Find of the Month
Each month we highlight interesting, important, and odd items from our collection, along with the stories they tell.
Most recent Find of the Month
March 2024 - Mary Fischer gets her reward
Ordinance 3732 authorized a $100 payment to Mary Fischer as a reward for information leading to the capture of one David Denee. 1890 editions of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer vividly describe the backstory of Denee’s crime and Fischer’s role in his capture.
The “dime novel desperado,” as he was dubbed by the newspaper, had gone to the Elite Club on Cherry Street between Second and Third in hopes of earning a payout at a gambling table. He started playing the card game faro when the club opened at 10 am on January 27, losing twice. On the third hand, he drew a revolver on the dealer and demanded $200, eventually shooting the doorman and running from the building with the money. The shooter was unknown to all in the club and was presumed to be newly arrived in town. The police chief announced a $100 reward for information leading to his capture, with another $150 offered by the sheriff.
That evening, Denee went to the Fischers’ boarding house near Sixth and King and asked for a room. Mrs. Fischer noted his nervous manner and attempts to conceal his face, and became convinced that he was the wanted man. She acted normally with Denee but relayed her suspicions to her husband, who headed to police headquarters to inform the authorities. Policemen staked out the room until the next morning, when Denee was captured after first trying to escape out a window. A headline in the following day's newspaper declared, “The Robber Caught – He is But a Beardless Boy."
The P-I announced that the $250 in reward money “will be divided between Mrs. Fischer, who gave the first information of Denee’s presence in the city to the police, and those officers who took an active part in his capture.” However, actually collecting the reward took a great deal of perseverance on Mary Fischer’s part. In August 1894, more than four years after the incident, Fischer wrote to City Council to remind them that she was waiting for her compensation. She pointed out that the clerk had been instructed to draw a warrant for $100 back in February of 1890, but that it had never been done “although often requested to do so.” Apparently this petition still did not shake loose the money, as she wrote again in December to “take this means of reminding you” about the reward. An ordinance was finally passed in March 1895 appropriating the $100 to Mrs. Fischer.
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