A Frontier Debt Still Owed
A legal dispute over unpaid wages from 1878 illuminates the precarious nature of labor and contract in early Snohomish.
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.
In the District Court of Snohomish County, Washington Territory: Thomas French, Plaintiff, vs. Luther L. Thomas, Defendant. You are hereby required to appear in an action brought against you by the above-named plaintiff in the District Court of Snohomish County, holding terms at Snohomish City, and to answer the complaint filed therein. The said action is brought to recover a judgment against you for the sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty-one and 91/100 dollars with interest from June 1st, 1878, and for costs of suit; the said sum being for work, labor, and service done by the said plaintiff for you, said defendant, and by others the claims of whom have been assigned to said plaintiff. And you are hereby notified, that if you fail to appear and answer the said complaint as above required, the said plaintiff will take judgment against you for the sum of $751.91, interest, and costs.
“The said sum being for work, labor, and service done by the said plaintiff for you, said defendant, and by others the claims of whom have been assigned to said plaintiff.”
This legal notice highlights the perennial issue of wage theft and the difficulty workers faced in securing payment from employers in the late 19th century. Just as it was 145 years ago, the ability of a laborer to collect on earned wages remains a fundamental struggle of the workplace that requires the weight of the court system to resolve.
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