The Forgotten Runaway of Skagit County
A desperate 15-year-old boy, fleeing a brutal home life, faces the state reform school after the Associated Charities fails to reunite him with his family.
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 Bureau of Associated Charities is seeking a suitable home for Otto C. Willis, a 15-year-old boy who recently ran away from his home in Skagit County. The boy was taken in charge by the Bureau on September 14 after being found by Mrs. Mary Matzek, who lives on South Eleventh Street. Otto reported that his mother died ten years ago and his father deserted the children shortly after. He had been living in the care of his stepmother's mother, Mrs. C.P. Ewbanks, of Avon, but left home due to the brutal treatment he received from Ewbanks' husband. After being arrested for truancy, the Bureau investigated his situation and is now advocating for him to be placed in an adoptive home rather than the state reform school, along with four other children currently under their care.
“The bureau desires to give him in adoption to some one who will care for him, rather than send him to the state reform school.”
This 1891 case highlights a recurring tension in Seattle’s social services: the struggle to support displaced youth without resorting to the criminalization of poverty or family instability. While the Bureau of Associated Charities has evolved into modern social welfare systems, the plight of unaccompanied minors remains a central challenge in Seattle's housing and community health debates today.
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