The Siege at the St. Charles Hotel
A young woman recounts a harrowing night of confinement after a local man tricked her into his room, only to be met with a public denial and claims of 'blackmailing.'
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.
Information coming to Prosecuting Attorney Thompson that a young lady named Mary C. Taylor was lying at the St. Charles Hotel with illness from the effects of an attempt to commit rape on her person by D. J. Quimby of this city, Mr. Thompson notified the Chief of Police, who, upon visiting the woman and hearing a statement of circumstances, swore out a complaint against Quimby, who was arrested and gave bail. She was to have sailed on the Ajax on Feb. 13th, but Quimby and a hotel runner, who rode down to the steamer with her, told her the Ajax was an old rotten ship and not seaworthy, reminding her of the fate of the Pacific. She concluded to remain over. That evening, Quimby asked her to take a walk. They went around streets, up by the post office, and again to the business part of the city, where he took her into a well-furnished house. After a while, they came out and went up past a large brick building, where he said he wanted to leave his overcoat in his room. She hesitated, but went up; he opened the door, started a music box in the room, and asked her to step inside. She did so, when he locked the door on the inside and took the key. Then he began his efforts to have carnal intercourse with her, at times throwing some fluid over her with a syringe. She fought him and frustrated all his attempts. He undressed and lay in bed, trying to prevail on her, she meanwhile sitting in a chair and entreating him to let her go. In such ways he kept her confined there until 6 o'clock the following morning, when he let her out alone, and she found her way back to the hotel where she has been ill ever since. Mr. D. J. Quimby asserts that the woman's statements are not true, and that the whole is a piece of blackmailing, and he will fully justify his conduct on examination to-morrow. The following card appears: 'As my name was mentioned in your paper in connection with an affair of which I am entirely innocent, I ask the public not to pass judgment on me until it is passed in court. Signed, D. J. Quimby.'
“She hesitated, but went up; he opened the door, started a music box in the room, and asked her to step inside. She did so, when he locked the door on the inside and took the key.”
This 1876 report highlights the precarious safety of travelers in a burgeoning Seattle, where hotel 'runners' and predatory locals could isolate and exploit vulnerable women. The case echoes the long history of the 'he said, she said' narrative in sexual assault cases, which continues to be a central tension in modern judicial and social discourse.
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