Ethel Robertson Macia

Ethel Maud Robertson Macia (née Robertson; August 16, 1881 – August 3, 1964) was a pioneer of Arizona who served as a community historian and preservationist of Tombstone, Arizona. Known as the "first lady of Tombstone", she was the owner of the Rose Tree Inn, whose rose tree located on its grounds she promoted as the worlds largest of its kind.

Early life and education

Ethel was born on August 16, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona to parents Samuel Christy (Chris) and Alice Madora Robertson. Chris and Alice were married on October 19, 1880 and had traveled by wagon train from St. Joseph, Missouri via Leadville, Colorado to Tombstone, Arizona Territory. They arrived in Tombstone on December 24, 1880 after traveling 1,000 miles in two months and three days and remained residents of Cochise County until their deaths. Her mother died November 5, 1895 three days after the birth of her eight child, Ashley Robertson. Ethel and the family moved to Pearce, Arizona in June 1896.

She spent one year taking courses at the preparatory school at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Early in her second year of courses her father requested that she return to Pearce to help the family. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was released on parole after serving seven years, and receiving three years for good behavior. Following the death of their father, Ethel the eldest and her four minor siblings were declared wards of the court and moved back to the family home in Tombstone in 1899. She took in children boarders whose parents lived outside Tombstone working at nearby mines.

Ethel and Bert had two daughters, Iris Ivey Macia (June 8, 1908) and Jeanne Harriet Macia (August 6, 1914) and a son, Col J. H. Macia Jr. (April 10, 1916) who served in World War II as part of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942.

In 1919, Ethel and Bert purchased the Arcade Hotel (built in 1878) and operated it as a boardinghouse. The rose tree grew so large that in 1937, Ethel renamed her business the Rose Tree Inn. The rose tree was claimed to be the largest in the world by Ripley's Believe it or Not (1936) and Guinness World Records.

Ethel was an active member of the Arizona Pioneer Historical Society, serving as Vice President. As part of her work with the Tombstone Restoration Commission, Ethel helped secure the Tombstone Courthouse as part of the first year plan (1959–1960) of the Arizona State Parks Board to become a state monument.

She served as the local representative of the Arizona Children's Home in Tucson. for more than 30 years.

Awards and honors In 1953, Ethel was selected as the Queen of Helldorado at the age of 72. Ethel dressed in a vintage gown sat among the old timers buried in Boothill Graveyard, and recounted stories about those she had known and those she had only heard about, such as Wyatt Earp.

In 2010, she was inducted into the Tombstone Founders' Day Hall of Fame.

Death

Ethel died on August 3, 1964 at Tombstone General Hospital. Her funeral services were held on August 6, 1964 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and she was buried at Tombstone Cemetery.