The Seattle Fire Chief Election of 1885
A lively local election for the Seattle Fire Department chief seat sees Gardner Kellogg defeat incumbent Daniel McKeon by a narrow margin.
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.
Considerable interest was manifested by the members of our local Fire Department over the election of Chief, which was held in the house of Engine Company No. 1 yesterday. There were but two candidates in the field for the position—Daniel McKeon, the present incumbent, and Gardner Kellogg, ex-Chief. Each candidate had his friends and admirers, who worked incessantly all day long to get the boys out to the polls. The best of feeling, however, prevailed, and no trouble of any kind occurred. There were 286 votes cast, of which Kellogg received 140 and McKeon 126, thus making Kellogg's majority 14.
“Each candidate had his friends and admirers, who worked incessantly all day long to get the boys out to the polls.”
The democratic spirit of 1885, where firemen gathered at their local engine house to vote for their own leadership, mirrors the ongoing civic debates in Seattle regarding local governance, labor representation, and the management of municipal services.
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