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78 stories matching certifi
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- The Land Office Money That Never Reached the Books
Register Isaac W. Smith accuses Receiver Selucius Garfielde of holding land-claim payments on private deposit and refusing to account for them—an 1861 public audit fight in Washington Territory.
- Seattle Squatters Push Land Fight to District Court
Squatters on the Seattle tidelands win a legal delay in a high-stakes title fight against A.A. Denny, as the city watches a $100,000 property dispute head to district court.
- The $1,000 'Good Faith' Check That Became a Prisoner of Its Own Terms
Seattle’s streetcar pioneers petition the City Council to return their forfeited deposit, arguing the project stalled due to circumstances beyond their control. The paper argues they have no moral right to reclaim the money.
- The New Rules for the Ballot Box
A new election regulation threatens to disenfranchise candidates in remote areas, sparking fears of chaos in the upcoming vote.
- The Last Laugh of Charles Nordstrom
As the Seattle Star reports on May 15, 1899, condemned murderer Charles Nordstrom sits in his cell, seemingly indifferent to the death warrant signed that morning. While the legal machinery grinds toward his execution for the murder of a police officer, one man’s sarcastic smile and contemptuous silence speak louder than any final prayer.
- The Political Brawl Over the Seattle Canal
A Yakima newspaper accuses a 'Seattle ring' of bribery and electoral intimidation as local races heat up.
- Cleaning Up the Ballot Box
Legislators move to close loopholes that allowed fraudulent signatures to threaten the integrity of Washington's direct democracy.
- A Church Scandal Erupts in a Seattle Libel Trial
M. H. Nichols stood accused of criminally libeling Presiding Elder T. B. Ford. The defense spent the day trading rumors, old grudges, and one complaint about the prosecutor's booming voice.
- The Bank-Issued Currency of 1893
Facing a national economic panic, Seattle merchants and bankers agree to honor certified checks as local tender to keep the hop harvest moving.
- The Courthouse Contract That Took Three Tries
The lowest bid lacked a certified check; the next-lowest contractor balked at its own price; the job finally went to Colville builder Lee Gayman.
- Kennewick Moves Toward Port Status
County officials certify petition for a new port district, paving the way for future Columbia River navigation and infrastructure growth.
- The Postmaster’s Patronage Problem: Civil Service Warns Port Townsend
Postmaster McNamara threatened to replace Port Townsend’s post office staff with loyal Democrats. The Civil Service Commission warned that patronage could cost him personally—and cited a Pennsylvania postmaster who paid $600 out of pocket.
- Two Hundred Lives, One Closed Door: The Pacific Inquiry
Witnesses swore in Port Townsend that the steamer Pacific was rotten when she sailed. Now the very inspectors who certified her seaworthy are investigating her loss — in secret.
- The Mudflat Standoff: A Political Tug-of-War for Seattle’s Waterfront
In 1872, Seattle’s local press accused the Territorial Delegate of suppressing a crucial memorial to cede Duwamish mudflats to the city for his own electoral gain.
- 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 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 Waterfront Tug-of-War: Squatters vs. The Empire of A.A. Denny
As Seattle's waterfront boomed, property titan A.A. Denny moved to clear 'squatters' from valuable harbor land, sparking a public anxiety over property titles that echoes through the city's growth.
- The Bureaucratic Cruelty of City Hall
Seattle and King County's refusal to fund indigent care leaves a local hospital to carry the burden for destitute patients.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The First Wedding in Seattle, Celebrated Forty-Two Years Later
David and Louisa Denny gather four generations of pioneers at their Temperance Street home, where relics of the 1850s—and the certificate from Seattle’s first marriage—turn an anniversary into a founding story.
- The Dredgers Were Coming: Seattle Builds Its Tide Flats
Engineers surveyed bulkheads, plotted fill, and prepared to bring two big dredgers to the Duwamish tide flats—while speculators rushed applications to buy the new land.
- The County Surveyor’s 'Sweating' Scheme
King County Surveyor F.F. Ames faced official charges for systematically stealing a portion of his employees' wages.
- A Landlord, a Seized Trunk, and a Lady Left in Her Shift
After months on the run, a Populist orator is arrested at a poultry show for holding a tenant's only clothes hostage over unpaid rent.
- A Council Franchise Handshake
A streetcar franchise is approved in less than two minutes as the city council moves to consolidate rail lines along Yesler Way.
Also about this, in other words
- The Struggle Over Fraudulent Certificates
Federal authorities clamp down on an alleged scheme to bring Chinese immigrants into the U.S. through falsified identity papers.
- A Municipal Debt Crisis
Chehalis County commissioners find themselves over their legal debt limit, triggering a halt on all warrants and a potential bond issuance.
- Judge Irwin Wipes Out $224,000 in County Road Bonds
Chehalis County's entire 1891 road-bond program is ruled illegal for blowing past the constitutional debt limit — and the taxpayers' paper calls it a deliverance.
- Searching for a New Commissioner
Following a resignation, Kennewick looks to local talent to fill a seat on the county commission.
- The Bookkeeper Who Played Lawyer
A former insurance company clerk, accused of forgery, stunned the King County courtroom by ditching his defense counsel to argue his own case.
- A Case of Reasonable Doubt
Salvador Pecani, once sentenced to hang for a brutal crime, is set free after the Supreme Court rules the evidence against him purely circumstantial.