Benjamin Wesley Booher ¹

  General Notes:

!SOURCES:
1. Booher, Allen G. sr. MY OFTEN MISSPELLED NAME IS BOOHER
2. Booher, Winfield Scott. BOOHER FAMILY HISTORY HORIZONS, Wilmington CA
(1976) pp. 105, 122
3. 1880 Fremont Co. IA census [see father]
4. 1910 Guthrie Co. IA census
5. 1920 Rosebud Co., MT census
6. ALASKA STATE LIBRARY HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

!BIRTH: Source-1 p. 76 for date and place

!MARRIAGE: Source-1 p. 76 for date and name

!DEATH: Source-1 p. 76 for date and place

BURIAL:

!ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Source-6 In 1900 Ben Booher (Guthrie Center, Iowa) joined his wife's uncle, George Cheever Hazelet, (Omaha, Nebraska) and A. Jack Meals (O'Neill, Nebraska) on a prospecting expedition to Alaska. Booher's diary (p.96) lists fourteen additional men in the party who arrived in Valdez Feb. 1, 1900 on the vessel EXCELSIOR. They prospected in Copper Center, Valdez, Chisna, Chitna, Gulkana and Gakona. Mr. Booher's records the daily work of the party and people met on the trail. He also wrote to his wife in Iowa during the expedition. Ben returned to Alaska in 1904 and worked as a farmer and carpenter. He died in Kent, Washington in April 1975, at age 102.

CENSUS:
1910 Source-4 p, 80 #87-88 Dodge Twp
Booher, Benj. W. 38 m 15yr IA TN MO farmer
Mary E. 35 5-5 IA Eng OH
Alice P. 10 IA IA IA
Lois M. 6 MN IA IA
Helen E. 8/12 IA IA IA
? (m) 0 " " "
Elizabeth A. 60 wd MO ON IN
Kail, Frank 38 d Aus Aus Aus laborer

1920 Source-5 p. 87 #60-61 Sumatra School District 31
Booher, Benjmain 47 IA TN MO farmer
Mary E. 44 IA Eng OH
Lois M. 16 MN IA IA
Helen E. 13 IA IA IA
George Max 9 " " "
Ruth M. 4 11/12 MN IA IA
Alma G. 3 2/12 " " "

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Book: Alaska State Library: Collection of Papers: Booher, Benjamin Wesley, 1872-1975, 1900-1975.
ALASKA STATE LIBRARY HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
PO Box 110571
Juneau, AK 99811-0571
http://library.state.ak.us/

BOOHER, BENJAMIN WESLEY, 1872-1975
Papers, 1900-1975:
Hazelet-Meals prospecting
expedition, Valdez to the Copper River - Chisna area,
1900-1904

MS 13 - 6


ACQUISITION: Alma Booher Bender donated the collection to the library by on behalf of the Booher family May 20, 1985. Photographs form a separate collection, PCA 250 (Acc. No. 1985-009.)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

1900 Ben Booher (Guthrie Center, Iowa) joined his wife's uncle, George Cheever Hazelet, (Omaha, Nebraska) and A. Jack Meals (O'Neill, Nebraska) on a prospecting expedition to Alaska. Booher's diary (p.96) lists fourteen additional men in the party who arrived in Valdez Feb. 1, 1900 on the vessel EXCELSIOR. They prospected in Copper Center, Valdez, Chisna, Chitna, Gulkana and Gakona. Mr. Booher's records the daily work of the party and people met on the trail. He also wrote to his wife in Iowa during the expedition. Ben returned to Alaska in 1904 and worked as a farmer and carpenter. He died in Kent, Washington in April 1975, at age 102.

George C. Hazelet and Jack Meals stayed in Valdez and were active in community affairs. In 1908, Mr. Hazelet moved to Cordova where he surveyed the townsite and also served as Mayor. He died there in August 1926. THE JOURNAL OF GEORGE C. HAZELET is available in the Library (F912. C7H3).


SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:

Poem, letters to Mrs. Booher, obituary of Benjamin Booher, Chisna Mining and Improvement Co. stock certificate, genealogy, handwritten diary, dated 1900, 1901.


INVENTORY

Folder 1. Booher family biographical data.
Includes a genealogy chart for Benjamin W. Booher and wife Mary Elizabeth Tuffin. Newspaper clippings: "Benjamin Booher is 100" from KENT NEWS JOURNAL, Oct. 25, 1972 and "Benjamin Booher, 102, dies" from GLOBE-NEWS JOURNAL, April 9, 1975.

Folder 2. Diary, 25 Jan. 1900 - 14 Oct. 1901.
Original and copy. Travel from Iowa to Valdez and Chisna area of Alaska. Details difficulty and modes of packing over trail, prospecting endeavors, names of associates, people on the trail, supplies and wages.

Folder 3. Letters to wife, Mae [Mary] E. Booher; Albaton, Iowa. 1900 6 letters (photocopies). Includes 2 letters enroute to Alaska; one aboard vessel EXCELSIOR and letters written on the trail.

Folder 4. Letters to wife, Mary E. Booher, Guthrie Center, Iowa 1901 3 letters (photocopies). Includes one letter from Chisna and two letters from Valdez where Ben mentions putting in a bid to dig wells for the Valdez Fire Dept.

Folder 5. Letters to wife, Mary E. Booher, Panora, Iowa. 1904. 7 letters (photocopies).

Folder 6. Letter to Ben Booher from his brother-in-law, Ernest Tuffin dated Feb. 23, 1904, Seattle.

Folder 7. Miscellaneous. 3 items.
Stock certificate for 227 shares of Chisna Mining and Improvement Company stock dated Dec. 7, 1901. (photocopy)
Poem: "Chisna Land," by Ben Booher.
Cassette tape of Ben Booher interview in 1965 (age 93) with his nephew, Dick Tuffin. Ben describes some experiences in Alaska with his diary as a guide. Note: tape has variable audio quality.

2. Occupation: prospector in 1900 in , , AK.

Benjamin married Mary Elizabeth Tuffin on 19 Jun 1895. (Mary Elizabeth Tuffin was born on 15 Mar 1875 in Cass Twp., Guthrie, IA and died on 31 Dec 1926 in Kent, King, WA.)