Editorially speaking…
The recent three-part series on Klondike killer Joseph C. Claus drew some fascinating new information from subscriber Louise C. who has a family connection to the three Vipond brothers.
As readers will remember, they left Nanaimo in the spring of 1898 with Claus, Charles Hendrickson and James Burns, all out to make their fortunes in the Klondike gold rush. But, once on the trail, there was a falling-out, the Viponds going their own way.
Joseph C. Claus, murderer. —BC Archives
As told, Claus attacked his partners while they were sleeping, killing Burns with an axe then shooting Hendrickson several times before hiding their bodies under the snow and fleeing with their money.
It has to be wondered if he’d have been able to commit the crime had the Viponds still been with them...
Writes Louise:
“Hi, My mother-in-law’s father, Peter Brennan, was Elizabeth Vipond’s second child. She had only two as they separated relatively soon and then divorced. She was the eldest child of George and Jane Vipond.
[She] doesn’t have any pictures as her grandma divorced Peter before 1897 and married Dalton Green Alexander. He and his brothers were engineers, I believe, from Illinois. They moved to Vancouver and my mother-in-law only visited her in the summer. She didn’t receive any mementos when Elizabeth died. Elizabeth’s other son, George Brennan did not have children.
There are 3 pictures in the BC Archives of Viponds. Joseph is dressed in his gear for the Yukon, it looks like. George and Jeanette’s wedding photo, (probably) as well as Elizabeth’s and Dal’s, who married in 1897.
George and Jane Vipond had 9 children, 7 of them sons. They pre-empted acreage where the prison is on Biggs Road [Nanaimo]. George worked as a miner for Robert Dunsmuir, but challenged James regarding the scales. He was a farmer and eventually moved into Nanaimo. He built at least one rooming house on Robson [Street] there as well as other buildings.
Joseph and James owned a sawmill as well as other land on Brannen Lake.”
As we know, Claus committed suicide in his Nanaimo jail cell while awaiting execution. Mrs. Claus, Louise tells us, remarried. “John McDavitt, a Scot, car repairer for the E&N married Marie Camille Goveneur Claus on Feb. 9, 1899 in Nanaimo.
They together had James, born in 1901, and Irene, born 1904. and raised Joseph, who John adopted...”
The McDavitts, who are buried in the Wellington cemetery, “do not have headstones, but a granite curbing around the plot. James is also buried in the family plot in Wellington.—Louise.”
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The classic sailing vessel Dorothy. —BC Ferries
In a world of fibreglass hulls and aluminum rigging, the Island sailboat Dorothy—built in 1897!—has been in the news. And with good reason—she’s still seaworthy, still active, and said to be “the oldest-known Canadian-built sailboat still sailing”.
No wonder that she won the Classic Boat Award’s Best Restored Sailing Vessel in her category. This is international status, it should be noted.
The 9.1 metre was built in Victoria 127 years ago. That she’s still fully functional is nothing less than incredible—a testimony to her builders, to her owners, the BC Maritime Museum, the skilled volunteers of the Ladysmith Maritime Society and the various donors who made it financially possible.
Much of the Dorothy is original, by the way, which speaks highly of both her builders’ craftsmanship and the native woods with which she’s built.
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It looks like the Cowichan Valley’s ‘ghost town’ of Paldi is finally about to be reborn after years of shelved redevelopment plans.
Most of what was left of pioneer lumberman Mayo Singh’s company town was deliberately torched for firefighting practice by the Sahtlam Volunteer Fire Department and only the Sikh Temple survives of this once thriving multi-cultural community.
The Sikh Temple at Paldi is to be joined by 355 homes and commercial premises—”a highly unique master planned, semi-rural resort community on 200 acres”.
I first visited Paldi in the 1980s when there was still lots to be seen and there was a small resident population. You’d hardly know that was the case today. Previous proposals to resurrect Paldi have failed to materialize so I for one shall watch the proposed redevelopment.
Mayo Singh was a remarkable guy and Paldi was a remarkable town. Here’s hoping that all goes according to plan...
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In other development news, Victoria’s historic waterfront is going to undergo a humongous remake with the heritage Capital Iron Buildings as its hub. Among the proposed amenities is a new home for the Victoria Art Gallery.
As a kid, Capital Iron and Spencer’s War Surplus were my two favourite Saturday afternoon destinations in downtown Victoria. This love affair continued until I moved up-Island. I can still remember the smell of canvas and hemp downstairs at Capital Iron. What intrigued me most were the photos on the walls of the ships the company had scrapped over the years.
Better yet, as an adult and established journalist, owner Ron Greene allowed me almost free reign to explore several doomed ships as they were moored at the company docks, awaiting their turn at the cutting torches.
I was in my glory!
Well, that’s all history now and only the buildings will remain. At least I have my memories—and the photos I took.