John Franklin Alexander Strong (October 15, 1856 – July 27, 1929) was a British North American-born journalist who was the second governor of Alaska Territory from 1913 to 1918.

Background

John Franklin Alexander Strong was born in Salmon Creek, a small farming community in Queens County, New Brunswick, British North America on October 15, 1856, the son of Adam Robert and Janet (Nicholl) Strong. He graduated from the New Brunswick Normal School in 1874. After graduation he spent the next fourteen years working as a store owner and teacher throughout the province. On December 31, 1879, he married Elizabeth A. Aitkens of Fredericton, New Brunswick. The marriage produced three children: Jane, Elizabeth, and Robert. He committed bigamy in 1896 when he wed Anna Hall of Tacoma, Washington.

Strong joined the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. During his travels he worked at newspapers in Dawson City, Skagway, Alaska, and Nome, Alaska. In 1905 he established The Nome Nugget. Strong left Alaska in 1906 to work as an Editor for papers in Tonopah, Nevada, and Greenwater, California. He returned to Alaska the next year, publishing the Herald in Katalla. In 1910 he founded the Nugget in Iditarod before becoming publisher of Juneau's Alaska Daily Empire in 1912. The nomination was in keeping with a 1912 Democratic plank calling for territorial governors to be area residents. The new governor was sworn into office on May 21, 1913.

References

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