Joseph Amasa Munk

Who was Joseph Amasa Munk?

Joseph Amasa Munk was a Los Angeles, California physician who had an interest in a Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona ranch, who became greatly interested in the history and lore of Arizona. He accumulated a large and important collection of books about Arizona, which he donated to the University of Arizona in Tucson. He also wrote a copiously illustrated guide, Arizona Sketches, to some of the more important landmarks in the state.

Munk was born in Columbiana County, Ohio on Nov 9, 1847, son of Joseph and Maria Rosenberry Munk. He fought in Civil War, and after he returned home in 1865 he attended Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio and then at Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1869. He first practiced in Lindsey, Ohio, then in Chillicothe, Missouri, Topeka, Kansas, and finally settled in Los Angeles, California. In 1876 he was elected Vice President of the National Eclectic Medical Association. He was also Professor and Dean of Climatology of the Los Angeles Eclectic Policinic, of which he was a founder. Munk married Emma Beazall in 1873. He died in Los Angeles 4 Dec 1927.