The Skykomish Land Swindle
A judge censures a predatory agent for defrauding an elderly pioneer farmer out of his land in a mortgage scheme.
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 sensational story was unfolded in the hearing of the case of John Cochran vs. Lennon in the superior court Friday. This was an action brought to set aside a mortgage on a large amount of the plaintiff’s property, which the testimony went to show was obtained by the defendant through fraud and intimidation. Cochran is an aged, decrepit farmer living in the Skykomish Valley. He is a pioneer of the county and owns a large tract of valuable land in that section. It was brought out in the trial that Cochran a few months ago became indebted to Lennon in some minor amount, and when pushed for the money by the latter was unable to pay. The defendant took advantage of Cochran’s feeble mind and obtained his signature to a mortgage of nearly all the property. In deciding for the plaintiff, Judge Denny took occasion to censure all parties concerned in the fraudulent transaction, addressing his remarks more particularly to the leading witness for the defense, who had acted as Lennon’s agent and had directly perjured himself on the stand.
“Judge Denny took occasion to censure all parties concerned in the fraudulent transaction.”
This 1894 case of predatory lending targeting a vulnerable pioneer in the Skykomish Valley mirrors contemporary battles against predatory mortgage practices and land displacement in rapidly growing regions of the Pacific Northwest.
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