Three Barks, a Yesler Mortgage, and a Race to the Courthouse Door
A federal judge ordered the Tidal Wave, Northwest and Vidette sold to satisfy a mortgage from Henry Yesler's estate. Hours later, unpaid suppliers slapped liens on the hulls — raising a question in admiralty law no court here had faced.
A nice point in admiralty law has been raised by the filing of libels against the barks Tidal Wave, Northwest and Vidette after the United States court had ordered that they should be sold under foreclosure of mortgage. This is the first time such a case has arisen, and the question is whether the libel will hold good. It is generally conceded that it will not, but that question remains to be decided.
Last Thursday Judge Hanford ordered the sale of the vessels by the United States marshal to satisfy a mortgage given in 1892 by Henry Yesler. The decree and order of sale were made in the suit of A. V. Jackson vs. Jacob Furth and Mrs. Sarah Yesler, as administrators of the estate of the latter's husband, to foreclose the mortgage on the grounds that the interest had not been paid since last May.
Yesterday afternoon the barks were libeled by George J. Willey, O. McGuire and Thomas Dee for $28,439.36. George Willey alleges that during April, May and July, 1893, he furnished supplies and provisions to the Tidal Wave, and that he advanced various sums of money to the seamen for the vessel, these advances being necessary to the voyage. He says that a considerable sum was due him, of which part has since been paid, and that a balance remains due him. He alleges that he furnished supplies to the bark Northwest during January, February, March, May and June, leaving a balance due, and further alleges that he furnished supplies to the bark Vidette during February, 1894, and that there is still due him $1,100.94. There is also an aggregate claimed for balance of wages due for seamen on board the different boats. McGuire claims $200 for himself for supplies, and $58.29 for supplies furnished by one Keyes.
The libelants pray that a process of attachment issue that they may stay by the barks; that all other persons having, or claiming to have, any right, title or interest in them may be cited to appear before the court, that the vessels may be condemned and sold to pay their claims.
“This is the first time such a case has arisen, and the question is whether the libel will hold good.”
Henry Yesler — Seattle's first steam sawmill, its one-time mayor, the man whose mill gave Pioneer Square its shape — died in 1892, and within two years his estate was being unwound in federal court over unpaid interest on a ship mortgage. The scramble that followed, with suppliers filing liens hours after the marshal got his sale order, is the same fight that runs through every Seattle bankruptcy and receivership today: not who is owed, but who gets paid first, and who gets nothing.
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