“My parents, James and Mary Human, were early settlers in the Verde Valley, AZ. They left Humansville, Missouri, April 26, 1875. They traveled with ox team and wagon, along with eight other wagons. The party consisted of the Burfords, Dickinsons, Hawkins, Davidsons, Letts, Hutchinsons, Tom Smiths, Pleasant Bristows, and Rev. James C. Bristow.
They had a long, tiresome trip, and many hardships, I am sure. They arrived in the Verde Valley in August of that year.
Their first child, a girl, Jane, was born Oct. 27, 1875. As years went by, 6 more children were born into their family, five sons and one more daughter: George, Frank, Bert, Dora, and Art. Their second child, a boy, died at birth in 1876. This was the first death among the early settlers.
There was need of a burial place. My father and grandfather (Parson Bristow) looked for a place to start a burial ground. They picked a place where they thought would never be needed for any other purpose and where floodwaters would never cover. It is now known as Middle Verde Cemetary and has nearly 200 graves.
My father and mother moved several places in that
settlement. When I was quite small they bought or traded for a small farm of 40 acres. They farmed there and when I was seven years old they bought another farm from John Loy and his father Samuel Loy, a mile from where we lived.
Things went along very well for them for several years until brother Bert became very ill. They had doctors with him, but nothing seemed to help. He passed away July 19th at the age of 19. He was buried in Middle Verde Cemetery July 20, 1901. Soon after, my mother began to fail in health. They leased the farms and moved to Dewey, Arizona in 1906. This was a small settlement in Agua Fria Valley, 16 miles east of Prescott. They spent the rest of their days there. In 1909 they sold the Loy farm to Bill Boren from Oregon. The Boren family lived there several years and sold to Clarkdale Smelter Company.
Six years after the death of my mother, my father passed on at the age of 74. His body was taken to Middle Verde Cemetery for burial June 26, 1925.” Pioneer Stories of Arizona’s Verde Valley (1954), pg 194, “Among the Early Settlers”, by Dora (Human) Dickison
