Category: Skagway families

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List of Lawyers

Here is a list of 59 lawyers or attorneys in Skagway in the early days:

Acklen, Adams, Agner, Barnes, Bennett, Blackett, Bowman, Boyce, Burton, Carrier, Cassidy, Church, Corliss, Dautoff, Day, Dixon, Dillon, Elliot, Erwin, Goldschmidt, Grant, Gunnison, Hall, Hamilton, Hartman, Harding, Hartners, Helmcken, Hills, Jennings, Knapp, Lightfoot, Lilly, Lovell, Marquam, McEneny, Miller, O’Donnell, Ostrander, Paulsell, Perkins, Pratt, Price, Rasmuson, Sehlbrede, Shackelford, Shorthill, Shoup, Smith, Stevens, Taylor, Tupper, VanHorn, Webb, Weldon, Wilcoxen, Williams, Winn, Young.

Most had some other profession such as retail, lumber, teaching, hospitality, secretary, tax collection, judgeship, mining, hay & grain and engineering. Some worked for Soapy (Van Horn, Weldon, Dixon, and O’Donnell) and some worked for White Pass (Elliott, Harding, Cassidy, Hartman, and Helmcken).

Seen above is a likely set of characters.

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William H. Phelps


Vinta and Marcus Phelps came to Skagway around 1908. They had at least 6 kids here, one died as an infant, one drowned in Icy Lake, and William died at Normandy in World War two. William was born in Skagway in 1917 and died on this day, August 3, 1944. He received the Purple Heart and is buried at the Normany American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer, France, seen above. His mother Vinta died a few months later and is buried in the Skagway Pioneer Cemetery with her husband and children.

Genealogytrails.com; Skagway Death Record; 1910, 1920 and 1929 censuses.

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Capt. Moore and Hendrika

Captain William Moore and his wife Hendrika Fenn Moore retired to Victoria after founding Skagway, or Mooresville as they preferred it to be called. When they died in 1909 and 1911 they were buried in the Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I could not find his grave after hours of searching, but recently a fellow sleuth, Suzy Kerrigan took the tour by the local docent and found the grave. It is not marked but there is a big tree growing there. She sent me a photo of it which I am sharing with you all. Hats off to Capt. Moore and Hendrika!

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George R. Dedman


Mr. Dedman was born in 1858 in Missouri and came to Skagway from Portland. He first started a laundry here in 1898. His wife, Clara, joined him several months after his arrival. She landed two days after Soapy Smith was shot. They purchased a two story mercantile building, moved it from State Street to Broadway and turned it into the Golden North Hotel in 1907. They had two kids, Henry Alaska and Nelda. Henry got into photography early on and the Dedman’s store is still in business on Broadway in the summer. His granddaughter and great granddaughter still live in Skagway year round and also have a store on State Street called Granny’s Gallery.
George died on this day June 27, 1925 in Skagway and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery with Clara, Henry and his wife Bessie.
Seen above is Betsy acting goofy in front of Granny’s Gallery.

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Ida May Dillon


Ida May was Marshal Dillon’s daughter. She married Charles Olsen or Olson and on this day, June 24, 1908 she gave birth to a son, Philip E. Olson but unfortunately Ida May died in childbirth. She is buried in the Gold Rush Cemetery and has a delightful grave with a long flower pot on the top that often has wildflowers blooming.
Her son, Philip was adopted by Carl Larson and Edith Feero Larson. Philip stayed in Skagway and was a White Pass employee. His daughter still lives in Skagway part of the year. The Larsons went on to have four more kids, Stewart, Uremia, Ellen and Velma.
I have never heard what became of Charles Olson, his father, perhaps he was too young to care for his son and left town.
Ida May Dillon’s grave is seen just to the left of the new black platform above.

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Edgar H. Wilson


Wilson was a very early businessman in Dyea. He and Healy ran a trading post in the 1880’s. Wilson was born in 1842 and was married to Katherine or Kittie Brown and had a 6 year old son and girls Gladys and Ethyl, newborns, when he died, on this day, May 20, 1895 in Juneau. Kittie and family stayed on at least until 1900 and then must have moved on.
Seen above is the Healy and Wilson trading post as photographed by Anton Vogee on Decoration Day (Memorial Day) 1898.

