride for his mother. (Taking a cue from history, George Gardner, a Great Grandson of Melvina Cheney, sang the Star Spangled Banner at the dedication of the New County Courthouse.) His father was always his stalwart companion as well as a loving father. John L. was loved by everyone and was well known for his steadiness, good nature and devotion to his family and church. Mahonri, was much like his father. About a year after the death of Mahonri's mother, his father married Julia tanner who readily took Mahonri and his brothers and sisters to her heart. Nine children were born to this union, bringing the total to 16 children in the two families. If one wanted to start a good fight with Mahonri all he need do was to refer to any one of the brothers or sister as "half-brother" or "half-sister". In 1904 John L. moved his family to Show Low, Ariz. where he again worked for a branch of the ACMI store. It was here that Mahonri, a lad of 15, first met the 14 year old Minnie Rose Adams and began a courtship that later resulted in their marriage. Minnie Rose was the eighth child of a family of 10, born to George Mason Adams and Martha Devey. Both her parents were born in England but came to America after being converted to Mormonism. They were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House and resided at Alpine, Utah until after the birth of their second child. Then Minnie's father was called to help settle Northern Arizona. Here he settled in Show Low where he served for a while as deputy sheriff and also was instrumental in helping to settle some of the Indian uprisings in that area. Minnie learned early in life to work, as her parents maintained a Forage Station, which catered mostly to the soldiers riding between Fort Apache and Holbrook, Ariz. Her father was a successful rancher and businessman, and although Minnie worked hard, as did all her family, they lived comfortably and enjoyed the necessities and many of the comforts that few others had at that time. Minnie says she had the best home a girl could ask for. It was well furnished and kept immaculately clean and a generous supply of good food was always available. Minnie was a "Tom-boy" and liked to ride donkeys or even broncos. She was game for anything. Her mother often chided her for her tomboyish ways and urged her to be more lady-like. When she was only 15 her mother suffered a stroke from which she died when Minnie was 16. Minnie felt keenly her mother's passing and missed her companionship. She cared for her father and brother Fred until her marriage six months later. Her father advised against her marrying Mahonri, saying: "He won't provide for you. All he wants to do is play the fiddle." However, Mahonri did provide well for Minnie, but he also played the violin throughout his life. The Fish family had moved to Lakeside about 1905 or 1906 and it was here that Mahonri made their first home; a storage barn on his father's place was converted into a dwelling. At the same time they homesteaded on a ranch close to the Jacques Ranch. The first seven years of their marriage was spent on the homestead. They kept their place in Lakeside, and would stay there when they came to town. Mahonri worked for the Forest Service. During this time, they were building their own home in Lakeside. (This home still stands.) They did not move into their new home until after the birth of their third child. The first child was stillborn. Helene and glen were very small children when the family moved into the new home. All the other children were born in this house. Kenner was the fourth child born and he drowned in a well when he was just a year old. Ford, the next boy, died at the age of 12 from blood poisoning. The next 13 years brought Ross, Beulah, Vance, Beuna Rose and Boyce. Glen, the eldest son, and second child in the family married Hazel West, and they had three sons. Glen died of pneumonia when he was only twenty-seven. Ross married Bernadine West and they have six children. Beulah, the second daughter, married Lawrence Lilly and they have 11 children. Vance, the third son, married Winona Massey, and they are the parents of 4 children. This marriage ended in divorce and Vance married a second time to Harriet Davis Smith, a divorcee with two children. Two weeks after Vance's marriage to Harriet he was killed in a plane accident. Beuna rose, the youngest daughter, married Jesse Grant Hall and they had two children. Grant died and Beuna Rose later married Robert Becker and they have one child. Mahonri loved to play the violin. He never had a music lesson in his life, but learned to play very well by ear. Minnie played the piano. At first they played together for fun, but later started playing for dances. Mahonri and Minnie both played for dances before they were married and continued