William Thomas Perkins papers, 1884-1943

William Perkings was born 1858, and died in Seattle, Washington in 1947. Perkins career was varied ranging from dredging and mining to banking to Republican Party activities and Masonic Lodge activities. He was one of the first to see the dredging possibilities of Alaska, and he was the one to provide the financial backing for the first Alaska dredge at Nome. He was Deputy Sovereign Inspector General for Washington and Alaska ca. 1910 for the Freemasons, and he held classes and was responsible for the establishment of the first Masonic lodges in Alaska. Perkings was an active member of the Republican Party in Alaska, he acted as Chairman of the Juneau convention of November 1907, and served as delegate to the National Republican Convention in Chicago in 1908. He was a University of Washington Regent from 1914 to 1922 and a very active member of Seattle Masonic organizations.