The Tacoma Murder-Suicide
A father kills his daughter and himself, leaving behind a trail of letters and a dark, complicated history in the Pacific Northwest.
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.
Henry Harris, a German-Prussian man, killed his 25-year-old daughter, Etta, and then himself in a Tacoma rooming house. Harris had spent months threatening the act, citing his daughter’s conduct and her infatuation with a Seattle man, Ira G. Benton, who had reportedly refused to marry her after an alleged seduction. Harris left behind several letters addressed to friends, his wife, and an undertaker, detailing his intentions and requesting to be buried in the same grave as his daughter. The tragedy, which sent ripples through the communities of Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane, remains clouded by rumors of the father's obsessive, potentially unnatural fixation on his daughter.
“I rather be dead than live in disgrace.”
This 1892 tragedy highlights the era's severe social pressures regarding reputation, 'seducing' scandals, and the lack of support for mental health crises. The sensationalist reporting of the time reflects how civic tragedy was often framed through the lens of moral decay and public spectacle.
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