OYSTERS from LOUISIANA to ALASKA

By Adam S. Eterovich

Croatians provided color and accomplishment to the making of America. “Carnation Tom” Radonich had the largest restaurant in Alaska and became a legend in the Alaska Territory. His Dawson Cafe became a part of the literature of Jack London. He also ran a fresh oyster business and owned a gold mine.

Sam Fucich had the largest oyster supply house in his part of Louisiana. Fucich Bayou was named in his honor. In the early 1880's, the Catholics in Donaldsonville planned on building a new church. They needed marble columns for inside the new church. S. M. Fucich contacted his father living in Losinj Mali, Croatia who bid on the project, won the bid and proceeded to carve the columns and ship them to Louisiana.

CARNATION TOM

RADONICH, THOMAS Restaurant-Oysters-Goldmine: Thomas Radonich was born September 19, 1869 in Dalmatia, Croatia. He came to America as a young man and first came to Alaska about 1891, going to Juneau. He was in Skagway and Dawson, Yukon Territory in the days of the ‘98 gold rush. In Dawson where he operated a cafe he was known as "Carnation Tom" because despite difficulties of transportation he had regular shipments of fresh carnations and always wore one in his lapel, a custom he followed until recent years.

It was in his Dawson Cafe that "Swiftwater Bill" Gates bought up the entire fresh egg supply at $ 1 each to spite his lady fair, whose favorite food it was, an incident made legendary by Jack London. Bill’s favorite was Gussie Lamore, a comely strumpet of nineteen who had come to Dawson from Circle City in the spring rush, and who shared top billing with him in an incident which has become the liveliest of the Klondike’s imperishable legends. Gussie, it developed, was inordinately fond of fresh eggs, possibly because they were as scarce as diamonds in the Dawson of 1897. One day, so the tale goes, Swiftwater Bill was seated in a restaurant when, to his surprise and chagrin, he saw Gussie enter on the arm of a well-known gambler. The pair ordered fried eggs, which were the most expensive item on the menu, and it was then that, in a fury of jealousy, Swiftwater achieved a certain immortality by buying up every egg in town in an attempt to frustrate Gussie’s cravings. Belinda Mulroney, a famous Klondike innkeeper who arrived in Dawson early that spring, recollects that there was about half a case of eggs involved, and that these had been brought over the ice from the Pacific coast and were fast growing mellow. Mrs. Lola Beebe, one of Swiftwater’s several future mothers-in-law, wrote that there were two crates of eggs and that Swiftwater paid for them with with a brace of coffee tins filled with gold. Whatever the details, the fact remains that the incident brought Gussie to heel, at least temporarily. She offered to meet Swiftwater Bill in San Francisco that fall and marry him, failing to mention that she was already wed to one Emile Leglice and had been since 1894. (Berton 1963)

In the early 1900’s Mr. Radonich returned to Juneau and operated the Alaska Grill, for many years Alaska’s biggest restaurant. He was active in civic affairs through those years and was a president of the board of trade, forerunner of the chamber of commerce. He was mainly responsible for instigating league baseball series between Southeastern Alaskan towns and Whitehorse, Y.T. and for a number of years was manager of the Juneau team.

Interested in mining, he had grubstaked prospectors in the Yukon and Southeastern Alaska and had a prospect on Gravina Island in which he was still interested.

Radonich came to Ketchikan in 1921 and operated a fresh oyster business and cafe and other interests here until the early 30’s when he returned to Juneau to make his home. He returned here this past September for the winter with his stepdaughter, Dorothy Pegues of the Daily News staff and her son Bill. Mrs. Radonich whom he married in 1914 died in 1950. Radonich was a member of a landed family of Dalmatia. His brother is the mayor (governor) of a Dalmatian province. He was a member of the Catholic Church. Thomas Gerald Radonich, 87-year old Alaskan pioneer, died shortly after midnight Saturday from injuries received when he was struck by a car Friday night at the intersection of Main and Dock streets.   Survivors are a stepdaughter and her seven sons, including Don and Bill Pegues of Ketchikan, a sister and brother in Dalmatia and nieces and nephews. Memorial services will be held at the Catholic Church at 9 a.m. Wednesday and Radonich’s body will he taken to Juneau for burial. The Ketchikan Daily News, Ketchikan, Alaska, Monday, December 3, 1956. Thanks to Mrs. Marion Sim.

