The Axe and the Insane Asylum: A Tragedy in Snohomish
A local farmer justifies shooting a stranger who assaulted his sister, citing the attacker's history of mental illness.
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.
SNOHOMISH, Aug. 14.—Yesterday afternoon about half past five o'clock, a homicide was committed by Frank Davis, who lives about 10 miles from this place. It seems that a stranger passed the house in the afternoon and asked for a drink of water, which he gave to him. Afterward, when Mr. Davis had left, he returned and committed an assault upon his sister, having seized an axe. Her uncle’s efforts, together with one of her brothers, seemed to be of no avail in subduing the man. Mr. Davis, hearing the screams, hurried to the house, procured a gun and shot the man dead. We learn that the man's name is Henry Crow, who has been on inmate of the Insane Asylum and it is supposed he was insane at the time.—Mr. Davis is a well known and highly respectable citizen and is generally justified, though it is regretted that other means could have been used by which the innocent's life could have been spared.
This 1876 account of self-defense against a violent stranger highlights how rural justice was often administered instantly and locally, long before modern mental health crisis response systems existed. The community's immediate acceptance of Davis reflects a time when 'respectable citizen' status could shield individuals from legal scrutiny for lethal force used in the heat of protecting family.
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