Alexander McPhail

Updated November 25, 2024 with details of Alexander’s life and tragic death.

When Alexander McPhail was born on January 16, 1865, in St. Andrews West, Ontario, Canada, his father, John James McPhail (1838-1879), was 26 and his mother, Catherine Ann (née McIntosh) (1845-1922), was 20.

He had three brothers and three sisters.

A 1891 Census offering suggests that an Alexander McPhail was living with his spouse Isabella McPhail in Cornwall, Ontario. The birthdate is right and his occupation (a farmer) is also likely correct. However, no marriage record has been located that can confirm this is the correct person, and as there were multiple McPhails (and Alexanders), I am reluctant to make the leap.

There are 1911 census records for an Alexander McPhail born in January 1865 in Ontario living in Comox-Atlin, British Columbia. This Alexander is a labourer in a saw mill. I believe that this is the correct Alexander – as we next find him in Seattle, Washington.

The next record we find for Alexander McPhail is his death record. This Alexander’s mother’s name is “Katherine” McIntosh on the record, but his father’s name as well as the date and location of birth match. He was living at 803 Charles Street which at the time of his death was known as the Harborview Hotel (as late as 1932 it was known as the Mountain Hotel). Further research suggests that this was a long-stay hotel, and that there may have also been apartments at this location.

A newspaper report in the Seattle Daily Times on November 7, 1933, suggests that Alexander was overcome by gas while boiling potatoes on the 5th. He was taken to the Harborview Hospital, where he died on the 9th. The cause of death is noted as “Illuminating gas poisoning, accidental.”

Seattle Daily Times, November 7, 1933

I suspect by this point Alex may have lost touch with his remaining siblings. He is not noted in his mother’s obituary in 1922.

A further search finds the same Alexander on the 1920 and 1930 census at the same hotel on Charles Street. A review of Google Maps suggests that the building has been razed in favour of a parking lot. Other research on his residence suggests that the hotel was a favourite of labourers, loggers and longshoremen of Austrian, German and Swedish origin. In both censuses, he is a Labourer, the 1920 census suggests he was a dock worker. The censuses show that both he and his parents were born in Canada. The 1920 census record suggests that naturalization paperwork had been filed, but the 1930 census has his status as “alien.” I have not been able to locate the naturalization paperwork – possibly because it was rejected. The 1930 census suggests he emigrated in 1883, but I have found no paperwork to confirm.

In summary, it appears that Alex McPhail lived a somewhat nomadic life, with no records of a wife or family, although the last 11 years appear to suggest he settled and stayed at the same address. His accidental death at age 60 is certainly tragic, but I have to wonder if any family were informed and mourned him. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Seattle, although it appears if there was a stone, it has since vanished.

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ABOUT AUTHOR
AG Knapper

I’ve been researching my tree for over twenty years…and I’ve found some easy branches, and some gnarly ones…

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