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The Edgerton Database |
Sarah Grace Edgerton, daughter of Frank Page and Etta Blanche (George) Edgerton.
Michael N. Bakarich
Children:
M. M. McCool The
following obituary for Mrs. Sarah Grace (Edgerton) Bakarich McCool was
published in The Bisbee Observer on
Friday, January 30, 1992: “Sarah Grace Edgerton Bakarich McCool, 88, died Saturday, January 25, 1992 at her home, the Lazy Y-5 Ranch on Moson Road near Sierra Vista. Her weekly column, 'Out of the Pat', has appeared in The Bisbee Observer for nearly seven years. Mrs. McCool was born March 16, 1903 in Waterloo, Iowa to Frank and Etta Page. She came West in 1929 with her husband, Michael Bakarich, and three children to settle in Bisbee. They later filed the last homestead claim in Cochise County in Horsethief Draw, next to the Clanton Ranch. Much of the home building and daily chores at the Quarter Circle B Ranch, as it was known then, was done by her and the children since her husband worked in the mines. During those early years, she gave birth to five more children and taught school. In 1948 Michael Bakarich was killed in a mining accident, leaving her to raise eight children alone. At about that time, she began her career as a writer. Her interest in history and the pioneers had been fueled by her search for her great uncle Al “The Kansas Kid” George, who came west in 1878 with a cattle drive and mysteriously disappeared. She questioned many of the oldtimers and was rewarded with many tales worthy of recording. Her research led her to write her first western history article for the Chicago Tribune. She continued to write articles for the Bisbee Review, Douglas Dispatch, Tombstone Epitaph, Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Star, and The Bisbee Observer. She eventually found her uncle buried in Boot Hill, Tombstone. He had been killed by Indians at the Black Diamond Mine. Mrs. McCool met her second husband, Dr. M.M. McCool while writing an article on his work as a soils analyst. They were married in 1950. Dr. McCool died in 1954. She continued to write and has published four books about the history of Cochise County and has had more than 1,500 articles printed in 16 different publications. She was also a licensed local preacher in the Methodist Church. At the time of her death she lived in the ranch house she helped build in 1935, but today the ranch is called the Lazy Y-5 and has expanded to 6,000 acres and incorporates the old Clanton Ranch. Three of her children live on the ranch and most of the family lives in the area.” |