after their marriage, playing for dances all over the White mountain area. As the years went by the Fish Orchestra was known throughout the state of Arizona. Glen, Ross and Bernadine, Helen, Beulah, Buena Rose and Boyce all played in the family orchestra at one time or another. After Mahonri and Minnie moved to Mesa, they played at the Mezona, Westward Ho and the Odd Fellows, as well as for many church dances throughout the Valley of the Sun. As a businessman, Mahonri's life was that of a pioneer lumberman. Around the year 1918 his father, John L., bought the sawmill in Lakeside from Dolph Treat. In turn, Mahonri bought the mill from his father. This was the start of his sawmilling career. This mill in Lakeside blew up from the explosion of the boiler. Mahonri then built a new mill at Woodland. Ten years later on Sunday in May, Mahonri and Minnie went into Lakeside to have their ninth child, Buena Rose, blessed and named in church. When they came out of church they saw heavy, block smoke coming from the direction of Woodland. It was the mill. Everything they had went up in smoke-the mill, planer, corral, fences and also the house, which meant that all their earthly possessions were the clothes on their backs. Mahonri had an outstanding quality that few men possess. He didn't stop to feel sorry for himself or complain, but began with renewed vigor the building of a new mill in Lakeside. His oldest son, Glen, helped with the building of two sawmills. Glen had sawmill fever as much as his father did. When Glen died in 1939, part of Mahonri died too. They had worked side by side and shared the good and bad parts of sawmilling along with many other things. Glen had been his right-hand, and he had so much love for his son-he was never fully reconciled to Glen's death. After the Lakeside mill burned Mahonri built again; that one burned too. Mahonri and Glen built another mill and planer, and as fate would have it, they both burned. This made a total of four mills destroyed. After the last mill burned in Lakeside, Mahonri and Glen built a mill at Ellsworth Hill, between Lakeside and Show Low. Glen did all the engineering of this mill, and it was highly successful, but the timber ran out, so when Ross and Vance, two of the younger sons, returned from the armed services in 1946, they moved the mill to Heber, Arizona. Ross built this mill with Vance's help. It is interesting to note here that Vance entered the Navy in 1943, and Ross entered the Army in 1944. They had not seen each other for two years, but as a stroke of fate, they were discharged within two miles of each other, just an hour apart. Mahonri's wife was a real helpmeet in the lumber business. Minnie spent many days and years checking lumber, sitting on top of a truck or bunk of lumber. She also cooked for the sawmill hands in the "cook-shack". She worked side by side with Mahonri all their married life. In 1943, Mahonri, Minnie and the last two children at home, Beuna Rose and Boyce moved to Mesa. For many years they spent the winters in Mesa and the summers in Lakeside. The old fish home was not sold until after Mahonri's death. In Mesa, Mahonri opened a wholesale-retail lumberyard on Fourth Avenue and Hibbert. He later added a Sash-and-door department and also built on a large building for the F & M Furniture Company. Mahonri's wife, Minnie, and Louise Maier owned and operated this business for several years, and then Louise sold her interest to Minnie. Mahonri and Minnie later moved the furniture store to east Main Street. They were operating this business and also a wholesale business at the time of Mahonri's death in 1958. Two years after Mahonri's death Minnie sold the F&M Furniture Company. The outward carefree expression Mahonri habitually wore often belied his inner struggles and tensions related to the great responsibilities of his business, the sudden set-backs caused by frequent Disastrous fires, and the losses and tragedies in his personal life. He wore a perpetual smile and radiated optimism no matter what his fortunes were at the moment. This trait generated confidence in his fellow workers and business associates who were ever willing to believe in his integrity and powers of recovery, and they backed it up by the necessary financial assistance to give him a fresh start. It was this same debonair expression that had misled Minnie's father into thinking that Mahonri would be an irresponsible fiddle-playing non-provider and so opposed their marriage. When Mahonri passed away Jan. 25, 1958 the Governor of Arizona, two Congressmen and the Mayor of Mesa, among other prominent residents of the State, sent letters or telegrams of condolence to the widow and family, and praised him for his pioneer spirit which had helped build Arizona and make it a better place to live.