My Alaska collecting & research interests

I research, therefore I am.

These are subjects that I am interested in, things that I am researching, or things that I collect.

Here is some info on my old mailing addresses, should you have run across one of my ancient ads and are trying to find me.
For about a dozen years in the 1970's and 1980's my old mailing address was PO Box 81153, College, Alaska, 99708.
(my old email address, which I used in the 1990's but no longer works, was akrare@alaska.net)
and another email address that I used for years was mec@alaska.com which was changed by my ISP to mec@alaskan.com,
so if you are trying to reach mec@alaska.com, instead use mec@alaskan.com.

Also, my old Juneau mailing address that I used for about 35 years was: PO Box 22165, Juneau, AK 99802

Remember, ALL of the above addresses NO LONGER WORK.

My current email address is: dick@AlaskaWanted.com

My new mailing address is:

Richard A. Wood

PO Box 210492

Auke Bay, AK 99821

Richard A. Wood
18005 Point Stephens Rd

Juneau, AK. 99801-8350

Smoky Joe Wood

My grandfather, Smoky Joe Wood, was a baseball player.
You can order an excellent book about him
by clicking on this link:

Smoky Joe Wood: The Biography of a Baseball Legend

My grandfather Smoky Joe Wood.

Henry Herman Brodeck

I am writing a book on the photographer Henry Herman Brodeck, who was born in London, England, on 27 October 1847, son of David BRODECK and Henrietta (Yetta) HIRSCH. Henry had a brother, Albert A. BRODECK (married Sadie KITCHEN), who was prominent in Everett, Wa, USA. Henry BRODECK married Amelia. 3 children: David, b. circa 1872 in CA, USA; Minnie, b. circa 1877 in OR, USA; Hulda, b. circa 1883 in WA, USA. Henry Herman BRODECK was about 3 when his parents came to USA. He lived Chicago; (possibly New York City); Cincinnati, where he learned photography; San Francisco; Portland, OR; Walla Walla, WA. Henry Herman BRODECK died on 12 June 1886, in Walla Walla, WA, USA. The focus of my book is his trip to Alaska in 1881, and the stereoscopic photographs he took here. I'm interested in locating any descendants or relatives of this family. People associated with Brodeck that I am interested in are Paul Schulze, William M. Ladd, Hew Macdonald, Carl Spuhn and John Vanderbilt and others associated with the Northwest Trading Company.

Early Alaska Photography

I passionately collect and research the earliest Alaska photographers, such as Charles H. Ryder of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. Ryder's photographs are small and are marked, on the back, Chas. H. Ryder, W.U. Telegraph Company's Photographic Artist, and one of his photos shows a tiny wood-sided building with a sigh on top that says Heuston Hastings & Co. I'm also interested in Eadweard or Edweard Muybridge; Alphonse Pinart; H. H. McIntyre; George Davison; Stephen Allen Spencer; Alfred Lee Broadbent (marked "A.L.B."); and other Alaska photographers of the wet plate era.

Photographers from the 1880's that I collect and research include Henry Herman Brodeck; W. H. Partridge; E. J. Partridge; Edward deGroff; Winter & Brown; I. G. Davidson; Gray & Hereford; Richard Maynard & Hannah Maynard; Reuben Albertstone; Hartmann & Weinland; M. Lorenz (aka Mike Lorenz, Michael Lorenz, Moses Lorenz, Moise Lorenz who married Beulah E. Smith Round Pond Maine); W.H./ B.C. Towne; George H. Doty; Broadbent (A.L.B); Samuel J. Call; John Cassion Cantwell (John C. Cantwell); Ed Chamberlain; Frank Conkling; Charles S. Fairchild; Charles O. Farciot; Charles A. Homan; Aurel Krause & Arthur Krause; John McHenry; John Murdoch; Edward W. Nelson; Albert Parker Niblack; Peterson Brothers; Harold W.Topham; Frank Wolff; etc.

