Charles W. Carter (1869–1961) was a Canadian-born mortician and politician in the U.S. territory of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. He was born in 1869 in Otonabee Township,
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
County,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, the son of James Julian Carter (of Irish descent) and Sarah Jane Fife (of Scottish descent). Carter's original name was Silas Whitfield Carter. He was in San Francisco, California, when news of the
Klondike gold strike arrived, and he headed north to
Skagway
The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal wit ...
, Alaska in 1897. He settled in Juneau, Alaska, in 1899.
He was a citizen of Alaska by 1901. He married Alphonsine Cecilia Lovely in Juneau in 1902. Carter served as the eighth
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
, from 1913 to 1914. In 1947, along with
Henry Roden and
David Gross
David Jonathan Gross (; born February 19, 1941) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. Gr ...
, he persuaded the
Alaska Territorial Legislature to rename the Pioneers Trust Fund, a regional fund for elderly citizens, to the
Pioneer Memorial Fund. Outside politics, he owned and operated a
funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
Services
...
, the Charles W. Carter Mortuary, which he founded in 1916.
Charles Charter is buried in
Evergreen Cemetery, in Juneau. In 1950, Carter sold the mortuary business which continued to bear his name. The business was acquired by the
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
-based Alaskan Memorial Parks, Inc. in 1964.
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References
According to the December 2, 1949 DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, page 8, “Carter founded the ortuaryfirm in October, 1926, after 16 years’ employment for the C.W. Young Company, which maintained undertaking parlors in connection with its hardware business.” Article title is, CHAS. W. CARTER TO RETIRE; SKUSE BUYS MORTUARY.
External links
Biography at Juneau-Douglas City Museum
1870 births
1962 deaths
Businesspeople from Alaska
American funeral directors
Mayors of Juneau, Alaska
Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Juneau, Alaska)
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