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Alfred J. Daly
It has been said that no one goes to Alaska to make
a home and permanent residence, but when a man
has spent a decade of the most active period of his
life in this country, he feels like it is his home, and certainly is entitled to the appellation of an Alaskan. A. J.
Daly came to Alaska when twenty-one years old and
has lived in the district ever since. He has filled the
position of deputy clerk of the District Court when the
jurisdiction of this court extended over the 591,000
square miles of Alaska territory; he was for a period
of four years assistant United States Attorney, for this
vast territory, and was the representative of the Attorney General's office who assisted in holding the first
term of the District Court in Nome in 1899.
Mr. Daly is a native of Troy, New York, and was
born March 18. 1873. After attending the Troy
High School he entered Williams College, and was
graduated from this institution with the class of '93,
receiving the degree of A. B. The following year he
went to Alaska as deputy clerk of the District Court at Sitka. While a resident of Troy.
New York, he studied law in a law office, and was subsequently admitted to the bar. In
August, 1896, he was appointed to the position of assistant United States Attorney for
Alaska, and stationed at Juneau. In 1 899, representing the Attorney General's office, he
accompanied Judge C. S. Johnson on a circuit through the district. This probably was the
longest circuit ever made by a court in the history of the United States, the trip consuming
three months' time, during which the distance traveled was more than 7,000 miles.
The court reached Nome in August, having come down the Yukon, holding sessions
at the principal stations. At this time Nome was in the bud of its boom. There was
great activity in the mines near town and on the beach, and no one could forecast the
future of the camp, but the possibilities were immeasurably great and encouraging. Mr.
Daly determined to cast his lot with the gold seekers in the new camp. In the spring
of 1900 he resigned his federal position, having held the office under both Cleveland and
McKinley's administrations, and came to Nome to engage in the practice of law. After
his arrival in Nome, his resignation not having been accepted by the department, he acted
as district attorney, at the solicitation of General Randall, until the arrival of Judge Noyes.
Mr. Daly is associated with Judge Johnson in the practice of law. He is a prominent member of the Nome bar and a lawyer of ability.
Source: Nome and Seward Peninsula by
R. S. Harrison. Seattle: The Metropolitan Press, 1905.
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