The Ex-Governor and the Courtroom Grudge
A former Washington territorial governor is found in contempt of court over a tangled dispute regarding a fire clay mining company's records.
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.
Spokane—It does not very often happen that an ex-governor of a state is brought into court and fined for contempt, but such was the case in the superior court Tuesday. In the case of the state of Washington et al. Charles P. Oudin versus George E. Cole, one of the numerous cases growing out of the troubles between the stockholders of the Oudin Bergman Fire Clay, Mining & Manufacturing company, judgment was entered in Judge Kennan's court yesterday declaring ex-Governor Cole in contempt and fining him $1, because of his refusal to comply with an order of the court requiring him to turn over the books and papers of the company. Ex-Governor Cole, whom Andrew Johnson named as chief executive of Washington about 1867, was appointed receiver of this company some time ago and last spring was ordered to transfer the business to the company again. His reason for not doing so, as stated in his answer to the complaint, was that the case had been appealed to the supreme court and a supersedeas bond had been filed. The judgment was secured simply for the purpose of completing the records in the case for the purpose of reviewing it in the supreme court.
“It does not very often happen that an ex-governor of a state is brought into court and fined for contempt.”
Corporate litigation over records and receiverships remains a staple of our judicial system today, though it is rare to see a former chief executive at the center of such a petty fine. The story captures the transition of Washington from a frontier territory—where a political appointee like Cole held sway—to a modern state governed by technical corporate law.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.