The Revenue Collector’s Raid on a South Seattle Distiller
Federal authorities shutter a clandestine operation in South Seattle, seizing a menagerie of equipment and livestock from a local man.
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.
By virtue and in pursuance of the internal revenue laws of the district of Oregon, I did on the 15th day of July, 1885, upon the premises of one John Brown, on lots numbered 11 and 12 of block numbered 14, of John J. Moss’s plat of South Seattle, in the city of Seattle, King county, Washington Territory, seize and take into my possession, and I now have possession of the following described personal property, goods and chattels, to-wit: 1 wheelbarrow, 15 cases tallow, 7 soap horns, 1 ram with 4 horns, 1 box ax handles, 1 soap press, 1 horse, wagon and harness, 1 bed, 1 lot of tea, and 1 chest. The ground of said seizure being that a distillery was operated on said premises by said John Brown and one Richard Bell, who did then and there carry on the business of a distiller without having given a bond to the United States as required by law, all of which is in violation of the Revised Statutes of the United States. And all of said personal property will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder at the place where the same is now stored, on the 17th day of August, 1885, unless claims are made by parties interested therein within thirty days from the 15th day of July, 1885, being the date of the first publication of this notice.
“The ground of said seizure being that a distillery was operated on said premises by said John Brown and one Richard Bell, who did then and there carry on the business of a distiller without having given a bond to the United States.”
While modern Seattle deals with highly regulated craft distilleries and complex commercial zoning, this 1885 seizure highlights the era's focus on federal tax enforcement during the infancy of the city's South industrial district. The 'wild west' era of unregistered distilling remains a foundational, if illicit, part of the region's economic history.
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