Henry Yesler's Estate Sued Over Unpaid Furnishings for a Women's Home
The Seattle pioneer promised to outfit the Sarah B. Yesler Woman's Home. Two suppliers say the bills are still unpaid, and they want the estate to pay.
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.
The Yesler estate has been sued by the MacDougall & Southwick Co. and O. W. Lynch & Co. on claims for goods furnished the Woman's Home, at the corner of Republican and Poplar streets. The complaints set out that, in consideration of the building being named the 'Sarah B. Yesler' by the Woman's Home Association, Henry L. Yesler agreed to furnish the building at a cost not to exceed $4,000. It is said that Mr. Yesler directed Mrs. E. W. Sackman, Mrs. Julia B. Bentley and other members of the association to purchase the furnishings. The goods were accordingly purchased, but not entirely paid for. The MacDougall & Southwick Company sues for $636.50, and O. W. Lynch & Co. for $712.25.
“In consideration of the building being named the 'Sarah B. Yesler' ... Henry L. Yesler agreed to furnish the building at a cost not to exceed $4,000.”
Henry Yesler's name is still written across Seattle—Yesler Way, Yesler Terrace, the old Yesler Mill site—but this 1893 suit shows a philanthropic pledge colliding with estate debts. Charitable building campaigns still turn on the same question: who pays after the founding donor is gone?
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