Geoghegan, Richard Henry, 1866-1943

Linguist.

Richard Henry Geoghegan (1866-1943), of Irish descent, was born in Birkenhead, England. Extraordinarily gifted at mastering foreign languages, he studied Chinese at Oxford and, in his spare time, attained facility in a number of other tongues for the sheer joy of it. He hoped to enter the Chinese customs service, but, having been lamed in a childhood accident, was rejected on the grounds of physical disability. In 1891 he emigrated to North America with his widowed mother and siblings. The family settled at Eastsound in northwestern Washington, and Richard found work as a personal secretary in Tacoma. He first came to Alaska in 1903 as secretary to Judge James Wickersham, and traveled to many parts of the territory as a member of the court's support staff. In 1906 he accepted a position as legal clerk and settled in Fairbanks, Alaska, which became his permanent home. In his time free from work he devoted himself to translation and other linguistic pursuits. He is best known for his work on the Aleut language. His translation of Fr. Ivan Veniaminov's Aleut dictionary and grammar, supplemented by Geoghegan's own research, was published posthumously in 1944. (From "The Geoghegan Brothers of Alaska" by David Richardson, Alaska Journal, Winter 1976, pp. 17-24.)

Clerk to the U.S. Attorney, Alaska, 4th Division, 1906-1910.