Photographers from the 1890's that I collect and research include Alfred Lee Broadbent (A.L.B.); W. H. Case; Case & Draper; A. C. Pillsbury; Winter & Pond; M. M. Hazeltine; H. C. Barley; T. W. Ingersoll; Veazie Wilson; F. Jay Haynes; G. M. Landerkin; Landerkin & Winter; Frank LaRoche; George H. Knight; Thomas Eaton; Ben Haldane; Henry Haldane; Dall DeWeese; Edward J. Glave; Harrison Brothers; Charles Willard Hayes; Mayo & Weed; McAlpin & Lamb; N. B. Miller; Louis Moosbauer; Seneca Ray Stoddard; George M. Weister; etc.

Later photographers that I collect and research include Vincent Soboleff; J. E. Thwaites; J. E. Worden; Albert Johnson; J. M. Blankenberg; F. W. Carylon; Ed Andrews; E. W. Merrill; Basil Clemons; etc.

STEREOVIEWS WANTED: Alaska, Yukon, and Klondike:
I can pay the most for these scarcer Alaska stereos by:
Helios
W. H. Case
Ed DeGroff
Ed Andrews
F. Jay Haynes
M. M. Hazeltine
Charles Farciot
George Davison
Winter & Brown
Fred G. L. Hunt
Continent Stereoscopic Co.
Richard or Hannah Maynard
L. T. Sparhawk / H. H. McIntyre
Edweard Muybridge/Helios
Edweard Muybridge/Bradley&Rulofson
H. H. Brodeck - Northwest Trading Co.
T. W. Ingersoll (black & white photos only)
(I can't use any of Ingersoll's color stereos, and can't pay as much for his faded stereos.)

I can pay well for any Alaska, Yukon, or British Columbia stereos (often improperly called stereopticon or stereoptican views) dated before 1897.
Also wanted are these Alaska/Yukon/Klondike stereos:
C. H. Graves, Keystone, Kilburn/Davis, Underwood & Underwood, L. Anger, A. C. Co., Griffith & Griffith(no colored), Celery City View Co., Whiting View Co., Sterro-photo Co., Universal Art Co., Universal Photo Art Co., Universal View Co., G.C. Kelley, Singley, International Stereograph Co., L. J. Schira, American Stereoscopic Co., W. H. Rau, etc. European & American Views, and Standard Series are usually cheap copies and I usually can't use them. Most color or black & white lithographed stereos have practically no value and I can't use them unless you know that they are rare examples of that format.

WE BUY INTERESTING STEREOS & BOXED SETS <> ANY SUBJECT/COUNTRY
The best subjects are street scenes, store exteriors/interiors, events, trains, ships, planes, expeditions, civil war, early west & surveys, Indians. Daguerreotype, tintype, glass, tissue stereos, etc. Of no interest are most scenics (except bird's-eye-views of towns), comical, children, family situation comedy, pets, animals, cheap b&w or color lithographed stereos.

Please consider us when you decide to sell your antique Alaska photographs!

ALASKAN HERITAGE BOOKSHOP P.O.Box 22165 Juneau, Ak. 99802 ph/fax (907)-789-8450
OLD WOODEN STEREO CAMERAS & VIEWERS WANTED

Maclurian Lyceum of Philadelphia.
One of my heroes is Alexander Wilson. I've studied his life for many years. About 20 years ago I purchased a copy of the scarce Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology, 1826. This copy was inscribed "To the Maclurian Lyceum from the Author" (Charles Lucien Bonaparte). I'd like to know more about the Maclurian Lyceum. All I know is that it was a short-lived Philadelphia institution.

Magic Lantern

(aka stereopticon)
I collect magic lantern slides of Alaska and the Yukon.
These glass slides were usually 4" x 3 1/4" (or 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 if published in Europe). I have a large collection and am always looking for more to use in my shows. The best subjects are Alaska Natives (aka Eskimos, Indians, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Athabaskan, Aleut), street scenes, transportation, early Alaska activities, etc. I use these slides to give magic lantern shows here in Alaska. The makers names on the slides might be TH McAllister, McIntosh, "A. D. Handy", Partridge, Winter & Pond, etc, or the slide could be unmarked.
I am also collecting the ephemera of Alaska and Yukon magic lantern shows. If you have a broadside or a ticket advertising a magic lantern show of Alaska or the Yukon Klondike Gold Rush I'm interested. These Alaska magic lantern shows were usually called an "illustrated lecture" or "stereoptican lecture" or "stereopticon lecture", or they were called somthing like an "address upon Alaska illustrated with stereopticon views".
I should note here that the term "stereopticon" is often used to describe a hand-held viewer of 3-D cards. This is a misnomer. A viewer of 3-D cards is properly called a stereoscope or stereoscopic viewer.
A few examples of what I collect are shown here.

examples of Alaska & Yukon magic lantern glass slides

My old lantern that I use to give Alaska magic lantern shows. This lantern once burned lime (hence the term 'in the limelight') for its illumination. The lime burned very hot and the inside of this lantern was once on fire, as the charred interior shows. It now uses modern projector lamps, IR filters, and ultra silent fans. Victorian age to space age all in one machine.

