The Sheriff’s Auction: Losing the Land in Snohomish
A legal notice from 1878 reveals the harsh reality of frontier debt, as a local resident faces the forced sale of his 120-acre homestead to satisfy a court judgment.
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.
SHERIFF'S SALE: In and by virtue of an execution issued out of the District Court of Snohomish county, W.T., on the 2nd day of November, A.D. 1878, in the case where W. H. Deering is plaintiff and S. S. McLain is defendant, to me directed and delivered, commanding me that out of the personal property of the said S. S. McLain I should cause to be satisfied the judgment amounting to fifty-nine dollars and costs taxed at sixteen dollars, and if sufficient personal property could not be found to satisfy the said judgment, out of the real estate of the defendant. Now, therefore, in pursuance of said writ I have levied upon and taken into execution the following described property, to wit: the north half of south-east quarter, the north-east quarter of south-west quarter and lot No. 1, Section No. 11, township No. 29, N. R. 5 east, containing 120 acres, and situate in Snohomish county, and will sell all the right, title and interest of the said S. S. McLain in and to the above described property at public auction, on Saturday the 28th day of December, 1878, between the hours of 9 A.M. and 4 P.M., in front of the court-house door, Snohomish City, Snohomish county, or so much thereof as will satisfy said judgment, costs, interests and increased costs. B. W. S. Sheriff, Sheriff of Snohomish Co., by Wm. Whitfield, Deputy.
“I have levied upon and taken into execution the following described property... and will sell all the right, title and interest of the said S. S. McLain in and to the above described property at public auction.”
This 1878 notice reflects a timeless anxiety in Snohomish: the vulnerability of land and home to economic volatility. While the dollar amounts have changed, the fragility of property ownership and the weight of court-ordered liquidation remain a persistent theme for Washington residents grappling with modern cost-of-living crises.
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