Mr. Fiquette arrived in Skagway in 1898 and stayed here as a merchant and gardener for the rest of his life. He passed away at the age of 69 on this day, April 7, 1924 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Skagway.
Albion S. Towle
Albion Towle was born in 1863 in Venzie, Maine. He came to Skagway in 1898 from Snohomish Washington where he had a shingle business. He was a hotelier at Lake Bennett, when he died on this day, March 31, 1898. He was a member of the order of foresters, AOUW and so was shipped home to Snohomish to be buried. This from the online obit:
“…Mr. Towle wanted to go in but did not get away until last January. He went to Skagway and in February sent for his wife. They then started over the pass for Lake Bennet, where they opened a log cabin hotel, and were doing well financially, until early in the morning of March 24th, Mr. Towle was suddenly taken very sick with puenmonia, and in less than an hour was delirous, never again wholly recoving consciouness.
The folling Sunday morning Mrs. Towle secured a sled and dog team, and with the assistance of one man, started with her husband for medical aid at Skagway. She walked bside the sled, watching over him and keeping his face and hands from freezing, while passing through the fearful cold part of the journey at the summit.
They arrived in Skagway at nine o’clock at night and Mr. Towle was placed in the hospital. During the entire trip from morning till night walking thirty-seven miles, Mrs. Towle did not take a particle of nourishment, and this with her anxiety for her husband and the fathigue of the long hard climb, was too much for her, and after she had secured his comfort, she completely collapsed, and was herself prostrate until after arriving in Snohomish. The Snohomish boys at Skagway immediately came to her service, and everything possible was done for Mr. Towle, but on the following Thursday he succumbed to the disease.
The body was brought back to Seattle on the first steamer, and Messrs. M.J. Bird and James Sipprell accompanied the beraved widow and her dead through from the north and take the body was laid to rest in Woodlwan cemetery. Mrs. Towle and the bereaved relatives have the sympathy of the entire community in their sad bereavement.”
The symbol above is for the Ancient Order of United Workmen:
“The American fraternal benefit network began with the organization the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Meadville, Pennsylvania on October 27, 1868. The AOUW was founded by John Jordan Upchurch, a Mason, with the aim of adjusting “all differences which may arise between employers and employees, and to labor for the development of a plan of action that may be beneficial to both parties, based on the eternal truth that the interests of labor and capitol are equal and should receive equal protection.” Each member paid $1 into the insurance fund to cover the sum of not less than $500 in benefits paid to a members dependents when he died. Each time a member died, $1 was due from the surviving members to reestablish the fund. Fraternal benefits societies soon became quite popular as a means of providing financial protection to working class people at an affordable rate.”
obit online in rootsweb: Snohomish County Tribune,4-15-1898
William Wray
On this day, March 12, 1898 William Wray died of gunshot wounds he received on March 9, from his former roommate and intimate friend, Thompson Doucan. Doucan was a barber at the O.K. Barber Shop at the foot of Paradise Alley. While at the “O.W. Johnson Saloon” on the Pacific Coast dock, Doucan shot Wray and then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
The Skagway news described Mr. Wray as a 36-year old merchant and boat builder who was inoffensive and well liked. The paper said that Doucan however, possessed a “morose disposition and was considered materially ‘off’ by those who knew him intimately”.
Sounds like a lot of intimacy going around.
Martha Louise Munger Purdy Black
Martha Black is well known in the Yukon. Although she was reported to be the first woman to cross the Chilkoot Trail, she was actually the 5th (first was “Dutch Kate” Wilson in 1887, 2nd was Bell Healey in 1888, 3rd was Emilie Tremblay in 1894 and 4th was Jesse McDougall in 1895).
Martha Munger was born on this day, February 24, 1866 in Chicago.
When news of the Klondike gold discoveries reached the Outside, Martha and her husband Will Purdy made plans to head North. At the last minute, however, Will Purdy got a better offer to go to Hawaii. Martha was determined to break away from the straight-laced life she had led, and continued on without him – she was never to see her husband again.