Cohen; AK Searchlight obit 5/20/1895

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Marion Granger Clark


Marion Granger was born on February 4, 1866 in Calhoun, Wisconsin. When she was 35 she married Henry David Clark in Tacoma and they moved to Skagway to farm. A Clark child was born and died in 1902 who may have been their first child, but they then had two daughters, Floris in 1904 and Dorothy in 1910 who are often pictured in the fields of Clark Farm on postcards.
Henry first started potato farming in Dyea and later had a farm on the other side of the Skagway River where the Jewell Gardens are now. In the tea room are several enlarged photos of the family and the gardens.
Marion was the treasurer of the Presbyterian Church for 26 years and died on this day, April 28, 1947 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery with Henry.
Above is picture of a modern gardener at Jewell Gardens with a bushel of organic vegetables! Last summer our family did the CSA with them and I plan to again – what a great program! It is so great to know that your food is free of pesticides and chemicals. Garden On!

1920 and 1929 Skagway census; Mills page 64; Skagway death record; 1880 census in Wisconsin; 1915 directory.

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Graphie Carmack


The daughter of George Carmack and Kate Nadagaat Tlaa Kaachgaawaa Mason, Graphie was born on January 11, 1893 in Fort Selkirk, Yukon. George met Kate at Healy’s Trading Post in Dyea and they were a common-law marriage until about 1900. That year George took Kate and Graphie to Holister, California to live with his sister. He went back to Dawson where he fell for Marguerite Saftig L’Aimee a large handsome woman who ran a cigar store. Now it was said at the time that Marguerite sold more than cigars, the men loved her. George took her to Olympia Washington where they were married in October 1900. He then took Graphie from her mother and the new family moved to Seattle with Marguerite’s brother, Jacob Saftig.
Jacob, 33, fell for Graphie, 17 and she became pregnant. They married on June 30, 1910 and their first son, Ernest Charles Saftig was born three months later on October 7, 1910. Later, Graphie remarried someone named Rogers because she died as Mrs. Graphie G. Rogers on March 25, 1963 in California, either in Lodi or Los Angeles. She was 70.
I had a visitor come to my desk last summer who claimed her grandfather was G.W. Carmack, son of George Carmack and that he died in Poteau, Oklahoma but could not give me any further information, so perhaps George had other kids from either Kate or Marguerite.
There has been alot of interest in George Washington Carmack with the release of Howard Blum’s book, Floor of Heaven. It is a fun read if you haven’t read anything else on the story, but the footnotes are a little vague, in my opinion. But what do I know…seen above is a cabin with George, Kate and Graphie in happy times.

WA state records; California death index; SS death index.Canadianmysteries.ca; Johnson; Thornton; Kitty Smith oral history:Life Lived Like a story; WA 1910 census;1901 Carcross census;Polk County News, Dec 20, 1923.

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Clean Sweep


Today marks the 43rd year that local folks of Skagway showed up in their grubby clothes and extra-toughs to pick up trash bags for project Clean Sweep. I don’t know how many people helped today, but there was certainly a great showing given the fact it was cool and blowing. Although earlier this spring the Chamber of Commerce seemed to be on the ropes, the good directors and members pulled off a great luncheon too.
Reed and I decided to clean Pullen Creek by the Peniel Mission. After the devastation of the “hazard tree removal” action last fall, most of the slash and brush had accumulated in the tiny creek. Plastic bags, pieces of cardboard, aluminum cans, one petrified coconut, and even an ancient car battery were also caught up. We noted some new bear poop and we talked to a few visitors from Whitehorse who came down for the long weekend.
We took naps after the luncheon, and I’m now eating the leftover cupcakes I made for the event. Wish you were here to share one!

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deadly Chamber of Commerce meeting


Henry Clay Parker was one of the members of the Chamber of Commerce meeting in Skagway held on March 28, 1900. During the meeting he had a heart attack and died. What were they discussing?
Mr. Parker was born on this day April 17, 1848 in Illinois and came to Skagway with his wife and son. He worked with Aggers in a business they called appropriately Parker and Aggers, but what they did is a mystery.
His wife had his funeral held in the new Arctic Brotherhood Hall, it was the first funeral held here in the hall. Henry was a member of the AB and apparently also the International Order of Odd Fellows as that is also on his headstone, seen above in the Gold Rush cemetery.

Alaska Weekly 1931 article;Skag death rec;