The Whidby Island Land Heist
A townsite development company claims a notary public fraudulently altered a contract to seize control of their Whidby Island property.
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 case of the Chicago Improvement Company against John C. Kellogg, et al., which was on trial yesterday in Judge Osborn's court, concerns a dispute over land occupied by the projected town of Chicago on Whidby island. According to the plaintiff's allegations, the defendants owned sixty acres in Island county. Herbert J. Williams contracted to purchase the land in 1890, but S. B. Vrooman, a relative of the Kelloggs and a notary public, was employed to draw the contract. While in his possession to make a copy, Vrooman allegedly altered the document, removing provisions for a deed and mortgage release. When the company later attempted to pay the balance and secure their deed, the Kelloggs refused to honor the original terms, forcing the company to cancel sales of business and residence lots. The company claims $15,000 in damages.
“It is claimed that while he had it he altered it, leaving out the portion providing for a deed and mortgage.”
Land speculation and property title disputes were the lifeblood of Seattle’s expansion in the 1890s. The struggle between corporate developers and local landowners over the fine print of property contracts remains a core feature of the Puget Sound real estate market today.
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