History of Davenport

History of Davenport, Lincoln County, Washington

Submitted by Barbara Curtis

__________________________________________

The Times-Tribune, Davenport, WA, pg 2 Thursday, November 17, 1921

The birth of Lincoln county dates from December 18, 1883, for on that date, JOHN BARTOL, E. D. WILLIS and JOHN McGOURIN, who had been named commissioners in the act authorizing the organization of Lincoln county, convened at Davenport, the temporary county seat. Having taken the oath of office they immediately proceeded to business. Commissioner BARTOL was elected chairman, and an office building was secured to hold the meetings in.

The creation of the new county was the signal for the influx of hundreds of new settlers.

The month of November, 1884, was the time of the most exciting event in the history of Lincoln county, the struggle between the cities of Sprague and Davenport for the possession of the county seat. At the general election of 1884, the people were called upon to vote upon the location of the county seat. There were three candidates for the honor, Davenport, Harrington and Sprague.

The total vote polled was 2277, of which number Sprague received 1256, Davenport 819, and Harrington 202. Sprague cast 1023 votes. Charges of fraud were at once preferred, it being alleged that Sprague had voted names inscribed upon tombstones in the cemetery of that city, and passengers on through trains. Many indictments were brought for illegal voting, but none of the cases were ever brought to trial. Both Sprague and Davenport were accused of voting twice as many names as there were inhabitants in either city.

=======================================================

History of Davenport, Washington, submitted to the WAGenWeb

by Barbara Curtis, December, 2003.

=======================================================
      USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing
          free information on the Internet, data may be used by
          non-commercial entities, as long as this message
          remains on all copied material. These electronic
          pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit
          or for presentation by other persons or organizations.
           Persons or organizations desiring to use this material
          for purposes other than stated above must obtain the
          written consent of the file contributor.
          This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb.
========================================================