Edward DeGroff

Edward DeGroff (1860 – April 1910) was a Sitka merchant and a noted photographer who contributed to the historical record of Sitka, Alaska in the late 19th century. Born in Staten Island, he arrived in the coastal town of Sitka, Alaska in 1880.

Life and career

Career with the Northwest Trading Company

DeGroff began his career with the Northwest Trading Company at Killisnoo. He stayed there only briefly before moving on to the then-new town of Harrisburg (now state capital Juneau) to manage operations of the company store based there. He went on to become the town's first postmaster and deputy recorder of the Harris Mining District. of the Northwest Trading Company's primary operator Paul Schulze:

"Schulze fairly cursed the country this time when the Steamer came up. Said he had lost his own and his Friends money in it. I wonder if any of those egotistical chaps ever think that a great many of their misfortunes are their own fault – they are careful not to tell anyone if they do."

Later life

By January 1886, had purchased the Northwest Trading Company store in Sitka, which he ran with his partner Captain John M. Vanderbilt (for whom Vanderbilt Reef is named DeGroff married his business partner's widow.

In 1905, DeGroff grubstaked two Tlingit natives who discovered gold at Chichagoff Island, and thereafter became one of the principal stakeholders in the Chichagoff Mine, presiding as president of the Chichagoff Gold Mining Company. In addition to this title, DeGroff also went to Chicago in 1893 as Commissioner for Alaska to the Columbian Exposition and in 1900 he was appointed as U.S. Commissioner in Sitka.