The Quarry Owner Who Vanished Twice
Albert H. Sherwood once reappeared after a London trip claiming to have discovered his identity. Now he is missing again—just as a land contest needs his testimony.
Albert H. Sherwood, the quarry owner, who caused such a sensation several months ago by suddenly disappearing and as suddenly appearing again after a trip to London, where he claimed to have suddenly discovered his identity, appears to have vanished once more.
Benjamin Snow had filed a homestead entry for lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the south half of the northwest quarter of township 22 north, range 7 east, and F. B. Scott had also filed a timber-land declaratory statement for the same land. When the contest between Snow and Scott came up, it was discovered that Alfred H. Sherwood was a pre-emptor for the same land. In order to find out the merits of the case, Sherwood was expected to appear and take testimony, but he was missing. Notice was sent to his attorneys, but no answer was filed, and the case became one of a disappeared claimant. Although a number of people were on hand, nothing could be discovered of Sherwood. What has become of him or where he is could not be learned at the offices last night.
“What has become of him or where he is could not be learned at the offices last night.”
Land contests in the 1890s could turn on a claimant’s physical presence and paperwork, making a disappearance a genuine legal crisis. The London-detour identity claim gives the story the texture of a modern true-crime podcast, but the underlying stakes—proof, ownership and who gets to hold the land—remain familiar in Seattle property disputes.
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