Primary Name: Sanders, W.A.

Filed as: Sanders, W.A.

Also known as: W.A. Sanders

Occupation / Association: Mining engineer

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Nova Scotia, Canada

Keywords: W.A. Sanders, Douglas Alaska mining engineer, Douglas cemetery land dispute, Lawson Creek Douglas Alaska, Douglas Alaska mining claims, Minnie Ross Holman, W.A. Thompson

Biography

W.A. Sanders was a mining engineer involved in mining development and land claims in Douglas, Alaska, at the end of the nineteenth century.

In 1899, Sanders, along with W.A. Thompson and Minnie Ross Holman, applied for a federal patent to mining claims covering more than fifty acres at the northwest end of the town of Douglas. The claims included thirteen lode claims, mill sites, and portions of the developed townsite, including streets and buildings. Residents of Douglas organized a committee to protest the patent.

Sanders agreed that if the committee did not oppose the patent application, he would deed back the town lots, street easements, and other areas in which the patent interfered with the existing townsite. This agreement was later put in writing.

The committee also asked Sanders to provide land for a cemetery. Sanders verbally agreed to give the people of Douglas “the dry knoll this side of Lawson Creek” if they would not object to his patent. He also promised to construct a road to the grounds but declined to place that promise in writing, stating that his word was sufficient.

Following this understanding, a cemetery committee consisting of P.H. Fox, M.J. O’Connor, Rev. Peplogle, and W.C. Boyd took possession of the knoll and marked a route from Third Street in Douglas to the site. Laborers cleared a trail that later became a gravel road. Planking and small bridges were constructed, and several acres were cleared and enclosed with wire fencing. The location corresponds to what later became the Douglas City Cemetery.

Although Sanders was known as a mining engineer, some Douglas residents argued that his claims were invalid because he was a resident of Nova Scotia, Canada. The United States Patent Office ultimately granted Sanders a patent to part of the mining claims in 1900.

While Sanders honored the written agreement to return town lots and buildings, he refused to fulfill the verbal agreement regarding the cemetery land and later denied making the promise. Residents of Douglas maintained that they had earned the right to the cemetery ground because they had not interfered with his patent application. They even offered to purchase the land at the government rate of five dollars per acre, but Sanders declined.

As late as 1903, Sanders reportedly posted no-trespassing notices threatening prosecution of anyone using the land for burial purposes. The notices soon disappeared, and Douglas residents claimed they had been in “legal and peaceable possession of the premises” for several years.

Sources

Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries