Spencer Refuses to Hand Over County Clerk Office
William B. Spencer claims a constitutional technicality allows him to keep his job, sparking a standoff with his elected successor.
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.
William B. Spencer is still in possession of the county clerk's office and refuses to deliver it over to Thomas W. Gordon, who was elected last fall as his successor. Mr. Spencer claims that there is no law which authorizes the election of his successor. The trouble has arisen as a sequel to the political campaign; Mr. Spencer, defeated in the convention by Mr. Gordon, spent the campaign working against him. Spencer now argues the state constitution does not provide for the length of his term until the legislature fixes it, and therefore he must hold over. Gordon appeared at the office at 9 o'clock and asked Spencer if he was ready to turn over the office. Spencer's attorney, Mr. Kiefer, intervened, stating they would not turn it over because the election was not a legal one. Gordon has engaged attorneys to begin a legal contest. The board of county commissioners has announced they will not approve or make any payments to any 'contumacious' officials attempting to hold over after their time of office, which Spencer describes as an uncalled-for interference with his duties.
“Are they attempting to organize a strike among the employes of the office, to interrupt work and clog the business of the courts?”
Local political standoffs over election results and transitions of power remain a common feature of the civic landscape, though rarely centered on such obscure constitutional arguments regarding the length of terms. This 1893 skirmish reflects the high stakes of patronage-driven local government in late 19th-century Seattle.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.