S. O. Morford
S. O. Morford was born in Ohio in 1849. He was admitted to the bar in San Francisco. He taught public school for a time and then became Superintendent of Schools for one year in 1878. He practiced law for four years in San Francisco and then moved to Washington state where he practiced law and was a probate judge for nearly twelve years.1) He had a farm near “Old Town” in Yakima.2)
In 1895, Morford started for the Yukon over the Taku Trail and took several months to reach the Klondike. In 1896, he was prospecting up the Klondike and almost died in a snowstorm. He had intensive mining interests in the Klondike and mined successfully on Dominion for several years.3)
Morford had charge of the Harper & LaDue Estate and Townsites in Dawson and was loaning money at a rate of ten per cent per month. Peter Norby and his partner borrowed fifty dollars from him for two months and had to pay ten dollars in interest.4)
When Joe Ladue arrived in Dawson in 1898 he was unhappy with Morford's actions regarding twenty of the richest claims in the country in which Harper and Ladue had an interest. Morford's signature appeared several times on the paper without any indication that he was acting for Ladue. Within two days Ladue had revoked Morford's power of attorney and filed a notice in the territorial court of Lis Pendens where he and James M. Wilson (executor for Arthur's Harper's estate) were plaintiffs and S. O. Morford was the defendant.5)
In 1904, Morford was involved in highly controversial litigation and lost three farms in Washington to his former wife. Eugene C. Allen of the Klondike Nugget referred to him as a friend who helped get him started.6) In October 1905, Judge Morford was in Seward.7) He died in 1919 at age seventy [in Alaska?].8) The British Columbia Provincial Archives holds a collection that includes paper and ledgers covering many years, some of which appear to have belonged to Judge Morford.9)