The Hidden Land Grab
While searching for a college site, a young Edmund Meany uncovers a forgotten piece of state-owned land near Tacoma.
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.
A number of people in Tacoma interested in securing a favorable site for the Puget Sound Methodist Episcopal University have set their hearts on securing a tract near Steilacoom belonging to the state university. These persons, knowing that Representative Edmund S. Meany was chairman of the university committee at the last two sessions of the legislature, called upon him yesterday to ascertain the status of recent laws on the subject. As Mr. Meany has always been in search of any information that might permanently benefit his alma mater, these inquiries started him on a tour of investigation, which resulted in his discovery that the state university is the owner in fee simple of a valuable tract of land near Tacoma. It consists of the north half of the old Thomas M. Chambers donation claim, being parts of sections 28 and 29, of township 20, range 2 E, and consists of 320 acres. It seems that in 1863 the university regents loaned $3,000 to Mr. Chambers, and to satisfy the mortgage given as security for this loan, Mr. Chambers gave a quitclaim deed to the north half of his donation claim. This deed was recorded on July 19, in volume 2, page 229.
“As Mr. Meany has always been in search of any information that might permanently benefit his alma mater, these inquiries started him on a tour of investigation.”
Edmund Meany would go on to become one of Washington’s most influential historians and professors, helping define the state's identity. This story captures a moment of civic sleuthing that predates the intense debates over public lands and university endowments that continue to shape the University of Washington today.
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