Gardner and Anna Kellogg Face Foreclosure Sale in Seattle
In March 1877, Sheriff Benj. Stretch announced the public auction of lots in Snohomish City owned by Gardner and Sarah Kellogg of Seattle, following a default on a mortgage held by James M. Coleman.
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.
Notice of Sheriff's Sale.
Default has been made in the sum of $4,806 10-100 Judgment and costs which is claimed to be due at the date of this notice on a certain Mortgage bearing date of February 8th, 1876, executed by Gardner Kellogg and Anna [sic] L. Kellogg his wife, of the city of Seattle, King County, W.T. to James M. Coleman of the same place and recorded in Book No. 2 of Mortgages at page 204 and 265 on the 28th day of February A.D. 1876.
Now, therefore, notice is hereby given, that in pursuance of a Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Sale issued out of the District Court at the third Judicial District holding terms at Seattle, in and for the Counties of King and Kitsap to me directed and delivered, and in the Statutes in such cases made and provided, the premises covered and described in said Mortgage, to wit: lots No. one (1) two (2) and three (3) of Section No. one, Township thirty-two North, Range three East containing 167 95-100 Acres situate in Snohomish County, W.T. will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, gold coin of the United States in Snohomish City at the door of the Auditor's office, in said county of Snohomish on the 18th day of April A.D. 1877 between the hours of 9 o'clock A.M. and 4 o'clock P.M.
Dated at Snohomish City this 16th day of March A.D. 1877. The above sale postponed until the 5th day of June next.
McNaughton & Leary, Attorneys for plaintiff. BENJ. STRETCH, Sheriff of Snohomish County. By Wm. Stretch, Deputy.
This 1877 foreclosure notice highlights the fragility of land ownership in early Washington Territory. The Kelloggs, a Seattle family, lost significant acreage in neighboring Snohomish due to debt—a precursor to the modern housing crisis where financial overextension leads to displacement. It underscores how long-standing issues of concentrated wealth and predatory lending have shaped local property dynamics for over a century.
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