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66 stories matching spencer
- The Absinthe Defense: How a 'Swissess' and a Headache Saved a Murderer's Life
In the high-profile Spencer trial in Spokane, witnesses testified that Edward Spencer drank absinthe to sober up before killing Ella Mundt. The court heard he was 'jolly' until the end.
- The Twin Separation: A Seattle Reunion After 32 Years
Separated as infants and lost to the winds of time, two sisters find each other in Seattle through a chance resemblance and a neighbor's intuition.
- Spencer Refuses to Hand Over County Clerk Office
William B. Spencer claims a constitutional technicality allows him to keep his job, sparking a standoff with his elected successor.
- The Clerk Who Refused to Leave Office—and the Books That Wouldn't Balance
King County and former clerk W. B. Spencer submit a long-running dispute over fees, continuances and a disputed shortage to Judge Humes for a final ruling.
- The Boat That Built Itself Twice: How a Portland Captain Saved His Alaska Dream
Captain Spencer didn't just buy a wrecked sternwheeler; he bought the parts of two lost ships and assembled them into a new vessel, proving that in the age of steam, ingenuity could outpace disaster.
- The Office Siege: King County’s Standoff Clerk
After an election dispute, the outgoing county clerk refuses to vacate, leading to a surreal occupation of the King County office that continues through a locked safe and a cold-shoulder standoff.
- The Man Who Vanished: A Father’s Grief and the Search for a Missing Son
Edward K. Alar has been gone from his home in Olympia for two years. Now, a legal battle over a $5,000 insurance policy reveals the tangled web of rumors surrounding his disappearance.
- Seattle’s School Board Said No to $153
Contractors crowded the board meeting, but a fight over $4,000 versus $4,153 left a school addition unbuilt—and a Lake Union petition for 107 children pending.
- The Man Who Forgot His Own Murder
Edward Spencer takes the stand in his own murder trial, claiming amnesia and absinthe-induced blackouts to explain why he shot Ella Mundt in Spokane.
- The Deadly Prescription of Clifton House
A physician’s sinister plot to poison his young wife for her inheritance ends in a gruesome, ironic justice on the frontier.
- The Hidden Past of a Ballard Pioneer
A woman’s confession of a non-marital union reveals the precarious social status of women in the frontier period.
- Defeated King County Clerk Refuses to Step Down
A political standoff ensues at the King County Courthouse after the incumbent clerk refuses to vacate his office for his successor.
- The Jail Birth of Alice Spencer
After being turned away by the city's hospital and abandoned by her partner, a young woman finds refuge in a police cell to deliver her child.
- The Vanishing Pensioner of Ballard
A Civil War veteran draws his quarterly pension and vanishes, leaving his family destitute for the fourth time.
- The Short-Lived Reign of the 'Hotel Barber' Scoundrel
After five weeks of marital and managerial incompetence, a Seattle hotel proprietor's husband is sent packing—without the horse he tried to steal.
- The Clerk Who Wasn't Invited to the Election
A judicial showdown in a bizarre constitutional struggle over whether an election for county clerk was actually legal.
- The Case for a City Fire Marshal
Seattle's Board of Underwriters pushes for a dedicated official to investigate suspicious fires and enforce building safety in the wake of mounting insurance concerns.
- The Uncertain Fate of a Convicted Killer
Edward Spencer awaits transfer to the Walla Walla penitentiary, sparking speculation about his potential work assignment behind bars.
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- The Strange Mystery of the Snoqualmie Road
A young laborer is found dead in Lake Washington, but the investigation into his companions reveals a web of confusion and suspicious departures.
- Fireboat or No Fireboat: Insurers Threaten a 25% Rate Hike
Underwriters tell the city to staff its fireboat properly or watch waterfront insurance premiums jump a quarter.
- The Ball That Shook Seattle: A Night of Masks, Money, and 'Transposed Sexes'
In the damp cold of February 1877, Seattle’s elite gathered for a masquerade ball that defied social norms, featuring cross-dressing performers and a prize for the 'best sustained character'—a rare glimpse into the territory's vibrant, chaotic social life.
- The Boarding-House Ransom
When a sailor fell deathly ill in Tacoma, his boarding-house proprietor held him hostage, hoping to claim the dying man's life savings as an exorbitant medical bill.
- The Railway Scheme That Failed
A phantom freight tariff, designed to crush independent grocers, is exposed and vetoed by the railroad manager himself.
- Seattle's Schools Burst at the Seams as the City Booms
In 1893 the school board scrambles for classrooms, defends high-school education, and counts the cost of keeping up with a fast-growing city.
Also about this, in other words
- A Bloody Dispute Over Unpaid Wages
A Seattle saloon keeper is accused of pistol-whipping his former bartender after a heated argument over unpaid back wages.
- The Tragic End of Samuel S. Rhodes
A struggling Seattle bartender, gripped by addiction and marital strife, ends his life in a room at the Squire-Latimer building.
- The Waterfront Thief of Madison Street
A persistent petty thief is finally caught in the woods near Lake Washington after a long chase through the city.
- The 'Daisy' of the Office: Seattle's 1891 Typewriter Craze
As Seattle transitioned into a new era of business efficiency in 1891, the Remington Standard Typewriter emerged as the essential office status symbol.
- The Tragedy at the Cabin
A pioneer settler is found dead in his home after a brutal struggle, sparking a local manhunt near Colfax.
- The Sleek Scoundrel of Second Street
A dapper bookkeeper flees Seattle after embezzling thousands to fund a lifestyle of high-priced wines and 'bad women,' leaving his employers—and a woman who mourns her lost diamond ring—in his wake.
- Bloody Brawl at Spencer’s Saloon
A minor prank against a patron spirals into a violent knife fight among loggers in North Yakima.
- A Temperance Advocate Visits Snohomish
A visiting orator delivers a lecture on the virtues of the Olive Leaf Lodge, aiming to steer local young men away from the 'pernicious habits' of whisky.