T. S. Lippy

T. S. Lippy returning from the Yukon with a packtrain in 1899, carrying about one ton of gold

Thomas Sergent Lippy (December 2, 1860 – September 13, 1931[1]), know variously as T. S. Lippy, Thomas Lippy or Tom S. Lippy, was an American millionaire and philanthropist who became wealthy as a prospector in the Klondike Gold Rush.[2]

Lippy was the athletic director of or an instructor at the Seattle YMCA, before he and his wife Salome headed north in search of gold in 1896[3] or 1897 after an injury forced him to leave his YMCA job.[4] Some Scotsmen from Nanaimo had staked claims Fourteen to Seventeen on Eldorado Creek in the Klondike region of Canada.[5] They decided to abandon Sixteen and Seventeen in order to concentrate on some other claims. Lippy had a claim further up the creek, but restaked Sixteen because his wife wanted a cabin, and there was timber there.[5] Sixteen proved to be one of the richest claims of the gold rush.

Salome Lippy was the first white woman in the area, until she was joined by Ethel Berry.[6][7] Clarence and Ethel Berry, who also became rich, were neighbors of the Lippys,[8] living a mile away.[7]

On July 25, 1898, the Lippys arrived in San Francisco aboard the Excelsior, the first ship to reach the lower United States from the Klondike with now-wealthy prospectors; the Lippys brought with them gold valued, according to the Chicago Tribune, at "not less than $200,000."[9] He sold his holdings in 1903.[10] That same year he became an investor in The Seattle Automobile Company, the first car dealership in the city.[11]

He and his wife went on a worldwide tour, before building a lavishly decorated 15-room house in Seattle.[10] He gave generously to the YMCA, the First United Methodist Church[12] and the Anti-Saloon League, and donated the land for a five-story addition to Seattle General Hospital.[10] He also established a free hospital for miners in Dawson City,[13] and sent "a library of 1000 volumes" to Skagway, Alaska.[14]

He won the 1907 Pacific Northwest Amateur golf tournament[15] and was the Port Commissioner of the Port of Seattle from 1918 to 1921.[10]

Unfortunately, his business investments, "a mattress-and-upholstery company, a brick company, a trust-and-savings bank, and the Lippy Building", all failed, and he died bankrupt in 1931 at the age of 71.[10][16] However, his widow was provided with $50 a month from a hospital land agreement.[10][15] Salome Lippy died in 1938.

References

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  1. ^ "Thomas Sergent Lippy". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2024-03-27. Dates are shown on his gravestone, reproduced there.
  2. ^ "Wealthy Klondiker Here: T. S. Lippy Made His Money in Alaska and Is Doing Good With It". Los Angeles Herald. February 8, 1904.
  3. ^ George Tibbits (July 13, 1997). "Klondike fever shakes Seattle". Juneau Empire. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  4. ^ Berton, p. ?
  5. ^ a b Berton, p. 54
  6. ^ "Women As Plucky Klondyke Pilgrims". Los Angeles Herald. August 8, 1897.
  7. ^ a b Company, W. B. Conkey (January 1, 2010). The Official Guide to the Klondyke Country and the Gold Fields of Alaska. Cosimo, Inc. pp. 145–148. ISBN 9781616404017. Retrieved September 14, 2016. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ "Ethel Berry - Bride of the Klondike". National Postal Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  9. ^ "Treasure on the Nelson: Vessel Arrives at Seattle with a Million and a Half of Klondike Gold. ... Former Y. M. C. A. Instructor Brings a Fortune From the Frozen North". Chicago Tribune. July 25, 1898.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Berton, Pierre (November 6, 2015). The Klondike Fever: The Life And Death Of The Last Great Gold Rush. Pickle Partners Publishing. pp. 563–564. ISBN 9781786256737. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  11. ^ "The Seattle Automobile Company to Increase its Capital Stock to $100,000". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. April 16, 1908. p. 16. W. E. Stevens, T. S. Lippy, H. P. Grant, H. E. Schmidt - trustees
  12. ^ "Seattle's First Church Unveils 160-year timeline". 28 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Cargo of Gold from Klondike". Chicago Tribune. June 25, 1901.
  14. ^ "Library for Skagway". The Daily Alaskan. January 10, 1900.
  15. ^ a b Francaviglia, Richard V. (September 1, 1997). Hard Places: Reading the Landscape of America's Historic Mining Districts. University of Iowa Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780877456094. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  16. ^ David Germain (July 19, 1997). "Back To The Klondike Stampeder's Relatives Mark Alaska Gold Rush Centenial (sic) With Cruise". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press.
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