The Rich Man and the Guardianship Fight
A wealthy pioneer's children seek to control his estate, alleging he squanders money on 'wine and women.'
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.
Seymour Wetmore, a pioneer who settled land near present-day Columbia City in 1856, has returned to court to contest the appointment of a guardian over his affairs. Wetmore, once wealthy, donated land for the Rainier Avenue car line and sold acreage to J.K. Edmiston, later distributing significant cash to his children. In 1893, several children successfully petitioned for a guardian, alleging their father was a habitual drunkard who consorted with 'lewd women.' While he initially acquiesced due to poor eyesight, Wetmore later petitioned to remove the guardian, claiming he was of sound mind and merely spending his own money as he pleased. The legal battle has moved between the superior and supreme courts, with the latest proceedings focusing on Wetmore's argument that he is no longer within the court's jurisdiction.
“Wetmore's quaint answers and his childlike admissions of the way he blew in money on his 'girls' and paid for the gorgeous funeral of one of them because he had the right to spend his own money as he pleased, are well remembered.”
This 1895 dispute over elder autonomy and family inheritance highlights the intersection of wealth, real estate development, and personal liberty. The 'Columbia' station mentioned, now the vibrant Columbia City neighborhood, reminds us that the power dynamics of who manages land—and who gets to spend the profits—have remained a constant friction point in Seattle for over a century.
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