Warren Lea Gazzam (1863-1961), an Alabama-born son of a Confederate soldier, lived a long and eventful life. One of his family members wrote that when Gazzam died at the age of 97, "even the briefest accounting of his days included mention of his roots in the South, his adventures and speculations as a newcomer to the West, his 'mosquito fleet' of Puget Sound boats, and battles of principle and profit on land and sea. Added to this was the nostalgia of Crystal Springs, the couple's grand-style Bainbridge Island home, expansive land holdings along Puget Sound waterways, valued silver and Indian basketry collections, and a tumultuous marriage of 27 years to Lulu, the first white child to live in Spokane" (Earling, 31).
Southern Roots
Warren Lea Gazzam was born in Mobile, Alabama, on June 8, 1863, the approximate midpoint of the Civil War. His mother, Mary Thomas Gazzam (1841-1910), gave birth to five children, of which Warren was the oldest. His grandfather Charles W. Gazzam (1798-1892) was a well-to-do Mobile banker who, according to Warren, "contributed more to the cause of the Confederacy than any other man I know of. He was not only a heavy contributor in money, but six of his sons served in the Confederate army. My father, Charles W. Gazzam Jr., was a sergeant major" ("Impressions and Observations ..."). "My father had a very peculiar experience while serving in the Confederate army," Gazzam recalled in a 1937 newspaper article. "With some Confederate soldiers he went under a flag of truce to meet a party from the Union army. The colonel who came to meet Father and the others was Father's cousin. One of Father's brothers died during service and Father was captured and held a prisoner of war more than a year" ("Impressions and Observations ..."). Warren would remain loyal to the South and the Confederate cause for the rest of his life. At home in Bremerton from 1925 until his death in 1961, he flew a Confederate flag, because, he reasoned, "I'm a Confederate" (Earling, 31).
Warren quit school at age 11 to become a wage earner. Accounts vary on what came next; some say he went to work for his father's bank, others claim he took a job with an insurance company for $1 a week. In the early 1880s he moved to Memphis to work for a clothier. Soon diagnosed with tuberculosis, he set out for drier climes in Arizona Territory, where he worked as a supply clerk purchasing and issuing rations at the Apache Indian Agency in San Carlos. There he began a lifelong interest in collecting Indian artifacts. His first great prize was a war bonnet worn by Apache Chief Geronimo, who was brought to San Carlos in 1886 as a prisoner of war. Other rarities were acquired in Washington. "Another piece in Gazzam's collection is the pipe of peace smoked by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe at his capture by General Howard in 1877" ("Pioneer Has Many Rare Antiques").
To Seattle
After relocating briefly to San Francisco, Gazzam moved to fast-growing Seattle in 1887. "Presumably, Warren liked the vigor and bustle he encountered and decided to stay. He soon settled down in a little cabin on Lake Union – which was then in a deep forest ... leaving desk work behind, he opted to set up a store, the Art Depot, where he sold wallpaper, artists' supplies and picture frames on the corner of Marion and Second Avenue" (Earling, 34). At some point in 1888, Lizzie "Lulu" Yeaton (1868-1942) came to his shop to have a picture framed. They formed a quick bond and were married following a three-month courtship.
After a childhood marked by frequent relocations, a stable home life no doubt appealed to Lulu. Born in Salem, Oregon, she was 5 years old when her family moved to Washington Territory and settled "in the only house in Spokane Falls ... Lulu was the first white child in Spokane and later attended a school comprised of four students" (Earling, 34). Subsequent moves took her to Idaho, California, and then to Snohomish. The Yeatons moved to Seattle in 1888, and Lulu met Gazzam shortly thereafter. Their union produced four children: daughters Lea (1892-1985), Ruth (1894-1996), and Mary (1897-1981), and son Warren Jr. (1907-1924).
The fate of the Art Depot is unclear. One source says Gazzam sold the business before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889; subsequent newspaper articles report that the Art Depot was destroyed in the fire. What is certain is that Gazzam soon entered into insurance and banking ventures that made him wealthy. In the 1939 edition of Who's Who in Washington, Gazzam is listed as a former vice president of the Oriental, American and Japanese Commercial bank (1907-1927); former president of the Bowden, Gazzam & Arnold insurace company (1914-1932); and a trustee of the Aetna Insurance Company (since 1927), among his many business pursuits.
With some of his newfound wealth, Gazzam acquired property on Lake Washington that increased in value, and in 1903 he traded it for nearly 300 acres at Crystal Springs on the west side of Bainbridge Island. The property and its farmhouse were remote, and the only transport from Seattle was a tiny steamboat. "All supplies came to the island via the little steamer. Crystal Springs had no dock when the family arrived so everyone had to land by rowboat. Even the newly purchased cow had to swim ashore. The nearest family lived almost a mile away" (Earling, 36).
The Gazzam House
Known by many as "Colonel," an honorific bestowed by the governor of Virginia, Gazzam became a familiar face in Seattle society. According to one account, "He was a member of the prestigious Rainier Club, and an Edward Curtis photograph of him hangs on its paneled walls along with other early members. The Colonel had a stern bearing and talked incessantly. He was also a go-for-broke real estate speculator, who was broke as often as he had money" (Swanson, 91).
