Tragic Exposure Claims Real Estate Man
A prominent local figure in the Grays Harbor real estate market is found dead after losing his way on a short trek to Grass Creek.
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.
O. C. Torrey, a prominent real estate man of Grays Harbor, left on Monday of last week over a trail for Grass creek, a distance of four miles. Searching parties were in the woods looking for him from Wednesday until Saturday. His dead body was found on Saturday, and from appearances it is believed he died from exposure on Tuesday night. Mr. Torrey was a man of feeble health, and the cold, exhaustion and hunger are supposed to have killed him. O. C. Torrey was of a well-connected family of Syracuse, N. Y. He came to Grays Harbor more than a year ago and invested considerable money in property. He was unmarried, about 35 years old. The remains have been embalmed by Beardsley Bros., and were yesterday shipped to the sister of the deceased at Syracuse.
“Searching parties were in the woods looking for him from Wednesday until Saturday.”
The rapid expansion of Grays Harbor in the 1890s brought many health-seekers and investors who were often unprepared for the unforgiving geography of the Pacific Northwest. This story underscores the vulnerability of even the well-connected during the rugged period of early development in the harbor towns.
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