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87 stories matching bondsmen
- The $800 School Contract That Smelled Wrong
A losing bidder says Seattle’s school board changed the bonding rules mid-bid to steer the South School job to a higher bidder—and cost taxpayers hundreds.
- The $8,000 Schoolyard Fight
A losing contractor accuses Seattle’s school board of steering a South School grounds contract to a favored bidder and wasting taxpayer money. The board fires back that the cheapest bids were unsafe and that a $25,000 schoolhouse was at risk of falling.
- The Comptroller Was Right: Seattle's Ex-Treasurer Pays Back $4,017
Willis R. Ames spent two years insisting the city's books were wrong. This week his bondsmen wrote the cheque — and the paper trail runs through a second treasurer who later absconded.
- The Governor's $50,000 Bond
A defaulting King County treasurer's case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving Governor Ferry and other bondsmen on the hook for $34,000.
- Seattle’s Ex-Treasurer Owes Nearly $6,000—and His Bondsmen Are on the Hook
A judge found Isaac Parker’s books $5,535 short, with interest pushing the judgment near $6,000. Parker’s sureties vow to appeal, while the city tries to collect from the men who guaranteed his office.
- The Union Man in the White Suit Walked Into Jail
After the 1894 railroad strike, Northern Pacific committeeman Charles A. Barnes lost his bondsmen and surrendered in a canvas suit and straw hat, telling the marshal, 'Here is my body.'
- Councilors and the Cost of Progress
A standoff between property owners and council members over street grading reveals the deep entanglement of private business and city government.
- The $1,500 Hole in Clallam County's Books
A second look at Clallam County's accounts turned up altered figures, a $1,500 shortage and bondsmen who refused to keep paying. The treasurer was arrested.
- A Treasurer's Patronage Promise Comes Due
Two bondsmen wanted John Grunkranz put on the county payroll, and they reminded Treasurer Maple that they had put up $15,000 on his word.
- Seattle Hires a Contractor to Keep South School From Sliding Into the Street
The school board awards an emergency bulkhead job after nine bids and a bonding standoff, with work required before the autumn rains.
- The Price of Freedom: A City Treasurer's Bond
While a train wreck delayed the arrival of accused city treasurer Adolph Krug, his friends and family scrambled through the midnight hours to meet a $64,000 bail requirement.
- The Scapegoat of Pierce County
A prominent local businessman finds himself the target of a smear campaign after a financial scandal guts the county treasury, revealing the toxic power of public rumor in 1870s Tacoma.
- The Great Bail Bond Fiasco
Two swindlers arrested on a Puget Sound steamer have vanished after a two-year legal delay, leaving the state helpless to punish them.
- The City Treasury Scandal
Seattle sues former treasurer Adolph Krug and his bondsmen after a massive public funds deficiency is uncovered.
- The City Settles with Embezzler's Bondsmen
A complex financial deal ends the civil litigation over Adolph Krug’s flight from the City Treasurer’s office.
- Seattle’s Missing City Money and the Loophole That Could Free a Fugitive Controller
John Riplinger, Seattle’s former city controller, fled to Honduras after being accused of stealing contractor deposits. A state Supreme Court ruling that the money was not city funds may now clear him—and his bondsmen.
- The Disappearing Contractor of Madison Street
A Seattle infrastructure project hits a snag when the lead contractor vanishes with thousands of dollars in city funds, leaving his bondsmen to face the bill.
- The Political Hatchet Job That Failed
A Port Townsend city treasurer finds himself the victim of a coordinated, sensationalist smear campaign—only for the local press to walk it back.
- City Council Members Dodge Responsibility on James Street
While private citizens were forced to fulfill their contracts, two city council members allegedly abandoned their own street improvement project without penalty.
- King County's Missing $61,000: Treasurer Accused of Embezzlement
A committee's report reveals that former County Treasurer George D. Hill is indebted to King County for over $61,000; the board orders legal action against him and his bondsmen.
- The Treasurer's Escaped Liability
A landmark state supreme court decision saves King County bondsmen from paying for a massive treasury shortage.
- County Treasurer Found in Deficit
Yakima County Commissioners order legal action against bondsmen to recover nearly $12,000 in missing public funds.
- The Opium Smuggler Who Beat Prison by Oversleeping
A Tacoma jury convicted Jack Forbes of smuggling 110 pounds of opium—but the defendant slept through the verdict, and the judge let him go until a new trial.
- A Defaulting Treasurer’s Debt Finally Comes Due—for a Governor and His Bondsmen
A Seattle judge orders E. P. Ferry and other sureties to pay King County $29,143.60 plus years of interest for George D. Hill’s vanished public funds.
- Seattle’s Missing $5,500: A Treasurer, a Fire, and a Quiet Committee Settlement
Ex-City Treasurer W. L. Ames’s accounts were short. His bondsmen admitted it and the finance committee looked for a settlement—no prosecution, just a deal.
Also about this, in other words
- The Treasurer-Elect Can't Find Bondsmen for a $400,000 Bond
J. W. Maple's search for sureties exposes a quiet fight over King County's swelling public funds—and the commissioners say they actually let him off easy.
- The 'Lumberman' Who Swindled Seattle's Elite
A smooth-talking con man gains the trust of the city’s fashionable society before vanishing with thousands in unpaid debts.
- The Bunko Men Who Got Away
A rare conviction for 'bunko' card-trick swindling hits a dead end as the culprits flee the state and the extradition fund runs dry.
- Two Council Members Arrested in Sewer Bribe Case
Two councilmen are arrested in Tacoma following a sting operation by a local citizens' group over a sewer contract.
- The Confidence Men of Leschi Park
A visiting Wells, Fargo express agent is fleeced by a trio of notorious swindlers in a elaborate 'bunko' game near the sea lion pavilion.
- The Ironclad Oath of Labor
When the founder of the Ancient Order of United Workmen visited Seattle in 1885, he brought a philosophy of 'paternal' cooperation to reconcile the brewing tensions between labor and capital.
- The Councilman and the Kentucky Saloon
A Tacoma city councilman faces a public scandal after a local bartender accuses him of ruining business.
- The Battle of the Wishkah River Bridge
A city’s municipal gridlock and the bizarre arrest of a councilman over anti-bond propaganda.