Apparently flush in 1904, Gazzam commissioned the building of a mansion that he called "Alabama," but which everyone else referred to as the Gazzam House. Built of Bainbridge Island timber and beach stone and encompassing 6,000 square feet, the home, completed in 1905, offered commanding views of Port Orchard Channel. Gazzam purchased at least 220 additional acres, giving him more than 500 acres and two miles of waterfront. He later subdivided the property and sold lots to wealthy Seattleites. But the more money Gazzam spent on Bainbridge Island, the more the locals resented him. Pioneer families, including the Stanleys and the Munros, could barely contain their jealousy, though they may have appreciated the fact that Gazzam and his wife set up a post office in their home. "My mother was the postmistress," recalled their daughter Ruth, "and we had the post office in our hallway" (Swanson, 91). Sacks of mail arrived by boat and were carted to the Gazzam House in wheelbarrows.
The Gazzam House nearly burned to the ground on May 27, 1909, when sparks from the chimney ignited a fire, destroying the roof, the attic, and its contents. "My farm employees, two white men and six Japanese boys, did excellent work in extinguishing the flames," Gazzam told The Seattle Times. "The boys were organized months ago into a fire brigade. We have an excellent water service and hydrants are located in many parts of the grounds and in the building. Had it not been for these and the quick work of the men the building would have been destroyed" ("W. L. Gazzam's Home ...").
Kitsap County Transportation Company
Gazzam's daughters attended school on Bainbridge Island until Lea finished sixth grade, after which the three girls started commuting to Seattle. Ever the business opportunist, Gazzam saw profit potential in ferry transportation. He started small, purchasing the steamer Reliance from Henry, Ole, and Hattie Hansen, and brought the Hansens in as partners in the Kitsap County Transportation Company (KCTC). Gazzam then purchased another vessel, the Sentinel, and in 1905 he commissioned the building of a 300-passenger steamer, the Kitsap. The Hyak, the Kitsap II, the Tolo, the Falcon, and the Burton were put into service in subsequent years, and in 1914, KCTC launched the Suquamish – the first diesel-powered passenger vessel in the United States.
To distinguish KCTC's fleet from other Mosquito Fleet operators, a white metal band encircled the smokestacks on each vessel, with the letter 'K' painted on each side. KCTC became known as the White Collar Line, and business was brisk. "During the heyday of the Mosquito Fleet from the 1880s to the 1920s, the numerous little vessels helped create community on Puget Sound. Equal parts convenience store, gossip mill, and transit system, the fleet allowed people to live anywhere they wanted along the 1,332 miles of shoreline, or even inland, and still remain connected to the larger communities that provided goods and markets" (Williams). Gazzam served as KCTC's operating manager until 1911, when he relinquished day-to-day duties to focus on his insurance agency and banking interests. He remained KCTC's president until 1917, when he sold his share of the company to Lyman Hinckley and Philip MacBride. The KCTC would continue to operate until 1935, when it was absorbed by the rival Puget Sound Navigation Company.
Bitter Rivalry
Gazzam's experience as Mosquito Fleet operator was colored by fierce competition. His bitter rival was Seattle businessman Joshua Green (1869-1975), another transplanted Southerner with a thirst for money. "Black Ball, as Green's operation was called, came close to monopolizing passenger, freight and U.S. mail runs with its financial might and larger steel vessels. Warren met this challenge head-on and a 'boat fight' ensued" (Earling, 39). After Green used his influence at a Seattle bank in an unsuccessful attempt to sabotage KCTC's loans, Gazzam responded by undercutting the Black Ball Line on freight and passenger fares. Gazzam then traveled to Washington, D.C., and pried away a four-year U.S. mail contract from Green. The men then sparred over access to Seattle's Colman Dock, a fight that went to arbitration, where Gazzam won a favorable judgment.
On the water, the KCTC quite literally collided with the Black Ball Line. On December 14, 1910, the Black Ball steamship Indianapolis rammed into the Kitsap just 400 yards from Colman Dock, sending the Kitsap to the bottom of Puget Sound. No lives were lost, but on October 5, 1917, four people were killed and the White Collar steamer Tolo was lost when a Black Ball tug, the Magic, collided with the Tolo in the fog off Alki Point. Gazzam and his son Warren Jr. were aboard the Tolo during the calamity but made their way onto the Magic without getting wet. Gazzam sold his interest in the Kitsap County Transportation Company that same year.
Meanwhile, Gazzam continued to wheel and deal in real estate. In 1915 he obtained land on the Kitsap Peninsula overlooking Port Madison Bay, had it surveyed and platted as the town of Indianola, and in 1916, after financing construction of a 900-foot pier to accommodate KCTC's steamers at low tide, sold off his 160 acres. "People from Seattle and around, looking for a restful haven to spend the summer, built summer houses and Indianola came into being" ("Village at Slow Idle ..."). North of Indianola, Gazzam acquired 115 large tracts at President Point, "one of the most beautiful sections of Puget Sound" ("Boat to Transport ...") and began selling them to eager buyers in 1929.
