The only man publicly hanged in Vancouver almost burned up in an 1890 courthouse fire. On a windy February night, as five prisoners and 10 other men slept in the jail, the county clerk’s office caught fire. The flames quickly engulfed the courthouse and jail at 11th and Franklin streets. Sheriff Fleming’s son, the jailer, freed the shrieking prisoners trapped behind steel bars. The last one he rescued was almost roasted, and the only captive charged with murder.
Edward Gallagher was awaiting trial for killing and robbing Lewis Marr, a Skamania County farmer, of $2,000 the previous November. When arrested, Gallagher possessed pages from the same Christian Messenger newspaper found where Marr’s body lay in a field with murderously intended wounds, several newspapers reported. Skamania lacked a jail, and the county’s sheriff sequestered Gallagher in Clark County’s supposedly fireproof lockup.
The defense attorney entered an insanity plea based on the accused’s contention that a ruffian named Snowball murdered Marr. At the May trial, the jury deliberated four hours before handing a guilty verdict to Judge N.H. Bloomfield, who set Gallagher’s hanging for July 11.
Some locals believed the 27-year-old insane and petitioned Gov. Elisha P. Ferry for a 20-day stay of execution, which he denied. On hanging day, a fence circled the gallows, forming a makeshift courtyard. According to one report, tickets were sold to 200 people, and another says hundreds of men, women and children stormed through the gates.
