08/28/2025
The front of the Tombstone building got a facelift this week. Thanks to Steve for helping build the new barn doors, and Brad for creating and helping hang the new Lexington Livery Stables sign. If you're wondering why it says Lexington Livery Stables now instead of Jack Crabtree Livery like it used to, the short answer is because that's what historical research found. The long answer is:
This building is an original adobe building dating back to the 1880’s. The building originally served as a livery stable for horses and had barn doors on the front instead of the picture windows and false front that you see today. The building was first owned by Ed Bullock who did business under the name Lexington Livery Stables. Records show that on 5/21/1881, Ed Bullock sold 50% ownership in this livery to Mary Ann Crabtree for $1500. This sale and the events that followed would cause this building to be remembered and marked on maps to this day as the Jack Crabtree Livery, even though there’s no evidence that the name ever changed from Lexington Livery Stables.
You see, Mary Ann Crabtree was the mother of Lotta Crabtree. Lotta Crabtree was the highest paid actress in the 1880’s and was said to earn $5000 per week (more than $150,000/week in 2023 money). Mary Ann managed Lotta’s finances and business interests which included setting up Lotta’s brother, John Ashworth Crabtree Jr. (Jack), in business ventures, including the 50% ownership of this livery. Jack Crabtree wouldn’t stay long in Tombstone but he certainly left his mark.
While in Tombstone, Jack allegedly fathered a child, Carlotta (born 3/19/1881) with Annie Leopold. Jack left Tombstone sometime after Carlotta was born, never to return. Annie then disappeared too, leaving Carlotta to be adopted by Ed Bullock.
On 10/27/1884, records show Mary Ann selling her 50% ownership in this livery back to Ed Bullock for $250. On the same day, Ed Bullock sold full ownership in this livery to Tombstone businessman Frank Austin for $800. Ed Bullock, who was described in his obituary as a horse trader and ranch owner, died in 1905 at the age of 64.
Lotta Crabtree died at age 76 in 1924, leaving behind an estate valued at approximately $4 million (about $70 million in 2023 money), but no heirs as Lotta had no children and all of her siblings had already passed. The lack of any known rightful heirs to Lotta’s estate brought forth many claiming to be just that, along with several court cases that dragged on until 1928 and were interesting enough to be well studied by law schools and even have at least one book written about them, The Triumphs and Trials of Lotta Crabtree.
One such claimant to the estate was Carlotta, who claimed to be Lotta’s niece. After being abandoned by Jack and Annie, and adopted by Ed Bullock, Carlotta, using the last name Bullock, was sent to live with Ed’s sister in Missouri for a number of years before being brought back to Arizona and placed in a Catholic orphanage in Tucson. Despite using the name Carlotta Cockburn at the time of Lotta’s death in 1924, Carlotta changed her last name to Crabtree and sought to win control of Lotta’s estate. A massive investigation took place with Pinkerton Detectives interviewing scores of Tombstone’s original players. Wyatt Earp was deposed in the case and stated that he knew Jack Crabtree and his wife and remembered them building a small office next to the livery where they slept in a carriage in which Carlotta was born. On a side note, when asked in his deposition if Tombstone was good, bad, or a lawless outpost in the 1880’s, Wyatt Earp responded with, “I called it good.” Additionally, Wyatt also said that “Tombstone was not half as bad as Los Angeles.” Why Wyatt would speak so fondly of Tombstone despite his and others well documented troubles here we can only speculate. Despite her efforts, Carlotta was unsuccessful in her conquest of Lotta’s estate. Carlotta was unable to convince the court that Jack Crabtree was her biological father, and therefore that she was Lotta’s niece. Lotta’s estate ultimately became a charitable trust that exists to this day.
Over the years this building has served many purposes. Many locals remember it being a bakery. It may have housed a newspaper office at one time. A photo, perhaps from the 1970’s shows that it was once a cabinet shop. Later it was a gun store before being left vacant for several years and purchased in 2021 to be remodeled for its current purpose.
Special thanks to the late Kevin Pyles at the Cochise County Archives for spending hours pouring through original Tombstone records in their possession to help piece this story together. Additional information was obtained from the following books: The Triumphs and Trials of Lotta Crabtree, and The Tombstone Business Directory 1880-1884.
