Captain Granville H. Oury
by Robert M. Wilbanks IV
Granville Henderson Oury was born on March 12th, 1825 in Washington County, Virginia. He, and his brother William, came to Arizona in 1856. As an early Arizona pioneer he was a mine owner, an attorney and judge, a businessman and later served in the territorial legislature and the United States Congress.
Despite the threat of the Apache Indians, he operated several mines in southern Arizona, and in 1857, he led an expedition to attempt to rescue the Henry Crabb filibusterers, a group of American adventurers killed in Caborca while invading Mexico.
Just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Oury joined with fellow sympathizers to fight for secession. He attended a constitutional convention of Confederate partisans in Tucson in early April 1860. He was designated to keep notes for the convention. Lobbying since 1857, Oury finally saw the creation of the Arizona Territory. Oury was appointed chief justice by Governor Lewis Owings.
On August 5th, 1861 Oury was elected as a delegate to the Confederate Congress from the territory of Arizona. By early Fall of 1861 he was in Richmond, Virginia. It wasn't until January 18th, 1862 that he was recognized and seated by the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. This Provisional Congress existed from February 4th, 1861 to February 17th, 1862. On the later date, the First Confederate Congress was established. Jefferson Davis finally made a proclamation recognizing the Arizona Territory on February 14th, 1862.
In the Spring of 1862 Oury was ousted as the Arizona territorial delegate, due to Baylor's political power. By mid-May Oury was in Mesilla and was publicly speaking out against Baylor and his regime.
Eventually, Oury enlisted in the Confederate Army serving in Captain Frazer's Company known as Frazer's Arizona Rangers which was a part of Herbert's Cavalry Battalion, Arizona Brigade, organized in late 1862. When Frazer was promoted to Major of the battalion, Oury was promoted to Captain of the Arizona Rangers.
By July 1862 the Confederate Forces were completely out of Arizona and New Mexico. These Arizona forces, including Oury and his company, served in Texas and Louisiana. In the Spring of 1863, Oury asked to resign his commission. General Sibley consented to his request, explaining that "Oury's Company is so small that his services can readily be dispensed with." Eventually, Herbert's Battalion was completely broken up by May 1863. Oury wanted to return to Arizona, where Sibley felt "he can be of great use." However, it is not known whether he returned to Union-held Arizona at this time.
Sometime in 1863, Oury had married his cousin, Malvina "Mina" Sanders.
On February 14th, 1864, the second anniversary of the formation of the Arizona Territory, Oury, along with 13 men, met in San Antonio, Texas to plan ways to retake the Arizona Territory. Nothing appears to have come of this, and through the end of the year, and possibly into 1865, Oury served as a spy in Matamoros, Mexico and later as the Brownsville, Texas Provost Marshal.
On June 28th, 1865, a group of Confederate Soldiers and Civilians at Fort Duncan, Eagle Pass, Texas, made preparations to escape into exile into Mexico. The services of this Confederate Force was offered to Emperor Maximilian, but upon arriving in Mexico this offer was refused. Oury and his wife were among these refugees. Oury and his family wandered several months in Mexico. He finally took the oath of allegiance to the United States and returned to his law practice in Tucson.
In 1866 he was elected from Pima County to the Arizona Territorial Legislative Council, later serving as Speaker of the House. He was elected a total of three times to the territorial legislature.
Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Oury moved to Florence, from where he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He served two terms.
Oury died on January 11th, 1891 in Florence and was buried in the cemetery which served both Florence, and the now extinct community of Adamsville.