This Week in Queen Anne History
On April 18, 1917, a shocking attack took the life of Queen Anne resident Florence Wehn (1889-1917), wife of famed Seattle sculptor James Wehn (1882-1973). The horrific crime remains unsolved to this day.
Florence and James met in the late 1890s and bonded over their love of the arts. They married on July 24, 1915, and shortly after purchased a new bungalow at 2214 12th Avenue West to which James relocated his studio from his parents' home at 710 29th Avenue South. Florence was employed as a switchboard operator at the Pantorium Dye Works.
While James worked on a project at the University of Washington, Florence had spent April 17th at her parent’s home across town celebrating her nephew’s birthday. Not wanting James to worry and lacking a home phone, she decided to return home by streetcar around ten o’clock that night rather than staying over as she often did when the hour got late. When she didn’t come home, James assumed she had stayed over. Police arrived at his door on the morning of April 18th to inform him that her body was discovered in a ravine near 12th Avenue West and West Wheeler Street, just a stone’s throw from their home.
Florence exited the streetcar at West Wheeler Street and 10th Avenue West. At some point during the short walk between the stop and her home, she met with her attacker. After putting up what appeared to be a considerable struggle, she succumbed to blunt force trauma to her head. The attacker did not rob or rape her, but arranged the items she had been carrying carefully around her, including a piece of birthday cake she had brought home for James.
Devastated by the loss of his wife, James sold their house and moved his studio back to his family home, where it remained for the rest of his life. He did not remarry until 1949, at age 67. Wehn was the founding chairman of the University of Washington’s sculpture department. His most well-known work is the bronze sculpture of Chief Seattle, located at Tilikum Park. Dedicated in 1912, it was the first sculpture commissioned by the city as public art. He created the first official design for the seal of the City of Seattle, a profile of Chief Seattle, in 1936.
The home that James and Florence shared still stands, but it is dwarfed by surrounding apartment buildings and will likely be razed for multi-family housing before long.
