Smith and Fleckenstein Families - Pioneers of the Matanuska Valley, Alaska

FLECKENSTEIN and
SMITH
FAMILIES
OF KANAKANAK AND WASILLA

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This research is (no doubt) incomplete and has potential errors. If you have first hand knowledge of these families and would like me to correct something, please contact me.

Joseph Bernard Fleckenstein (1870 In Iowa City, Iowa) and his wife Marie Antionette "Nettie" (nee Doane) Fleckenstein, raised 8 children. They filed for a Matanuska homestead on 5/20/1914 (E½ of Section 16, Township 17 North, Range 2 West, Seward Meridian). By todays road system, it would be just outside of Wasilla on the Knik Goose Bay Road.

Children of Joseph B. and Marie A. "Nettie" Fleckenstein:
William Joseph Fleckenstein 1891-1961
John Paul "Jack" Fleckenstein 1893-1986
Christopher Fleckenstein 1896-1981 (wife Anna)
Frank Joseph Fleckenstein 1896-1925 (murdered in Kanakanak, Alaska)
Sharon Daniel Fleckenstein 1899-1959(married Maxine Crocker 1924)(married Florence Edlund 1938)
Lawrence Edward Fleckenstein 1900-1978
Ellen Catherine Fleckenstein 1902-1973 (married Floyd Dewey Smith 1926)
Eva Marie Fleckenstein 1904-1958 (married George Stanley Herning 1926)

Anchorage Daily Newspapers dated 1925 reported that Frank Joseph Fleckenstein, son of Joseph and Nettie Fleckenstein, was murdered on 5/19/1925 by an Eskimo prisoner named Mike N. Eqwana. Joseph was working as a jail guard at Kanakanak (Dillingham) where his father, J.B. Fleckenstein was the U.S. Marshal. Newspaper stories said Fleckenstein was shot, but local family stories say he was clubbed over the head.

The prisoner that killed Fleckenstein was a reindeer herder at Port Heiden and was in jail waiting trial for killing another man (Carl Nolkhbak) following a "sourdough beer" party at Port Heiden just a few weeks earlier. After killing Frank Fleckenstein, the prisoner escaped and later killed himself. Fleckenstein's body was shipped to Anchorage where he was buried at the Anchorage Memorial Cemetery.

Notes from Herning diaries:
Fleckenstein proved up on his homestead 11/18/1919 (working for railroad)
Fleckenstein boys bought sawmill from Forty Mile Miller (O. C. Miller)
Chris Fleckenstein running Road Commission Cat at Moose Creek 1922
Chris Fleckenstein Cat hauling at Baxter Coal Mine 1923
Chris Fleckenstein overhauling Alaska Engineering Commission Cats and trucks 1923
Chris Fleckenstein sold his homestead to Jim Kennedy in 1946
Joseph B. Fleckenstein in Wasilla for visit, heading to Bristol Bay 1924
Sharon Fleckenstein and Maxine Crocker married after 11 day courtship Wasilla’s 1st wedding 1924
Sharon Fleckenstein's 2nd marriage was to Florence Edlund Strigga 1938
Eva Fleckenstein married Stanley Herning 1926
Ellen Fleckenstein married Floyd Smith 1926 in Fairbanks then they left for Chatanika

Sharon David and Maxine (Crocker) Fleckenstein
(Photo from private collection of Louise Loberg Bidondo)

Maxine died at the early age of 26 and is buried in the Anchorage Memorial Cemetery in the Pioneer section. Her headstone reads born 7/17/1906 died 7/4/1932. I was told that she drowned (in the Little Susitna River) when a car she was riding in (with her husband and two other people) crashed into Pinnacle Rock on the Hatcher Pass Road and rolled into the river, on the 4th of July 1932.

Sharon Fleckenstein's second wife was Florence Evelina (Edlund) Strigga (m. 9/17/1938). They are buried in the Wasilla Cemetery. Their headstones give the following dates: Sharon 1895-1959 Florence 1905-1985 Florence was the daughter of John Fredolph and Lillie Edlund. Her first husband was August J. "George" Strigga, a Russian born soldier at Matanska Junction in 1920. George and Florence had 2 daughters: Lorraine and Shirley. Sharon David and Florence had two sons: Sharon Daniel and Joseph.

1930 U. S. Census for Anchorage
Lawrence Fleckenstein age 29 b. California (died 1978 Soldotna)
Helen Fleckenstein age 30 b. Finland (came to USA 1915) (died 1980 Soldotna)
Myrtle Fleckenstein age 14 b. Pennsylvania

Joseph Bernard Fleckenstein buried at Anchorage Memorial Cemetery in the Pioneer section. His headstone reads born 1/18/1870 died 3/23/1948. His wife Marie is also buried there, her headstone reads born 3/24/1897 died 10/20/1946. Joseph is listed among the original homesteaders of the Matanuska Valley.

