The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
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 PLOT THAT FAILED. The Attempt to Confine Pioneer De Shaw as a Lunatic.
HE WAS WITNESS OF A WILL.
Wi Testimony Will Cast Wrongful Claimant of Valuable Land at Moodyville, B.C.
Several days ago the Post-Intelligencer published an account of an attempt made to declare William De Shaw, a pioneer of Seattle, legally insane. It transpired in court that De Shaw, in 1876, witnessed the execution of a will disposing of a tract of land on Burrard Inlet, B.C., now of enormous value, and that the effort to place him in an asylum was instigated by the claimant to this land, whose title the will destroyed.
The POST-INTELLIGENCER has received the following letter from Mr. De Shaw:
Port Madison, Jan. 26, 1891. To the Editor: In your issue of the 24th you refer to the attempt of my enemies to place me in an insane asylum. I feel that some explanation is due you for your generous expose of this most hellish plot to rob an American citizen of his freedom, the facts being known only by myself and enemies.
And here allow a crazy man to retrospect for a moment. As far back as the year 1861 I was known as the partner of Charles Phinney. Our place of business was the corner of Commercial and Jackson streets, Seattle. In the winter of 1869 I commenced to build my present place of business at Port Madison. I have from that time until the present conducted my business as a general merchant at this place, and no man dared to call me insane.
It was in the year 1876... when I, in company with several friends, visited Burrard Inlet, B.C., leaving my business in charge of James Browne, of Port Madison. I stopped at the house of William Bridge, at a place called Moodyville, and while there I did in my humble way assist in dictating, also witnessing the execution of his last will, and subsequently I became the keeper of said will... until the year 1880, when I sold my safe to Schwabacher Bros., of Seattle. Then the will, as well as many other papers, was subject to destruction by fire, and about that time I gave it to its original keeper, George Egan...
But since December 23, when Powers arrived by special charter of the steamer Hornet, I have been much annoyed by parties who profess to represent Powers' interest, and who were desirous of bribing me to go back on what I had already sworn to in the case. I also know that for some time I have been surrounded by secret enemies who, failing in the above attempts, endeavored to incarcerate me in an insane asylum for the purpose of putting me out of the way.
No language can fully express my gratitude to Judge Lichtenberg, Captain John Farnham and Chief Woolery for their honorable views of the case and kindnesses extended to me while I was a prisoner. My earnest desire is that they may never feel the humiliation I suffered on that occasion, but as I shall shortly go to British Columbia to give evidence in the case, you will no doubt watch the issue with interest.
This 1891 scandal highlights how early Seattle's land boom was fueled by speculative greed and legal maneuvering across borders. The attempt to use psychiatric commitment as a tool for silencing witnesses is a dark parallel to modern tactics of harassment and intimidation in high-stakes property disputes.
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