The Mystery of the Vanished Donation Claim
Thurston County officials try to purchase a poor farm, only to discover the original land claim may never have been finalized.
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.
The Thurston county commissioners last week decided to purchase a poor farm and selected what is known as the Rutledge place, comprising 160 acres, for $6,400. The original donation claim for the land was filed by one Parson Quinn, who transferred it to the Rutledge family, but the records fail to show that Quinn ever made final proof. The supposed defect in the title was made public on Saturday and this morning H. T. Burntrager presented a homestead application for the land, alleging an abandonment of the tract by Quinn. The register of this office has written to the general land office to ascertain the status of the records there, and if Quinn never made final proof Burntrager will probably get it.
“The records fail to show that Quinn ever made final proof.”
Land title disputes were common in the early days of Washington statehood, as settlers and local governments navigated the often-messy process of proving ownership against federal land office requirements.
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