The Penobscot House Mortgage Scam
A deal for a Third Street hotel ended in handcuffs after a landlord discovered his collateral was built on thin air.
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.
Frank H. Mathews, Alma Mathews, and Arthur Neal were arrested last night by Officer Stepler and Detective Cave on a warrant sworn out by Henry Maddocks, charging them with obtaining goods under false pretenses. It is alleged that the persons arrested bargained for the purchase of the furniture and lease of the Penobscot House, on Third street, about the end of November, agreeing to pay $1,200; that Neal went in on the deal and put up $600, and that payment of the remaining $600 was secured by a mortgage on 160 acres of land in Walla Walla county. Soon after the new proprietors got possession, it is said that Neal suddenly became possessed with the idea that he must go to Idaho and wanted his money out of the house. A bill of sale was given to him by Mathews and an auction of goods was announced November 2. Maddocks became suspicious and wired to Walla Walla, and says he got the reply that the records did not show any land in the name of Frank H. Mathews. On receipt of this information the warrant was sworn out and served last evening. At present Mr. Maddocks is in possession of the house.
“Maddocks became suspicious and wired to Walla Walla, and says he got the reply that the records did not show any land in the name of Frank H. Mathews.”
This early 1890s hotel scam serves as a reminder of the fragility of property records before digital verification. The 'Penobscot House' was likely a boarding house, a common form of early Seattle housing that often served as a backdrop for the financial instability of the era.
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