Primary Name: Franks, Catherine Mary Cashen

Filed as: Franks, Catherine Mary

Also known as: Catherine Mary Cashen; Catherine Mary Penglase; Catherine Mary Franks

Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Auxiliary No. 6

Associated places: Stoneville, Michigan; Ishpeming, Michigan; Republic, Michigan; Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska

Keywords: Catherine Mary Cashen Franks, Catherine Cashen, Catherine Penglase, John Joseph Penglase, William Henry Franks, Douglas Alaska pioneers, Juneau Alaska pioneers, Pioneers of Alaska Auxiliary No. 6, Evergreen Cemetery, Juneau, Upper Peninsula Michigan miners' families

Biography

Catherine Mary Cashen Franks was a Charter Member of the Juneau Igloo Auxiliary No. 6 of the Pioneers of Alaska.

She was born March 29, 1872, in Stoneville, Michigan, the daughter of Michael Cashen and Mary “O’Connor” Cashen.

On July 3, 1882, she married John Joseph Penglase in Ishpeming, Michigan. Five children were born to this marriage in Michigan: Frances Theresa (July 3, 1882), Lillian (February 28, 1885), John Francis (September 17, 1887), Rose Emma (January 25, 1890), and Claude Thomas (June 14, 1892) in Republic, Michigan.

The family moved to Douglas, Alaska, in June 1894 during the early years of the Treadwell mining operations. A sixth child, Anna Catherine Penglase, was born in Douglas on June 6, 1896.

John Joseph Penglase died in Douglas on August 21, 1919.

Catherine later married William Henry Franks on February 12, 1920. She remained in the Juneau–Douglas area for the remainder of her life.

Catherine Mary Cashen Franks died in Juneau on May 16, 1943, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Sources

1900, 1910, and 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Douglas, Alaska; 1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau, Alaska; Alaska Daily Empire, February 13, 1920; Evergreen Cemetery Burial Records; Pioneers of Alaska Auxiliary No. 6 Membership Application.