Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 11 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
69 stories matching willi
- A Scantling Scuffle at the Boom
A simmering dispute over local timber booms erupts in violence at Chenoise Creek.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died 150 Feet From Safety
An 1894 coroner's jury in Franklin, Washington, heard how a small fire in the Oregon Improvement Company's coal mine became a wall of smoke — and why the men who could have escaped stayed to fight it.
- Forty Young Olympians Become Company A — and Veto the 'Governor's Guard'
A new National Guard company musters at the capital, elects its officers, and then debates what to call itself — until one young soldier warns that a governor might someday misbehave.
- The Disappearing Waiter
A boarder at a Washington Street house reports her savings stolen, with a distinctively red-haired waiter named Willie as the prime suspect.
- 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.
- A Family Tragedy in Centralia
A young boy is accidentally killed by his cousin while playing with a Winchester rifle in their home.
- The Captain, the Thief, and the Midnight Chase
When a suspected cattle rustler boarded a steamer to flee across the border, a determined captain navigated a tense confrontation at the Olympia wharf.
- The Trial of Little Willie Holmes
A young miner stands accused of killing a coworker in Franklin, revealing a community torn between justice and sympathy for the accused.
- The Cedar Mountain Assassin
Charles W. Nordstrom faces the gallows after the Supreme Court upholds his murder conviction for a cold-blooded shooting in Cedar Mountain.
- A Father’s Frozen Grief on the Puyallup River
A four-year-old boy slips from the bank into the river while fishing, leaving his family in a state of shock as he drifts away.
- Smallpox Scare Deepens in Snohomish
A messenger boy and a recent arrival from Seattle have contracted the virus, forcing schools to remain closed and court sessions to be postponed.
- Tragedy on Bainbridge Island as Child Accidentally Kills Brother
A toddler's playful act with a lit stick leads to the fatal burning of his infant brother in a home on Bainbridge Island.
- The Custody Battle of 1892
A broken leg, a trip to Los Angeles, and a claim of infidelity lead to a bitter divorce trial in Seattle as parents clash over their son.
- The Battle for Shelton's Mail
Shelton residents find themselves isolated as a local shipping sub-contractor abandons the mail route, leaving the town disconnected from Olympia.
- The Realities of a Frontier Childhood
A playful rivalry between two young boys in Elma takes a gruesome turn, highlighting the rough-and-tumble nature of early Chehalis County life.
- A Final Journey from the Mill
A three-year-old boy dies at Port Blakely, prompting a somber, community-led transit of his body to Seattle for burial.
- A Jury Called the Franklin Mine Fire Arson. Thirty-Seven Miners Were Already Dead.
A coroner's jury found that someone deliberately set the fire that suffocated 37 workers in the Franklin mine. The only survivor described how one opened door and one stopped fan turned the gangway into a death trap.
- The Floor Gives Way: Panic and Death at Seattle’s Morris Opera House
A grand opening night turns into a nightmare when the second-story floor of the newly converted theater collapses into the stables below, killing several and injuring dozens in one of the city's earliest major disasters.
- The Final Voyage of the Wildwood
A steamship captain recounts the harrowing night his vessel burned to the water’s edge while docked at Olympia.
- The Forgotten Child of the Alleys
A young boy, orphaned and left to survive in the dry-goods boxes of downtown Seattle, is rescued by local police.
- The Final Appeals of a Condemned Man
Charles Nordstrom, facing execution for the Cedar Mountain murder, launches a last-ditch legal battle involving Swedish support and a high-stakes Supreme Court challenge.
- Seattle’s 1895 Co-op Where 150 Unemployed Men Ate for 7 Cents a Day
At a Belltown barracks, unemployed single men pooled their wages, submitted to military-style rules and fed an average of 150 people daily for about 7 cents each.
- A Desperate Escape from Cruelty
A Seattle dressmaker seeks legal protection from her abusive husband after he breaks into her home to harass her.
- The Pony Express Ends: Lincoln Wins, But the South Sees War
As the Pony Express delivers the shocking news of Abraham Lincoln’s election to a nervous Sacramento, Olympia residents mark local weddings and watch their market prices hold steady.
- The Palouse Massacre: A Family Destroyed by Religious Mania
A farmer takes his own life after killing his wife and children in a brutal religious mania, leaving a chilling note behind.
Also about this, in other words
- Death of long-time Walla Walla resident at Medical Lake
Tillie Willhelm, who had been in institutional care for eighteen months, leaves behind a daughter in Walla Walla.
- The Unwelcome Suitor of Woodinville
A logging camp worker’s unrequited, erratic affection for a widow leads to a violent struggle and an asylum committal.