Martha left Dawson for a year, but returned in 1900, when she joined a mining syndicate. The following year, her father arrived with the machinery to set up a sawmill, and a stamp mill for assaying the ore from quartz mines which were being developed. Martha was put in charge of the mills, and when she needed a lawyer, George Black came highly recommended. Within 2 weeks George had proposed marriage, but Martha held off for over 2 years. They were finally married in Martha’s large home at the sawmill on August 1, 1904. George was elected to Parliament in 1921 and served until 1935, when he was forced to resign due to ill health. Martha then ran in his place, and at the age of 69, she became only the second woman ever to be elected to Canada’s Parliament.
If you go to Whitehorse there is a beautiful “May Day” tree just off of 2nd by the city office building. The placque there says that it was Martha Black’s tree. In the spring when it blooms with hundreds of fragrant white blossoms, it is a beautiful reminder of a great lady. Martha died in 1957 in Whitehorse.
From numerous sources.
John Cleveland Kirmse
Jack Kirmse, son of Herman Kirmse, born in Skagway in 1906 died on this day, February 10, 1993 in Carlsbad, California, he was 87 years old.
Herman and his first wife Ida Shonknioler moved to Skagway in the gold rush in 1897 and established themselves as jewelers. Ida died of convulsions in 1900 and so Herman married Hazel Cleveland here in Skagway.
Jack and his wife Georgette lived in Skagway for many years. They owned the Moore House on 5th Avenue which had been in the family since 1907 when Ben Moore sold it to Herman. In 1977 Jack sold the house to the National Park Service and it was restored with antique furnishings. The house is open to the public in the summer to view.
Each year the Skagway school awards the “Jack Kirmse Scholarship” to a graduating senior, and in 2003, Arlen McCluskey (see January 20, 2010 blog) was awarded this scholarship which helped him pursue his educational goals.
This coming summer the Kirmse’s shop on the corner of 5th and Broadway will again be open for business by local residents Cara Cosgrove and Bruce Weber who will sell unique Alaskan crafts and jewelery made by local artisans. The totem poles on the south side of the shop and the clock face on the mountainside are popular for tourists to photograph.
In the picture above you can see both the shop sign and the sign painted on the rocks above town advertising Kirmse’s. The clock face on the clock shows the time of 7:20 which some have said is the time of Lincoln’s death, but actually it has another meaning: in the U.S. clockmakers will set the face of the clocks they are showing in the shop to 7:20 to show the symmetry of the clock face. A Swiss jeweler told me that in Europe they set their clocks to 10:10, the difference being that it makes a smile instead of a sad mouth – a “sourir” I think she said.
Thomas Clarke Noyes
Sadly, on this day Mr. Noyes passed away in 1916 at the age of 44 in British Columbia of pneumonia.
Thomas had fallen in love with his wife, Frances Patchen after seeing her on stage back east and they were married in 1897 in Minnesota. Mr. Noyes and his bride Frances came here in 1897. Later, after settling in Candle, Alaska, Tom established the T.C. Noyes Banking Co. and became associated with the mining industry. They went to Nome in 1900 where he became the U.S. Commissioner. Later, in 1905 he was appointed by Mr. Godfrey Chealander to be one of the directors of the famous Alaska Yukon Exposition Fair in Seattle.
from the Muncaster paper collection, Alaska archives
Martin Conway
Martin Conway was born in 1861 in Ireland but came to Skagway in the goldrush. He stayed for 30 years until his death here on January 18, 1930.
During the time Conway lived in Skagway he was a merchant in 1905-the manager of B.M. Behrends dry goods; then United States Commissioner and Judge from 1908 to 1915; treasurer & Magistrate of Skagway in 1915; and finally the Postmaster from 1916 to 1930. Martin’s wife was Rachel Quinlan born in Saint John, NB Canada and worked for White Pass at Bennett and Carcross. His daughter Elizabeth and sons John (Jack) and Martin Jr. were born in Skagway between 1903-1907. John succeeded Martin as Postmaster of Skagway in 1930 when Martin died.
Martin Conway is buried in the Skagway Pioneer Cemetery. The photo above is of Martin, it was shared by his descendent.