FUCICH BAYOU

FUCICH, SIMEONE Oyster Business-Fucich Bayou-Mariner: Simeone, the son of Simeone Anthony Fucich and one of 14 children, was born on the island of Losinj in northern Dalmatia, Croatia on June 15, 1852. He died on August 27, 1914. He was educated in the marine academies of Dalmatia where he was trained to serve as an officer in the merchant marine. He left his native country at age 14 to come to America to live with his uncle Antonio Fucich in Hazelhurst, Mississippi. Sam, as he was known, worked with his uncle in the produce business where he learned the principals of doing business with the public.

In 1869, he and his uncle Antonio moved to New Orleans, Louisiana where they joined forces with M. Popovich and opened a corner grocery store at the corner of Ursuline and Gallatin Streets. Seeing a need for fresh seafood and a good source of supply he traveled to Donaldsonville where he later met Marie Caliste Martinez. They were married in the Catholic Church in Donaldsonville on August 18, 1874. He decided that there was a need for a good seafood shop in New Orleans, so he opened his first shop in 1875, on Calliope Street between Magnolia and Clara Streets. His uncle Antonio and his brother Blazich ran the day to day business while he continued to search for a constant supply of fresh seafood. He soon found that a better source of seafood could be obtained in Pointe a la Hache in Plaquemine Parish. Business flourished and in 1883, he moved his seafood shop to a larger building located at # 4 N. Front Street in New Orleans. Business continued to grow; therefore, in 1885 he moved to an even larger building located at # 8 Dumaine Street.

With the increase in business and the constant need for even more fresh oysters, he purchased land in Plaquemine Parish, leased oyster beds, and constructed camps where the oyster fishermen could live. He also went into partnership with Mr. Alvin Lee in a General Mercantile Store and Post Office in order to supply the oystermen with food, tools, and housing; and in turn they would sell their oysters to him. He formed what is known today as the first oyster co-op, previously none had operated in this manner or on such a large scale.

In 1892, to facilitate the deliverery and insure an ample supply of oysters, he had the Nestor Canal at Nestor Louisiana dug so that the fishermen could bring the oysters to the Mississippi River where the luggers S. S. Grover Cleveland, the M. V. Reliance, and other vessels could pick up the oysters and deliver them to the Picayune Wharf in New Orleans. Business continued to grow; he was shipping oysters, seafood, and produce throughout the area. In August 1901 he purchased 532-36 Dumaine Street for his new shop which extended all the way to Madison Street. It was large enough to handle the volume of business he had established. He had many employees, including his three sons. The business was known as, "Crescent City Oyster And Fish Depot," later it became, "S. M. Fucich & Sons."Business was good and still growing, he began to slow down; and in 1914, while at his summer home in Lake Shore Mississippi, he died of acute indigestion. He was an innovator in the fish and oyster industry.

Simeone M. Fucich joined the United Slavonian (Croatian) Benevolent Association in May of 1875, he served as its vice-president from 1895 to 1897. He was president from 1901 to 1903, and again from 1909 to 1910.

Fucich Bayou near Pointe a la Hache was named in his honor. Other family contributions in southern Louisiana came from Sam and his father. In the early 1880's, the Catholics in Donaldsonville planned on building a new church. They needed marble columns for inside the new church. S. M. Fucich contacted his father living in Losinj Mali, Croatia who bid on the project, won the bid and proceeded to carve the columns. It was reported in the Donaldsonville Chief newspaper of September 17, 1881, that they were being carved by Simeone Anthony Fucich, father of the recent townsman, Simeone M. Fucich. In the May 5, 1883, issue of the Chief, it was reported that the twenty marble columns consisting of sixty-two pieces were in New Orleans waiting to be shipped to Donaldsonville by barge and delivered to a make shift dock across from the site of the new church. These columns are in the church which still stands today. Don Fucich, December 31, 1995. Sources: New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper dated August 28, 1914. Donaldsonville Chief Newspaper dated Sept. 17, 1881 & May 5, 1883.