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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 16 |
| 1878 | 23 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 7 |
| 1885 | 13 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 24 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 10 |
| 1892 | 24 |
| 1893 | 26 |
| 1894 | 28 |
| 1895 | 33 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 15 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 18 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1914 | 6 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 6 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
330 stories matching summon
- Legal Battle Brews Over Irrigation Land Contracts
Ranchers served with legal papers in a foreclosure suit seek counsel to defend their land rights against the struggling White Bluffs Irrigation Company.
- The Strange Case of the Seized Horse
A Port Townsend magistrate attempts to settle a private debt by seizing a horse that didn't belong to the debtor, sparking a procedural standoff.
- The End of the Classroom Phone Call
Teachers, exhausted by dozens of daily interruptions from parents, ban non-emergency telephone calls to students during school hours.
- 1878 Snohomish Court Summons Names Murley and Rullan
A legal summons reveals the steep cost of debt in 1878 Snohomish, where a defaulted promissory note leads to a District Court reckoning.
- The Divorce Decree: A Seattle Woman’s Fight for Freedom from Willful Abandonment
In July 1876, Eliza Carakaden was served with a summons in King County District Court, marking one of the earliest recorded legal battles for divorce in the young settlement of Seattle.
- The Bank vs. The Smiths: A Benton County Foreclosure Drama
A summons filed in the Superior Court reveals a $200 debt dispute between the Bank of Kennewick and local residents F.B. and Belle Smith, highlighting the precarious financial ties between early agricultural settlers and regional lenders.
- The Divorce of a Pioneer: A Legal Battle in King County
In the early days of Seattle, legal proceedings were public record. This summons reveals the gritty reality of marriage dissolution in 1876, where 'abandonment' was a grounds for divorce and the courts were one of the few places to settle domestic disputes.
- A Mob Hanged Two Men at the Courthouse. Then the State Argued Over the Bill.
After Hill and Parker were lynched in Colfax, Attorney General W. C. Jones ruled that the county need not pay for a coroner's inquest—and said the real hunt for the mob belonged to a grand jury.
- Seattle's Fire Chief Vanished Before His Day in Court
A.B. Hunt disappeared after telling friends he was off to Tacoma for trial; the city removed him, named Alexander Allen Jr. chief, and left a mystery that only deepened when his father was summoned to prove his birth.
- A Mother with a Rifle: Newport Woman Shoots Intruder Who Broke In
Mrs. O. F. Allen, alone with seven children on a ranch east of Newport, fought off a drunken man who forced his way into the house and shot him twice before the constable could be summoned.
- Sixty Armed Men Took the Jail at Dayton
A convicted murderer was hauled out of the Columbia County jail and strangled from a rope in the public square — the coroner's jury named no killers, and the local editor scolded lynch law while calling the mob 'cool and systematic.'
- A Narrow Escape Near Prosser
An open switch sends a passenger train into a ditch, leaving the fireman trapped beneath a mountain of coal.
- The Territory's First Women Jurors Take Their Seats
A landmark moment in Washington history sees three women summoned for grand jury service in Island County, marking a first for the Pacific Coast.
- Exclusion League Organizer Faces $50,000 Libel Suit
Seattle's A. E. Fowler is summoned to federal court over a circular attacking Collier's coverage of Japan.
- The Ghost-Maker of Buffalo Gets Busted in Tacoma
A traveling spiritualist promising to summon the dead is exposed as a charlatan after an electric battery—and a hysterical scene at a hotel—reveals her 'spirit' tricks.
- The Elevator Man Who Fell Through the Transom
Joseph Albright had run the elevator in the Seattle National Bank building for barely a month when a half-second's slip crushed him between cage and door — and sent his body through the glass over the ground-floor entrance.
- Mike O'Brien's Irreverent Grand Jury Testimony
A witness summoned regarding a city water scandal mocks the grand jury as a collection of the 'blind and the mangy.'
- A Newspaper Editor's Silence in Court: The Lugrin Libel Trial
C. H. Lugrin, managing editor of the Seattle Telegraph, rested his defense without calling witnesses in a libel trial brought by Police Chief Rogers. The case now goes to the jury.
- The Body in the Bay: Peter Samuelson's Mysterious Death
After nearly two weeks missing, a Port Townsend man was found dead on the shore, his boat capsized and his pockets still heavy with gold. A coroner's jury ruled accidental drowning.
- The Millionaire and the Deputy: A Seattle Process Serving Scandal
A Tacoman millionaire tries to dodge a divorce summons, leading to a frantic game of cat-and-mouse in downtown Seattle.
- The Unknown Man Below the Falls
A decomposing body wedged between trees near a downtown Spokane thoroughfare is examined by a coroner's jury — and buried without a name.
- Trekking Through the Frontier: The Sheriff’s Duty
A grueling journey through Whatcom County’s wilderness in 1878 to summon jurors, revealing a rapidly changing landscape.
- A Tragic Accident at Stone Hubbard's Mill
A young man, Louis Green, loses his life in a hunting accident near the local mill.
- The Normal School Was Cleared. The Unpaid Workers Weren’t.
A legislative committee investigating the Ellensburg Normal School found no corruption among trustees—only changed plans, discounted emergency scrip, and laborers left chasing a contractor.
- The Cost of Survival in Early Snohomish
A legal summons from 1878 reveals the precarious nature of life for transient workers, as one man is sued for his unpaid tab for basic food and shelter.
Also about this, in other words
- The Debt of the Pioneer
A legal summons from 1883 reveals the precarious nature of early settlement, as Thomas French sues Luther L. Thomas over an unpaid debt for 'board and lodging'.
- 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 Uninvited Amen
A man is hauled into court for his untimely enthusiasm during a church service in Tolt.
- The Mayor Demands a Day in Court
Mayor Nickeus of Tacoma bypasses judicial delays to demand an immediate trial on bribery charges.
- The Great Pyramid of Washington Coal
An 1885 call-to-arms for Seattle citizens to display their bounties—from record-breaking wheat to massive chunks of coal—to prove to the world that 'Oregon is King' might actually be challenged by Washington.
- 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.
- 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.
- A Debt of Bread and Board
A Snohomish legal notice reveals the precarious nature of early pioneer housing, where a man is hauled into court for unpaid bills for food and lodging.