The Trial of 'Mickey' McGrekan: A Window into Frontier Domestic Violence
A young woman’s struggle for survival and a legal showdown in 1887 Port Townsend reveal the brutal realities hidden behind the closed doors of boarding houses.
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.
In the case of State vs. Mickey McGrekan, held in Justice Hill's court, attorney Ewald handled the prosecution while James H. Lewis appeared for the defense. Mamie Goodrich testified that she had been living with 'Mickey' McGrekan for nearly three months, during which they frequently quarreled. Their volatile relationship was common knowledge in Port Townsend. On the evening of January 6, Dr. P. M. Miller was called to treat Mamie Goodrich, who was suffering from poisoning by opium or one of its alkaloids. He provided technical testimony that the symptoms could only result from such poisoning. Dora Blake, who found Goodrich in a near-fatal condition, worked for hours to revive her. Mrs. Latham testified that McGrekan had attempted to give the girl a dose of belladonna, which she prevented, believing he had already over-drugged the girl. Pouch Anderson, who also assisted in her recovery, swore that McGrekan was present but appeared indifferent to her survival. Mamie Goodrich is a Black woman about twenty years of age. The defendant, well known in the Puget Sound district, was bound over in the sum of $500 to appear before the Grand Jury at the next term of the District Court.
“Their relations were publicly known in Port Townsend, and the only reason that their life was made publicly known was the desperation of the girl’s state.”
While legal and medical language regarding domestic violence has evolved significantly since 1887, the struggle of marginalized women to find protection from abusive partners in transient housing remains a haunting parallel to contemporary issues in Seattle’s housing and social services sectors.
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