Museth, Nora Alice
Primary Name: Museth, Nora Alice
Filed as: Museth, Nora Alice
Also known as: Nora Museth Williams
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women's Igloo Auxiliary No. 6; post office employee
Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Treadwell, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Escondido, California; Seattle, Washington; Tacoma, Washington
Keywords: Nora Alice Museth, Nora Museth Williams, Museth family Douglas Alaska, Joseph Augustin Williams mining engineer, Juneau Women's Igloo Auxiliary No 6, Douglas High School 1914, Treadwell Post Office employees
Biography
Nora Alice Museth was a Charter Member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Women's Igloo Auxiliary No. 6.
She was born in Douglas, Alaska, on June 24, 1895, to Henry Museth and Martha Nilsdatter Bolstad-Museth. Their names were Americanized from Hendrik and Marta Mjaaset after they immigrated to the United States from Voss, Norway, in 1881.
Nora graduated from Douglas High School in 1914. She was the only senior in Douglas that year, and during the final half of the school year, she joined four seniors attending Juneau High School.
While in high school, she worked as a projectionist at the local theater. After graduating, she obtained employment at the Treadwell Post Office, where she earned $45 per month.
In 1923, when her father became ill, Nora moved with her parents and sisters Agnes and Trini to Escondido, California.
In 1925, she returned to Juneau as the bride of Joseph Augustin Williams, a mining engineer employed by the Treadwell mining operations. Nora and Joseph had been engaged before she left Alaska. They were married on April 21, 1925, and soon returned to Alaska.
The couple raised four children: Irene Patricia (born April 3, 1926), Donald Museth (born 1928), John Rodney (born 1931), and Marjorie Josephine (born 1934).
In 1983, Joseph and Nora moved to Seattle, Washington. Nora Alice Museth Williams died on January 17, 1994, in Tacoma, Washington.
Sources
1930 and 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau; Gastineau Channel Memories, Vol. 1, pp. 353–355; Alaska Daily Empire, May 6, 1925; Alaska Daily Empire, April 3, 1926; Washington Death Certificate.
Bradford House
Bradford House was constructed around 1910 at 839 Dixon Street. This Craftsman Bungalow-style residence is a contributing member of the Chicken Ridge Historic District.
Zina and Gertrude Davis Bradford occupied the home. Zina worked for the Standard Oil Company and was appointed postmaster in the 1920s
The front elevation is asymmetrical in its composition featuring paired double-hung windows in the small roof dormer and a square single sash window on the right side of the enclosed porch addition. The nearly square building (25' x 24') is 1-1/2 stories with full basement. Also features a nearly full length (20' x 7.5') shed roofed addition (1940's) to the west side.
Exterior walls are clad with stucco on the first story, coursed wood shingle siding on the gables, and horizontal beveled clapboard siding on the addition. Although the stucco was added in later years the building retains its architectural integrity. The side gabled roof system is covered with composition shingles. Additional features include partial length shed roofed roof dormer, closed cornice gable ends, and exposed rafter tails. The structural system consists of wood balloon frame and concrete foundation.
Spickett, Lottie
Primary Name: Clark, Josephine Carlotta
Filed as: Clark, Josephine Carlotta
Also known as: Josephine Carlotta “Lottie” Clark; Lottie Spickett
Occupation / Association: President, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women’s Igloo; Postmaster, Juneau, Alaska
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Santa Clara, California; Yuba County, California; Stockton, California; Sacramento, California
Keywords: Josephine Carlotta Lottie Clark, Lottie Spickett, John T Spickett, Juneau postmaster Hoover administration, Pioneers of Alaska Women’s Igloo presidents, Spickett Apartments Juneau, Louvre Theater Juneau, early Juneau businesswomen
Biography
Josephine Carlotta “Lottie” Clark served as President of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Women’s Igloo in 1923, 1926, 1933, and 1943. She was born in Santa Clara, California, on September 23, 1867.
Lottie was raised on her father’s ranch in Yuba County, California. After receiving her early education in a private school, she attended business college in Stockton. Upon graduating, she was employed in a business office in Sacramento.
She married John T. Spickett in Sacramento on December 24, 1896. Mr. Spickett was involved in the theater business and was engaged to bring a troupe of performers to Alaska. Lottie accompanied him to Juneau in November 1898.
The troupe performed at the famous Louvre Theater in Juneau. After completing the engagement, the Spicketts had grown fond of Alaska and decided to make Juneau their permanent home.
During the time the troupe performed at the Louvre Theater, Lottie worked as office manager for the S. Blub Store. She later joined the office staff of the B. M. Behrends Company, where she worked for ten years.
In 1916, she and her husband constructed the Spickett Apartments on Fifth Street in Juneau and made their home there.
Lottie Clark was appointed Postmaster of Juneau in 1928 by President Herbert Hoover and served in that position for eight years. After retiring from the post office, she continued managing her business interests in Juneau.
Sources
Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women’s Igloo records.
Carter, Charles W.
Primary Name: Carter, Charles W.
Filed as: carter_charles_w
Also known as: Charles W. Carter
Occupation / Association: President, Juneau Men’s Igloo (1935–1936); Juneau Volunteer Fire Department member; mail carrier
Born: 1870, Ontario, Canada
Died:
Parents:
Spouse: Alphonsine Carter
Children:
Associated places: Ontario, Canada; Calgary, Alberta; Vancouver, British Columbia; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Skagway, Alaska; Atlin, British Columbia; Juneau, Alaska; Silver Bow Basin, Alaska; St. Michaels, Alaska; Katmai, Alaska
Keywords: Charles W Carter, Carter Charles W, Juneau Men’s Igloo President, Klondike stampeders, Alaska mail carriers
Biography
Charles W. Carter served as President of the Juneau Men’s Igloo in 1935 and 1936.
