Located at 3950 W 8th St, the Thatcher Cemetery is a town owned and operated cemetery.  The Town is responsible for the selling of Cemetery plots; assist with research of people buried at the Thatcher Cemetery, proper burial documentation; and the maintenance of the Thatcher cemetery facilities (not graves).  

Cemetery Stories - Adventure Through Time

George Eliot wrote "Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them."   The Town of Thatcher hopes to remember some of our dearly departed in Thatcher and the surrounding areas by sharing with you the stories of people buried in our town cemetery.  We hope you enjoy learning who these people are and hearing the lifetime of stories they have to tell. 

Collier Family Tragedy

Excerpt from Graham Guardian, Safford, Arizona  June 29, 1900  page 1

"Mrs. Tempie Collier, a widow, who lived in a small lumber house on Main street, put her five children to bed and went to the home of Hon. W. W. Pace, to cook where she was assisting for the threshers.

About 9 o'clock the home was seen to be on fire and the door broken open and an attempt made to rescue the sleeping children, but when the door was broken, the flames leaped out in such volumes that an entrance was impossible. By this time a large crowd had gathered but could do nothing but helplessly look on; the whole structure was a roaring mass of flames, in fact when the fire was first discovered the whole inside of the house must have been a sea of fire and the children dead.

When the rescuers could get into the ruins a terrible spectacle met their gaze. There lay the charred remains of the two little girls where they had laid their heads on their pillows; they had not moved. The remains of the three boys were found near the door. The flesh was burned away entirely and portions of the bones were consumed. One of the smallest children could be recognized. It had evidently turned on its face and covered its head with the bed clothing which preserved the face to some extent. Each of the other children were almost consumed.
By the time the mother arrived on the scene a large crowd was there and her screams and lamentations were heart rending. But for the timely interference of several men, who carried her away, she would have plunged into the fire in an attempt to rescue her loved ones.
As there was no water near it was impossible to rescue the bodies until the fire had burned out. To stand there helpless and hear and see human beings cook and fry as so much meat was something so awful that those who witnessed it will never care to go through another such an ordeal.
Mrs. Collier says that she left the lamp lighted, and it is very probable that the fire had its origin from this, although there is nothing positive. The widow not only lost her entire family but everything she owned as well.

The funeral was held in Robinson's hall on Sunday morning. The house was packed with sympathetic friends from all parts of the valley. A relief fund of $125 was raised at the funeral. At the grave to see five innocent children lowered into mother earth in one coffin was more than the stoutest heart could stand calmly by and witness.
Such an accident as this is something so awful it is hard to realize."

The inscription under the children's names on the headstone reads:

MY CHILDREN HAVE DEPARTED
AND LEFT ME HERE ALONE
BUT THEY ARE PATIENTLY WAITING
TO WELCOME ME AT HOME.

Click here to read the article in the Copper Era, June 28, 1900

Do you have a suggestion for future installments?  We would love to hear about your family history in the Thatcher Cemetery. Please contact us at rnicholas@thatcher.az.gov