The Lonely Death of James Kenney
A body pulled from the bay reveals a paper trail of unpaid wages and a life on the fringes of the Snoqualmie road.
The Coroner's Jury empanelled to consider the circumstances attending the death of the man found in the bay on Thursday afternoon met and, after deliberation, being still unable to find any clue by which the identity of the man could be learned, returned a verdict of death by drowning. The man was about 40 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, and light-complexioned. Found on his body was $9.40, a pocket knife, and a note: 'Mr. Holmes: I have settled with James Kenney for rent days at $30 per month... Also paid him $30 for work done under Prentiss in September and October.' After the jury was discharged, David Davis and Thomas Ross identified the body as James Kenney, a workman they knew from the Snoqualmie wagon road. He had worked in the Newcastle mines and was described as a hard drinker. The name 'Kenner' in the note was evidently intended for Kenney.
“He was a man of about 40 years of age... and that he came to his death by drowning.”
This sad, brief account of a transient laborer in 1884 mirrors the ongoing vulnerability of Seattle's unhoused and itinerant workforce. Even in the 'boom' years, the record often only captures a worker's name through the coroner's report or a dispute over unpaid wages.
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