We take the following from the Omaha Bee of Tuesday: “A former resident of South Omaha now in the Klondike country writes to his friends here under date of January 16 from Clear Creek mining district, Alaska, about the death of Fred H. Noble of Blair. The letter reads: “Fred H. Noble, son of Dr. Noble, a practicing physician of Blair, died here in VanTassel’s cabin on January 4 and was buried on January 7 on his claim, No. 21, second tier below Discovery, on Little Clear Creek. There were forty-nine men and three women present at the funeral, all of them following the remains to the burial place. The coffin was made out of plain boards. A wreath, a cross and an anchor made out of fir boughs lay on the coffin. These were the gifts of Mrs. Thomas. White flowers gathered by the balance of the party were also strewn on the casket. Judge Blair delivered a short address and sang “Nearer My God to Thee’. It was very effecting. Fred had a father, mother, sisters and brothers living in Blair. He had overworked himself and died from dropsical blood poisoning. It was very cold on the day of the funeral, the temperature being in the neighborhood of 60 degrees below zero. “ Continuing, the writer told about a Christmas dinner and how everyone brought out some little delicacy from his stores. One of the party had a pint bottle of whisky which had been treasured for many months. It was proposed to make a punch or something of the sort, but after talking the matter over the “ boys” decided to give it to Noble, as he was very weak and was suffering a great deal of pain. This was done and Noble rallied for a few days, but his constitution was not strong enough to stand the hardships and he died on the day noted above.” Fred Noble was born at Sharron, Ontario, Canada, in 1863, and with his parents moved to Onawa, Iowa in 1872 and to Blair in 1882 where the family has since resided. On March 7, 1898, he left for the Klondike country. His last letter home and the last news from him was contained in his letter written September 15 from Nulato. His death occurred on January 4th near Arctic City within the Arctic Circle. He leaves as immediate members of the family a father, mother, three brothers and one sister. The Pilot with Mr. Noble’s many friends extend sympathy to the bereaved family.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #115515667