This picture apparently hangs in the Peniel housing in Skagway. It is a photo of Victorine Yorba Tooley on the left seated and Mabel Ulery (Mrs. Holmes Cox) on the right, seated.
Behind them standing is probably John Jefferson Paulsell (born 1864). He was a college teacher who taught private grade school. He had been a criminal lawyer in Stockton, and in Skagway nursed men during the meningitis outbreak. He was a missionary who helped Ulery form the Peniel Mission in 1898. He would be 35 in 1899, but Mabel Ulery said of him: “His appearance was that of an older man, because of his gray hair, which was due to the terrible grief and shock he had suffered in his past life…”
The woman standing could be Miss Kline, Miss Josie Barnett, Gusta Carnahan who was Victorine’s sister or Roberta Yorba, Victorine’s daughter.
Skagway Churches in 1898
Despite the stories of murder, prostitution and robbery, there were also quite a few religious centers in Skagway in the 1890’s. Here is a list:
Fathers Tosi, Robaut, Seghers, Gougis, Rene of the Catholic Church
Rev. C.J. Larsen of the Norwegian Danish Methodist Church
Rev.’s Young, Dickey, Grant, Thwing, Pringle, Sinclair, Turkington, Cock of the Presbyterian Church
Bishop Bompas and Rev.’s Ridley and Rev. Richard John Bowen of the Anglican Church
Rev.’s Lyon, Carter, Howard, Cameron, Stuck, and Wooden of the Episcopalian Church
Ministers Dowell, McGill, Ellery, Kenny, Aitken, Ross and Booth of the Salvation Army
Rev.’s Jorden, Latourette, and Clevinger of the Baptist Church
Rev.’s Ulery, Kline, Tooley, Yorba, Barnett of Peniel Mission
Rev.’s Leach and Yokum of the American Episcopal
Missionaries Mr & Mrs White in Dyea in 1888
Independent Preachers Green, Williams, Mortimer, Gardiner, Sehlbrede, Leaman, Wright, Kiernoff, Warrens, Weavers, Rega, and Tourney.
I have found no reference to synagogues or Buddhist centers, but who knows?
Hope I haven’t missed any! I have written blogs on several people, but some disappear after the gold rush. I am reminded of Ray McKinnon’s wonderful portrayal of the real Rev. Henry Smith in the HBO series Deadwood, seen above.
many sources
Extortion?
So the other day on my daily trek between AB and city hall I passed a walking tour led by one of the RO girls. She was saying that Mabel could be called the biggest extortionist since she was getting something from someone relating to the Peniel Mission. I am intrigued! The only Mable that I have in my database is Mabel Ulery who was the Peniel Mission founder in 1898. She later became Mabel Holmes Cox and wrote a book in 1968 called the Lady Pioneer, which I have ordered and can’t wait to read! The “extortionist” is seen above….
If anyone knows the details of this intriguing story, please let me know!
Thomas James McGill
Tom McGill was born in 1863 on the farm in Elma Twp, Perth, Ontario to George McGill, an Irish immigrant and Margaret Sutherland who was of Scottish origin but born in Ontario Canada. It was a large family.
McGill was one of the members of the Klondike Brigade of missionaries sent to the Gold Fields to minister to the miners. He arrived in May 1898 on the steamer S.S. “Tees” to Skagway and then proceeded to Dyea.
He was also later a member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers. He and his wife Laura (who he married in 1899 in Victoria) probably settled in Vancouver since he wrote a book about the founding of the Salvation Army there. He died on this day, February 16, 1950 at the age of 87. The picture above is the Salvation Army in Dawson in 1900. It might be McGill.
http://thewillowscc.com/saheritage;1880 census for Perth, Ontario, Canada.
The Hallelujah Lassies
One of the many religious communities in Skagway during the Gold Rush, the Salvation Army had several people working here. The most famous was General Evangeline Cory Booth who was born on Christmas Day 1865 in London to the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth. The names of some of the others here were:
Lieut. Emma Matilda Aitken (middle row far right)
Adjutant George Dowell (middle row, second from left)
Ensign Rebecca Ellery (middle row, far left)
Captain John Kenny (top row, second from left)
Ensign Thomas James McGill (top row, second from right)and his wife Laura Aikenhead McGill (not pictured)
Ensign Fred Bloss (top row far right)
Ensign Frank Morris (top row first on left)
Captain John Lecocq (front row)
These were members of the 1898 “Klondike Brigade” of nine Salvation Army soldiers, seven men and two women (well actually three if you include Mrs McGill). The “hallelujah lassies” arrived in May 1898 on the Steamer S.S. “Tees” (see yesterday’s blog) at Skagway and then proceeded to Dyea. They climbed the Chilkoot Pass while it was still deep in snow. Included in their outfit were two folding canoes for the river journey, but before the group could use the canoes, they had to cross the rotting ice of Lake Bennett. It took them three weeks to travel from Skagway to Dawson.
Thornton p 190; The founding of the Salvation Army, 1962; Explorenorth.com; descendent confirmation