We continue the story of the followers of Sam Donnelly and the Sunnyside community begun in the January PRT. From 1888 to 1898, mining was their primary occupation. When the Copper Glance Mine flooded in 1898, most of the residents relocated from the two camps near the mine to the area of Sunnyside Canyon where the community’s sawmill was located. After Donnelly died in 1901 most of his converts left Sunnyside, primarily for economic reasons. But Sunnyside remained in the hearts of many of its residents, and as circumstance permitted, they returned. The remains of Sunnyside are located on private property. For permission to visit the area contact JD Hathaway [hathaway.j.david@gmail.com].
Firsthand accounts of life in Sunnyside are available in two biographies written by women who grew up there. This article features the McIntyre family, whose youngest child, Mary Lucille, was three months old when her parents joined the community. When she was in her 70s, Mary Lucille Hathaway wrote “An Album of Memories.” [Tucson: Old Pueblo Printers, 1972.]
Louis McIntyre was born in Vermont in 1849. His wife, Mary Jane, was born in Illinois in 1851. They married in 1874 and by 1880 were living in Dodge City, KS where Louis ran a general merchandise store and later a lumber yard. Louis and Mary Jane had five living children in 1893: Roy, Ralph, Paul, John, and Mary Louise.
Louis and Mary Jane learned of Sam Donnelly’s teachings through correspondence with one of his followers in Los Angeles. In 1893 the family moved to Arizona to join the Copper Glance mine community. Louis “did much of the buying and ordering and taught school.” He had attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison and had significant business experience. Mary Jane also taught and made hats. [Hathaway: 63, 64].
The McIntyres first lived in the “Lower Camp…A large living room in the middle with rooms at the side…In front was a large tent kitchen…” When they moved to Sunnyside they had their own one-room cabin and shared the communal kitchen and laundry facilities. [Hathaway:20, 32].
The children attended school in the camp and also had lessons on a rosewood Chickering piano. Music was an important feature of camp life.
The McIntyres became close friends with Jim and Emma Parker, whose homestead was nearby in Parker Canyon. Emma was an early Donnelly follower who did not live in the community. After Donnelly’s death, the McIntyres moved to Tombstone, where Mary Jane died in 1906. Mary Lucille, age 12, returned to Sunnyside to live with Alice Parker Branch and her husband Joe. Alice was one of Jim and Emma Parker’s daughters and Joe Branch was an early convert. In 1907 Mary Lucille’s brother Roy married Daisy Parker, another Parker daughter, and the couple moved to Tombstone. Mary Lucille went to live with Roy and Daisy in Tombstone in 1908, and later lived in Bisbee where she attended high school.
About 1912, Louis and his son John returned to the area when John filed a 160-acre homestead claim in Parker Canyon. They had hoped to homestead the Sunnyside property, but Albert Gattrell, one of Donnelly’s partners, filed first. John and Louis farmed and opened a store. Louis became the Parker Canyon postmaster and John taught. Mary Lucille kept house for them until she married Will Hathaway in 1914. [Hathaway:101].
Will and Mary Lucille homesteaded 160 acres near Lochiel which they developed into a large ranch and became prominent citizens of Santa Cruz County. They had seven sons. Will was a state senator and served in the house of representatives. Will died in 1958 and Mary Lucille died in 1973.
In 1917 John McIntyre married Jim and Emma Parker’s daughter, Emily Ruth. The couple had three daughters. Louis lived with them until his death in 1930. By 1940 John and Emily were living in the Phoenix area where they operated a landscaping business. Emily died in 1956. In 1970, age 80, John returned to Sunnyside and built a home amidst the Sunnyside ghost town. He died in 1985.