Yukon who is who

John Hellwinkle (1858 – 1918)

John Hellwinkle was born in Breman, Germany. He was a young man in the merchant marine. He went to the Fortymile region in 1895 and moved to Dawson with the stampeders. He believed in Dawson’s future prosperity and bought property as the town began to fade. In 1918, he owned fifty-five properties, including a grocery store, and was one of the largest private landowners. He boarded the Princess Sophia in Skagway in 1918 in order to spend the winter with his brother in California. Hellwinkle drowned with all the other passengers and crew when the Princess Sophia sank in the Lynn Canal.¹⁾