Joseph Sterling Sterling (b. 1878), the son of Edward B. and Isabella Sterling, was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1901 he came north to the Klondike, where he worked for the White Pass and Yukon Route, tried his hand at mining, and was employed as stenographer for Ames Mercantile. Over the winter of 1903-1904 he traded for furs with the Indians, and in the spring of 1904 went into business partnership with merchandise broker Peter Vachon in Dawson, Yukon. By 1905 Vachon and Sterling had moved their operations to Fairbanks, Alaska, and by 1907 they also had stores at Fort Gibbon and Chena. In 1911-1912 they expanded to Ruby, Flat, and Iditarod and vicinity. Around 1914 Sterling established the Alaska Silver Fox and Fur Farms Company, with a fur farm in Fairbanks. Sterling left Alaska around 1915 and shifted the main operations of his fur farming company to the Adirondacks of New York, where it continued into at least the mid 1930s.
From the description of Joseph S. Sterling papers, 1899-1937. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 314194206
