The Tragic End of a Seattle Pioneer
A successful ship carpenter, unsettled by a head injury and the pressures of the local real estate market, is found in a slough near Bothell after his second attempt at suicide.
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 body of Joseph C. Blyth, who disappeared from his brother's house on Squak slough, near Bothell, a week ago last Friday, was recovered yesterday morning. All circumstances show that Blyth committed suicide while temporarily insane. Joseph C. Blyth came to the Sound thirty-one years ago and worked as a ship carpenter. Three and a half years ago he fell on his head at Port Blakeley, and while the wound healed, his mind became unbalanced. At times he was perfectly sane, but then he would imagine he was going to lose his property on account of grade taxes. He would become despondent. Last June, he was sent to the asylum at Steilacoom, but after three months was dismissed. A month ago, he jumped into the water but was rescued. On the day of his final disappearance, he managed to elude his family. Yesterday morning, his nephew, Joseph B. Story, discovered the body floating among driftwood. Blyth, a bachelor, was a man of property, owning lots on West Street, in Lawler's addition, and eighty acres near Bothell.
“At times he would be perfectly sane, but then again he would imagine he was going to lose his property on account of grade taxes.”
Blyth’s anxieties about 'grade taxes' and real estate pressures echo the economic stresses that define modern Seattle. His story highlights the historic gap in mental health support for laborers and pioneers in the region.
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