Margaret Alaska Kleinschmidt McChesney

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http://boards.ancestry.myfamily.com/surnames.mcchesney/59.1/mb.ashx

Subject: Re: McChesney, Robert H.; Alaska/WA

Author: MCCURDY

Date: Sunday, September 24, 2006

Classification: Query

Surnames: McChesney, Young, Kleinschmidt

I'm sorry I don't have info. on R.H. McChesney except to say that I know he was dead (or they were divorced) by 1953. I lived in a duplex house in Juneau, AK on Gastineau Ave. in 1953-1954 in which Alaska McChesney occupied the main floor and our family occupied the upstairs. I have fond memories of her as a little white-haired lady who would entertain me and a neighbor boy by giving us each a lemon drop (one only per day!), letting us come in and listen to her canary sing, and telling us stories of old Alaska. She was born in Wrangell 27 Feb 1884. Her father, S. Hall Young, served the Presbyterian Mission there from 8 August 1878 to 1888. He was a great friend of John Muir's and wrote a book, still in print, entitled "Alaska Days with John Muir." Alaska died in Seattle in August of 1962 according to the Social Security Death Index. She is listed in the 1920 Census in Fair Haven, Monmouth, New Jersey, living with her father S. Hall Young and her three daughters. The census states she is married and her name is listed as Alaska Klienschmidt. I would love to have more information about her as she was definitely my first heroine. Is one of her daughters still living?

I was in Juneau last week on an Alaska Cruise and made it a point to climb up the side of Mt. Roberts to see our old house and take pictures of it. My elder sister was with me or I wouldn't have been able to find it since I was very small at the time we lived there. It certainly brought back good memories.

Captain Frank E Kleinschmidt. He made documentary films 1912-34, such as The Alaska-Siberian Expedition (1912) and Captain F. E. Kleinschmidt’s Arctic Hunt (1914). His main occupation however was as Captain of a merchant freighter, plying the waters from Seattle to Alaska. His wife, Margaret Alaska Young Kleinschmidt (1884-1962), while not Inuit was Alaskan born. Her father was Rev. Samuel Hall Young, who went to Alaska with his young wife in the 1880s to spread the Gospel among the heathens (probably much to their everlasting regret). Frank and Margaret Kleinschmidt had twin daughters born in Nome, Alaska in 1907.

Filmography:

Jump to filmography as: Director, Cinematographer, Miscellaneous Crew, Producer, Self

Director:

1920s

1910s

Primitive Love (1927)

War on Three Fronts (1916) (as F.E. Kleinschmidt)

Captain F.E. Kleinschmidt's Arctic Hunt (1914)

Cinematographer:

1920s

1910s

Primitive Love (1927)

War on Three Fronts (1916) (as F.E. Kleinschmidt)

The Alaska-Siberian Expedition (1912)

... aka The Carnegie Museum Alaska-Siberian Expedition

Miscellaneous Crew:

1930s

1920s

Man of Two Worlds (1934) (technical advisor)

Santa Claus (1925) (presenter) (as F.E. Kleinschmidt)

Producer:

1920s

1910s

Santa Claus (1925) (producer) (uncredited)

Captain F.E. Kleinschmidt's Arctic Hunt (1914) (producer)

Self:

Captain F.E. Kleinschmidt's Arctic Hunt (1914) .... Himself

The Alaska-Siberian Expedition (1912) .... Himself

... aka The Carnegie Museum Alaska-Siberian Expedition

Santa Claus (1925)

Presented by Mr. & Mrs. F. E. Kleinschmidt— 28:38

Filmed partly on location in Northern Alaska, this fanciful story of Santa Claus is the most watchable piece in this collection. Taking some liberties with the established Claus-ology, the filmmakers cast walruses, polar bears and reindeer as Santa's friends and guardians, using impressive vistas of frozen lakes to illustrate Santa's snowy environment. There are some fantastic toys on display in Santa's workshop, including a miniature amusement park, and the film is more cognizant of real world realities than most Santa stories. At one point, Santa observes a bad little boy robbing a blind man and setting his dog loose; he also tells the children about "hard times" and their likely effect on Christmas bounty. Santa visits with his friends the Easter Bunny (a live rabbit) and Jack Frost (a man in a fur suit), and there's a creative slow-motion gag towards the end. Nicely realized and intelligently presented, this privately-produced film is a worthy candidate for anyone's Christmas viewing.