Fehr, Venetia Lauretta
Association: Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Igloo Women's Auxiliary No. 6
Role: Charter Member
Biography
Venetia Lauretta Fehr was a charter member of Juneau Igloo Women's Auxiliary No. 6 of the Pioneers of Alaska.
She was born in October 1878 in Cullman County, Alabama, the daughter of Martin Fehr and Elizabeth K. Manshardt.
She married John Fraser Pugh in Alameda County, California, on December 20, 1900. The couple later moved north to Alaska, arriving in Skagway on March 18, 1901. In June 1902, her husband was appointed to the United States Customs Service, and the family was transferred to Ketchikan. Their daughter, Venetia Elizabeth Pugh, was born there on August 13, 1904.
The Pugh family returned to Skagway in 1905 and moved to Juneau in 1909. John Pugh later served as Collector of Customs for the District of Alaska.
He was among the many Alaskans who perished in the wreck of the S.S. Princess Sophia on October 25, 1918.
Following his death, Venetia and her daughter worked in Juneau for the District Clerk of the United States Court. Venetia later married District Judge Thomas M. Reed on February 24, 1924, in Seattle, Washington. The couple resided in Juneau.
Venetia Lauretta Fehr Pugh Reed died in Anchorage, Alaska, in November 1967.
Sources
- 1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau, Alaska
- Gastineau Channel Memories, Vol. 1, p. 425
- Washington Marriage Records
- Alaska Daily Empire, February 25, 1924