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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1895 | 8 |
23 stories matching executor
- The Heiress, the Invalid, and the Absent Executor
A nineteen-year-old Snoqualmie woman fights a legal battle against a powerful executor who left her destitute and in debt despite a $100,000 family estate.
- A Final, Sudden Act
A Tacoma resident died suddenly while in the act of signing his last will and testament, which was noted for its extreme brevity.
- A Daughter's $750 Secret: Seattle Heiress Sues Her Father's Estate
Lucy Sprague says her father, a celebrated general, sold her Ohio inheritance when she was a child and kept the money—and the guardianship—hidden for decades.
- The Real Estate Auction That Built Seattle’s First Suburbs
In March 1889, just months after the Great Fire devastated downtown, executors of James Crawford’s estate sold off dozens of city lots in a public auction at Occidental Square. These parcels would become the foundation for neighborhoods like Judkins and Bellevue.
- The Scandalous Tale of the Stolen Will
A Seattle attorney dismisses rumors of a purloined inheritance as a malicious shakedown attempt by a disgruntled servant.
- The Unquestionable Will of Bailey Gatzert
Seattle’s prominent civic leader leaves a massive estate with ironclad instructions that bar his beneficiaries from ever challenging his wishes in court.
- The $5,000 Will Fight Over Two Seattle Lots
McClanahan says Jane Harmon promised him the estate; her sisters' children say the will should not stand.
- The Battle for a Saloon and the Dead Woman’s Secret Will
A saloon owner’s last will and testament sparks a fierce probate fight between her bartender and her estranged children.
- One Dollar Apiece: A Seattle Will Cuts Off Two Daughters
Caroline Lemon’s estate went mostly to her daughter-in-law, while Amanda Alden and Jane Gooden were left single-dollar bequests.
- A Widow’s Fight for the Heart of Everett
A legal battle erupts over property rights in the rapidly growing city of Everett, pitting a grieving widow against the powerful Everett Land Company.
- A Dead Woman’s Lot: The Fight Over Josephine Ward’s Seattle Land
Her administrator says Josephine Ward’s ex-husband conveyed her share of a Law’s Addition lot in fraud—and that the Woodins now hold title they should never have had.
- The $3 Million Renton Estate Battle
Two heirs to a shipping magnate's fortune are fighting to overturn a probate settlement, claiming they were swindled out of their inheritance.
- The Rent Was Due: A 15-Year Lease and a $3,886 Bill
Sarah Woodward, executor of Henry S. Woodward’s estate, sued Gustave Winehill over a Maynard’s Plat lease—asking for back rent, double rent and possession of the property.
- The Forgotten Heir of Everett
A legal battle pits an Indigenous heir against local titans in the fight for the heart of a burgeoning city.
- A Will on Note Paper Survives a Husband’s Challenge
A Seattle court admits Lena Shay Baldwin’s handwritten will, ending a long contest with her surviving husband over Washington, D.C. property, family furniture and jewelry.
- The Battle for Salmon Bay’s Sand Spit
A multi-year legal feud over a railway right-of-way and a squatter’s claim reaches the courtroom.
- The Tale of a Captain's Favorite Cane
A heartfelt exchange between a late local legend and his longtime friend.
- The Dispossession of Josephine Hatch
A Snohomish widow, unable to speak English, sues a powerful land conglomerate for swindling her out of a multi-million dollar stake in the founding of Everett.
- The Ghost Deed: How a Secret Land Grab Stole Seattle’s Future
A legal battle erupts over Burke’s Second Addition after it is revealed that W.H. Bourn Sr. used a dying partner to hold title to prime land, leaving his estate vulnerable to fraud.
- The Great Tacoma Brick Boom: A City Building Itself Into the Future
As ten new brick structures rise on Water Street and real estate auctions fetch record prices, Tacoma’s leaders are betting big on a booming future—despite labor shortages and material scarcity.
- The Hatch Heirs' Victory: A Seattle Attorney Wins Half of a $400,000 Everett Tract
A federal appeals court upholds the rights of the children of Ezra Hatch—a Mexican War veteran who married an Indian woman—to 128 acres in the heart of Everett, and their lawyer, A.D. Warner, takes home half.
- A Widow’s Two Wills, a Husband’s Challenge, and a Fortune Tied to Seattle
Dr. Aaron Baldwin contests the estate of Lena Shay Baldwin, arguing that property left to her Seattle siblings was really his—and that the case belongs in Washington, D.C., not King County.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.