A Dead Woman’s Lot: The Fight Over Josephine Ward’s Seattle Land
Her administrator says Josephine Ward’s ex-husband conveyed her share of a Law’s Addition lot in fraud—and that the Woodins now hold title they should never have had.
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 complaint was filed yesterday in the case of H. C. Smithson, administrator of the estate of Josephine Ward, deceased, against Ira Woodin and wife, to recover possession of certain property alleged to be wrongfully held. It says that on May 20, 1889, Josephine and Antony P. Carr were in this city and acquired lot 12, block 21, Law’s Addition to Seattle, and that Mrs. Carr never parted with her interest in the property. Afterwards the couple were divorced. In fraud of Josephine’s rights, it is alleged, Carr attempted to convey the property to John Webster, and by divers conveyances it now stands in the name of Ira Woodin and wife. Mrs. Carr subsequently married Daniel W. Ward and was his wife until she died on March 30, 1894. She died intestate, and H. C. Smithson was appointed her executor. Smithson now sues to have the court decree that the property belongs to the estate and that the Woodins have no title to it.
“Smithson now sues to have the court decree that the property belongs to the estate and that the Woodins have no title to it.”
Title fraud and tangled heirs are not new to Seattle real estate. This 1895 suit reads like a modern probate or boundary dispute: a divorced spouse’s interest allegedly erased by a chain of conveyances, with later owners claiming clean title. The case turns on records, intent, and who had the right to sell.
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