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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 1 |
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| 1892 | 7 |
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| 1903 | 10 |
| 1904 | 1 |
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| 1910 | 1 |
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| 1917 | 2 |
21 stories matching afflict
- Smallpox Hits the Upper Town
A young child’s illness sparks a strict quarantine as the city grapples with a frightening outbreak.
- Tacoma Watchman Joe Taylor Dies After Warehouse Fall
Joe Taylor, a fixture of Tacoma’s early frontier history, dies after a drunken fall at the wharf.
- Tragedy on the Skagit River
A pioneer family's desperate journey to Mount Vernon ends in a fatal accident on the river.
- The Smallpox Scare of 1880
When a woman was quarantined in the local pest house for suspected smallpox, local doctors sparred over whether her condition was actually a common venereal disease.
- A Life Cut Short on Jefferson Street
The sudden passing of Charles F. Galbraith, a young Seattle resident of noble qualities, leaves the local public in mourning.
- The Teachers' Pay Gap
An editorial from 1887 argues that Seattle’s teachers are overworked, undervalued, and paid significantly less than city laborers.
- A Child's Fatal Accident in Seattle
A tragic household accident claims the life of a four-year-old boy on the West Side.
- The Great Hair Heist of the Commuter Train
A love-struck suitor tries to claim a souvenir from his sleeping crush, only to accidentally shear her wig instead of her locks.
- Old Soldiers Gather in Vancouver
Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic meet in Washington Territory to honor General Grant and discuss the future of their department.
- The Doctor Who Swam for His Life: Marcus Whitman’s Forgotten Struggle
A newly published account reveals the physical toll and near-death experiences of the missionary whose name is etched into Pacific Northwest history.
- A Carpenter Walks to the Hospital to See His Sick Wife and Vanishes
After the fire, Gordon had cared for four children with typhoid while his wife lay in the hospital. On Sunday he left to visit her, said he was going straight home — and was never seen again.
- Indigenous Couples Legally Wed in Shelton
Four Indigenous couples at Skokomish hold a ceremony to secure legal recognition of their long-standing marriages.
- The Miracle of Fannie McCann
A lifelong invalid, confined to a chair for twenty-two years, found her voice and language only in her final hours.
- Smallpox Scare in Downtown Seattle
A man arriving from San Francisco by steamship causes a panic after seeking help for symptoms at a local physician's office.
- The Unjust Public Shaming of J.E. Spafford
After the death of his wife, a Seattle laborer fights back against local gossip and accusations of neglect in a poignant appeal to the press.
- The City’s Stinking Secret
In 1888, Seattle's growing pains were literally surfacing on the beach as inadequate sewers turned the bay into an open dumping ground.
- The Last of the Pioneer Mariners
Captain Edward Harrington, a self-made man who helped forge early Puget Sound maritime routes, dies at Oak Harbor.
- The Patent Medicine Hustle on Front Street
A Seattle reporter investigates the miraculous 'medical inhalations' of an advertising physician, uncovering a trail of dubious health claims and desperate patients.
- The City Under a Smoky Shroud
In late 1889, Seattle found itself blanketed in a suffocating haze as forest fires raged across the region, yet the determination to rebuild the city burned just as brightly as the timber.
- The Tragedy at the Medicine Bottle: A Seattle Child’s Fatal Mistake
In a heartbreaking incident that has gripped the community, three-year-old Howard Pontius drank from what he thought was a treat, but was actually his mother’s morphine prescription for a cold.
- The 'Other' America: How Seattle's Elite Feared the 'Unassimilable' Masses
A January 1889 federal report on immigration warns that new arrivals are too different to become citizens, fueling calls for exclusion just as Seattle prepares for its own explosive growth.