A petite and attractive woman, Frances Noyes Muncaster was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1874. Her life is a study in contrast and individual perseverance. Frances married three times, acquired some success as an actress in the theater in the East, lived and worked in the gold rush community of Candle in northern Alaska, enjoyed European travel and refined living, faced economic difficulties as a widow, and spent her latter years in Haines, a small town in Southeast Alaska.

The papers of Frances Noyes Muncaster are primarily arranged in chronological order determined by her three marriages. There are sub groups by types of papers, i.e.: correspondence, business records, diaries, and newspaper clippings. The collection also includes papers and diaries of relatives. Some of the papers of her grandmother, mother and aunts date back to the Civil War era. These records are only briefly described as to originator, place and date since the library's major interest area is the Alaska related material.

Frances' family tree is complete back to Richard Eason who founded Onesburg, Mass. around 1660. Her paternal relatives were known to be in the Revolutionary War. Her maternal grandfather was a member of the Banks Expedition, New Orleans, LA during the Civil War.

Frances' parents married at Oswego, New York in 1868, later moving to Saint Paul, Minn., where Frances was born Aug. 10, 1874, one of eight children. They moved to Spokane in 1886, and in 1897 to Coeur d’Alene.

Frances married Samuel G. Allen, a county attorney, on the 21st of September 1892, in Spokane. Frances was only 18 at the time of her marriage. His age is unknown, but since he was already an attorney and a highly respected member of the Elks, I feel he was some years older than Frances. Evidently Frances took part in various community activities as she participated in a society circus at Natatorian Park in Spokane around 1895. Mr. Allen, then a prosecuting attorney, consented to his wife's participation in the circus since all of the proceeds were to benefit a boy who suffered a broken back.

In her circus debut, Frances rode into the ring on a barebacked horse, looking beautiful and daring in baby pink tights and a short light blue costume. She created quite a sensation or a scandal as envisioned by her husband. A quarrel followed, and Frances left home August 26, 1895.

Albert Hildreth, a Southerner from New Orleans, was smitten with Frances after seeing her ride in the circus. The NEW YORK JOURNAL newspaper carried a series of articles in 1897 on Hildreth's pursuit of Frances across the continent into Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Chicago, and finally New York. It is reported that he said he would either marry Frances or kill her. She had other ideas and was not interested in a proposal of marriage.

During this time, Frances was enjoying some success as an actress on the stage. Her first appearance was April 8, 1896 at Bradford, Pa. She was in the cast of "Fiordelisa in the Fools Revenge" and "Marco in the Marble Heart."

While staying at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1897, she met Mr. Hildreth face to face and consented to dine with him. He again threatened to kill her if she wouldn't marry him. He pulled out a knife and tried to stab her. While she was not harmed, Frances did leave the area and went to New York in the summer of 1897.

Meanwhile, her husband (now an ex-prosecuting attorney) sued Frances for divorce in 1896 on grounds of desertion -- the divorce was granted the summer of 1897.

Thomas Clarke Noyes, a student from the University of Michigan, saw Frances on the stage and fell in love with her. They were married sometime in 1897. Thomas was the son of John Noyes, one of Butte's oldest pioneers who settled there in 1866. John Noyes, a former Montana legislator was active in Silver Bow county affairs and made his fortune in the mining industry.

The SEATTLE SUNDAY TIMES, June 14, 1908, noted that John Noyes "never could accept the daughter-in-law. I shall conduct no training school for actresses". Tom took his interest in mining and his trust fund of $2,500 and went to Alaska with Frances to establish their future.

In the winter of 1897-1898 they were in Skagway. According to Frances' diary of 1921, after arriving in Skagway by boat, she wrote, "We came up town and secured our rooms at the hotel Golden North, the same people that ran it in 1897. The man is old, bent and withered up. He has been here for twenty three years. I met one or two that remembered me from 97. Seems strange. The hotel man remembered me, talked of Tommy. We went up and looked at the little wee cabin that I lived in the winter of 97-98."

In a letter from friend, "Capt. William K---", written in circa 1916, he mentions seeing her at Skagway, Atlin and the Klondike about twenty years before. He recalls Tommy as pure gold.

Frances and Tom moved to Nome in 1900. On November 13, 1900, Thomas Clarke Noyes was appointed United States commissioner for four years, for the Fairhaven Recording District.

W.A. Simonds, a relative by marriage, wrote in 1985 that "Thomas and Frances became important people in Nome. Tom was an experienced miner. He decided to look for the motherlode. If there was so much gold in the ocean, it must be a bonanza. An Eskimo boy told him that the gold was easier to get on Candle Creek north of Nome, so Tom, thinking this might be the "Mother-lode" staked several claims at Candle Creek. Candle was better than the crowded beach at Nome and he prospered."

