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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 1 |
25 stories matching franci
- The Temperance Preacher and the Heavyweight Champion
When gospel temperance evangelist Francis Murphy visited a Tacoma theater to convert prize fighter John L. Sullivan to sobriety, he found the champion as stubborn as his reputation.
- The Boy Who Tried to Derail a Train
A Snohomish County jury acquits two young boys who tampered with railroad switches to watch a crash, sparking a furious editorial on the failings of the justice system.
- Tragedy at the Gilman Mines
Francis B. Seymour died at the Gilman mines after runaway cars struck him; coroner ruled carelessness.
- Two Boys, Two Open Switches, and a Train Barely Saved
Jimmy Francis and Johnnie Harrier, ages 11 and 12, were sent to reform school after opening railroad switches near Snohomish and nearly wrecking a passenger train.
- Too Wet for the Dry Crusade: Tacoma Boycotts Francis Murphy
The celebrated temperance lecturer came back to Tacoma to find the Tabernacle locked against him—because he preached gospel temperance instead of prohibition.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- The Senator and the Payoff
A Kittitas County legislative candidate’s signed letter reveals a brazen scheme to secure a US Senate seat through financial bribery in Seattle.
- The Unlawful Demolition of a Family Home
A Seattle property owner sues for damages after his house was forcibly torn down and hauled away by a mining company.
- A Forty-Foot Leap From a Burning Lodging House
A predawn blaze in a Terrace Street rooming house forces immigrant laborers to jump from windows; one is likely fatally injured.
- City Hall's Stolen Warrants
Nine hundred and ninety-nine blank city warrants vanish, raising fears of a massive forgery scheme involving city officials.
- The Railroad King's Secret: Kahn Reveals the 'Scoop' Behind Seattle's Next Big Line
In a rare interview on his birthday, Democratic committee member Joe Kahn spills the beans on the Northern Pacific’s expansion plans and hints at a massive political scandal involving President Harrison.
- The Suffragist in the Hall: How One Woman’s Plea Shook Washington’s Constitutional Convention
In the sweltering heat of 1878, a delegation from Seattle petitioned the territorial convention for women's voting rights. Mrs. Dunaway was invited to speak, delivering an eloquent appeal that momentarily softened the hearts of the 'sage' delegates before the vote closed.
- City Assessment Scheme Ruled Valid After Legal Fight
The state supreme court overturns a previous ruling, saving Seattle from a potential financial crisis regarding street improvement assessments.
- The Cable Car Wars of Seattle
A fierce power struggle over streetcar franchises reveals how infrastructure deals shaped the development of early Seattle.
- The Empty Vault: How the Pioneers' Association Went Broke
A financial audit of the Washington Territorial Association reveals a treasury with no money and a membership list full of ghosts, raising questions about the future of Seattle's oldest civic society.
- The Day Seattle Swallowed 10,000 Strangers: The Great Fourth of July Flood
In 1888, the Territory of Washington threw its biggest-ever Independence Day celebration. Steamers arrived loaded with visitors until the streets were so packed that police could barely move. Here is how Seattle hosted a crowd that nearly burst its seams.
- The Boardinghouse Elopement
After ten years of marriage, a local landlady sells the furniture and vanishes with a boarder, leaving her husband to plan a maritime pursuit.
- Worker Critically Injured in Blasting Accident
A laborer working on the Maple Valley extension of the Columbia & Puget Sound railway was struck by a jagged wooden splinter after a stump blast, leaving him in a life-threatening condition.
- The All-Night Waterfront Watch That Recovered Forty Stolen Boom Chains
Police lay in wait at the foot of Vine Street after a boat loaded with chains appeared in North Seattle. The trail led back to a Port Townsend mill and a second-hand dealer.
- After the Great Fire, Tull Built Bigger
A Spokane furniture merchant lost a new bank building in the 1889 blaze, then rebuilt at Riverside and Stevens with the city's largest block.
- The Elopement That Never Happened
A Seattle newspaper's sensational claim about two theater performers is debunked by the cold reality of train tickets and bad debt.
- A Mystery in the Northwestern Hotel
A California sheriff inquires about a man who vanished in Seattle, sparking rumors of a dark fate.
- The Search for a Missing Seattle Heir
After twenty-seven years of silence, a missing heir surfaces to claim a $300,000 estate, reuniting a family divided by distance and time.
- The Fatal Feats of the Fire Fiend
A traveling variety performer dies of consumption in Victoria after years of swallowing molten lead and red-hot iron.
- Carpenter Nearly Killed by Falling Lumber
A routine day at a harbor mill turns into a life-threatening accident for a local carpenter.