The Gossips of Old Seattle: A Dispute Over a Deathbed
A local man defends his reputation after neighbors spread rumors regarding his care for a sick houseguest.
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.
I wish to defend my reputation. There have been false reports coming to my ears and through the neighborhood to this effect: That during the time that S. A. Mapel was staying at my house, I had saddled a horse and had it brought to my door, and I told Mr. Mapel that he must leave—that I could not have him here any longer. I deny any such charges as this, and can prove it. Nobody but a mischief-making scamp would raise such dirty reports. I wish to say that at the time Mr. Mapel was sick at my house, Mr. Dunlap, of this place, came to see Mr. Mapel and advised him to go over to his house to see Mrs. Jones, a lady doctor who, he thought, would help him. Mr. Mapel did not go at that time, and after this, Mrs. Jones sent over to my house and had a talk with Mr. Mapel and told him that she thought she could help him, and he went there by his own consent. Later, he came back to my house and was received into my family with as much friendship as ever. I can prove this by Mr. Dunlap, who came with me to my house. Now, in my opinion, those lies were raised for the purpose of making the community believe that Mr. Mapel was misused, and that this was the reason why he did not will anything to my wife. The very fact of these false reports goes to show that they are not true, because Mr. Mapel came back to my house to be cared for. If this talk is not stopped, I will bring to light matters of Mapel's death. I know that the statements made in the foregoing are true. — H. Van Asselt
“Nobody but a mischief-making scamp would raise such dirty reports.”
Public reputation and the policing of private social behavior have always been a central part of Seattle's civic fabric. This 1880 letter captures the enduring human instinct to defend one's character in the court of public opinion, a struggle that today has simply migrated from the broadsheet to social media.
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