They became pioneers in the history of Candle, moving there after gold was discovered. Thomas became known as the "Father of Candle Creek", according to ALASKA-YUKON MAGAZINE, March 1909, page 531.

Mr. Noyes established the T.C. Noyes Banking Co. at Candle soon after their arrival. Mr. Simond's letter stated, "With the bank he planned to finance a dredging operation and used the bank to tap major sources of capital in New York."

Tom and Frances lived a comfortable lifestyle in this rural area. Their first home in Candle, a log cabin, had many books, pictures and lace curtains at the windows. Their second home had wallpaper on the walls, many books, pictures, and a beautiful staircase. The women of Candle had fashionable dresses as shown in the photograph collection. Mrs. Noyes was a gracious hostess.

Hudson Stuck, a prominent Alaskan Episcopal archdeacon and author wrote Frances, "It is indeed good to a "mushing" archdeacon to know that here and there in this vast wilderness are homes of comfort and refinement where he is made welcome, and nowhere that I have been, have I found more cordial and generous hospitality than I found with you."

Tom and Frances did not have children of their own as Frances had several miscarriages while at Candle, according to Joe Jurgeleit of Haines. They did adopt a half Eskimo girl, Bonnie, who was born Feb 14, 1900. From the photographs, it would seem Bonnie was about five years old when she came to live in the Noyes' household. Frances and Tom also assisted a young man named Garnet W. Martin for a period of time and helped him with his life. He writes she was like a mother to him.

In 1905, Godfrey Chealander, Father of the Alaska Yukon Exposition, announced additional directors for the Alaska-Yukon Fair which included Thomas C. Noyes of Candle.

In 1908, the Nome Kennel Club, with Albert Fink as first president, offered a purse of $2500 for a dog team race from Nome to Candle and back to Nome. This 420 mile race also had $100,000 in race bets. Frances was one of the three appointed judges of the All-Alaska Sweepstakes race. She registered every dog that went through Candle. Frances also kept a dog team. William Muncaster stated, "attorney Albert Fink offered $1,000 for her leader so she sent the dog outside on the last boat just because he was not going to abuse one of her pets."

Tom and Frances spent the summers in Candle and often traveled in the winter. In 1902 and 1903 they were in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a while. They traveled to Coeur d’Alene where Frances' family lived, spent some time in Seattle, traveled to Europe in 1907 and possibly other years.

Tom's father died in 1902 leaving him one-fourth interest in the Rainer Grand Hotel in Seattle. Mr. Simond's letter indicated Tom and Frances traveled the world and that Frances "was the toast of New York, London, Paris, and especially Monte Carlo." Among other things, they now owned the Rainer Grand Hotel in Seattle.

They also traveled to Butte, Montana. In the winter of 1909-10, Bonnie entered first grade at the Butte-Public School. The Noyes were established members of Butte and Seattle society. Frances and Bonnie appeared quite frequently in the newspaper's society pages.

All the time Frances and Tom lived in Alaska, they collected artifacts. Many of these artifacts are in the Alaska State Museum. Unfortunately documentation is lacking on origin/sources of the ivory and other objects. The ANACONDA STANDARD, Dec. 13, 1908, described the Noyes' artifact collection in this way. "Besides his nuggets and photographs, Mr. Noyes has still another collection, perhaps the most complete display of curios ever brought out of the north, laubrettes (labrets) stone, clay and ivory pipes with curious Eskimo carving, snuff boxes, furs, strange ivory specimens, weird household utensils, jade axes and hammers and many other interesting articles picked up in the course of his travels at considerable expense and gathered together in a specially set aside curio room at the Noyes' homestead at Granite and Wyoming streets in Butte. The urgent request that this collection be exhibited at the Alaska-Yukon exposition in Seattle, Mr. Noyes has granted." Records have not been located that indicate the Noyes' contribution to A-Y-P exhibition.

First the gold mining at Candle was carved out by rockers and sluicing. Lack of water for hydraulic mining resulted in construction of the five mile long Bear Creek Ditch. Construction by C.L. Morris, who constructed over 350 miles of ditches on the Seward Peninsula, began in 1907 with work progressing into 1908.

The ANACONDA STANDARD, Dec. 13, 1908, stated "Of this magnificent enterprise, Tom Noyes is the projector, the engineer, the backbone, a big owner and president of the company which has control -- The Candle-Alaska Hydraulic gold Mining Company. Associated with him are W.L. Leland of San Francisco, vice president; Fred P. Meyer of Candle, secretary-treasurer; and Robert D. Adams of Nome, Alaska, manager. The cost of the piping also entails an outlay of $100,000. The pipe was manufactured in Seattle and made up the entire cargo of 1,400 tons carried by the steamer EDITH on an early trip north in 1907."

