A Missing Lawyer, a $350 Deed, and the North Olympia Land Scheme
With Attorney D. P. Ballard absent, Olympia lawyers are tracing suspicious transfers in a platted addition—land already sold to dozens of owners, now used as security for a $4,000 mortgage.
IS THIS A SCHEME? QUEER TRANSACTIONS IN NORTH OLYMPIA REAL ESTATE. A Matter in Which Lawyers Are Hunting for Flaws in Titles.
In connection with the continued absence of Attorney D. P. Ballard, quite a number of matters have arisen, notably a land transaction, the facts of which are here presented, as copied from the records in the office of the county auditor.
Some years ago, Courtland Ethridge received from the government a donation claim consisting of 124 acres on the Eastside. He sold a half interest in this land to one A. J. Miller, and they jointly platted the property into lots and blocks and filed it in the office of the county auditor on November 30, 1869, under the title of North Olympia. (A. A. Phillips being the auditor.) Then, to make their interests more distinct, Ethridge deeded to Miller the north half of the platted property, and Miller deeded the south half to Ethridge, in order that each could sell lots independent of the other.
Since then almost the entire addition has been disposed of, and the tract index shows the following to be among the owners of these lots on the 1st day of April, 1891: T. I. McKenny; L. A. Treen, of Seattle; N. S. Porter; John P. Hoyt, of Seattle; T. M. Reed; F. W. Cromby; J. M. Grugan; A. A. Phillips; J. J. Westbrook, of Tacoma; S. F. Sohn; C. M. King; Eleanor Shotwell; S. W. Hovey; C. C. Finkboner; G. V. Calhoun; Sylvia Ruth, deceased; Emily Corey; S. W. Percival, deceased; Sarah Waldron, deceased; T. Coupe; J. M. Lammon; L. A. Bushon; E. Bartlett; E. Sylvester, deceased; G. W. Traver; Parmela C. Hale; A. O. Damon; Mary Mix; Louisa M. Booth; Arthur Burns; Alexander Howard; Alfred Evans; May F. Barnes; John Dooley.
On July 1, 1891, a power of attorney was filed in the auditor’s office from A. J. Miller, who now resides at Pittsburg, Pa., to D. P. Ballard. This power of attorney was filed by Frank A. Howard, who at the same time also filed a warranty deed from A. J. Miller, signed by D. P. Ballard as attorney in fact for the north fifty-five acres in the Courtland Ethridge donation claim, the consideration being $350. What this means only Mr. Ballard and Mr. Howard know, but anybody who is at all familiar with the property knows that it is worth, at the lowest estimate, $100 an acre. Another question is: How can Mr. Ballard deed it as acreage when it is covered by a plat, laid off in lots and blocks and owned by so many individuals?
Now again, on October 21 (Wednesday last), there was filed in the auditor’s office a mortgage in the sum of $4,000, which was executed in June last by D. P. Ballard as attorney for Miller, to J. F. Greathouse, of Chehalis, Wash. The description in this mortgage is as follows: “The Courtland donation claim No. 61, containing 124 9-10 acres, less 69 acres, heretofore sold.”
It is supposed that when Ethridge and Miller divided their interests, Ethridge retained the 69 acres in the south half, and Miller the 55 acres in the north half. The majority of the lots owned by the persons named above are in the north 55 acres.
This is food for thought.
“What this means only Mr. Ballard and Mr. Howard know, but anybody who is at all familiar with the property knows that it is worth, at the lowest estimate, $100 an acre.”
Deed fraud and cloudy titles still make headlines today, and the questions raised here—who really holds power of attorney, and how can land already sold lot-by-lot be pledged as open acreage?—are the same ones modern title insurers and county recorders exist to answer. In a fast-growing Olympia, the value of a neighborhood can turn on a single suspicious signature.
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