ONLINE FLECKENSTEIN INFORMATION:

Joseph Bernard Fleckenstein had five sisters: Mary, Elizabeth K., Catherine, Anna and Emma.
His father, Adam C. Fleckenstein's siblings were: Elizabeth 1838, Ignatz 1844, Mria Johanna 1846 and Joseph L. 1850.

His wife, Marie Antoinette (Doane) Fleckenstein, was the daughter of Sharon Pratt Doane and Ellen Threlfell. Her siblings were: Joseph W. Doane 1857, Ada Doane 1859, John F. Doane 1860, Isabel Doane 1863, Tessa Doane 1864, Hattie Doane 1867 and Lizzie Doane 1870.
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Joseph Bernard Fleckenstein's 2nd youngest daughter, Ellen Catherine married Floyd Dewey Smith at Chena, Alaska in 1926. Here is the information I have for the Smith family:

FLOYD DEWEY SMITH FAMILY
WASILLA, ALASKA

Floyd Dewey Smith 1898-1979

FLOYD DEWEY SMITH (born 2/22/1898 in Absarokee, Montana) came to Alaska before 1926. He worked at a variety of jobs including gold mining, trapping, operating a store at Kanakanak (Old Dillingham) and he owned a gas station in Wasilla.

Floyd married Ellen Catherine Fleckenstein, daughter of Joseph Bernard Fleckenstein and Marie Antionette Dionne
on 9/29/1926(in the Chena District).

Floyd and Ellen had 5 children:
1. Laura Marie Smith: Born in 1929 Kanakanak. Married Eldor Theodore Hulke
2. Joe Theodore Smith: Born 1930 Kanakanak. Married Patricia Plack, one son named Floyd
3. David Floyd Smith: Born 1933 at Kanakanak. 1st wife was Peggy Overstreet. 2nd wife was Mary Ann Larson
4. Lavina Ethel "Lee" Smith: Born 1937 1st husband Dan V. Carney. 2nd husband Charles Gerald Skinner
5. Frank Marion Smith: 1st wife was Catherine Lucille "Gerry" (Sullivan)Redington, (1st wife of dog musher Joe Redington). 2nd wife was Dorothy ____________.

Ellen's father Joseph, was the U.S. Deputy Marshal at Kanakanak in 1930. Five years earlier (1925) his son (and Ellen's older brother) Frank was murdered there. I am very curious to know if Joseph was the U.S. Deputy Marshal (when his son was murdered in 1925) or if he became the Marshal after his son was murdered. If you know, please contact me.

Floyd and Ellen lived mostly in Kanakanak, but came back to Wasilla to visit Fleckenstein family and to order merchandise for their general store. On the 1940 US Census, the family is listed as living in Dillingham.

By 1942, Floyd and Ellen had moved their family back to Wasilla, but Floyd still spent time in Kanakanak running his store during fishing season. Ellen (Fleckenstein) Smith's younger sister Eva was married to Stanley Herning.

Floyd Dewey Smith died 6/16/1979 in Wasilla, Alaska.
Ellen (Fleckenstein) Smith died 5/15/1973 Wasilla, Alaska

Their children were:

Frank Marion Smith: 1st wife was Catherine Lucille "Gerry" (Sullivan)Redington, (1st wife of dog musher Joe Redington). Frank built a house on the east side of Knik Road and another house at the "Y" intersection of Fishhook Road and Bogard Road. Frank's 2nd wife was Dorothy ____________. They had 3 sons: Brett and Grant (twins) and Todd. Grant died when he was about 18 as the result of a drunk driver hitting his motorcycle.

Laura Marie Smith: Born in 1929 Kanakanak, Alaska to Floyd and Ellen (Fleckenstein) Smith. Married Eldor Theodore Hulke, children: Frieda, Floyd Ernest "Butch", Virginia, Faith, Jody and Hope. (Laura Marie 1929-1998) (Eldor Theodore 1921-2005)

Joe Smith: Married Patricia Plack, one son named Floyd. After they divorced, his wife married Dick Wilson and Joe's son Floyd changed his name to Peter Wilson.

David Floyd Smith: Born 6/4/1933 at Kanakanak, Alaska. First wife was Peggy Overstreet (children Mike, Steve and Teddy Ray who died at age 2 weeks); 2nd wife was Mary Ann Larson (Mary Ann's children from previous marriage: Darrell, Lori, Tim). David died 4/14/2013 in Wasilla.

Lavina Ethel "Lee" Smith: Married Dan V. Carney in 1955, no children. Married Charles Gerald Skinner in 1958; their children were: Laura and Patti. Married Dale Kieth Cooper in 1965; their children were Renee Lee and Bernard "Bernie" Kieth (twins). Dale Cooper had 2 children from a previous marriage: Angela Marie and Dale Ray. Lavina was born 1937 in Kanakanak, Alaska and died 1998 in Littleton, Colorado.

If you would like to make corrections or additions to this
Fleckenstein - Smith Information, please contact me

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