The Harassment of Mrs. Robinson
A vulnerable woman in Seattle is subjected to a months-long campaign of targeted abuse, culminating in an arson attempt that nearly burned down a local hotel.
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.
Yesterday we made mention of an outrage which had been perpetrated upon the premises of Mrs. Robinson, on Main street. It now appears that a systematic course of persecution against this woman has been carried on for several months past by parties yet unknown, but supposed to be strangers. A few weeks since, some scoundrel stuffed the chimney of her house with rags, which, catching on fire, almost terminated in a conflagration that must have involved the destruction of much valuable property, including the United States Hotel, which is separated from the building in which she lives only by the width of a narrow alley. Those acquainted with Mrs. Robinson speak of her as an honorable, industrious woman, struggling to gain a livelihood, and it seems almost incredible that persons could be found so debased as to offer her violence and insult under the circumstances. Our vigilant police might win additional laurels by sifting this case to the bottom and bringing to judgment the dastardly scoundrel or scoundrels who have perpetrated the outrages on this defenceless woman.
“It seems almost incredible that persons could be found so debased as to offer her violence and insult under the circumstances.”
This 1878 account of a woman being systematically terrorized in her own home, with local authorities failing to intervene effectively, echoes modern anxieties about housing security and the safety of single occupants in rapidly densifying urban environments like Pioneer Square.
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