s:j_stevenson
John W. Stevenson [Stephenson] (b. 1858)
John Stevenson [sic] was a native of Shasta county, California. He successfully ran hotels in San Bernadino, Redlands, and Los Angeles before arriving in Dawson in October 1898. He opened the Madden House café and it was so successful that he moved to the Hoffman House in July 1899. He invested $35,000 in the hotel located on the east side of Front Street, between Second and Third streets. The first floor was a saloon and bar, and the second and third floors had sleeping quarters. A café addition was located at the rear with a large horseshoe eating counter and five tables on the ground floor. The second floor had ten private boxes for exclusive patrons. A bakery and a butcher shop was connected to the café. A warehouse held thirty head of corn-fed beef from Kansas City and 4,000 pounds of moose, bear, and caribou meat. The café fed 1,200 people daily.1)
In 1903, the Supreme Court of Canada heard an appeal from the Supreme Court of British Columbia which had affirmed the judgement of the Territorial Court of Yukon Territory. It was a case of breach of contract with James A. Williams (defendant) versus James W. Stephenson (plantiff). In July 1899, Williams and Stephenson were carrying on a hotel business in Dawson. The agreement, based on the exchange of a dollar, was that Stephenson would manage the Hoffman Hotel and Williams would convey to Stephenson a one third interest in the hotel when the profits should equal the capital investment. In December 1899, James Williams retired from the business so that Stephenson could carry it on. Stephenson was to pay Williams the daily net proceeds of the business until the debt due was paid off. The stock in trade was to be under Williams’ control and Stephenson could take what was needed to run the business. Williams closed the business in December 1899 and sold the goods, causing a breach of contract. Stephenson said he was doing a good business and he estimated damages at $10,000, but there was no hard evidence for choosing that amount.2)
1)
The Klondike Nugget (Dawson), 1 November 1899; “Some Whose Riches Were Not Made In The Mines.” AlaskaWeb.org, 2020 website: http://alaskaweb.org/mining/nonminers.html
2)
“Supreme Court Judgements: William vs Stephenson.” Supreme Court of Canada, 2020 website: https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/7687/index.do?site_preference=normal.
s/j_stevenson.txt · Last modified: 2025/01/04 22:59 by sallyr