Primary Name: Bach, Frank Xavier
Filed as: bach_frank_xavier
Also known as: Frank Xavier Bach; Frank X. Bach
Occupation / Association: Businessman; Co-founder, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company; Mayor of Douglas, Alaska (1903)
Born: November 3, 1850, Germany
Died: June 3, 1933, Douglas, Alaska
Parents: Peter Bach; Julia Miller Bach
Spouse: Ellen Calhoun-Bach
Children: Alice Bach-Coughlin; Lenore Bach-Edwins; Cecil Bach; three other children, two of whom died young
Associated places: Germany; Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Taku Harbor, Alaska
Keywords: Frank Xavier Bach, Frank X Bach, Bach Frank Xavier, Douglas Alaska mayor, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company
Biography
Frank Xavier Bach was born on November 3, 1850, in Germany. His parents were Peter Bach of Germany and Julia Miller Bach of Bavaria, Germany. He stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 150 pounds.
He lived in Douglas with his sister, Anna Kunigunde Bach-Zengel-Graf, during the last days of her life. His brother, George Bach, lived in Taku Harbor.
Frank married Ellen Calhoun-Bach. They had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Alice Bach-Coughlin, Lenore Bach-Edwins, and their son Cecil Bach.
Bach joined Edward Webster in forming the Juneau Douglas Telephone Company.
District Recorder records and the 1894 plat map of the Juneau Townsite show Edward Webster and his business partner Frank Bach owning Lots 7 and 8 in Block 1. These lots later contained the Edward Webster House and the Juneau-Douglas Telephone Company Offices at 135–139 West Second Street in the Telephone Hill Historic District.
Bach later sold his interest in the company to his partner.
He served as Mayor of Douglas in 1903.
Frank Xavier Bach died instantly on June 3, 1933, at the age of 72. Charles W. Carter served as his undertaker. Bach was buried in the Douglas City Cemetery.
Sources
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984; Find-A-Grave
Tags: Frank Xavier Bach, Frank X Bach, Bach Frank Xavier, Douglas Alaska mayor, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company, Telephone Hill Historic District