Naghel, Charles
Association: Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6
Role: Charter Member; President
Year: President, 1915
Biography
Charles Naghel was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6 of the Pioneers of Alaska and served as its president in 1915.
Naghel was born in Roseville, California, on February 15, 1880. His father, Edward Nagel, was an actor, singer, dancer, and musician who traveled through the mining camps of California performing. After his mother died when he was in the fifth grade, his father removed him from school, and the family traveled widely through California until his father remarried.
At the age of fifteen Naghel went to work in the steel rolling mills. When the Spanish–American War broke out in 1898, he joined the California Infantry at the age of eighteen. Although the war was short, he enrolled in a correspondence school in Pennsylvania while serving.
After the war, he joined the United States Marines. In 1900, a contingent of Marines was sent to Sitka to quell an uprising between two Native tribes. Naghel lived in the Marine Barracks in Sitka, which later became the first Alaska Pioneers’ Home. During this period, he continued working toward his high school diploma through the Calvert Correspondence School.
He met his future wife, Annetta Theresa Johnson, in Sitka in 1904 while she was employed as a musician aboard the S.S. Spokane.
Naghel later resigned from the Marines and moved to Juneau, where he worked for the Alaska Steam Laundry, driving the horse wagon that picked up and delivered laundry throughout the community. During the 1905 tourist season, he proposed to Annetta. The couple married in Juneau on August 6, 1906.
In 1907, the couple moved to Skagway, where Naghel worked for the United States Customs Service. They returned to Juneau in 1908 when their first child, Pat, was born. After a brief period living in Sitka, the family again settled in Juneau, where Naghel worked for Ross-Higgins Grocery and later for Charlie Goldstein’s store.
He eventually secured employment with the United States Land Office, serving as a clerk for the U.S. Surveyor General’s Office. In that position, he was responsible for approving and paying federal debts within the Territory of Alaska. He held the position for many years and retired in 1942.
Following retirement, Naghel spent much of his time at the family’s summer home in the Mendenhall Valley. He also continued bookkeeping work for Hazel Jaeger McKinnon’s Alaska Laundry.
Charles Naghel died in Juneau on September 28, 1945.
Sources
- Gastineau Channel Memories, 1880–1967, Vol. 2, pp. 265–266, story by Grace Naghel
- Alaska Marriage License Records
- Pioneers of Alaska Men’s Igloo No. 6 Biographical Sketch