The Ghosting of J.C. Icebrook
A persistent suitor looking for a 'traveling companion' finds himself ensnared in a web of elaborate decoys set by a local woman and her clever brother.
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.
In the summer of 1888, a man named J.C. Icebrook placed an advertisement in a Seattle paper seeking a 'lady who would like to make a trip East.' A local woman, curious and amused, replied to the ad under the initial 'B.' Icebrook’s subsequent letters, formal and business-like, suggested a meeting to determine if they would be 'mutually agreeable' for travel to Victoria and beyond. Unimpressed by his cold tone, the woman chose not to respond further, but her brother soon discovered the correspondence. Together, they orchestrated a sting operation. They recruited friends to pose as 'B' and meet Icebrook at various locations—specifically the courthouse and the Occidental Hotel. The meetings ended in farce, with Icebrook being confronted by an 'indignant brother' and receiving stern warnings to leave town. Icebrook, who also registered under the alias 'Dr. J.V. Cloud' and claimed property in Florida, eventually fled Seattle after his final, failed attempt to meet his elusive correspondent. The young men involved relished in the absurdity of the plot, concluding their prank by ensuring the would-be suitor had no doubt he had been thoroughly played.
“At last! I thought it would never be.”
Long before the era of modern digital dating apps, this 1888 account highlights the timeless human impulse to police and prank the 'stranger in the city'—a theme that persists as people navigate the risks and deceptions of anonymous matchmaking in Seattle today.
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