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127 stories matching probat
- Establishing the People’s Court
Legislative action mandates the election of local probate judges to manage wills, estates, and guardianship for the Territory.
- The Persistent Loophole in Walla Walla's Temperance Laws
While the city restricts alcohol sales to 'probated' drunkards, families find that local saloons are ignoring the law—leading to a potential wave of civil litigation.
- Snohomish Land Claim Dispute Heads to Probate Court
A legal summons from 1877 reveals the precarious reality of early Washington settlers who vanished from their claims, leaving behind only government paperwork and public notices.
- The Mystery of the Drowned Man’s Missing Fortune
In July 1870, Seattle’s probate court launched a frantic investigation into whether $2,000 vanished from the pocket of John Filfe, who drowned in Puget Sound days earlier.
- The Land War Over the Strickler Estate
A decades-long legal battle in federal court highlights the risks of ignoring probate when claiming ownership of Seattle's early land parcels.
- The Unfinished Business of Alfred H. Jones
A standard probate notice reveals the vanishing point of a pioneer's life in 1876 Seattle, where debts and assets were tied to the rapidly developing corners of Third and Union.
- The Price of a Home: How Seattle’s Real Estate Market Was Built on Death and Debt
In June 1876, the probate courts of King County were awash with estate sales. As families grieved, their homes—like that of C.C. Teery—were auctioned off to pay debts, revealing a housing market where survival depended on liquidating one's past.
- The Seduction of a Judge: Wickersham Indicted in Tacoma
Territorial Grand Jury Returns True Bill Against Probate Judge James Wickersham for Alleged Seduction of Miss Sadie C. Brantuar; He Arraigned and Given Until Noon to Plead.
- The Trial of Neil Sweeney: Sane or Mad?
A Seattle probate court spends an afternoon determining the mental state of a man accused of madness, highlighting the precarious nature of asylum discharges and personal liberty in 1887.
- The Unfinished Business of Reuben Doyle
A legal notice from 1882 reveals the quiet end of a pioneer's estate in early Seattle.
- The Runaway Administrator
A local businessman is arrested for failing to account for the estate of a deceased resident in Kitsap County.
- The Scandalous Tale of the Stolen Will
A Seattle attorney dismisses rumors of a purloined inheritance as a malicious shakedown attempt by a disgruntled servant.
- The Auction of a Widow’s Legacy: Seattle’s First Real Estate Sale
In May 1882, the Probate Court ordered the liquidation of Mary A. Smith’s estate, marking one of the earliest recorded public land auctions in Seattle’s history.
- The Unseen Toll of Seattle’s Great Fire
A Norwegian immigrant, unable to cope with the ruin of his family life following the Great Seattle Fire, is declared insane by the probate court.
- The Great Timber Sell-Off
Thousands of acres of Snohomish County wilderness go under the hammer as the estate of Arthur Phinney is liquidated.
- The Battle for a Saloon and the Dead Woman’s Secret Will
A saloon owner’s last will and testament sparks a fierce probate fight between her bartender and her estranged children.
- The Attorney's Brawl: A Legal Dust-Up in Probate Court
Two well-known Seattle attorneys settle a probate dispute with a flurry of fisticuffs in the courtroom.
- The Curious Case of a Seattle Man’s Electrical Delusions
A local veteran was apprehended for insanity, claiming his body was charged with electricity he caught while living in an asylum.
- One Dollar Apiece: A Seattle Will Cuts Off Two Daughters
Caroline Lemon’s estate went mostly to her daughter-in-law, while Amanda Alden and Jane Gooden were left single-dollar bequests.
- The Indian Wife, the White Widow, and the Skagit Ranch
A Skagit County probate fight asked whether the children of John Wilbur’s Indigenous wife could inherit his ranch—or whether his later white marriage erased them.
- The Tragic End of a Traveling Grifter
A notorious card shark is declared insane by the courts after a life spent deceiving folks from British Columbia to Virginia City.
- The Widow and the Will of Paul Drasdo
A Seattle restaurant owner dies leaving behind a contested estate, a cafe on Second Avenue, and a will that offers his potential widow exactly one dollar.
- The Great Snohomish Church Fight: Who Owns the Soul of the County?
A Presbyterian minister arrives in Snohomish to find a fractured community. With two rival congregations already formed and the Probate Judge playing both sides, can outside help unite the town—or just deepen the divide?
- A Judge’s Crusade Against County Corruption
Whitman County Judge William McDonald issues a blistering order to the prosecutor, detailing long-standing allegations of jailhouse abuse, probate perjury, and illegal spending by commissioners.
- A Desperate Hour in Chehalis
After a domestic quarrel, a former probate judge in Chehalis attempts to end his life in the same room where a gruesome murder occurred years prior.