A Territorial Judge, a Killing, and a Governor's Bad Appointment
A grand jury has charged Judge E. C. Fitzhugh with murder in the death of Andrew Wilson, turning a territorial appointment into a test of Governor Stevens's 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.
From a political speech reprinted in the Herald: It seems that Judge E. C. Fitzhugh has been indicted for murder, and that his trial is to come off at the next term of court. That Gov. Stevens had something to do with his appointment is quite evident; but whether he knew that a crime had been committed by this Judge is not certain. It is, however, [a fact] that previous to Stevens's election, Judge Fitzhugh killed Andrew Wilson—whether in self-defense or not I cannot say. So far as I know, the Judge is a perfect gentleman; but if the charges preferred by the grand jury against him have any foundation, his appointment to the position he holds is a disgrace to our Territory, and the man who would knowingly recommend such a man to this office should receive the condemnation of the people.
“If the charges preferred by the grand jury against him have any foundation, his appointment to the position he holds is a disgrace to our Territory.”
Then as now, the question was not only whether an official committed a crime but who knew what when they handed him power. The Fitzhugh affair turned a patronage appointment into a public test of Governor Stevens's judgment—a local version of the fights over vetting, accountability and political cover that still shape how Washingtonians judge their officials.
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