A broadside for an Alaska magic lantern show.

A ticket to an Alaska lantern show at Academy Hall in East Greenwich, R.I.

Ticket to a Sheldon Jackson magic lantern show.

A ticket to an Alaska lantern show given by Dr. Sheldon Jackson

at left:
The top-half of a magic lantern broadside advertisement for an Alaska show at
Lincoln Academy, Damariscotta Maine, and presented by Alaska promoter
Arthur C. Jackson. Jackson founded the short-lived Alaska Geographical Society.

I own an original watercolor by Olaus J. Murie. It came from an estate in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It shows a flock of snow buntings. My guess is that it was painted at Mountain Village, Alaska. It's one of my favorite paintings. Adolph's wife Louise told me that she remembered seeing it at an exhibit of Olaus' paintings at Jackson Hole. Written on the back of the frame is #5. That is probably the exhibition number. If you know anything about this watercolor please contact me at dick@AlaskaWanted.com Thanks.

I collect bird art, particularly when it relates to Alaska. I am seeking original art (watercolor or oil paintings) by Olaus J. Murie (O. J. Murie); Allan Brooks (signed AB, or Allan Brooks); Edwin R. Kalmbach (usually signed E. R. Kalmbach, or E. R. K.); Bruce Horsfall (sometimes signed R. Bruce Horsfall); Robert Ridgway (sometimes signed R. Ridgway, or R & J. L. Ridgway, the J. L. standing for his brother, John Livzey Ridgway); Louis Agazzis Fuertes (usually signed L. A. Fuertes); etc. If you know of any original art from these painters, please contact me at dick@AlaskaWanted.com Thanks.

I collect photographs of, and am interested in, the 1910 & 1912 Parker-Browne expedition to Mount McKinley, and Belmore Browne.

I collect Alaska QSL cards (ham radio), pre-1960, that show the ham's radio equipment. I'm not interested in QSL cards that don't show any photos of the equipment.

Alaska Commercial Company

I'm researching the early Alaska Commercial Company, from 1868 to about 1885. People associated with the Alaska Commercial Company, as employees, treasury agents, sea captains, stock holders, etc, that I am interested in, are Henry Philemon Haven, Richard H. Chappell, Ebenezer “Rattler” Morgan, Charles Augustus Williams, John Parrott, Samuel Willett, August Wassermann, Simon Greenewald, John H. Moulton, George Wardman, Louis Kimmel, Stephen N. Buynitzky, H. A. Glidden, W. B. Taylor, George R. Tingle, L. G. Shepard, Jacob H. Moulton, Joseph B. Johnston, Charles A. Lutz, Thomas Wilkinson, Charles Bryant, George Peter Ihrie, Col George Marston, Capt. E. B. Herendeen, Samuel Falconer, John Morton, Chester Seeber, Harrison G. Otis, John G. Baker, G. R. Tingle, Dr. Otto Cramer, H. H. McIntyre, Hamden Mcintyre, Ben McIntyre, Henry Wood Elliott, etc.

I am actively researching Veazie Wilson and his wife, Josephine Smith Wilson, and Veazie's travelling partner, A. E. Ironmonger-Sola. The Veazie Wilson story is one that needs to be told. His photographs of the Upper Yukon Region are an important visual legacy, but remain little known.

Thirty years ago I was active in reseaching early American tool makers. I collected original broadsides advertising Joiner's Tools by John J. Bowles, and by Melvin Copeland. I had intended to put together an article on John J. Bowles and Melvin Copeland for the Chronicle. I also obtained copies of photographs of the two men, and a copy of John J. Bowles' ledger book listing the wooden planes he made, and more importantly, how long it took him to make each type of plane, since he was making these planes for Melvin Copeland, not for himself. Hence, the ledger is by time, not by price. Part of the problem researching Bowles is there were other John Bowles in the Hartford area, and sometimes they spelled their name Bolles. John Bowles, in his own ledger, sometimes spelled his name Bowles, and sometimes Bolles! Maybe I'll get back to that someday....

