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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 22 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 24 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 22 |
| 1886 | 12 |
| 1887 | 11 |
| 1888 | 15 |
| 1889 | 39 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 37 |
| 1892 | 73 |
| 1893 | 50 |
| 1894 | 83 |
| 1895 | 133 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 12 |
| 1899 | 15 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 37 |
| 1904 | 17 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 14 |
| 1909 | 33 |
| 1910 | 11 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 8 |
| 1917 | 7 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
757 stories matching owing
- The Widow’s Last Ledger
On her deathbed, a thrifty farm wife attempts one final audit of the neighborhood’s debts, only to find her husband’s memory suddenly failing when it comes to money she owes others.
- The Price of Ownership: 1877 Snohomish Tax Delinquencies
A rare window into the early land-holding patterns of the Snohomish valley, listing the citizens, acres, and pennies owed to the county treasury during the formative years of the settlement.
- The Unlucky Three: A Case of Professional Laziness
Three men in Seattle face a week of hard labor after a judge determines they are unwilling to work for a living.
- The Debts a Country Owes Its Farmers — and Its Farmers' Wives
An 1898 farm-column editorial tallies what rural Washington neglects: untrained road supervisors, school directors so illiterate the legislature had to bar them, and farm women who never see a newspaper or a neighbor.
- Seattle Schools Bursting at the Seams
Superintendent Barnard struggles to accommodate a massive influx of new students while the Board of Education refuses to hire additional teachers.
- The Paper War That Split Thurston County
A rival weekly, a political machine, and a defiant editor: Olympia’s Tribune accuses the Owings-Murphy ring of spending thousands to “down” it.
- A Dollar Debt, a Fatal Blow, and a Tacoma Murder Trial
E. R. Capron owed W. T. Taylor a dollar; a street insult ended with Capron dead and Taylor in the superior court.
- The Millionaire in the Asylum: Thomas Keeler's Chinese Indemnity Delusion
A Seattle man convinced the government owed him $1,000,000 was committed to Steilacoom after seeking payment at banks and law offices.
- A Rash of 'Skips' in South Bend
Local business owners face a string of losses as customers flee town without paying their bills.
- A Saloon Fight, a Fine, and a Wage Suit in Old Town
A former musical director at Conquest Saloon sues Jack Furness for back pay, but Furness says he deducted the amount of a fine he paid after the musician's altercation with a customer.
- 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.
- Tacoma's Treasurer Kept City Cash in a Bank That Now Owes $60,000
A 'note-sharing and warrant-buying' institution fails, and the public money inside it has not yet been handed over.
- The Price of Separation: Benton County’s Debts
Newly formed Benton County grapples with the financial burden of its division from Yakima County.
- A Filipino Commissioner Fires Back at the Johnson Bill
Seattle's Filipino community, facing a federal bill to exclude them from the mainland, hears Commissioner Pedro Guevara argue that America owes the Philippines independence before it owes it exclusion.
- Budget Cuts Silence Washington's Farmers' Institutes
A Pullman college president tells The Ranch that six or seven faculty posts were cut, leaving no one free to carry agricultural lectures into the countryside in 1903.
- The Cook, the Revolver, and the Divorce Suit
A husband fights a court-ordered alimony payment, claiming his wife's threats and nagging made him lose his job.
- The Mysterious Death on Mercer Island
A secret society lodge mourns the loss of a prominent member killed in an ambush on the shores of Lake Washington.
- The World's Fair Brawl in Washington's Woman's Department
A public feud between the lady managers of the Washington State exhibit erupts into accusations of financial incompetence and territorial invasion.
- Saloon Gunfire Over A Debt
A confrontation in a downtown Seattle saloon ends with a bullet in the wall and a victim who refuses to press charges.
- Shelton Rail Company Faces Receivership
Clashing interests and a frozen lumber industry push the local rail line into court-appointed management.
- The Youthful Defendant's Surprise Courtroom Reveal
A man accused of owing wages reveals a hidden burden of family responsibility to sway the court.
- A County With No Hospital Turns a Private Home Into One
When the injured and dying were thrown on San Juan County's mercy, the new Overseer of the Poor had nowhere to put them but his own house.
- 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 Struggle for Dignity in Old Age
An editorial reflection on the cruelty of industrial labor and the call for systemic justice for elderly workers.
- The Lawyer's Bill Included Whisky, Sherry and Plasters
Sued for grave irregularities, John P. Dore answers with 157 items for advice—and an account full of whisky, medicine and groceries. He says Mrs. McDonough still owes him $139.70.
Also about this, in other words
- The $242 Debt That Haunted the Frontier
A legal summons from 1878 reminds us that even in the budding town of Snohomish, debt was a serious, court-ordered business.
- The Boarding House Debt
A legal dispute over unpaid bills for housing and goods reveals the precarious reality of daily life in the Washington Territory in 1877.
- A Frontier Debt Still Owed
A legal dispute over unpaid wages from 1878 illuminates the precarious nature of labor and contract in early Snohomish.
- 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.
- The Price of Staying Fed: A Frontier Eviction Debt
A legal summons from 1878 captures the harsh reality of pioneer life, where unpaid boarding bills for food and lodging resulted in formal court action.
- A Debt of Board and Lodging
A legal dispute over a $236 unpaid bill offers a rare, granular look at the economy of 1878 Snohomish.
- Seattle's Schools Were Running on Borrowed Money—and the Bill Was Due
In 1895, the school board urged voters to ratify a stack of bonds and warrants incurred to build schools, warning that the alternative was a six-month school year—or repudiation.
- The Debt of 1877: A Seattle Legal Notice
A court summons in 1879 offers a rare, granular glimpse into the personal credit and legal entanglements of pioneer-era Seattle merchants.