Gastineau Channel Memories

Davis, Cordelia Montgomery

Constance Davis

Born in 1895, Cordelia lived in Juneau until the late 1940?s. She went to school for awhile in Portland, Oregon, in 1913-14, the winter the Princess Sophia went aground during a snowstorm in Canadian waters. Her brother, Trevor, was aboard that ship on his way to meet her and to accompany her to Juneau. The mishap caused only a minor delay and they arrived back home ten days later.

Cordelia married William Carlson and they had two daughters. They lived in the old family home on 6th Street. Her porch was full of singing birds, and her dog ready to play. When Bill stopped by the Post Office on his way to work every morning, he taught the dog to take mail home to Cordelia who was waiting in clear view. The neighborhood children delighted in getting homemade doughnuts and cider on Halloween at the Carlson house. Sometimes it all came with a lesson in English manners. Not to be outdone by the modern woman, Cordelia chugged in and out of town in her automobile. The open space on the right side of the glacier was the ideal spot to instruct grateful young women in the basics of driving.

The Carlsons moved to Sitka for awhile, and then, to Seattle to be closer to their daughters and families. Cordelia died in 1951 at the age of 56.

	Cordelia Montgomery Davis