Seattle Buries the Senator It Almost Had
Col. J. C. Haines's death draws a large Olympia delegation to Seattle—and the Tribune's regret over the 1889 convention that denied him a Senate seat.
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.
The death of Col. J. C. Haines, announced in The Tribune of Saturday, will be as severely felt in Seattle as was the death of Dr. T. T. Minor. Both were taken off in the prime of life and in the flower of useful manhood. Col. Haines was a man of brains and a natural leader of men. Many people think it would have been far better for Seattle and the state had the Walla Walla convention of 1889 stood by the wishes of the King County delegation—Kinnear for governor, Haines for senator—and the Republicans see the mistake now, after it is too late. The splendid fight that Col. Haines made in that convention for his county will never be forgotten in the politics of the state. Tomorrow his remains will be borne to their last resting place. A large delegation of Olympia people will attend. Peace to his ashes.
“Col. Haines was a man of brains and a natural leader of men.”
The 1889 Walla Walla convention was Washington's first big exercise in statehouse coalition-building, and the Tribune's second-guessing shows how regional rivalries between Seattle, Olympia, and the counties persisted after statehood. Today's fights over legislative leadership and who speaks for Puget Sound still carry that same mix of mourning and score-settling.
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