Henry Yesler

Henry Leiter Yesler (December 2, 1810 – December 16, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and a politician, regarded as a founder of the city of Seattle. Yesler served two non-consecutive terms as Mayor of Seattle, and was the city's wealthiest resident during his lifetime.

Biography Yesler arrived in Seattle from Ohio in 1852 and built a steam-powered sawmill, which provided numerous jobs for those early settlers and Duwamish tribe members. The mill was located right on the Elliott Bay waterfront, at the foot of what is now known as Yesler Way

Yesler also served in public office, at various times as a county auditor, county commissioner, and mayor.

On June 6, 1889, the Great Seattle Fire destroyed the entire business district (which consisted mainly of wooden buildings), including Yesler's sawmill, Yesler's Hall, a theater on the corner of and 1st Avenue, and Yesler's Pavilion, a civic center on 1st and Cherry Street. Yesler rebuilt on most of his properties, including 3 corners of Pioneer Square with substantial brick and stone buildings, including the Metropole Building (SW corner 3rd & Yesler), the Mutual Life Building (NW corner 1st & Yesler), and the Bank of Commerce Building (SW corner 1st & Yesler), all still standing though altered. In 1892, Yesler completed his grandest project the Pioneer Building on the same plot of land where his first home stood, now the heart of Seattle's Pioneer Square. Sarah Yesler had died in 1887, but Yesler built a large new mansion and shared his mansion with a younger female relative (some sources describe her as a maid), whom he married five months later.

The Yesler mansion in 1900. It burned January 2, 1901 when it housed the Seattle Public Library Yesler died on December 16, 1892, at the age of 82. He is buried in Seattle's Lake View Cemetery. After his death, Yesler's mansion became the first home of the Seattle Public Library, and burned down on January 2, 1901. The King County Courthouse currently occupies the site.

Yesler and his wife Sarah were Spiritualists and believed in free love. Some historians claim that Sarah and dressmaker Eliza Hurd were lovers, and thus some of the earliest settlers recorded in Seattle's LGBTQ history. Letters from Hurd to Sarah describe the two of them bathing and sleeping together. :7