Person

Orange Jacobs

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Dec 11, 1871The Shadow Over San Juan IslandA Supreme Court justice warns that the legal limbo surrounding the San Juan islands threatens to turn the territory into a lawless refuge for criminals.San Juan Island, Friday Harbor, WA
Jan 1, 1872The Battle for the Unsurveyed FrontierA 19th-century court case in Steilacoom exposes the tension between local land speculators and the ideal of the 'actual settler' on the Washington frontier.Steilacoom, WA
Jan 22, 1872The Cattle Partnership That Could Not Be Settled in CourtA landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling in 1872 reminded settlers that you cannot simply sue your business partner; you must account for the ledger first.Walla Walla, WA
May 30, 1872A Family Homestead for Sale in 1872 OlympiaA historic property listing reveals the price of a comfortable cottage and orchard near the Old Courthouse in the territorial capital.Olympia, WA
Jul 18, 1872The Deserted Family of SeattleA husband is sued for divorce in 1872 on the grounds of cruel neglect and failure to provide for his family.Seattle, WA
Aug 8, 1872The Widow’s Claim: A Legal Battle Over Dower RightsA historic Seattle property dispute reveals the complex and evolving landscape of women's property rights in 1872 Washington Territory.Seattle, WA
Dec 23, 1876The Territorry's TallySecretary H. G. Struve releases the official vote count for the recent general election in Washington Territory.Olympia, WA
Apr 12, 1877The Checkerboard Trap: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Hoarded Washington’s LandAn editorial in The Daily Intelligencer exposes how the railroad company used federal land grants to block settlers from claiming homesteads, leaving thousands of acres in legal limbo and stalling the growth of Seattle and Tacoma.Seattle, WA
Oct 13, 1877The audacious railroad land grab that made Seattle's delegate a targetFacing attacks from the Tacoma Herald, Judge Orange Jacobs is praised for blocking a Northern Pacific claim to 783,600 acres — land the railroad tried to take for building just 31 miles of a 'branch road' to a coal mine.Seattle, WA
May 18, 1878The Bureaucratic Standoff at Point-No-PointA federal effort to build a lighthouse on Puget Sound hit a wall in 1878 when landowners demanded 'exorbitant' prices, sparking a debate over the government's power to acquire land.Point No Point, Hansville, WA
May 25, 1878The Great Seattle Railroad SwindleHow corporate speculators and land rings bypassed honest stockholders and plundered the future of the city's waterfront.Seattle Waterfront, Seattle, WA
Jun 30, 1883Commencement Day at the UniversityFrances E. Willard delivers an address on temperance and suffrage to a packed house at Seattle's Presbyterian Church.Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA
Feb 12, 1884The Struggle for the Mountain PassA plea to Congress to finish the Snoqualmie Wagon Road, a vital link intended to connect the farmers of the Cascades to the markets of Seattle.Seattle, WA
Jun 22, 1884The New Generation Declares IndependenceA newly formed political club for young men organizes in Seattle to oppose the influence of established, corrupt political machines.Seattle, WA
Jun 4, 1885The Trial of the City MarshalIn 1885, Seattle’s police chief faced an impeachment trial over the politics of morality, saloon regulation, and the limits of the Mayor’s authority.Seattle, WA
Sep 24, 1885Seattle's Public Reckoning with Anti-Chinese SentimentMayor Yesler convenes a massive meeting at Frye's Opera House to address the growing agitation against Chinese residents in the territory.Seattle, WA
Jun 26, 1886The Temperance Storm Brews in SeattleProhibition advocates take to the stage in 1886, igniting a fierce debate over morality, city control, and the role of the working man in a changing Washington Territory.Seattle, WA
Jun 7, 1888A Kenton Picnic Speech and the Justification of Native DisplacementAt a Kenton picnic, Judge Orange Jacobs cast pioneer survival as historical necessity and used dehumanizing rhetoric to defend the displacement of Native Americans.Seattle, WA
Feb 7, 1891The Great University Land ShuffleProminent citizens and state legislators met at the Chamber of Commerce to plot the move of the University of Washington to a massive new campus between Lake Union and Lake Washington.Seattle, WA
Jan 5, 1892A State Mourns Its Most Prominent LawyerWhen Colonel John Charles Haines died in 1892, Seattle’s legal and civic community ground to a halt, organizing a massive public funeral that served as a rare, unified display of civic mourning.Columbia Street, Seattle, WA
Mar 4, 1892The 1892 Race for Seattle: A City in ConstructionAs Seattle geared up for the 1892 mayoral election, local candidates debated debt, expansion, and the 'moral' cleanup of the city while the railroad industry reshaped the landscape.Seattle, WA
May 10, 1892The Mayor Who Acted as Judge, Jury, and ProsecutorIn 1892, a high-stakes power struggle over city contracts led to a surreal administrative trial where the Mayor of Seattle presided over his own accusations against the Board of Public Works.Seattle, WA
Sep 29, 1892The Mayor as Judge, Jury, and ProsecutorMayor Ronald faces criticism for holding hearings where he acts as the sole arbiter in a case involving the removal of city health officials.Seattle, WA
Jun 6, 1893The Pioneer SquabbleA meeting of the Washington Pioneer Association turns tense as members clash over whether their organization exists to boost the city or preserve the past.Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, WA
Jul 20, 1894Lawyers Close Ranks Behind the Courts as Populism Roils the BarAt the State Bar Association's Seattle session, a Spokane lawyer's attack on corporate influence in the judiciary drew a swift resolution of confidence—and a fight over nonpartisan judges and a state law school.Seattle, WA
Aug 15, 1894Lawyers vs. Insurance Men: A Charity Ballgame and a Mock-Biblical Declaration of WarSeattle's bar association answers the 'tribe of Insurance Men' on the diamond at Madison Street Park, with the gate money going to the Bureau of Associated Charities.Seattle, WA