Carter was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1870. He left home at the age of seventeen and worked in Calgary, Alberta; Vancouver, British Columbia; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California.
When news of the Klondike gold strike reached San Francisco, Carter headed for Seattle. He took passage on one of the ships bound north and landed on the beach at Skagway in August 1897.
He first worked backpacking supplies and later with a pack train over the Skagway and Dyea trails, particularly the White Pass Trail. When the railroad was completed to Lake Bennett, and packers were no longer needed, he tried his luck prospecting for gold in the Atlin area.
He moved south to Juneau in 1899, where he worked as a hotel clerk, bartender, undertaker, and deliveryman, and also performed assessment work on mining claims in the Silver Bow Basin.
Carter was a member of the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department from 1899 until 1916.
In 1901, he accepted a contract to deliver United States mail between St. Michaels and Katmai. Carter left Juneau by steamship in September 1901 for Seattle, where he boarded the S.S. Roanoke on September 30 on the last northbound trip of the year.
The ship arrived on October 15 at St. Michaels, where Carter purchased a dog team and supplies. It was necessary to wait until December for favorable conditions to begin the 1,100-mile journey to deliver and collect the mail. During this time, he learned the art of driving and caring for a dog team.
He later married Alphonsine Carter.
Sources
Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries
Tags: Charles W Carter, Carter Charles W, Juneau Men’s Igloo, Klondike Gold Rush participants, Juneau Volunteer Fire Department
Day, Hugh
Primary Name: Day, Hugh
Filed as: day_hugh
Also known as: Hugh Day
Occupation / Association: Miner; mail carrier; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6
Born: c. 1863, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
Died: December 31, 1916, Douglas, Alaska
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada; Killisnoo, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Taku route; Klondike; Douglas, Alaska; Tenakee Springs, Alaska
Keywords: Hugh Day, Day Hugh, Juneau Men’s Igloo charter member, Klondike gold rush miners, Taku mail route Alaska
Biography
Hugh Day was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6.
Day was a native of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. He came to Alaska when he was about twenty-one years of age and first settled in Killisnoo.
He later carried mail from Juneau to the interior via the Taku route. During the Klondike Gold Rush, he joined the large rush northward and located a rich claim, but lost it through speculation.
A day later returned to Douglas. His property was destroyed in the great Douglas fire of 1911, but he rebuilt and continued his life in the community. A few years before his death, he moved to Tenakee Springs.
In December 1916, he entered the hospital for treatment of a head injury, which he had originally received in a street fight when he was seventeen years old. The injury had caused him considerable trouble in later years. While in the hospital, he went into convulsions and died.
Hugh Day died in Douglas, Alaska, on December 31, 1916, at the age of fifty-three.
Sources
Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Vol. 5, pp. 77–78, Ed Ferrell (May 1, 2009)
Spickett, John T.
Primary Name: Spickett, John T.
Filed as: Spickett, John T.
Also known as: John T. Spickett
Occupation / Association: Theatrical producer and performer; hotel proprietor; theater operator; postmaster of Juneau; charter member and president, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo; Grand President, Pioneers of Alaska Grand Igloo
Associated places: Bristol, England; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Sacramento, California; Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: John T Spickett, Juneau Men’s Igloo charter member, Pioneers of Alaska Grand President, Franklin Hotel Juneau, Orpheum Theater Juneau, early Juneau theater history, Juneau postmaster 1908, Elks Lodge 420 Juneau
Biography
John T. Spickett was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo, and served as its president in 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1930. He also served two years as Grand President of the Grand Igloo of the Pioneers of Alaska.
Spickett was born in Bristol, England on January 4, 1858. He came to the United States with his parents in 1870, and when he was six years old, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan.
In his youth, Spickett was drawn to the theatrical profession and became both a performer and manager-producer. He made two trips to England as a member of Haverly’s Minstrels. In 1891, he operated an amusement concession at the Chicago World’s Fair.
In 1896, Spickett organized a touring company that performed at the Juneau Opera House. After leaving Alaska, he toured California for two years.
While in California, he married Josephine Charlotte Clark in Sacramento. The couple returned to Juneau in 1898 to make their home.
Spickett’s first major business venture in Juneau was the purchase of the Franklin Hotel in 1899, also known as the Occidental Annex at Front and Main Streets, which he operated until 1905. He later opened a liquor and cigar stand across the street.
A staunch Republican, Spickett was appointed postmaster of Juneau in 1908 and served until 1912. During that period, he and his wife also operated a newsstand and music store in connection with the post office. After leaving the position, he sold the newsstand to James Barragar and entered the moving picture business.
Spickett opened the Orpheum Theater at Main Street and Willoughby Avenue, which at the time was considered the finest theater in Alaska. After securing films and establishing his show house, he also served as an agent for the Canadian National Railways for several years.
Later, he operated additional theaters, including the Dream and the Palace, eventually selling the Palace to Lawrence Kubley. After a long and successful theatrical career, he retired from active business life.
In politics, Spickett remained active as a Republican and served as Chairman of the Republican Territorial Committee.
Spickett was also deeply involved in fraternal organizations. He was the first member initiated into Juneau Lodge No. 420, B.P.O. Elks, where he served as an early secretary and helped sustain the lodge in its formative years. For many years, he organized the Elks’ minstrel shows, and the last of those productions was dedicated to him.
John T. Spickett died in Juneau, Alaska, on July 31, 1932.
Sources
Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Volume 2, pp. 302–304, Ed Ferrell