Omar J Humphrey Sr. -- From Maine Sea Captain to....Congress?!

OJH Sr. poses mystery after mystery. Born in Maine in 1856 to an old seafaring family, OJH Sr. somehow made it to San Francisco, made a home there, and then seems to have been deeply involved in the trade with and travel to Alaska....which seems to have brought him to Seattle. He apparently lived in both SF and Seattle from around 1900 until 1905 and then seems to have moved permanently to Seattle with his third (!) bride, Eugenie Allison O'Connell (my great-grandmother).

I have to admit that I am utterly fascinated by him. Every new article turns up some new company he was involved in, all in industries particular to the development of the Northwest.  I'd say he was a complete wheeler-dealer! I will try to put together a timeline of his home and wives and companies and children....but in the meantime, I thought the below news article was fantastic!  When Alaska was lobbying for statehood, OJH Sr. was a territorial delegate! The article says that the election -- which took place in Seattle showing just how much the fates of the two states were linked at that point -- was extremely heated. OJH was a dark horse but squeaked through. He didn't last long....or at least Wikipedia never caught his name!

The following article ran November 22, 1905 in the Seattle Times.