Mr. Noyes went to New York in the fall of 1907 to secure financing to complete his Bear Creek, Ditch. He told Frances "I'll be back to eat Christmas dinner with you." It didn't work out that way. A financial storm arose, and Tom was unable to secure financing. He even had to pawn personal belongings to pay his hotel bill.

This financial crisis caused the Noyes' bank in Candle to be hard pressed. The ANACONDA STANDARD, Dec. 13, 1908, had the following account of Frances' efforts which helped save the bank. "There was gold dust enough, but a scarcity of currency. The demand grew so insistent that Mrs. Noyes set out for Nome, drove all the way behind her faithful dog team, secured the money needed and returned on the ice cluttered path, through snow drifts and over mountains, completing a journey of 420 miles. So by her courage, resources and endurance a woman saved the bank. It was a stunt few men would attempt." The BUTTE EVENING NEWS, Feb. 20, 1910, carried a story "In the Social Whirl..." which recorded a conversation about Frances, "Why my old friend, Rex Beach, author of THE SPOILERS, you know, told me he intended to make Mrs. Noyes the heroine of his next novel. And, if he describes her as she really is, he won't have to draw on his imagination to picture a beautiful woman."

Sometime later disaster struck. From the financial papers it seems business was deteriorating by 1910. According to Mr. Simonds, "Tom was a first class miner but a poor business man. He signed inter bank instruments as 'Thomas C. Noyes' rather than 'Thomas C. Noyes, President'. As a result, he was held to be individually liable for the debts of the bank. He lost the bank, his claims, and the Rainer Grand Hotel."

Sometime after this financial disaster, Tom and Frances moved to Tongass Island near Ketchikan. Frances had a 40 ft long launch built for her the winter and spring of 1913. It was named the ELMIRA after Tom's mother. The summer of 1913, she traveled the inlets of southeast Alaska with her launch. The Forest Service purchased it in March 1914 renaming it the RANGER #4.

The Shushana gold strike in the spring of 1913 lured them north again. On Sept. 7, 1913, Tom wrote from Wilson Creek near McCarthy, to Frances in Ketchikan with details on travel conditions. She was to be ready to come when he wired her. They prospected with some success.

THE MINING AND ENGINEERING WORLD, Feb. 12, 1916, stated, "It was on one of these trips he met with such hardships that despite his splendid physique and being skilled in the mode of traveling and living in the far northern lands, he returned to his home on Tongass Island a physical wreck." He spent a week at Port Simpson General Hospital, B.C. in Dec. 1915. Frances boarded in the room with him. He was finally taken to a hospital in St. Louis accompanied by Frances and his mother.

Thomas C. Noyes died Feb. 2, 1916 of pneumonia.

Frances' life had changed from happiness, a husband and riches. These major losses over a period of only a few years and her struggle to survive amidst such a situation can only be imagined.

After Tom's death, Frances survived by managing the Nakat Inlet cannery store belonging to John Hume. Letters he wrote her indicate more than just a business interest.

Bill Muncaster also worked at the cannery where he met Frances. According to W.A. Simonds, "As a young man Bill was a surveyor on the Great Northern Railroad route, working his way east across the northern continent. He contacted typhoid fever and almost died. After recuperating he went to work for the Coast and Geodetic Survey to survey Alaska, entering at Nome."

During his travels to Ketchikan and Seattle Bill wrote Frances many love letters, trying to convince her that his age (15 years younger) didn't matter, he would always love her.

Finally June 15, 1919, Frances and Bill were married in McCarthy, Alaska. Taking Bonnie with them, they embarked on a year long honeymoon trip. She kept diaries day by day on this trip. They left McCarthy by pack train, taking their dogs and enough supplies for a year. They traveled to the Nazina River stopping overnight at Young's Creek in an empty cabin. Frances wrote it was the same place she and Mr. Noyes had stopped in 1914. They crossed the Nazina and Russell Glaciers to the White River. They continued on to Canyon

City down river (now deserted) and set up living in an empty cabin. They planted a garden and went on many sheep hunts.

In August they made a trip to Shushana for supplies. The later part of August they attempted a trip to the Yukon. Making it to the Donjek they were stopped by the high water. So it was back to Canyon City. Summer travel was by pack horse and winter travel was dog team. In early December they made a trip to Snag for supplies. Finally on January 31 at 37 below zero, they set out for Wellesley Lake to spend the rest of the winter in another deserted cabin. They supplemented their supplies by hunting and fishing with a moose hide net through a hole in the ice.

