Will Clayson
Will Clayson (June 24, 1868 – September 28, 1950) was the fifth mayor of Anchorage, Alaska. Biography William H. Clayson was born in Port Gamble, Washington Territory to English immigrant parents, Edward Clayson and Annie Mary Quinton. By 1869, the family had settled in a logging camp near Seabeck, Washington Territory, where a sister, Esther, and a brother, Frederick, were born. The family moved to Portland in 1883, where another sister, Charlotte, was born. Will attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. Alaska In July 1897, just weeks after hearing the news that gold had been discovered in the Klondike, Will's brother Frederick sailed for Skagway, Alaska. He was accompanied by their brother-in-law, Emil Pohl, who had married Esther three years prior. Will followed in September, and helped Frederick to open an outfitting store, F.W. Clayson and Company. Their mother, who had divorced their father some years hence, joined them. Esther followed the next year, having completing post-graduate studies in Chicago. When Frederick was murdered on the Dawson Trail on Christmas Day, 1899, Will was appointed executor of his estate. He continued to managed the Skagway store. Will's first marriage, to a woman named Cecilia, produced a son, William, Jr.