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George W.

Cheyney

George W. Cheyney

George Waldron Cheyney (September 1, 1854 August 14, 1903) was an


American businessman and politician. While living in Tombstone, Arizona
Territory he served four years as the territory's Superintendent of Public
Instruction and was twice elected to the territorial legislature. In his later
years he was postmaster for Tucson, Arizona before being elected a
probate judge.

Life and career


Cheyney was born to Weldon J. and Frances (Potts) Cheyney on
September 1, 1854 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of eight children, his
father was a businessman who had served as a captain during the
American Civil War and his mother was from an old Quaker family. While

growing up, Cheyney was educated in local public schools. He moved to


New York City in 1871 where he worked for an optician.Cheyney returned
to Philadelphia in 1877.
In 1879, Cheyney went to Atchison, Kansas before continuing on to
Leadville, Colorado.He moved to Tombstone, Arizona Territory in 1881.
There he became superintendent for the Tombstone Mill & Mining
Company. Cheyney married Annie Neal of Atchison, Kansas on September
20, 1882.The union produced six daughters: Bernice, Frances, Mary, Ruth,
Edith, and Eleanor.
Socially, Cheyney became a Mason in Tombstone. He was also a member
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and Knights Templar. Politically,
Cheyney was active in Republican politics. He was a member of the
Cochise county and territorial central committees. Cheyney was elected to
represent Cochise county in the Council (upper house) during the 15th
Arizona Territorial Legislature. During the session, he fulfilled two campaign
promises by voting to block any new subdividing of counties and for moving
the territorial capital from Prescott to Phoenix.
Cheyney was sworn in as Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 11,
1889, having been appointed to the office three days earlier. He was
appointed to a second two-year term in 1891.In 1890, Cheyney was the
Republican challenger to Arizona's territorial delegate to Congress, Mark
Smith. While his vote to move the territorial capital to Phoenix was
considered hostile by the residents of Prescott, Cheyney's supporters used
his vote as an example of his loyalty to the people he represented. They
also argued that a Republican delegate would have move influence with the
Harrison administration. Despite these arguments, he lost the election to
Smith. Cheyney was a delegate to Arizona's 1891 constitutional convention.
His second term in the territorial legislature came during the 1893 session.
Cheyney resigned as superintendent to serve in the legislature.
In June 1898, Cheyney was appointed postmaster for Tucson. He arrived in
Tucson to assume his new duties at the end of the month. In 1902,

Cheyney was elected probate judge for Pima County and took office on
January 1, 1903. In his final weeks, he traveled to San Francisco, California
to seek medical treatment from George E. Goodfellow. Cheyney died as a
result of edema on August 14, 1903.He was buried in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.

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