Next spring Frances, Bill and Bonnie planted a large garden. "May 29, finished potatoes, 1100 hills. Bill built a boat for the lake, June 12 launched it and Bonnie broke a bottle of lemon extract on it and named it the MOSQUITO.”

In August plans were made to leave. They left their garden for a neighbor who lived 15 miles away. Their trip out to McCarthy was quite exciting. Travel took them through a mile of burned timber, ashes to their knees. The next day they traveled through a forest fire, camping in a marsh surrounded by fire. The dogs' feet were burned and Bill had to carry one of them on his back. Arriving in McCarthy Sept 1, 1920, Frances wrote in her diary, "Thus ends my year in the interior and happiness."

Frances' next diary tells of another trip that she, Bill and Bonnie took in March 1921. Loaded with provisions, horses, and chickens, they boarded a ship in Vancouver, B.C., bound for Skagway. Whitehorse was reached by travel on the White Pass railroad. Pack train was the next mode of travel. Their final destination was Wellesley Lake where they had spent the 1920 winter. The Alaska highway follows some of this pack train trail. Frances mentions Takhini, Champagne, Bear Creek, Burwash, Kluane Lake, the Jacquot brothers, and the Donjek River.

On May 25 Frances writes "Today is Tommie's birthday. It makes it a sad day always."

Her diary continued for another year ending July 2, 1922. They are still at Wellesley Lake. During this time Frances helped bring in meat, killing birds, caribou, and even moose

Frances' diaries contain good information on the people and roadhouses in the area at the time, and hardships suffered.

According to Bill's letter Nov 11, 1952 to the DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, "About 1923 we went from Wellesley Lake to Burwash Landing about 150 miles, drove a herd of horses out of the hills to good feed for the winter, it was cold, our thermometer went to the bulb at 56 degrees below zero and stayed there for some 10 days. But we had to keep going for we were out there, us two, 100 miles or so from nowhere. But she loved it. Have seen her day after day cover 20 to 25 miles on snow shoes, just took it as an every day chore."

Frances was a romantic and interested in writing. A few of her stories are in her papers. The managing editor of the Press Reporting Syndicate encouraged here to continue her writing in a 1925 letter.

Bonnie married Larry Crozier, a member of the Canadian mounted police, sometime after the summer of 1922. According to the photograph captions they were living in Whitehorse in 1929. At this time she had a young baby.

A letter from a Dollie Shiedt dated Dec 21, 1932, indicated Bonnie died sometime in the near past. There was no mention of the baby or the cause of her death. Debbie Shiedt probably was Bonnie's sister.

During the summer of 1927, Bill was in Seattle and Frances went prospecting. She followed some Indians into Squaw Creek, B.C. and staked some claims all by herself. At first the Indians wouldn't accept her, but eventually did after she was appointed the only independent woman Deputy Mining Recorder in the B.C. Mining Dept. This saved them a 600 mile trip to record their deeds. Young Billy Simonds, Bill's nephew, (W.A. Simonds) came the spring of 1928 and helped Frances relay all the supplies by dog team to Squaw Creek. They went to Champagne, Yukon Territory, turned south following the Dezadeash River to Klukshu Indian village. Bill joined them here with the horses and they continued on to the Dalton Post. Squaw Creek was only 13 miles south from there but across the Tatshenshini.

For 10-12 years Frances and Bill would spend the summers gold mining at Squaw Creek, eventually going in through Haines. Winters were spent at various places, Victoria, Seattle, Vancouver. Sometime in the 1930's they bought a cabin at 30 mile on the Haines Highway. They finally settled at Haines where Bill had a job with the city of Haines surveying streets and the town lots. Their trips to Squaw Creek became fewer and farther apart. They were still making trips in 1946, according to a letter Bill wrote to the Honorable Minister of Mines, Victoria, B.C. explaining the reason they were not able to work their claims.

Frances despite her age and arthritis continued with her gold mining. Mr. Muncaster wrote, "My what a pardner she was never cross like I get."

Frances died October 28, 1952. Bill survived her by 15 years, dying February 6, 1968.

After Bill's death, her artifacts and papers were donated to the Alaska Division of State Libraries and Museum by three of his four heirs, one being Young Billy Simonds who accompanied them to Squaw Creek in 1928. (W.A. Simonds). The Frances Noyes Muncaster Collection serves as a living memorial to a petite, feminine, kindly lady whose courage and abilities made her a special kind of Alaska pioneer/prospector.

[From: Inventory of the Frances Noyes Muncaster Papers, 1850-1952, Louetta Ward.]