The Sad End of a Seattle Merchant
A longtime local clerk and tobacco merchant passes away at home after a long illness.
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.
Yesterday afternoon at 4:10 o'clock T. A. McPhee died at his home on Jefferson Street near Fifth, from hemorrhage of the brain, aggravated by palsy. Deceased was a native of Nova Scotia, aged 49 years. He came to Seattle in 1871, and went to Snoqualmie, where he had one of his legs badly injured. When recovered he commenced clerking in Farnham's store, and when R. H. Calligan succeeded Farnham in the business, McPhee remained in the store until Calligan sold out. He then went into the cigar and tobacco business, in which he made money. Some two years ago, on account of failing health, he retired from business and went to California in the hope of finding relief, but all to no purpose. He returned to Seattle, and has been a patient sufferer up to the time that death came to his relief. He was a member of St. John's Lodge F. & A. M., and of Alki Lodge Ancient Order of United Workmen. He had no family and his nearest relatives live in the provinces.
“He returned to Seattle, and has been a patient sufferer up to the time that death came to his relief.”
Jefferson and 5th Avenue sits today in the heart of First Hill, a neighborhood that has transitioned from the residential area described here to a dense medical and high-rise hub. The loss of a local merchant, reported with such detail, highlights how closely knit the downtown business community was in the 1880s.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.