Yukon who is who

Isaac “Samuel” Simmons-Simon (d. 1902)

Isaac Simmons was a young man from the state of New York. He changed his name to Samuel Simon. He was the first person buried in the Jewish cemetery at Dawson. He drowned in the Forty Mile River Canyon in September 1902 while delivering merchandise in the Forty Mile district. The local Jewish community tended to his burial.¹⁾

President H. Piniert, president, and Abe Isaacs, secretary, of the Hebrew Congregation of Dawson City petitioned Ottawa for two lots as a cemetery. They didn’t wait for approval but went ahead and buried Simmons in their preferred location. The government approved one lot for the Hebrew Congregation in 1913, ten years after the first request was made.²⁾