Sheriff Woolery
Named in 32 stories. Back to all names
- Jan 18, 1891The Ghost of Labor Unrest in NewcastleA local coal miner pushes back against sensationalist newspaper reports of an 'impending strike,' exposing the tense standoff between workers, company bosses, and imported armed guards.Newcastle, WA
- Jan 11, 1892The Last Request of a Forgotten PioneerAn elderly immigrant who sought his fortune in the Fraser River gold rush spends his final days pleading for a dignified burial, forcing the city's power brokers to confront the reality of poverty in a booming frontier town.Seattle, WA
- Jan 26, 1892The Fifteen-Cent Shooting at NewcastleA pay-day dice game in a company saloon ends in a near-fatal shooting, leading to a botched manhunt and a casual local acceptance of violence.Newcastle, WA
- Jun 16, 1892Midnight Theft on Rose StreetA city worker narrowly avoids disaster when a burglar steals his savings while he sleeps.12th Ave, Seattle, WA
- Jun 23, 1892Sheriff Solves 1892 Mercer Island Cabin MurderAfter the mutilated body of George Richards washed ashore, a confession from an accomplice revealed a desperate struggle and a grisly disposal in Lake Washington.Mercer Island, Mercer Island, WA
- Jul 6, 1892Mercer Island Killing Suspect Caught on Fraser RiverAn Italian fisherman confesses to the killing of a logging partner, detailing a gruesome fight and a body dumped in Lake Washington.Seattle, WA
- Nov 26, 1892The First Train Robbery in Washington TerritoryMasked gunmen held up a Northern Pacific Pullman car near Hot Springs, terrorizing passengers and sparking a region-wide manhunt.Kanaskat, WA
- Feb 16, 1893The Elusive Dr. Pillsbury Caught in SpokaneA notorious swindler wanted for crimes across Washington and Idaho faces a legal battle over his extradition.Spokane, WA
- Apr 19, 1893Anatomy of a JailbreakSheriff Woolery foils a plot to escape the King County jail, uncovering acid and a sharpened knife.Seattle, WA
- Sep 5, 1893Fugitive Arrested While Applying for Marriage LicenseA man wanted for his involvement in an illegal prize fight was captured by the sheriff in the auditor's office on his wedding day.Olympia, WA
- Sep 30, 1893The Fall of the City TreasurerAdolph Krug, Seattle’s defaulting city treasurer, returns to the city in custody after a failed flight to the East.Seattle, WA
- Oct 3, 1893The Cabin on the WoodsA remote Clallam County murder is solved when a mysterious note arrives at the sheriff's office.Auburn, WA
- Oct 6, 1893The Blackmailer's Dark HoleAfter smuggling contraband into his jail cell, a defiant inmate is forced into solitary confinement.King County Jail, Seattle, WA
- Oct 10, 1893The Fugitive from GadsdenA young man who killed a railroad yardmaster in Alabama over a dispute about coupling pins surrenders in Seattle after more than a year on the run.Pike Street, Seattle, WA
- Nov 1, 1893City Hall Corruption and the Great Bail ReductionA dramatic day in court sees prominent figures accused in a city treasury scandal secure reduced bonds as the machinery of municipal justice grinds on.King County Courthouse, Seattle, WA
- Nov 27, 1893The Jailbreak of John DrydenA notorious burglar exploits a local jail's lax security by disguising himself as a visiting evangelist to walk out the front door.Seattle, WA
- Nov 28, 1893The Jail-Breaking Charlatan of SeattleA notorious criminal uses a fake pardon and a religious disguise to walk right out of the county jail.King County Jail, Seattle, WA
- Dec 31, 1893The Cedar Mountain AssassinCharles W. Nordstrom faces the gallows after the Supreme Court upholds his murder conviction for a cold-blooded shooting in Cedar Mountain.Cedar Mountain, Maple Valley, WA
- Jan 23, 1894The Jailbreak Tools Hidden in the SteelA search of the county jail reveals two hack saws and a DIY heating lamp hidden in the structural pipework, intended for a prisoner's escape.King County Jail, Seattle, WA
- Aug 5, 1894The Murder in the Bunkhouse North of AuburnA young Japanese labor contractor was beaten and killed as he slept in a cabin on J.W. Nails's farm; a roommate was jailed while blood trails, a loaded musket and an opium pipe deepened the mystery.Auburn, WA
- Aug 6, 1894The Murdered Japanese Cook Known as CharleyA hatchet, a wages quarrel and a suspect who answered every question 'I don't know'—the killing near Auburn that drew Seattle's Japanese community into the hunt for a murderer.Auburn, WA
- Aug 9, 1894A Murder Near Auburn, Two Suspects Freed, and a Sheriff Still Waiting for Someone to TalkZenga Maseda was killed near Auburn. Two Japanese men were arrested, then released for lack of evidence, while deputies kept hunting the murderer.Auburn, WA
- Aug 11, 1894The $31.50 Murder That Broke Open Near AuburnA deputy traced three suspects from a Northern Pacific train and secured what officers called a partial confession in the killing of a man known as “Charley.”Seattle, WA
- Aug 11, 1894Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency ScamA city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.Seattle, WA
- Aug 16, 1894A Tin Box of Gold Hidden in the RaftersSouth Seattle police say the hammer that killed a mother and her baby belonged to Henry Cramer — and the money taken from the dead woman's house was stashed in his shed. Now the neighbours are talking about a rope.South Seattle College, Seattle, WA
- Aug 17, 1894A Funeral Crowd Calls for a Killer's NeckThousands filed past the bodies of Philipina Miller and her child as Seattle police rushed the accused murderer to the county jail to stop a lynching.Seattle, WA
- Sep 2, 1894The Sheriff Who Arrested the Election JudgesAt the opening of a Republican primary in Seattle’s First Ward, Sheriff Woolery had the judges jailed and then tried to pull police off the polls. A judge’s restraining order stopped him—barely.Seattle, WA
- Sep 3, 1894The Sheriff Deputized a Killer to Keep the Peace at a Seattle PrimaryA Republican primary in Seattle's First Ward turned into a street fight between the sheriff's men and city police—and the Post-Intelligencer laid the blame squarely on Sheriff Woolery.Seattle, WA
- Sep 3, 1894A Gunfighter Imported for a Seattle PrimarySheriff Woolery and saloon-world fixer John Considine tried to seize a First Ward Republican primary—and brought a jailed gambler along to help.Seattle, WA
- Sep 4, 1894The Sheriff's Plot to Jail His Rivals Before the ConventionSeattle Republicans gathered at the Armory in 1894 amid rumors that Sheriff Woolery and John Considine planned to have First Ward leaders arrested before the county convention could organize.Seattle, WA
- Sep 9, 1894The Bloody Hammer and the Brewer's WifeSeattle prosecutors rest their murder case against Craemer after a courtroom day of fire, hidden gold, and a suspect whose hands shook at the sight of the weapon.Seattle, WA
- Sep 16, 1894He Swindled a Banker Out of $5,000. Now He Says the Newspapers Poisoned His Jury.Harvey W. Knowlton, convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker, files for a new trial claiming jurors read prejudicial news accounts and that a missing sheriff would have testified the money went to another man.Seattle, WA