The Rent Dispute That Ended With a Trunk Spirited Away
A Seattle landlord held a tenant’s trunk for unpaid rent; when she replevied it, he made it vanish—and a petit-larceny case collapsed.
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.
GETS AWAY WITH THE TRUNK. William C. Duncan, who was recently arrested on the charge of stealing a trunk from Mrs. Minnie Travers, won his case before Justice Caldwell yesterday afternoon as easy as “rolling off a log.” It will be remembered that Mrs. Travers owed Duncan a bill for rent and a disagreement arose over settlement. Mrs. Travers replevied her trunk, which Duncan held as security, and obtained judgment. Duncan after the case said that, while the trunk was not worth 50 cents to him, Mrs. Travers would not get it. He kept his word and the trunk was spirited away. This caused a warrant to be issued for his arrest on the charge of petit larceny. When the case came up yesterday Duncan said he took the trunk under color of title. This disposed of the point of felonious intent and on motion by the prosecuting attorney the case was dismissed.
“Duncan after the case said that, while the trunk was not worth 50 cents to him, Mrs. Travers would not get it.”
Rent withholding and self-help repossession were ordinary flashpoints in 1895 Seattle, just as security deposits and eviction tactics are today. The case also shows how a landlord could use ‘color of title’ to avoid a larceny charge—a reminder that property law often decides who gets the upper hand.
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