Jacob Furth
Named in 31 stories. Back to all names
- Nov 12, 1887The Disappearing Contractor of Madison StreetA Seattle infrastructure project hits a snag when the lead contractor vanishes with thousands of dollars in city funds, leaving his bondsmen to face the bill.Madison Street, Front Street, Yesler Avenue, Seattle, WA
- Jun 8, 1889Rising from the Ashes: The Great Seattle Fire of 1888While the downtown core smoldered, Seattle citizens gathered in the courthouse—lit by tallow dips—to demand a modern city of brick and stone, rejecting makeshift wooden shacks and dreaming of a reconstructed metropolis.Great Seattle Fire, Seattle, WA
- Jul 15, 1889Madison Street Gets a Cable LineA new franchise is granted to build a cable railway from Front Street to Lake Washington.Madison St, Seattle, WA
- Jul 25, 1889The Court House ConflictKing County officials struggle to seize property for the new courthouse as tenants refuse to vacate.Seattle, WA
- Jan 23, 1891The Senator’s Farewell: Mrs. Squire’s Lobby Battle and a Pledge to 'All the People'As Watson Squire prepares to leave Seattle for Washington D.C., his wife recounts the chaotic reality of their election victory at the Olympia hotel, while he pledges impartial service to the entire state.Rainier Club, Seattle
- Feb 6, 1891The Bankers’ Bailout for City DebtSeattle’s financial elite push for state intervention to retroactively legalize city debt incurred in excess of the constitutional limit.Seattle, WA
- Feb 15, 1892The Rise of Scientific Charity in 1890s SeattleA crowded public meeting at Ranke's Hall seeks to formalize city charity, sparking a debate on 'worthy' versus 'unworthy' poor and the ethics of professionalized benevolence.Seattle, WA
- Mar 15, 1892The Last Ride of the 'Paper Railroad'When Seattle’s homegrown lifeline, the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, was absorbed by the Northern Pacific, the city lost its independence—but gained its seat at the table of transcontinental commerce.Columbia Street, Seattle, WA
- Dec 25, 1892A Municipal Solution for the UnemployedCity and county officials propose a public stone yard to provide work for the unemployed and discourage begging.Seattle, WA
- Jan 19, 1893The Corporate Coup at Seattle ConsolidatedAn Eastern financial takeover of Seattle’s street railway system aims to consolidate the city's fragmented and unprofitable transit network.Second Avenue, Seattle, WA
- Jan 21, 1893The Ghost of the Yesler WillHenry Yesler, Seattle's pioneer mogul, left behind a vast fortune and a city convinced he bequeathed it all to them—but the document is missing.Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA
- Jan 27, 1893The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a LibraryHenry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.Seattle, WA
- Jan 29, 1893City Assessment Scheme Ruled Valid After Legal FightThe state supreme court overturns a previous ruling, saving Seattle from a potential financial crisis regarding street improvement assessments.Seattle, WA
- Feb 27, 1893The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left BelieversA steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.Smith Cove, Seattle, WA
- Mar 1, 1893Seattle Merchants Fight New Mortgage TaxesThe Chamber of Commerce warns that taxing mortgages will strangle the city's growth and drive away essential investment.Seattle, WA
- Mar 31, 1893The Dennys Consolidate Seattle's Transit MonopolyBy acquiring the Front Street cable lines, the Denny family gains control of the city’s major streetcar systems, shifting the north-end transit future toward electric power.Second Street, Seattle, WA
- Apr 19, 1893The Passing of Bailey GatzertSeattle mourns the loss of a pioneering merchant and pillar of the early commercial establishment.Seattle, WA
- Apr 20, 1893Bailey Gatzert Dies Peacefully Among Loved OnesEx-Mayor and civic leader Bailey Gatzert dies at the Rainier Hotel; the city mourns a man who helped build Seattle's foundation.Seattle, WA
- Apr 25, 1893The Lawyer Who Saved a 'Sucker'A South Prairie man was nearly swindled out of $1,000 in a fake lottery scheme until he sought the advice of a prominent Seattle attorney.Seattle, WA
- Jun 12, 1893The 'Stink Factory' Meets a Fiery EndNeighbors of a pungent fertilizer plant on the Grant Street bridge cheered as an early morning fire resolved a long-standing public nuisance that the City Council had failed to address.Grant Street, Seattle, WA
- Dec 8, 1893The Forger’s Hidden FortuneA notorious bank forger serves time in Walla Walla, while his victims and the sheriff fight over the remains of his stolen loot.Seattle, WA
- Jan 5, 1894The Seattle Bazaar Bankruptcy ScandalBank sues Samuel Levy, alleging the Seattle Bazaar’s closure and stock seizures were a scheme to defraud creditors.Seattle, WA
- Aug 4, 1894Three Barks, a Yesler Mortgage, and a Race to the Courthouse DoorA federal judge ordered the Tidal Wave, Northwest and Vidette sold to satisfy a mortgage from Henry Yesler's estate. Hours later, unpaid suppliers slapped liens on the hulls — raising a question in admiralty law no court here had faced.Seattle, WA
- Sep 2, 1894A Revolver at the Polls: Seattle’s Republican Primary EruptsSeattle’s Republican primaries collapsed into shouting, challenged voters, fake tickets and a police chief drawing his revolver to declare the polls open.Seattle, WA
- Jan 8, 1895The 1895 Push to Split Seattle From King CountyA Chamber of Commerce meeting with new state legislators turned into a drive to separate Seattle from King County—and to force the school board to live within its means.Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, WA
- Jan 17, 1895A Senate Seat, a Caucus, and a Yakima Ditch DealIn Olympia, Republicans moved to settle the U.S. Senate contest between Ankeny and Wilson—while opponents circulated a story that Wilson had traded a Congressional favor for stock in a Yakima irrigation scheme.Hotel Olympia, Olympia, WA
- May 12, 1899The Vanishing of Ida Peak: A Seattle Restaurant Girl’s Disappearance Sparks a SearchIda Peak, a waitress at the New York Wafer House on Cherry Street, vanished after claiming she was visiting her sister in Bellevue. Her family is left with only rumors and a missing person's description.Cherry Street, Seattle, WA
- Jun 28, 1899The Streetcar Stranglehold: Eastern Capitalists vs. Seattle’s FutureAs a coalition of wealthy investors from the East seeks to monopolize Seattle’s street railway system with a 18-year franchise, local legal advisors warn that without it, the deal collapses—igniting a fierce debate over municipal ownership and corporate power.Butler Hotel, Seattle, WA
- Aug 16, 1899The Great Seattle Streetcar StandoffA proposed deal for a unified street railway system in Seattle hits a wall as Boston-based investors reject municipal demands for fair wages and affordable fares.Seattle, WA
- Aug 23, 1899A Banker’s Private Fleet for Returning SoldiersWhen the government failed to bring Washington's volunteers home from the Philippine-American War, a local multi-millionaire stepped in to charter ships for their return to Puget Sound.Seattle Waterfront, Seattle, WA
- Jan 6, 1904The Senatorial Machine of Seattle’s Banking KingPowerful banker Jacob Furth, whose corporations control Seattle’s streetcars and credit, is positioned to dominate the race for the U.S. Senate through money and influence.Seattle, WA