On this day, August 2, 1903 two men went out fishing and never returned. They both drowned when they ran into trouble out in Lynn Canal. Patrick Comer was buried in the Skagway Gold Rush Cemetery but Mr. Stanley or Standley was shipped down to Seattle to be buried.
Stanley was the first Mayor of Skagway and joined the Arctic Brotherhood in 1899, he was 50 years old when he died. Comer was a fisherman and was 45 years old when he died.
Also died on this day was Herman Meyer, famous in this town for his building “Meyer’s Meat Market” which is now under reconstruction by the National Park Service on the corner of 5th and State Streets.
Meyer was a butcher, owned the Arctic Meat Company, and also managed the Arctic Telephone Company. He moved to Valdez in 1903 and died in Alaska on August 2, 1923.
Skagway death records; 1900 census; 1902 directory.
Where did you find the obit for Herman Meyer? He moved back to Seattle for a while, as we was a partner in a nut importing business with Carsten Bros. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment and info, I did not know he went back to Seattle for awhile. I found that at the National Park Service library. They have a list of newspaper stories from Alaska, by last name and the Fairbanks newspaper listed that. I did not read the full obit, just the listing. You can contact the park historian, Karl Gurcke at the park and he may have more information. Herman Meyer ran the Meyer Meat Market in Skagway which the Park is currently restoring – that is, the warehouse, not the market. Karls email is: Karl_Gurcke@nps.gov
Hello,
interesting information! I’m Philip Stanley, great-grandson of John Stanley. Our family records indicate that John passed away in 1922 in Los Angeles, though that may be in some doubt since it appears he was estranged from his wife and children. John moved from San Diego to Alaska in the 1890’s and my great-grandmother and her children moved to Oakland, CA.
Do you happen to have sources on John Stanley you can share?
Thanks!