The Strange Career of Captain Mauritzen
A crafty imposter poses as a Scandinavian official and newspaper correspondent to fleece local islanders and investigate a non-existent murder.
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.
During the latter part of January, an individual styling himself Capt. T. M. Mauritzen made his appearance on Lopez Island as a canvasser and reporter for the Scandinavian journal 'Nordvesten,' published in Seattle. He was very free in writing poetry in autograph albums and succeeded in getting a few residents to subscribe, giving them receipts for their money. However, a notice later appeared in the paper stating that the owners would not be answerable for the transactions of Mr. T. M. Mauritzen, ending his career as a newspaper agent. He then claimed to be authorized by the Swedish Consul to investigate the death of a Swede named August (alias August Erickson) on San Juan Island, suggesting the man had been foully dealt with. He requested a Justice of the Peace in Friday Harbor to exhume the body and hold an inquest. The Justice refused, but Mauritzen pressured the prosecuting attorney to investigate. The coroner of San Juan County thoroughly examined the matter, proving the man died of natural causes following a cold. At the investigation, Mauritzen alleged he was acting under instructions of the Swedish Consul, but his stories were contradictory and he could not produce evidence. Realizing his 'attorney' scheme was not profitable, he disappeared after promising to pay a boatman he had hired.
“It will be seen that the payment of $2 by J. Nelson is acknowledged, but what for? This T. M. Mauritzen forgot to state.”
Long before digital identity theft, swindlers like 'Captain' Mauritzen used the confusion of the frontier and the assumed authority of ethnic publications to scam new immigrants. The story serves as a reminder that the grift of using a 'respectable' title to extract money from tight-knit communities is as old as the territory itself.
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