Juan Soza
24 Nov 1851 - 1915
diedTempe, Arizona, USA
bornTucson, Arizona, USA
SchooltblData
BiographyFarmer.Came to Tempe in 1871.
When he was young, his family moved from Tucson to the San Pedro Valley. He arrived in the Tempe area in 1871, and settled at the village of San Pablo that was established near Tempe Butte. Worked for the government as an Indian scout, carrying mail on horseback on the Tempe-Tucson route, and drove a stage coach between Tempe and Prescott. He and his brother, Placido Soza, worked for Charles Hayden, extending the Hayden Canal from the old
Kirkland-McKinney Ditch, building the flour mill and ferry, and clearing farm land. He had rights to free irrigation water for the work he had done on the Tempe Canal, and started a farm on 80 acres west of Hayden's Ferry. He returned to Tucson to get married and returned to Tempe in 1873. He later moved to land owned by his mother-in-law, Manuela Sotelo, east of Tempe. He owned 4.5 acres in section 23 in 1924. He served three terms as Deputy County Sheriff under Carl Hayden, and became one of the most influential leaders of the growing Hispanic community in Tempe.
Lived south of Mesa Road in 1905.
Edward Soza, genealogy notes
Amanda Soza Galaz, genealogy notes
Federal census, 1860, 1870
Federal census (Tempe), 1880, 1900, 1910
Juan Soza obit, TN, 5 Feb 1915
Juan Sotelo Soza obit
Esther Soza Romero letter, Loring Coll., AHS-Tucson
Maria Sotelo Miller bio, ASU Archives
Tempe Old Settlers Book
Florence Cath. Church, Marriage Register, 1873-1876
Maricopa Cty Superior Court, Manuela Sotelo probate
TH-231
Tempe CD, 1905-1906
Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe
Solliday, Journey to Rio Salado, pp. 38, 57, 78
Person TypeIndividual