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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 5 |
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27 stories matching bessi
- No Work, Then Gunshots: A Tacoma Family's Despair
Albert McAchren shot his wife and himself in a Tacoma lodging house after a year without steady work; his young daughter survived to tell the story.
- The Bessie K. Lost at Sea
A steamship overdue from Alaska is discovered shattered against the rocks north of Victoria, with no signs of survivors.
- A Desperate Leap into Lake Washington
A woman known as 'Bessie' was rescued from the waters of Lake Washington near Madrona Park following a reported suicide attempt.
- A Wedding Across the Color Line in Walla Walla
A local preacher marries a white girl and her Chinese partner after her mother grants formal consent.
- A Tacoma Shooting Unravels an Elopement
Albert McAchren shot his wife, tried to shoot her daughter, and turned the gun on himself. As she lingers, a friend describes the couple’s flight from Fidalgo.
- A Heartbreaking Departure for Reform
A teenage girl thanked the judge who sentenced her to a reform school in Chehalis for stealing clothes.
- The Alyssum Mystery
A young man is wrongly accused of the murder of his aunt until a patch of garden flowers reveals the truth.
- Theft at the Bostwick Hotel
A young woman pleads guilty to stealing a wardrobe from a guest at one of Tacoma's premier downtown hotels.
- A Judge Tells Spokane's Restaurant Men Their Strike Injunction Is Worthless
Judge J. Stanley Webster refused to restrain the cooks' and waiters' union, upheld the right to strike and to publish 'union house' cards — a rare courtroom win for organized labor in 1910.
- The Right to Offset Benefits in Land Seizures
A landmark Washington Supreme Court decision settles a heated dispute over whether the city can lower compensation for seized land by claiming the public improvement adds value to the owner's remaining property.
- The Fatal Insurance Plot
A prominent Seattle attorney meets a violent end after a rapid, chaotic life involving a string of marriages and questionable associates.
- Abandoned and destitute, a woman accuses local fortune teller of exploitation
After collapsing on a Walla Walla street, a young woman details a coerced journey from Boise and a harrowing attempt to force her into sex work.
- A Neighborhood Rises to Protect a Mother and Child
A desperate father tried to kidnap his daughter from a Seattle home, only to be stopped by the quick-thinking neighbors he underestimated.
- Suffragists Meet in Olympia as the Ballot Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
The Washington Equal Suffrage Association gathers at Tacoma Hall to choose national delegates—and to find new lawyers for a case that could decide whether women vote.
- Tragedy at McNeil Island: Guard and Prisoners Lost in Sound
A routine transport between the island and Steilacoom turns fatal after a sudden squall capsizes the boat.
- City Officials Expel 'Madame Pattie'
A palmist working out of a lodging house is ousted following allegations of involvement in illicit activities.
- San Juan Hill, a Bad Marriage, and Five Years Gone
Capt. Richard Steadman sailed off heartbroken to Cuba, came back a brevet major, and married his first sweetheart within a week of learning she was free.
- The Price of a Waltz at Whitman College
A student is suspended for defying her dean to attend a forbidden dancing school, while her Tacoma companion escapes with a month's confinement to campus.
- A Family Reunited by Chance
A Spokane woman, raised as an orphan in the Kennewick valley, discovers her long-lost siblings through a series of coincidences.
- The Miracle Cow of Pullman
A world-record-breaking Ayrshire cow at the State College of Washington yields ten tons of milk in a single year, proving a profitable asset for the local agricultural industry.
- Ellen Dorr, Dayton Pioneer, Dies at Sea
Mrs. Ellen R. Dorr of Dayton passes away in mid-ocean while returning home from Manila, leaving a family spread across the Pacific.
- Two Wives, Two Brutal Husbands, and a Fight for the Property
Mary Fisher wins her freedom — and the family's Anacortes and Whatcom lots — after years of abuse, while Daisy Logan asks the court to protect her 4-year-old from a man who threw the furniture.
- Holiday Revelry in Early Renton
A historic gathering of pioneer families at the new schoolhouse marked a high-water mark for the young coal mining settlement.
- The New Magdalene at Cordray’s Theater
A sympathetic and emotionally charged opening night at Seattle's premier theater.
- A Sudden Marriage and a Neighbors' Surprise
After reaching an age thought immune to romance, a local bachelor weds a woman he had never met until days before.