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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 10 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 1 |
48 stories matching indebted
- The Butcher's Double Life
A local butcher's social charade collapses when his wife arrives in town from Pendleton, leading to a swift departure and unpaid debts.
- The Seattle Oratorio Society’s Plea for Professionalism
A stern warning to amateur musicians: without discipline and rehearsal, the choir risks turning their public performance into a local scandal.
- The Taxpayer’s Revolt Against ‘Boomer’ Debt
A local citizen takes to the press to blast the city council for proposing new debt while property values for the wealthy remain untaxed.
- Aberdeen’s Model Hospital Nears Completion
A state-of-the-art facility is set to open, bringing modern medical care to the booming mill and lumber town.
- The Social Duty of Wealth in 1878 Seattle
A local editor challenges a wealthy property owner who claimed he owed nothing to the community that built his fortune.
- The Surprise Ballot: How Women Upended Seattle Politics in 1887
When Washington women were granted the vote, skeptics assumed they wouldn't use it—until they turned out in such force they shocked the political establishment.
- The Infant Glee Club of 1878
Before the city’s grand theaters were established, a neighborhood girl organized Seattle’s first children’s choir in her mother’s parlor.
- The Strange Case of the Disputed Horses
A local market company and a private buyer clash in court over the rightful ownership of two horses, proving that even a simple livestock dispute requires a judge's intervention.
- A Principal on Trial Behind a Closed Door
Tacoma's school board barred reporters, witnesses and both professors from its 'war chamber' inquiry into charges against high school principal Roberts, where teachers described a temper and an implied threat.
- The Executor Who Tore Down the House
When a court ordered an executor to account for an estate, he decided to simply remove the buildings from the land entirely to bypass the judge.
- The Newspaper Built from Scraps
After relocating to Vancouver, a resourceful publisher faced a printing dilemma and solved it by engineering their own custom press from repurposed timber and discarded iron.
- The Mill That Asked Workers to Wait for Lumber
A Seattle receiver said the Standard Mill Company could survive only if loggers and mechanics agreed to be paid out of the product of their own labor. The court let 35 cents on the dollar go to labor claims.
- Steilacoom Empties Its Garrison for a Near-War on San Juan Island
On Aug. 9, 1859, soldiers and two brass cannon left Steilacoom aboard the steamer Julia to reinforce Capt. Pickett’s tiny command, as the U.S. and Britain edged toward war over a boundary and a pig.
- The Diamond Palace Jeweler Who Vanished With the Stock
Simon Rumpf’s 'Diamond Palace' is placed in receivership after creditors allege he conspired to transfer his stock and then disappeared.
- A Plea for the Mariners of Seattle
Chaplain Thomas Reies appeals to the city for a waterfront sanctuary for the thousands of sailors who make the 'Queen City' their port of call.
- The Mill That Vanished Before Its Workers Got Paid
Kent mill hands won wage liens, then found the company's assets allegedly shifted to a new corporation—and the sheriff returning 'No property found.'
- A Drunkard Sold His Mother's Grave for Whiskey Money
Arthur Schmieg deeded the Lake View cemetery lot holding his mother and uncle to a saloonkeeper to cover a liquor debt — and the family went to court to stop the bodies being dug up.
- The Empire of the Sun: How a New Hotel in Seattle Will Define the Territory
A glimpse into the ambitious construction of the new British Hotel, signaling Seattle's rapid growth and confidence as a territorial capital.
- The Clerk Who Refused to Leave Office—and the Books That Wouldn't Balance
King County and former clerk W. B. Spencer submit a long-running dispute over fees, continuances and a disputed shortage to Judge Humes for a final ruling.
- The Missing Warrants in Tacoma's City Treasury
Ex-city treasurer George W. Boggs swore he had no assets, then gave two contradictory accounts of a mining note and a pencil receipt for city warrants.
- Tacoma's 1909 Fight to Own Its Power
On the eve of a city election, advocates urged voters to approve a $2 million municipal light and power plant—and warned the private power trust would lie to stop them.
- The $2,000 Apple Lesson: A Walk Down Seattle's Produce Row
A farm columnist tours Seattle's commission houses on Western Avenue, where a single packing mistake cost one grower a season's profit — and offers a cautionary tale for every farmer shipping to the city.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.