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• 1895 ×
• Lewis County ×

1. The Judge Who Was Drunk on the Bench and Threatened to Fill a Man with Lead

   A legislative committee in Olympia substantiates charges that Chehalis Judge W.W. Langhorne dismissed cases unread, threatened a man with a revolver, and traded court favors for political help.

   Mar 13, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyCity Hall · Scandal

2. She Followed Him West, and Then She Followed Him With a Revolver

   Nine years after a New Hampshire lumberman's wife ran off with the hired nurse, the truth of a killing in Centralia came out — along with a note saying there was nothing left but to kill the man who ruined her life, and then herself.

   May 16, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyScandal

3. A Desperate End for a Displaced Policeman

   James E. Penrod, a former Denver officer left destitute after political shifts, takes his own life in Centralia.

   Jun 8, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyBoom & Bust

4. A Centralia Tragedy: A Logger's Jealous Rage

   After a week away at a logging camp, a man returns home to commit a double murder-suicide, leaving behind a chilling note.

   Feb 26, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyTrue Crime

5. The Preacher, the W.C.T.U. Woman, and the Congregation That Chose Not to Look

   Rev. C. C. Marston talked his way out of a scandal in Centralia, was dismissed in Olympia, and has resurfaced in Illinois doing revival work — with another man's wife at his side and his own wife and five children left in want.

   Jan 28, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyScandal

6. The Piano Salesman Who Vanished With the Money

   A Centralia sewing-machine and organ dealer bolts for the Sandwich Islands, leaving a destitute wife, two children, a borrowed horse, and a trail of suspicious fire insurance behind him.

   Jun 28, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyTrue Crime · Scandal

7. The Reform School With No Prison Walls

   At the Washington State Reform School near Chehalis, boys and girls were trusted, taught trades, and paroled into new lives—a radical model for juvenile justice.

   May 26, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyCity Hall

8. A Tragic Day at the Shingle Mill

   A worker in Centralia suffers a horrific industrial accident, highlighting the extreme dangers of early Washington timber mills.

   Jun 15, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

9. The Bar Association That Never Was

   A local legal organization in Chehalis collapses into petty feuds, pointed insults, and accusations of judicial misconduct.

   Feb 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyCity Hall

10. The Centralia Doctor Who Beat a Murder Charge, Then Died of the Fight

    Dr. James D. Minkler was convicted of killing a patient through surgery, won a new trial and an acquittal — and spent his last years in the shadow of the case.

    Apr 19, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCentralia, Lewis CountyCity Hall · Snake Oil

11. A Hammer-Wielding Wife in Chehalis

    A domestic dispute in Chehalis turns violent when a wife allegedly attacks her husband with a hammer after he accuses her of infidelity.

    Feb 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyScandal

12. A Woman Vanishes Toward the Cowlitz River

    At Little Falls, a woman last seen walking toward the Cowlitz River has been missing since Monday, prompting search parties and fears she may have gone to the family claim or taken her life.

    Mar 11, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerVader, Lewis CountyTrue Crime

13. The River Would Not Give Seth Catlin Back

    After Seth Catlin drowned, his father and a crew of searchers fought an eight-mile-an-hour current with fish nets and telegraph wire.

    Jun 1, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerNapavine, Lewis CountyTrue Crime

14. The Judge Put On His War Paint: A Chehalis Courtroom Rebuke

    After remitting a drunken assailant's fine, Judge W. W. Langhorne turned on the petitioners—and the newspapers—who had earlier demanded his own removal.

    Mar 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyCity Hall

15. Gold in the Hills at the Foot of Mount St. Helens

    Rich assays, anthracite coal and a waiting fortune lure an Eastern syndicate to the remote mineral district of eastern Lewis County — if only a railroad would come.

    Feb 25, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

16. The County That Forgot Its Southern Neighbors

    Settlers south of the Nisqually say Lewis County has never spent a dollar on their roads or bridges, and now they want to bolt for Pierce County.

    Apr 24, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerLewis CountyCity Hall

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