Digital Bob Archive

Arthur K. Delaney was Juneau's first mayor and that was the last of a number of public offices he held, both in Alaska and elsewhere. Judge Delaney, as he was most commonly known in Juneau, was born at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, on January 10, 1841, and moved with his family to Wisconsin at an early age. After attending the common schools and an academy, he read law and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in February, 1865. The following month he married a school mate, Anna J. Wallwork, who was also a native of New York State.

Delaney got into politics early. In 1869 he ran for the Wisconsin Assembly as a Democrat and was elected. In 1873 he was elected the County Superintendent of Schools and served until 1879 when he ran successfully for the State Senate. In 1882 he tried for the party nomination for Congress, but the convention deadlocked and after 3200 ballots were cast, a dark horse was chosen to break the deadlock. In 1884 Delaney was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and helped to nominate Grover Cleveland for the presidential race. After Cleveland was elected, Delaney was named U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin. He resigned in 1886 to run for Congress but failed of election.

President Cleveland appointed Delaney to the post of Collector of Customs for Alaska in March, 1887, and he arrived at Sitka with his wife and two daughters on April 16. He was one of the first delegates to a national political convention from Alaska, in 1888, and was again a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892. In 1889, after President Cleveland was defeated, Delaney resigned as Collector and moved to Juneau where he opened a law office with A. Hew Gamel.

In 1892 Delaney moved to Everett, Washington, where he practiced law until 1895 when President Cleveland, serving his second term, named him U.S. District Judge for Alaska. The family moved back to Sitka and he took office on January 15, 1896. By that time a great part of the litigation consisted of mining cases and other matters around Juneau, and early in 1897 Judge Delaney moved the District Court to Juneau.

After Republican William McKinley was elected president, Judge Delaney resigned from the bench and formed a law partnership with Henry W. Mellen. They built the Delaney Building which stood at Front and Main Streets until torn down for the widening of Main Street. In Juneau's first municipal election, on June 29, 1900, the judge was elected to the seven-member City Council and was chosen by the council as Juneau's first mayor. He did not run for a second term, partly because of the illness of Mrs. Delaney who died at Juneau just after the end of the council year.

In the meanwhile, one of the Delaney daughters, Katheryn, had established a reputation as a water colorist, using the names Katheryn D. Tyrell, then Katheryn D. Abrams. Her paintings are to be found in both Sitka and Juneau.

Judge Delaney left Juneau about 1902. He died at Paso Robles, California, on January 21, 1905.