The Schoolmaster Who Took on the Text-Book Trust
Before he was an alderman, E.S. Ingraham led Seattle's schools and became a local hero for exposing a $3,000 bribery attempt by a corrupt book monopoly.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Republicans of the Sixth ward have chosen as their candidate for alderman a citizen who most worthily represents all that is desirable in a community. He has been a resident of Seattle for seventeen years and, although still working at his trade, is one of the largest taxpayers in the city. For thirteen years he was at the head of the public schools, beginning with a corps of five teachers and remaining until it had increased to twenty-nine. He has served as county superintendent of schools and a member of the state board of education. It would be next to impossible to find a man better adapted by experience and integrity to represent the city's interests than E. S. Ingraham. While a member of the state board, he won honorable distinction in successfully thwarting the 'book trust' in their attempt to secure a monopoly of the sale of text-books to the children of the state for a period of five years. In that connection, he was instrumental in exposing the nefarious part taken by M. C. Sullivan in his alleged attempt to bribe one of the members of the board by giving him a check for $3,000 to secure his vote. Mr. Ingraham was made the custodian of that famous check by the board and kept it in the Safe Deposit vaults of this city until it was offered in evidence before the grand jury of Thurston county against the would-be bribers.
“Mr. Ingraham was made the custodian of that famous check by the board and kept it in the Safe Deposit vaults of this city until it was offered in evidence before the grand jury.”
Education policy and municipal corruption remain perennial issues in Seattle, where the influence of special interests in local government continues to be a point of civic anxiety. This 1892 account of a 'book trust' reminds us that the struggle between public oversight and private corporate influence in schools is over a century old.
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