Harry Burton Flaharty

Harry and his brother came to Skagway in 1897. Harry was known as “Flick” and his brother was known as “Tuck”. They were from Bucyrus, Ohio where “Flick” was born on this day June 23, 1867. Flick worked as a White Pass foreman and later in 1910 was a city councilman. He moved to Long Beach California where he married Ellen and then died there in 1948. In the picture above, Flick is on the left, Tuck on the right. Tuck was alot more exciting, but he will have his own blog later.

Just fyi, I am going south to deal with family business and will be back mid July. So have a good 4th of July and stay safe out there!

censuses; California death record; rootsweb.

Hem Hess Jang

Hem Jang is one of the few Chinese men who were in Skagway in the Gold Rush. He died while in jail of “acute insanity” which could mean anything. He died on this day, June 22, 1902 and is buried in the Gold Rush Cemetery but there is no headboard for him.

Pictured above is another Chinese man, Chew Chung Thui who was a kind and generous benefactor to goldrushers. He was also known as Joe the Baker or China Joe for his work in Juneau. He lived there between 1882 and his death in 1917.

Skagway Death Record; Juneau historical websites.

Dr. John P. Brawand

Dr. Brawand AKA James P. Browand was a physician and surgeon at the Red Cross Hospital and the White Pass Hospital in Skagway from 1897 to his death, on this day, June 21, 1914. Brawand was born in Iowa in 1861 to Swiss parents but came to Skagway from Chicago.

In addition to being a doctor he was also a civil engineer and served on the Skagway City Council in 1910,1911, and 1912.

He had a child living with him in 1910 probably an orphan. He is buried in the Elks Cemetery which is above the Pioneer Cemetery.

Polks Gazateer, censuses, Skagway Death Record.

Charles Leroy Cartwright

Charles was born in Indiana in 1854 and came to Skagway around 1902. He married Elizabeth Abigail Deshamp and they had 5 boys born between 1903 and 1910: Claty, John, Frederick, Chester and Clarence. Claty died soon after he was born, but the other boys and Abby lived with Charles in a cabin near the railroad tracks at mile 6.5 between Denver and Rocky Point. The view from there is seen above. Must have been lonely for Abby and the boys because she left Charles after the 1920 census. She then remarried in Everett Washington in 1924.

Charles worked as the White Pass athletic club janitor and died on this day, June 20, 1931 in Skagway and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery.

Censuses, Skagway death record, Washington records online.

Annie Maria Maltby

Annie Maria Hanson was born in 1860 in Canada and married John Robert Maltby in 1882 in New Brunswick. John was an attorney who practiced in Dawson until 1903 when he died of tuberculosis. Annie moved to Skagway and roomed at Ma Pullen’s Hotel where she died on this day, June 18, 1910 of heart disease (she was 50).

census; family obituary online.

Thomas Joseph Doren

Mr. Doren was born in 1860 in Ireland. He came to Skagway in 1897 and worked as a painter. His wife Ida worked as a cook for White Pass. Their daughter Lillian worked as a laundress and later married Perry Hern here in Skagway in 1916. He is seen working on the building which is used as the Trail Center for the Chilkoot Trail today. Now it is painted a pretty blue.

Thomas died on this day, June 17, 1903 in Skagway of a pelvic abscess. He is buried in the Gold Rush cemetery.

censuses; Skagway Death Record.

Bernice and Clara

A Miss Robins entered the Yukon on this day, June 16, 1898 from Superior, Wisconsin. By 1900 there were two girls, Bernice and Clara (last names unknown in the census), but also from Superior, who worked here as “variety girl singer and variety girl dancer”.
It is possible that one of these girls was the Miss Robins who went to Dawson and then returned by 1900 to Skagway. The gold rush was beginning to wane and people were beginning to go home.
This is an example of two things: the difficulty in matching first and last names to people and reading between the lines. I wonder what became of the girls from Superior?

census; Yukon website.

James Vincent Tropea


Mr. Tropea was born on this day, June 15, 1873 in Italy. He came to Skagway in 1897, he was a baker. Sometime later he married another native Italian, Clara, and they had two daughters born in 1918 and 1919: Marie and Rosie.
James was a Councilman in 1933-34 here in Skagway. He bought the Golden North Hotel in 1937, and died in Skagway in 1946.

census data; Alaska marriage records; World War 1 registration.

Andrews family


Clarence Leroy Andrews was born in Ashtabula Ohio in 1862 and moved to Oregon with his father in 1864. He and his wife Ida Swaggart and their three daughters, Annie Clare, Mabel and Washti or Vashti moved to Skagway in 1897. Clarence was the deputy collector for U.S.customs, a photographer, an auditor, and a representative for the Education Bureau. Although the family was here in Skagway until after the 1900 census, they returned to Oregon.
On this day, June 14, 1903 there was a terrible flood in Heppner. Mrs Andrews and the three girls drowned there. Clarence was here in Skagway and survived. He served as councilman for the town in 1901, and finally left in 1929. Clarence died in 1948 in Eugene Oregon. He took a number of unusual photographs, this one is from Glacier Bay and titled “The Father of the Glaciers” taken in 1902.

Clarence Leroy Andrews letters and photographs are in the University of Oregon.

May Raymond


In 1904, May Raymond living in Skagway was committed to the Morningside Hospital in Fairbanks. She died on this day, June 13, 1905.

Wickersham papers; personal photo