SKAGWAY BOROUGH & Hoonah - Angoon Census Area

BIOGRAPHIES

HENRY WILLIAM LIGHTFOOT Submitted by: Betsy Mills Lightfoot, Henry William 212932 Birth: 12/29/1846 Death: 08/27/1901 Marriage: Twice Cemetery: Evergreen (K-08SE-02) (Paris, Lamar County, Texas) Buried next to Sallie Lee Lightfoot. Notes From Rodgers and Wade Furniture Co. Funeral Records in possession of Fry and Gibbs Funeral Home; Book #3; p.77; Service #154; H.W. Lightfoot; Date of Funeral 8 Sept 1901; place of death, Skaguay, Alaska; Cause of death, Acute Bright's Disease; married; color White; place of services, Residence; name of Clergyman, Alderson, Threadgill & Buckner; ordered by Dudley Wooten & Ben Denton; Funeral car Sept 7th & 8th; Steel vault; Brick vault. From the records of Lamar #258 United Daughters of the Confederacy: He served in Roger's 11th Regiment, Alabama Cavalry. THE PARIS NEWS, April 16, 1933: 'BACKWARD GLANCES, by A. W. Neville, Captain Henry W. Lightfoot had not only one of the best legal minds in the history of Paris, and indeed of the whole State, but he was with it one of the most graceful and convincing orators that ever stood on the platform. He made a name in the State senate for clear and correct reasoning that later resulted in his appointment to the Chief Justiceship of the Dallas court of appeals when that tribunal was established, and to that office he was elected until he decided to return to the large private affairs which he had represented before taking office. In 1887 Texas voted on the proposition to prohibit the sale of liquor in the State and Captain Lightfoot was one of its strongest champions, though the voters at that time refused to adopt the amendment. Typical of his command of language are these extracts from a speech he made at Pattonville during that campaign, urging adoption. He said in conclusion: 'As you look into the bright eyes of the innocent boys and girls whose destinies may be guided by the ballot which you shall cast or by the influence which your vote may give, is there not a silent eloquence which should move you to action. 'If in your deepest meditations and reflections, the wrinkled hands of mother could be tenderly laid upon your head with her blessing and benedictions and her voice could speak to you in that holy hour, how would you cast your ballot?' 'If the countless thousands of wives and mothers who have been made to mourn could in your presence lift up their pleading eyes toward heaven for mercy, how would you cast your ballot?' 'If in your visions, the ghostly army of murdered victims could raise their skeleton figures and point to this monster of evil which laid them low, how would you cast your ballot?' 'If you could see a dress parade of the vast army of tattered orphans whose very blood bears the taint of drunken fathers, waiting to recruit the ranks of tramps, drunkards, beggars and lunatics as they go marching on to eternity, how would you cast your ballot?' 'As you turn for guidance to Him who rules, and see the condemnation which the finger of God wrote upon the walls of the drunken Belshazzar and realize that this unholy traffic has likewise been weighed in the balances and found wanting, your uplifted ballot should, in its silent power, strike like the scimitar of Saladin and strike for the cause of the right. You have-- 'A weapon that comes down as still As snowflakes fall upon the sod, But executes a freeman's will As lightning does the will of God.' If there had been more speakers with the logic and eloquence of this man the result of that election might have been different. As it was, Texas had to wait more than thirty years to see the traffic outlawed.' Married Dora Rowell Maxey on 3 Nov 1874. See her record. Will of H. W. Lightfoot, District of Alaska, Division No. 1 at Skagway. Be it remembered that I, H. W. Lightfoot, being weak in body, but of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and publish this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former Wills by me made. 1st. I will, devise and bequeath to my beloved son, Tom C. Lightfoot, my store-house on Clarksville Street in Paris, Texas adjoining the Lynn building. And as there is a mortgage upon the same amounting to the sum of $5000.00, I will and direct that it be paid off out of the policy of Insurance in the New York Mutual Live [sic] Insurance Co., now in my safe, the same having been made originally for the benefit of Dora M. Lightfoot. Also my interest in the grocery store being conducted by R. D. Lightfoot. What that interest is I fully explain in a letter to Messrs. Denham and Long. I did expect to give to the said R. D. Lightfoot one-half interest in the store after having taking out the money that I had invested in it and I direct that this be carried out. 2nd. I will, devise and bequeath to my beloved daughter, Sallie Lee Lightfoot, my store-house on Grand Avenue and as there is no incumbrance upon this property I have arranged in the first clause of this Will that the Policy of Insurance shall go to liquidate the indebtedness upon the store-house which I have devised to my son, Tom C. Lightfoot. 3rd. I will, devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, Etta W. Lightfoot and our three beloved children, Wooten Lightfoot, Will Lightfoot and Henrietta Lightfoot the store-house and lot on Lamar Avenue, Paris, Texas being 54 feet front. There is a mortgage of $7000.00 upon this property and I desire that this mortgage shall be paid as follows, to-wit: Out of the $5000.00 Life Insurance Policy in the New York Equitable Life Insurance Co. which is made payable to my Estate and out of the $2500.00 life Insurance Policy payable to Wooten Lightfoot which will leave the other policy in the Equitable of $5000.00 which is made payable to my wife and which shall be sufficient to buy her a good home. 4th. I will, devise and bequeath to Sallie Lee Lightfoot and Tom C. Lightfoot jointly all my interest in the home place at the corner of Washington and Church Streets, Paris, Texas. 5th. I will, devise and bequeath unto the said Sallie Lee Lightfoot and the said Tom C. Lightfoot, Etta W. Lightfoot, Wooten Lightfoot and Will Lightfoot and Henrietta Lightfoot all the rest and residue of my Estate of whatsoever kind, nature or description whether real or personal or mixed. I owe some debts which I trust can be paid out of other property without disturbing these specific legacies above set forth. In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of Harry P. Stow and James L. Wortham, witnesses who at my request and in my presence and in the presence of each other have witnessed this, my signing of my last Will and Testament, on this 2nd day of August A.D. 1901. Before signing this Will I desire to correct section five in this: My wife, Etta W. Lightfoot is entitled to one-half of all the proceeds of my ventures and investments in the Klondike Country after taking out the amount of money expended in the same, And I desire her to have such half interest. This Will is made and intended as a complete and final settlement of all matters growing out of the Community Estate of myself and my former wife, Dora W. Lightfoot and I trust that my dear children will accept it as such. It is also intended as a full and final settlement of the matters growing out of the above named Insurance Policies. Signed on the day and date above written. H. W. Lightfoot. Witness: Harry P. Stow, James L. Wortham. Recorded in Probate Minutes 20, page 164. Codicil No. 1. I hereby make, constitute and appoint S. B. M. Long and Ben H. Denton as Executors of this my last Will and no Bond is or shall be required of them as such. They are fully authorized to settle up and partition my Estate, to sign and execute all papers, documents or other writings, to sell and make deeds to real estate and to do any and all other things necessary or proper in and about the premises. This August 2nd, 1901. H. W. Lightfoot. Witness: Harry P. Stow, James L. Wortham. Filed November 2nd, 1901. Recorded in Probate Minutes 20, page 166. War Notes Rank CSA 11th Alabama Cavalry

