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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 4 |
20 stories matching owing
- The Widow’s Last Ledger
On her deathbed, a thrifty farm wife attempts one final audit of the neighborhood’s debts, only to find her husband’s memory suddenly failing when it comes to money she owes others.
- 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 Auditor’s Open Revolt
A defiant Seattle county official squares off against the city’s tax-paying elite, sparking a public war of words in the local press.
- The Wife Who Took Control of Her Husband’s Sobriety
A hardworking Seattle woman uses the law to force her dissipated husband into recovery, declaring she will build a better home while he is locked away.
- The Price of a Seaman's Hand
A mariner sues for $3,000 in damages, claiming gross negligence led to a permanent injury aboard a ship docked at Port Blakely.
- The Tragedy of a Forgotten Soul
After a man drowned at a Tacoma wharf, his body was left exposed among 'ravenous fishes' for a full day before a private citizen finally intervened to provide a burial.
- The Abandoned Crew of the Bark Northwest
Thirteen mariners petition the federal court in Seattle for their unpaid wages after a grueling voyage from San Francisco to Port Madison.
- The Great Seattle Homestead Fraud
A whistleblower exposes how workers were swindled out of their hard-earned money by a predatory land development scheme.
- The City’s Biggest Celebration
Athletic contests and a tense yacht race on the Sound defined Seattle's 1880 Fourth of July.
- The Mayor Who Bought His Seat with Lottery Money
In Seattle’s first hotly contested municipal election of 1876, the newspaper publisher who ran for mayor lost to Dr. Weed—not because he lacked support from mechanics and laborers, but because his opponent mobilized the city’s notorious lottery gamblers.
- The True Cost of a Store Tab in 1872 Seattle
A young couple's struggle with 'monthly accounts' reveals how merchant credit traps were the predatory debt cycles of the 19th century.
- The Perilous Path to Nowhere
A survey team's disastrous expedition into the Cascades exposes the grand delusions of railroad barons chasing land grants.
- The Crew of the 'Tidal Wave' Demands Their Due
After being discharged in Port Madison without full pay, fourteen mariners have filed a legal claim against the American bark 'Tidal Wave' in Seattle.
- The Unincorporated City of Seattle
In 1877, a legal crisis regarding Seattle's city charter left the municipal government in limbo, struggling to prove its own legitimacy while 'disaffected individuals' looked to take advantage of the chaos.
- The Scandal of the City Fire Engine
A missing $300 in gold coin leads to a bitter political falling-out in 1878 Seattle, revealing the city's early struggles with public trust and municipal accounting.
- The Great Seattle Heatwave of 1876: Sunstroke Claims Lives as City Swelters
While the nation fixates on Custer’s Last Stand and political deadlocks in Washington D.C., Seattle is locked in a silent, deadly battle against an unrelenting July heatwave that is proving fatal to its residents.
- The Shoe That Could Save Seattle: Why We Must Stop Exporting Our Hides to San Francisco
An editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch argues that Seattle’s economic survival depends on manufacturing its own boots and shoes locally, rather than shipping raw hides south for a 10% premium.
- 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.
- The Battle for the Territory: Judson vs. Jacobs in the 1876 Election
As the nation grapples with the disputed presidential election of 1876, Washington Territory voters head to the polls to decide their own future, pitting Republican J.P. Judson against Democrat Judge Jacobs in a fierce contest for territorial supremacy.
- The Primary Teacher’s Plea: Why Seattle’s Schools Are Failing Our Children
Miss C.I.T. Parsons delivers a scathing indictment of the King County Teachers' Institute, arguing that cheap buildings and unqualified instructors are robbing Seattle’s youth of their potential.
Also about this, in other words
- The Debt of 1877: A Seattle Legal Notice
A court summons in 1879 offers a rare, granular glimpse into the personal credit and legal entanglements of pioneer-era Seattle merchants.