The Debt of 1877: A Seattle Legal Notice
A court summons in 1879 offers a rare, granular glimpse into the personal credit and legal entanglements of pioneer-era Seattle merchants.
In the District Court for the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, holding terms at Seattle, for the Counties of King and Kitsap. Complaint filed in the County of King, in the office of the Clerk of said District Court. Henry Westphall, Plaintiff, vs. J. Oppenheimer and S. Oppenheimer, defendants. The United States of America send Greeting: To J. Oppenheimer, one of the above named defendants: You are hereby required to appear in an action brought against you and S. Oppenheimer by the above named plaintiff, in the District Court of the Third Judicial District of the Territory of Washington holding terms at the City of Seattle, in the County of King, and to answer the complaint filed therein, within sixty days from the date hereof, or judgment by default will be taken against you, according to the prayer of the complaint. The said action is brought to recover judgment against you and S. Oppenheimer for the sum of five hundred dollars, with interest thereon from July 11th, 1877, at one per cent per month, on a promissory note.
“Two years after date, for value received, I promise to pay Henry Westphall, or order, five hundred dollars in gold coin of the United States, with interest in like gold coin from date.”
This legal notice highlights the high-interest credit culture of the 1870s Pacific Northwest, where 1% monthly interest (12% APR) was standard for business promissory notes. Today, such disputes over commercial debt remain a staple of King County Superior Court filings, echoing the same struggle for capital that defined early Seattle commerce.
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