E. LEROY PELLETIER Mr. Pelletier came to Skagway from New York in 1897 to cover the Gold Rush. In addition to being a newspaperman, he was also a journalist. He was a man possessed of a small body, a large head, and nervous energy that was electrifying. As a newspaperman, he covered the Klondike stampede for The New York Times. His dispatches to the Times, covering the period 1897 to 1900, provide enthralling reading: he narrated tales of precautions against starvation, delays due to selfishness, preventing a corner in supplies, smallpox comes to camp, getting ready for the greenhorns, pistols drawn many times, large loss of life and a murder, no time for legal trials. Sounds like an adventure movie. Working for Henry Ford, first as a consulting engineer and later when it was obvious he was considerably more adept with words than machines, Pelletier worked as Ford's private secretary and advertising manager. He preferred the title "publicity engineer." That he was. A brilliant intellect matched with a vivid imagination, he could think even faster than he could talk, and his conversation was routinely described as "rapid-fire." His September 5, 1938 Detroit obituary follows: "E. Leroy Pelletier, 72, advertising manager for Henry Ford, died Sunday. Pelletier was a former newspaperman who covered the Klondike Gold rush. He designed the first four-cylinder air-cooled automobile at the turn of the century and was president of the company which built his automobile the "Duquesne". Tales of Klondike veterans told how Pelletier, the energetic New York reporter, organized the "Jackson Money Exchange" and reputedly sold, through the agency, a third of the Klondike region. Surviving Pelletier are his widow, Gertrude; 2 sons and a daughter; a brother Frank (Pelkey) of Vancouver,BC. Pelletier was a native of Houlton, Maine." In the fall of 1897 he founded the Yukon Telephone and Telegraph Company in Dawson w/big Alex McDonald.

Copyright 2009 to present for the benefit of the AKGenWeb Project