Uberti, Emil

Occupation: Businessman; pool room proprietor; hotel manager

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Front Street, Douglas, Alaska

Family: Husband of Lisa Uberti; father of three children

Biography

Emil Uberti was a well-known businessman in Douglas, Alaska, during the territorial period when the community served the nearby Treadwell mining district.

Uberti operated a pool room on Front Street, one of the businesses that served the residents and workers of the Douglas–Juneau mining community.

He also served as the manager of the Hunter Hotel, an establishment that accommodated travelers, workers, and visitors to the growing town.

Uberti was married to Lisa Uberti, and the couple had three children.

Sources

• Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries

Thomas, Merle

Occupation: Undertaker; funeral director

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska

Biography

Merle Thomas was associated with the early undertaking business in the Douglas–Juneau mining community during Alaska’s territorial period.

In the early years of the community, there were no morticians as the profession is known today. Cabinet shops commonly produced furniture and caskets, and the owners of those shops often served as undertakers for the town. Advertisements in the Douglas Island News described these businesses as providing “Undertaking … Manufacturers of Furniture, Carpentering, Jobbing, Store & Office Fixtures.”

Other advertisements referred to “Douglas Undertaking Parlors, Funeral Directors and Embalmers.” Among the individuals involved in the undertaking trade in the Douglas area were H.V. Sully, John A. McKanna (a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo), T.P. Sheldon, and L.G. Thomas and Merle Thomas.

The work of these early undertakers was essential to the developing mining community, where burial grounds such as those on Douglas Island served the rapidly growing population connected with the Treadwell mining district.

Sources

• Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries

Thomas, Merle

Occupation: Undertaker; cabinet shop proprietor

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska

Biography

Merle Thomas was associated with the early undertaking trade in the Douglas–Juneau mining community during Alaska’s territorial period.

In the early years of Douglas, there were no morticians as the profession is known today. Cabinet shops commonly produced furniture and caskets, and the owners of those shops often served as the undertakers for the town. Advertisements in the Douglas Island News described these businesses as providing “Undertaking … Manufacturers of Furniture, Carpentering, Jobbing, Store & Office Fixtures.”

Other advertisements referred to “Douglas Undertaking Parlors, Funeral Directors and Embalmers.” Among the undertakers serving the Douglas community were H.V. Sully, John A. McKanna (a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo), T.P. Sheldon, and L.G. Thomas and Merle Thomas.

These early cabinetmakers and undertakers provided essential services to the rapidly growing mining community associated with the Treadwell mines and the settlement of Douglas Island.

Sources

• Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries