William Royce Sherwin (1878-1967) was born in Ailsa Craig, Ontario, and arrived in Skagway, Alaska, in June of 1898. He hiked over White Pass and from there to Lake Bennett and proceeded to the Klondike, where he mined for a number of years around Dawson, Yukon. From Dawson, he went to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1905 and proceeded to the Iditarod. He partnered with Jack Dailey in a mining operation on Flat Creek. After the Iditarod strike he returned to Fairbanks, where he was naturalized in 1914. He was known as "Woodsaw Bill", a name that came from the fact he was the city's woodman for over 40 years. He married Mrs. Blanche Rich (1904-1963) in the 1930s. Sherwin died in the Sitka Pioneers' Home in 1967. (From an obituary in the collection and the "Sitka Pioneers Home Roster of Residents 1913-1993.")
From the description of William R. Sherwin papers, 1898-ca. 1955. (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). WorldCat record id: 310751762
