Mental Distress and Suicide Attempt in a Seattle Boarding House
A commercial traveler's wife survives a self-inflicted gunshot wound amidst her husband's ongoing financial hardships.
Mrs. R.A. Knapp, wife of a commercial traveler, attempted suicide last evening at the Ompse House on West Street by shooting herself in the left breast with a .32-caliber revolver. Her husband, Brad A. Knapp, heard the gunshot while returning from a business errand. Medical intervention determined the wound was not immediately fatal, though her condition remained grave. Family friends indicated that the couple had struggled with financial pressures following their move from Spokane, and that Mrs. Knapp had previously expressed despair over their economic situation.
“Mental trouble caused the rash act.”
While newspapers of this era often framed such stories through the lens of 'mental trouble' and domestic gossip, they offer a harrowing glimpse into the profound psychological toll of the 1893 financial panic and the subsequent economic instability that gripped Seattle residents in the 1890s.
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