DANIEL SMITH HARRIS, Jr. -- Arrived in Ketchikan in time to be counted for the 1900 U.S. Census. Harris was 57 years old at the time. He had been approximately 25 years younger during the silver and gold rush in Eureka, Nevada. His business partnership at that time: bought, sold, traded and occasionally developed properties; in the hopes of founding solid land office businesses.
He was a personable go-getter, apparently one of those people who have a real talent for organizing and inspiring others. Some months before the August 18, 1900, incorporation of the City of Ketchikan, Harris spurred the creation of the town's first organized fire fighting group, the Bucket Brigade. To qualify for membership, one had to "own his own bucket and be able to carry it full of water." Many of the town's eligible men joined, the birth of Ketchikan's excellent fire department. Smith was named the new city's first fire chief. At incorporation in 1900, he was named city clerk as well as its first fire warden. Harris stayed on to become first a respected councilman and then Mayor of Ketchikan in 1914. He had time as well to be secretary of the Improved Order of Red Men, and an active member of the Arctic Brotherhood and the Pioneers of Alaska. It is believed that Harris Street in Ketchikan was likely named for him.
Daniel was born in Galena, Illinois, on September 13, 1843. His father and namesake, was the well known, Mississippi steamboat Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his mother was Sarah Maria (Langworthy) Harris. Both parent's families were early pioneers of Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa. He died in 1926, at Sitka, Alaska, at age 83, and is buried in Sitka's Pioneer Cemetery.
He was a personable go-getter, apparently one of those people who have a real talent for organizing and inspiring others. Some months before the August 18, 1900, incorporation of the City of Ketchikan, Harris spurred the creation of the town's first organized fire fighting group, the Bucket Brigade. To qualify for membership, one had to "own his own bucket and be able to carry it full of water." Many of the town's eligible men joined, the birth of Ketchikan's excellent fire department. Smith was named the new city's first fire chief. At incorporation in 1900, he was named city clerk as well as its first fire warden. Harris stayed on to become first a respected councilman and then Mayor of Ketchikan in 1914. He had time as well to be secretary of the Improved Order of Red Men, and an active member of the Arctic Brotherhood and the Pioneers of Alaska. It is believed that Harris Street in Ketchikan was likely named for him.
Daniel was born in Galena, Illinois, on September 13, 1843. His father and namesake, was the well known, Mississippi steamboat Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his mother was Sarah Maria (Langworthy) Harris. Both parent's families were early pioneers of Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa. He died in 1926, at Sitka, Alaska, at age 83, and is buried in Sitka's Pioneer Cemetery.
DANIEL SMITH HARRIS, Jr. -- Arrived in Ketchikan in time to be counted for the 1900 U.S. Census. Harris was 57 years old at the time. He had been approximately 25 years younger during the silver and gold rush in Eureka, Nevada. His business partnership at that time: bought, sold, traded and occasionally developed properties; in the hopes of founding solid land office businesses.
He was a personable go-getter, apparently one of those people who have a real talent for organizing and inspiring others. Some months before the August 18, 1900, incorporation of the City of Ketchikan, Harris spurred the creation of the town's first organized fire fighting group, the Bucket Brigade. To qualify for membership, one had to "own his own bucket and be able to carry it full of water." Many of the town's eligible men joined, the birth of Ketchikan's excellent fire department. Smith was named the new city's first fire chief. At incorporation in 1900, he was named city clerk as well as its first fire warden. Harris stayed on to become first a respected councilman and then Mayor of Ketchikan in 1914. He had time as well to be secretary of the Improved Order of Red Men, and an active member of the Arctic Brotherhood and the Pioneers of Alaska. It is believed that Harris Street in Ketchikan was likely named for him.
Daniel was born in Galena, Illinois, on September 13, 1843. His father and namesake, was the well known, Mississippi steamboat Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his mother was Sarah Maria (Langworthy) Harris. Both parent's families were early pioneers of Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa. He died in 1926, at Sitka, Alaska, at age 83, and is buried in Sitka's Pioneer Cemetery.
He was a personable go-getter, apparently one of those people who have a real talent for organizing and inspiring others. Some months before the August 18, 1900, incorporation of the City of Ketchikan, Harris spurred the creation of the town's first organized fire fighting group, the Bucket Brigade. To qualify for membership, one had to "own his own bucket and be able to carry it full of water." Many of the town's eligible men joined, the birth of Ketchikan's excellent fire department. Smith was named the new city's first fire chief. At incorporation in 1900, he was named city clerk as well as its first fire warden. Harris stayed on to become first a respected councilman and then Mayor of Ketchikan in 1914. He had time as well to be secretary of the Improved Order of Red Men, and an active member of the Arctic Brotherhood and the Pioneers of Alaska. It is believed that Harris Street in Ketchikan was likely named for him.
Daniel was born in Galena, Illinois, on September 13, 1843. His father and namesake, was the well known, Mississippi steamboat Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his mother was Sarah Maria (Langworthy) Harris. Both parent's families were early pioneers of Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa. He died in 1926, at Sitka, Alaska, at age 83, and is buried in Sitka's Pioneer Cemetery.
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