John Campbell Greenway

This site is about John C. Greenway in Arizona and Minnesota. John Greenway helped to open up the fabulous iron ore range of northern Minnesota and then did the same for copper in Arizona.

Thanks to everyone who is helping me with this site! Comments and corrections are welcomed. Please e-mail Brad Hall. Updated August 19, 2008

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John C. Greenway Michael Curley Isabella, John, Martha Isabella Greenway

John Greenway, 1872-1926. Photo from The Ajo Copper News, 1954. The photo is probably from the early 1920s.

"Greenway was the second man to the top of San Juan Hill and first behind enemy lines...I only envy Greenway. I wanted to be the first there myself, but he outran me!...He was a 200-pounder, slightly over six feet tall, who thrived on embalmed beef and regarded the entire Cuban campaign through intense heat and jungle as nothing more an enjoyable outing..."
-— The Rough Riders, 1899, Theodore Roosevelt.

Click here for more information on John Greenway.

Michael Curley, 1874-1945. Photo from The Ajo Copper News, 1954.

When Greenway was chosen by The Oliver Mining Company in 1905 to open a new iron ore district of Coleraine on the western Mesabi, he picked Curley to go with him. When Greenway began operations at Ajo, Arizona, in 1912, he brought Mike down from Minnesota with him.

The High School in Ajo, Arizona, is named after Michael Curley.

Left to right, Isabella Greenway (John's wife), John Greenway, Martha Ferguson. Martha was Isabella's daughter from a previous marriage, to John's friend and fellow Rough Rider Bob Ferguson. Ajo, 1924. This photo is from Tucson's Arizona Inn, The Continuum of Style, by Blake Brophy, reprinted from The Journal of Arizona History, Volume 24, Number 3, 1983. I got this booklet at The Arizona Inn, in Tucson, which was founded by Isabella Greenway.

Isabella Greenway, 1886- 1953. Drawing from the Arizona Hall of Fame. Because of John's untimely death in 1926, he and Isabella were married for only three years. In 1930, Mrs. Greenway took out a building permit for the Arizona Inn. Click here to visit the site for the Arizona Inn, On August 8, 1933, Isabella Greenway was elected in Arizona for a congressional seat. (Arizona Daily Star, August 8,1933). Isabella married Harry O. King in 1939.

Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota, named after John C. Greenway. It was completed in 1922, and is still in use today. Photo from the Diamond Jubilee booklet, Coleraine, Minnesota.

I have no record of John ever visiting Coleraine after he moved to Arizona in 1912. And, unfortunately, I've never found a photo of John in Coleraine or Bovey. If you do, please e-mail me.

Coleraine 1920 GHS invitation GHS logo view of Ajo Greenway mansion

Coleraine, Minnesota, 1920. John Greenway named this town after the president of the Oliver Mining Company, Thomas F. Cole. It was to be a "spotless" town for the miners and their families and it's still a gem today 100 years later. The main street, Roosevelt, was named after John's old friend and fellow Rough-Rider, Teddy.

An invitation for the graduation of the Greenway High School class of 1945, Coleraine, Minnesota. This is my mom's graduating class. She lived in Bovey, Minnesota, which is right next to Coleraine. Click here to go to my Bovey site. The Itasca Community College used Greenway High School for a while and that's where she met my dad.

Click here to visit my mom and dad at my genealogy site.

Logo, Greenway High School, Glendale Arizona. Greenway High School opened in 1973. It is also named after John C. Greenway. It is located at 39th Avenue and Greenway Road in Glendale, Arizona. Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix.

 

Ajo, Arizona. Drawing from booklet Ajo, Early history of Ajo, home of New Cornelia Branch, Phelps Dodge Corporation, 1941.

This view of the town is still about the same today, the palm trees are much taller, that's about all. The school under the flag is Curley High School. Isabella Greenway was instrumental in beautifying the little town of Ajo. The Greenway house was just over the hill, facing the copper mine.

Location of the Greenway Mansion and John Greenway's burial site, Ajo, Arizona.

Every morning on his way to work, John Greenway would stop his horse on a small hill, look back at the house and wave to Isabella. In 1926 he was buried at that spot, overlooking the Ajo mine in one direction and his home in the other. In 1995, John Greenway was disinterred and moved to the family vault near Burlington, in Boone county, Kentucky.

Greenway mansion John Greenway statue marker Cross
Greenway mansion, Ajo, Arizona. Isabella moved to Tucson when John died. There is a giant cross on the hillside nearby that Isabella put up to commemorate her husband.

John Greenway's statue given by Arizona in 1930 at the National Statuary Hall Collection, Washington DC.

Click here to visit the NHS site.

Bronze by Gutzon Borglum.

As of summer of 2008 the Arizona State Legislature is making provisions to have the statue of John Greenway replaced by a statue of Barry Goldwater. Senate Research Fact Sheet here.

A.V. Towsend marker, Lake View Cemetery, Coleraine, Minnesota. This marker from 1908 caught my eye. It says "Died Dec. 25 1908, Age 35 yrs, 2 months, 12 days. Member of Roosevelt's Rough Rider Regt. This stone erected in affectionate memory by a comrade".

My guess is that "comrade" was John Greenway. What do you think?

The cross on "A" mountain in Ajo, Arizona was erected in March 1926 by employees of the New Cornelia Copper Company. It was dedicated to the memory of John Greenway. The cross is 20 feet high. The arms are 12 feet in length. It stands on a concrete base. Photo © Ajo Copper News.

A newer view of the cross. From the Ajo Chamber of Commerce historical page.
         

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