HERNANDEZ, Francisca

Wickenburg (AZ) Sun Friday, July 25, 1958, p 1 Town Lost Its Oldest Pioneer When Mrs Francisca Hernandez, 77, Died Wickenburg's oldest native pioneer--Mrs Francisca Hernandez--died early last Sunday morning. Mrs Hernandez, who resided in a little wooden house just east of the Wickenburg Elementary School for many years, was born at the Vulture Mine October 1, 1881, the daughter of the late Mr and Mrs Ygnacio Garcia. She lived at the mine and in Wickenburg all her 77 years. It was her father, known as the "Grand Old Man of Wickenburg," who donated the land on which the Wickenburg Elementary School and St Anthony's Church are now located, and gave the land too for the cemetery which now bears his name. He came to Wickenburg first in 1862, when only four or five people lived here, from his native Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He died May 7, 1928. Mrs Hernandez went to Phoenix Tuesday of last week to visit her son, Tino Cambres. She became ill Saturday and died before she could be taken to a hospital. The family brought her home to Wickenburg where rosary services were held Tuesday evening and funeral services were conducted at St Anthony's Catholic Church at 8 o'clock Wednesday morning by Rev D F O'Sullivan. Then she was laid to rest in the Garcia Cemetery near her father and mother. Surviving, in additon to the son, is a brother, Gabriel Garcia of Keene, Calif, and a sister, Mrs Resureccion Burson of Hermosa Beach, Calif. Her husband, Juan, preceded her in death. When her father died, The Wickenburg Miner said that he had over 60 immediate relatives in Wickenburg. While many have died or moved away, Mrs Hernandez still is survived by a host of relatives and many friends in Wickenburg.