Christmas Day Murders 1899
On this day, December 25, 1899 one of the most famous triple homicides in Yukon history occurred. Although it happened in the Yukon, it involved a young man,26 years old, Frederick Clayson who came to Skagway with his widowed mother and brothers and sisters. They started a general store here which continued until at least 1915. One sister, Ester was married to Dr. Pohl of Skagway.
The murder occurred at Minto and was done by perhaps two men who laid in wait for travelers. George O’Brien shot and beat to death Clayson, Olsen and Lynne Relf. His crimes went undiscovered for some weeks despite the Clayson family pushing the NWMP to investigate. One especially brilliant Mountie did a crime scene search once the bodies were discovered. The bodies had been pushed into the river but floated downstream. The NWMP interviewed many people and eventually discovered the murderer who had stolen a dog that belonged to one of the men they killed. The dog was a large yellow dog which the Mounties then used to lead them to the scene of the crime. This investigation led to George O’Brien’s subsequent execution in Dawson and became the source of the saying “They always get their man” when referring to the Mounties. The second murderer was never caught, but it was thought he died soon after anyway.
Fred Clayson had been returning from Dawson on a bicycle – an astonishing feat in itself! His family later moved to Oregon and one of his sisters became a famous physician there.
The picture above is of Fred’s mother, Annie Quinton Clayson and is from the OHSU website from the Ester Pohl Lovejoy collection.
Scipio G. Ratto
Scipio G. Ratto was born in San Francisco, April 14, 1869, the only son of Mary Cuneo and pioneer Bartholomew Ratto who migrated to the United States from Italy in 1849. Bartholomew Ratto settled in California in 1852, arriving in San Francisco on S.S. GOLDEN GATE after traveling across Isthmus of Panama via muleback. He had a general store in Mother Lode country, Calaveras County. Later he owned and managed two bakeries in San Francisco, one located in the downtown area on Post-Street (present site of Olympic Club), another on Dupont Street (now Grant Ave.) Subsequently they lived with son, Scipio, in the historical old Montgomery Block in San Francisco and managed the building in late 1890s.
As a boy and young man, Scipio Ratto came to Sausalito on family picnics and club gatherings (south end of Sausalito). He grew to love the town, its quiet atmosphere, its scenery, and the blue waters of San Francisco Bay.
Scipio Ratto journeyed to Alaska and Yukon Territory with his cousin Ernest Ratto, during the gold rush of 1897. They left San Francisco on S.S. UMATILLA on Sunday, July 25, 1897. While in Alaska and the Yukon, they prospected for gold.
The receipt above would seem to indicate that “B. Ratto”, his father Bartholomew, bought a few things in San Francisco for Scipio.
Scipio was later a clerk in Dawson, working in stores of J. Timmins and George Bieber in Dawson. By the 1920’s he was back living in Sausilito, California. He had step-brothers Gervasio, Giovanni and John in San Francisco where he died on this day, December 22, in 1951, he was 82.
There was a branch of the Red Front Clothiers in Skagway which is now owned by the National Park Service and leased to businesses. The park is now renovating it to rent to another jeweler next summer.
His daughters donated his papers to the Alaska Library and wrote the biographical information above.
Jack Dalton
Jack Dalton had a very long and very interesting life. He was described by a woman in Haines as “a dapper, well-dressed, ladies man”. He is best known for opening up the “Dalton Trail” out of Haines.
He ran a hotel in Haines in 1896 and later arrested Jack Wade for murder, but also was himself jailed for shooting a shopkeeper McGinnis. He was later acquitted.
He was mentioned in the 1903 AK Boundary Tribunal by Don-a-wak, chief of the Chilkat Indians. In 1886, Jack signed on as roustabout and camp cook with the Schwatka-New York Times expedition to climb Mt. St. Elias. The party began their ascent at tidewater in Icy Bay on July 17, 1886. They traversed rugged terrain for twenty-five to thirty days, crossed fast coastal rivers, and reached an elevation of about 5,700-feet before Schwatka’s health failed, which terminated the first recorded attempt on the difficult mountain.
Dalton is featured in the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation website.
Born in 1856 in Michigan, he died in San Francisco on December 15, 1944.