Page 3 - 2022 SWHS Spring Newsletter for website

16-year-old German immigrant Jacob several other Island speculators had for
Anthes. (The property, located a little building a railroad that would stretch
north of Langley was later sold to Eli- from Chicago (a proposed town at the
za Strawbridge.) When Anthes turned Keystone Ferry area) all the way to
21 in 1886, he filed for a 160-acre a trestle from North Whidbey to La-
homestead claim plus timber patents, Conner, and then to Sedro-Wooley. Of
and platted the land for a new town of course, that never happened.
Langley in 1890 (recorded in 1891). Another article mentioned that Phin-
ney and several associates were seek-
A Close Brush With Death ing investment to start a weekly Island
John Phinney settled on South newspaper in 1891. It became the Is-
Whidbey at Port George about two land County Times and was published
years after his brother Arthur’s death. in Coupeville from 1891 until 1959.
In April 1882, he accidentally shot John’s brother, James, now a father
himself in the groin and had a telegram of two, died at age 58 when he tripped
sent to Seattle asking for a surgeon to while getting dressed and fell hard
come to Whidby to extract the bullet. against the edge of his baby’s crib,
According to a Seattle P-I article John leading to massive internal bleeding.
was standing in a boat when he decided The Seattle P-I, April 10, 1891 Neither John, James, nor even Ar-
to shoot a seal and grabbed a rifle which a place on the mail route to Whatcom, thur, were the most well-known of
discharged, sending a bullet into his when Phinney will be fully prepared to the Nova Scotia Phinney clan to find
groin. Dr. Frank Kendrick from Seattle blossom out as a town proprietor.” success out west. That honor went to
removed it the next day. Phinney became postmaster in 1884 a younger first cousin, Guy Carleton
and a mail boat made a thrice-weekly Phinney, (known as the builder of
stop. By contrast, Langley’s first wharf Woodland Park and Phinney Ridge).
would not be built until 1889. He came to Seattle in 1881, and had a
Phinney soon tired of postal duties, rags to riches story, facilitated in part
by John himself.
and in 1885 the post office was moved
up to Clinton and was known as the John is quoted in the January 5, 1891
Phinney-Clinton Post Office. article (below) as stating that his cousin
Edward Hinman became the post- Guy was homesick and asked for $200
to return back east, but in lieu of a loan,
master and had embarked upon his own
dream of building a town with a store,
Two months later, Phinney and Dr. hotel, church and wharf. After John
Kendrick had an altercation in a Se- Phinney’s death in 1895, ‘Phinney’ was
attle hotel bar, when Phinney struck dropped from the post office’s name.
the doctor and called him a thief. Dr.
Kendrick went up to his room, returned An April 10, 1891 Seattle P-I article
with a heavy cane, and pummeled outlined the dreams that Phinney and
Phinney repeatedly on the head.
A jury found for Phinney, but the
judge only fined Dr. Kendrick five
dollars and suturing costs owing to
Phinney’s provocation.
A mention about John and de-
signs for his namesake town of
Phinney were in the December 14,
1883 Seattle P-I as follows: “John
G. Phinney has not only a big body
of land and a logging camp at Port
George, on Whidby Island, but he
has a wharf, and now has wood and
water to sell to steamboats. The next
thing to get there is a post office and
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