The Atheist of Sixth Street
A Seattle man is arrested for sending threatening, anti-religious letters to a local clergyman while attempting to frame his prosecution as a political attack.
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.
Charles F. Blackburn, a mining expert and broker whose penchant for writing threatening letters caused his arrest Friday evening on a warrant sworn out by Postal Inspector Thrall, appeared before Commissioner Emery yesterday. The hearing was continued until Monday at the defendant's request. Blackburn, who had been held in jail, appeared dejected in court. He is accused of mailing six postal cards containing defamatory and threatening language. It was revealed that Blackburn had also sent numerous scurrilous letters to Rev. W. P. George, a local clergyman. In these letters, Blackburn expressed extreme contempt for organized religion, calling the Bible a lie and offering $1,000 to anyone who could prove the existence of God. Blackburn, an active member of the People's party, seemed intent on framing his legal trouble as a political persecution, a narrative his defense attorney, Judge Richard Winsor, appeared to support during cross-examination.
“I have a supreme contempt for all preachers. Yes, I know your Bible is a lie and your God a nonentity. All the evil and injustice in the world is proof.”
This 1893 case highlights how local political figures used legal martyrdom to bolster party identity during the Populist era. Blackburn's aggressive anti-theological rhetoric, targeting clergy in the press, mirrors the intense, often bitter, culture-war public discourse that persists in modern Seattle.
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