The Man Who Thought He Owned Seattle Died Chasing a Ghost Fortune

CHASED A PHANTOM. Henry Zechow Thought He Owned Most of Seattle. HIS WILD CLAIMS TO PROPERTY. Grew to Be a Delusion of Wealth; His Wife Insane and His Body Found in Fraser River.

The mystery surrounding the death of Henry Zechow, whose body was found in the Fraser River at New Westminster, B.C., December 31 last, has not been solved, and in all probability never will be. The investigation of the life from this side has been chiefly the fact that Zechow and his wife had been chasing for years an imaginary fortune, whose magnitude can only be expressed by the inelegant yet expressive phrase, 'the earth with a fence around it.'

Henry Zechow and his wife were at one time well-to-do lodging-house keepers in San Francisco until a friend told them that Jacob Zechow, an uncle of Henry, had died at Port Orchard, Kitsap County, Washington, and left an immense fortune, including lands in Seattle, Pierce County and Kitsap County. The Zechows immediately converted all their possessions into cash, amounting to about $5,000, and came to Puget Sound after the fortune. From the time they landed, about nine years ago, until Mrs. Zechow went insane and was sent to the asylum at Steilacoom and her husband's dead body was found in the Fraser River, they chased the myth. Every cent Zechow could get beyond what was required for actual living expenses he put into the hands of attorneys who were trying to fix his case. It is calculated that he had no less than fifteen attorneys—some say twenty—at different times working on his case. Three months before he met death he was no nearer the goal of his ambition than he was nine years ago; he had spent thousands of dollars, seen his wife go to the insane asylum, and was well on the road there himself.

Below is given a partial list of the property Henry Zechow claimed as having belonged to his uncle, Jacob Zechow, alias Jacob Sigo, commonly called 'Ditch Jake,' of Port Orchard, Kitsap County, and therefore his by inheritance: Five acres bordering on Jackson Street between Fourth and Fourteenth, exact location not given; ten acres on the hill and including the ground on which the King County courthouse stands; seventy acres bordering on Union; three blocks on Madison Street from Eighth to Eleventh; seven blocks between James and Cherry from Fifth to Twelfth streets; the block extending from Front to the waterfront between Columbia and Marion streets; three blocks at the corner of Yesler Avenue and Commercial Street; forty acres in Renton, including the ground where the Renton coal mine is located; one hundred and sixty acres near Auburn; a donation claim on the Puyallup River; a ranch on White River; and other tracts in Kitsap County.

Anyone who had investigated the case would know in the beginning that Henry was the nephew of Jacob Zechow, alias Sigo or 'Ditch Jake.' It appears that Jacob Zechow came to California from Germany during the forties and finally reached Puget Sound sometime between 1850 and 1862. In 1859 he took up a homestead in Kitsap County. The records of the local land office show that he located on it May 10, 1872; a final certificate was issued, and Sigo or Zechow received his patent November 5, 1873. He got 100 acres from the government by living on it the required time, but had to pay for seven acres in actual cash. In addition he took up other land under the pre-emption law in 1866, paying $1.25 an acre. Although Sigo was not married, he lived with an Indian woman and had a son, John Sigo. The manner of Jacob Sigo's death remained a mystery. A coroner's jury found it accidental, although there were stories of murder; Henry Zechow explained it by saying that his uncle was thrown out of a boat by a person interested in one of his supposed leases.

One of Henry's most absurd claims was that his uncle owned the Colman block on Front Street. How absurd the claim was can be seen when it is known that the land was donated by the Terry estate to the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad and subsequently sold at auction to J.M. Colman for about $7,500. Imagine Colman's surprise one day when a woman walked into his office and, with tears in her eyes, said: 'Please, Mr. Colman, give me back my property—meaning the entire block on Front Street between Columbia and Marion. You are a rich man and will not feel it, while I am a poor woman.' Colman was simply nonplussed. He looked at the woman a moment and then remarked: 'My good woman, I have not got any of your property.' He supposed she was an insane woman who had some delusion and gave the matter no more thought until an attorney came to him and said that he had the woman's property and had better settle the matter. The lawyer suggested it would be well to pay her a sum of money and quiet the matter. Colman kept his reputation by saying: 'Well, if you or anyone else has any claim on my property, go ahead and assert it in the courts.' The lawyer retired and did not make a second attempt at blackmail.

Some time after this Mrs. Zechow became violently insane on the subject of 'Uncle Jake's' fortune, and it was necessary to send her to Steilacoom. She is still there, and from last accounts and the words of her dead husband, she will never recover. The husband kept on the same track and secured the services of Attorney W.W. Stewart, who recently died, to get possession of the fortune. Stewart had collected a large bundle of legal documents and told a Post-Intelligencer reporter he had a fine story. The reporter went to Stewart's rooms in the Seattle National Bank building. Stewart said he was trying to get hold of an estate left by Jacob Sigo, of Port Orchard, fraudulently handled so that only a part went to John Sigo, an illegitimate heir, while the remainder was possessed by many wealthy people. He said the real heir, or at least one of them, was Henry Zechow, formerly of California. A day or so later the reporter found Zechow at Stewart's office. He talked so brokenly that it was difficult to get a connected story from him. It was clear, however, that he believed he ought to have the greater part of the city and a good share of Kitsap County. Stewart admitted that all they were really trying to get hold of was the land near Port Orchard; they could not get evidence as to the other city property.

After Stewart's death Zechow secured the services of another attorney. People at Young's Cove said that when he returned home he acted as if he was excited, and after making arrangements to have a friend named Gust Thiele look after his house, he packed his trunk very carefully, took all his papers and went away in his flat-bottomed rowboat. Nothing has ever been heard of the boat, which was painted a dull red inside and out, nor of the trunk. His body was later found in the Fraser River.

Samuel F. Coombs, of West Seattle, who had lived in Kitsap and King counties for over thirty-five years and was assessor of Kitsap County and deputy assessor under Chilberg in King County, said of Zechow's claim: 'Heinrich Zechow was cracked on this subject. His wife became insane on the same question and is now in the insane asylum. They were induced to leave a lucrative business in San Francisco, where they were running the Oregon House, and come to Puget Sound ostensibly to get possession of his uncle's estate. Lawyers kept writing him that he was heir to a big fortune, as property owned by his uncle Jacob near Port Orchard had become very valuable. This property had long ago been logged off and was of no great value when Jacob Zechow or Sigo's estate was settled by administrators properly appointed. The estate was properly and honestly administered. All this talk about John Sigo not being the son of Jacob Sigo is bosh. Sigo lived with this woman in the same manner that Sackman, T. Williams and others lived with theirs. Zechow, Sigo, Sackman and Williams acknowledged their children, while Mathias did not. As far back as 1866, and I believe even earlier, Jacob Zechow was living with an Indian woman at Port Washington, or, as it is now called, Port Orchard.' Coombs added that he had looked into the matter and was satisfied the estate had been properly administered. He told Zechow plainly that he was after a myth. Zechow, he said, had made no progress and could not get any evidence. 'It's just as I told you,' Coombs said. 'There is nothing in it. You are after a myth.' Zechow blamed the lawyers for not proving his case, and Coombs believed he left for British Columbia on a similar errand, or perhaps to fish.