I am interested in the Edward Wood family of Middleham Castle, and I would like to correspond with any descendants of this Wood family. email me at dick@AlaskaWanted.com

Henry David Thoreau
What do Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Rosa Parks have in common? They were all inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience and the night he spent in the Concord Jail. They all went to jail, too. I have been interested in Henry David Thoreau ever since I inherited the big iron key to Thoreau’s Concord jail cell from my grandfather. Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay his poll tax. The tax supported our war against Mexico, which he didn’t believe in and felt was illegal. His night in jail resulted in his famous essay on civil disobedience, which was also inspiration for the Danish resistance, the fight against McCarthyism, and South African apartheid. This key came from Sam Staples, Thoreau's jailer, who gave it to Lewis David Drawbridge, who gave it to my grandfather, who may have represented Drawbridge in a school district lawsuit. The key is an icon in the history of civil disobedience. There is a story of Ralph Waldo Emerson visiting Thoreau in jail. “Henry, why are you here?” HDT: "Waldo, why are you not here?” (oral tradition in the Emerson family).
I showed this key to Thoreau's biographer, Dr. Walter Harding, when he visited Fairbanks in the 1970's. He was very excited to see it and told me that "The people in Concord would kill for this key." He said that it was an important artifact in Massachusetts' history.

I am especially interested in the Alaska photographer whose photographs are marked "M. Lorenz Alaska." Mike Lorenz was an amateur photographer while he was stationed at Saint Michael (a.k.a. Saint Michaels), Alaska, as agent for the Alaska Commercial Company. I collect Lorenz and I'm interested in purchasing collections of his cabinet card photos. M. Lorenz (aka Mike Lorenz, Michael Lorenz, Moses Lorenz, Moise Lorenz). If you have some to sell, please contact me at dick@AlaskaWanted.com Thanks.

Alaska Art. I collect and deal in early Alaska art. I'm especially interested in the early Alaska watercolor artists including Katherine Delaney Abrams (a.k.a. Katherine Terrell, Katherine Delaney, or K.D.T., or just "Terrell". Sometimes her Katherine Delaney Abrams looks like Katherine Delancy Abrams). Her watercolors were often of Sitka or Ketchikan); Edward L. Chamberlain (Ed Chamberlain, usually Sitka), Theodore J. Richardson (T. J. Richardson, (sometimes the TJ are integral with the R

making it look like "J. Richardson"), T.J.R., or what looks like a J on top of an R with the T being part of the R Richardson initials

). Ted Richardson often painted scenes in Glacier Bay, Alaska; also Henry Wood Elliot who often painted scenes in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska; Joseph Kehoe; Cleveland Rockwell; Frederick Whymper; Louis Choris, and others. Artists who worked in oils: Francis Brooks Davis (often unsigned, or signed F.C.M.D.); Jules Dahlager (usually signed Jules in red), and others. Bronzes: Louis McClellan Potter.

We collect and deal in Howard Weyahok Alaska walrus ivory pieces, such as pins, salt & peppers, desk sets, paintings, etc. If you have a piece of Howard Weyahok's work that you no longer want, we will make you an offer for it. Thanks. His signature sometimes is hard to read, and Weyahok can appear as Howard Weyahok, Howard Weyehok, Howard Weyohok, Howard Weyehek, Howard Weyehak, Howard Wayahak, Howard Wayahek, Howard Wayahok, Howard Wayehek, Howard Wayehok, Howard Woyahok, Howard Woyahek, Howard Woyehek, Howard Woyehok, Howard Woyohak, Howard Woyehak, Howard Woyohak, Howard Woyohek, Howard Woyohok.

I am researching two stereoscopic photographers who worked for the Keystone View Company: Will H. Leigh, and George Pratt.

I'm very interested in A. Trautman Grob (sometimes written as "Troutman Grob"). If someone has a photograph of him I'd love to see it! Thanks.

Questions? Click here to send me an email

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