A $25,000 View, a Deed, and a Debt: The Land Fight South of Olympia
Ben Turner says George A. Barnes took an 80-acre donation-claim tract as mortgage security—then refused to deed it back after Turner tendered the money.
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.
A suit was filed a few days ago against Geo. A. Barnes by Judge B. F. Dennison, attorney for Ben Turner, for the possession of 80 acres of land, which is the west half of the west half of the E. H. Wilson donation claim, situated in the bend of the Main street road on the south. The property has a fine view of Tumwater and the bay, and is said to be worth $25,000. The complaint alleges that a deed was given to Geo. A. Barnes for the land in question as security for the payment of one thousand dollars, and in return Mr. Barnes gave Turner a written agreement to the effect that the deed was intended to operate as a mortgage and that upon the payment of said note, which bore 1 per cent per month, he, Barnes, would deed back the property to Mr. Turner; but upon the tender of said money with interest to Barnes, it was by him refused, Mr. Barnes claiming that he owned the land by reason of the noncompliance of contract within the time prescribed under agreement.
“The property has a fine view of Tumwater and the bay, and is said to be worth $25,000.”
The case turns on the gap between a deed and a mortgage—exactly the kind of paperwork that still decides who gets to keep a piece of ground when money and deadlines collide. In a fast-growing Olympia, land with a view of the bay and Tumwater was already worth fighting over.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.