The Forged Deed of Law’s Addition
A legal battle over Seattle land titles leads to a rare court order impounding a suspicious document suspected of being forged in California.
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 novel suit was commenced in the superior court yesterday, in which George R. Fisher seeks to prove that a certain deed, now on file and of record, is a forged document, created for the purpose of defrauding him out of property in Law’s Addition to Seattle. Fearing that the deed might be tampered with, Fisher petitioned Judge Langley to impound the document. The complaint alleges that on June 22, 1894, divers persons caused a deed to be made from Joseph E. Street—who Fisher believes is dead—to Henry E. Street, purporting to convey the premises. Fisher claims the deed bears evidence of forgery and fraudulent process, noting it was purportedly witnessed by P. Mouslin and acknowledged before a notary in California. Judge Langley granted the order, directing the county auditor to surrender the deed to the clerk of the court for safekeeping until trial.
“The deed bears on the face of it evidence of forgery and fraudulent process in the execution of said deed.”
Property disputes involving 'clouded titles' and missing heirs remain a recurring theme in Seattle’s real estate market, though today the digitization of records has replaced the desperate, physical impounding of paper deeds in court.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.