The Forgotten Mariners of Puget Sound
Two sailors sue for unpaid wages in 1880, revealing the rough, transient life of the maritime labor force that powered Seattle's early economy.
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.
In the District Court of the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, holding terms at Seattle, two separate admiralty cases were filed in the spring of 1880. In the first, James Kitch, a mariner and engineer, filed a libel against the steamer 'Chehalis' for $44.56 in unpaid wages accrued over eight months of service on Puget Sound, Admiralty Inlet, and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. In the second, Z. Billheimer, a sailor on the American ship 'Olympia,' sought $49.50 in back wages after his voyage from Port Madison to San Francisco was unexpectedly terminated. Both cases, brought before U.S. Marshal Charles Hopkins, highlight the precarious nature of maritime labor where sailors often had to turn to the federal courts to recover meager pay from vessel masters after months of dangerous, specialized work.
“Praying process against the said vessel, her tackle, apparel and furniture, and that the same may be condemned and sold to pay the said wages.”
Long before tech campuses defined the waterfront, Seattle was a literal port of call where labor disputes were fought in admiralty court. The struggle for steady pay in an uncertain, transient economy remains a defining 'rhyme' in Seattle's labor history, from the 1880s docks to today's gig economy.
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