The Horror on Fifth Street: A Seattle Tragedy in 1877
A prominent local businessman, once a logger and grocer, descended into a violent, drug-fueled psychotic break that devastated his family and left the community reeling.
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 quiet of our city was broken this morning by the announcement that one of our citizens, Mr. Perry Dunfield, had attempted to murder his family and then killed himself. From what we can learn, Mr. Dunfield, whose residence is on Fifth Street, back of the University, went from his bed in the chamber to a lower room where his wife was sleeping in a chair, and drew a razor across her throat, inflicting a dangerous wound. He then attacked the other members of the household, forcing his brother-in-law, Edward Hopper, to flee in his night clothes. After wounding his daughter, he eventually retreated upstairs where he ended his life with a pistol and strychnine. Mr. Dunfield had resided on the Sound for about twenty years and was previously engaged in the logging and grocery business. A gentleman who has known him for years states he was confined in an insane asylum for a year early in his life. Those who knew him best noted he was often subject to seasons of moroseness and extreme jealousy. A coroner’s jury concluded the act resulted from temporary insanity.
“The mortal remains of Perry Dunfield were consigned to earth, there to rest as peacefully as though his brain had never been racked by insanity.”
This 1877 report captures the raw, stigmatized language used to describe mental health crises in the 19th century. While the terminology has shifted, the community's struggle to identify warning signs and address systemic mental health needs remains a recurring challenge in urban centers like Seattle.
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