Hard Times at Home
The Gazzams suffered a devastating blow in 1924 when Warren Jr. died at age 17 following a brief illness, and an apparently happy home life was shattered for good in 1925 when the couple separated over Warren's infidelities. It was written that Warren blamed Lulu, a Christian Science practitioner, for the death of their son. "The breakup of their marriage was a tragedy for both Dudu and Bampa," recalled their granddaughter Nancy Earling Allen. "Their home had been a strong presence on Bainbridge Island and Seattle. I believe they admired and respected each other very much, but he came from a different upbringing and didn't think a man needed to be faithful to be a good family man. It was part of his idea of a grand style of living" (Allen). Later, daughter Ruth Haight summarized her parents' relationship as fractured and distant:
"Mother was always willing to entertain his friends. The house was large and we always had people coming and going. She did everything to make it a real home, but they were just never compatible. He was away an awful lot. He was a charming man (who) lived well, but they always had separate interests. My father always had lady friends. He told my mother the night they were married that he never expected to stay with her all the time ... He thought mother had a lot of money ... and (he) was marrying a wealthy woman. He sounds like a villain, but was really a charming man" (Earling, 38).
In June 1929, Gazzam agreed to sell the Gazzam House for $150,000 to Ellensburg investors who planned to open a school on the property. It was to be called the Gazzam School for Boys. But the stock market crash a few months later sent the nation spiraling into the Great Depression, and the sale apparently fell through. By 1932, Lulu was living in Seattle, and their daughter Ruth Haight had moved into the Bainbridge mansion with her family. "In the late spring of 1934, the family moved into the barn and opened the Gazzam House ... to summer boarders seeking, according to the brochure, 'a quiet, truly restful place to spend a vacation' ... The waitresses who tended to the summer guests at the huge table in the dining room were University of Washington students who lived in tents in a nearby meadow. But the major highlight of a stay at the Gazzam House was evidently the cooking of 'Black Bertha,' as the family called her, who won the hearts of all at the Gazzam house in the traditional Southern manner" (Ward).
After his marriage collapsed, Gazzam moved to Bremerton, bought a five-story brick building at 318 Washington Avenue that had been a Salvation Army women's home, and had it remodeled into a 95-room hotel called the Enetai Inn. Known for its homey lobby, seven cottages on the beach, and expansive views across Sinclair Inlet, the Enetai Inn became the leading hotel in Bremerton. "Given Bampa's colorful nature, his love for publicity, and the fact that he spent the last one-third of his life at the hotel, the Enetai Inn became a source of local nostalgia and folklore" (Earling, 42). The Inn later served as Ground Zero in a U.S. Supreme Court case. In 1946, Gazzam alleged that the local Building Services union had tried to coerce the Inn's non-union employees into joining the union against their will, a violation of state law. Following a four-year legal saga, the Supreme Court ruled in Gazzam's favor in 1950.
Downsizing and Death
After spending much of his life acquiring things, Gazzam became a more active seller. In 1941, with his finances sagging and the Gazzam House in foreclosure, he sold the remaining 70 acres of the Bainbridge estate to Seattle florist Charles E. Sullivan for an undisclosed sum. The transfer included 600 feet of waterfront along with "the home, commanding a sweeping view of Port Orchard Bay, a huge stable, a 35,000-gallon concrete reservoir supplied from springs on the property, and a caretaker's cottage" ("Sullivan Buys Island Estate"). That same year, Gazzam suffered internal injuries and broken bones when he was run over by his own car. "The machine slipped its brakes after Gazzam had stepped out," reported The Seattle Times, and Gazzam, then age 79, was swept under the vehicle.
In the 1950s Gazzam sold a swath of land near Keyport, and in 1960 he sold an even bigger parcel near Seabeck to "a group of about 10 doctors and lawyers (who) probably will hold the 280 acres as an investment rather than developing it ... the tract includes all the tidelands in Stavis Bay and approximately 14,000 feet of waterfront along the north and west side of the bay and southwesterly toward Hood Point. Price for the tract was $220,000" ("Gazzam Sells Stavis Tract ...").
At the time, Gazzam was 97 years old, nearing the end of a colorful life. He died in Bremerton on January 19, 1961. Several months later, the Enetai Inn and the Kitsap Historical Society held an open house for the public to view Gazzam's collection of silverware, French porcelain, furniture, Indian baskets, and rare documents. The items had been kept locked in a windowless room on the second floor of the Inn. "That it's an impressive sight to see is fact enough," wrote the Bremerton Sun. "When the old dark door swings open, it's like coming upon, unexpectedly, a glistening array of a Sultan's treasures" ("Gazzam Treasures ..."). The Enetai Inn continued on until October 1964, when it was sold at a sheriff's auction and closed.
Gazzam was survived by his three daughters, nine grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren. Though he boasted often of being a millionaire, he left an estate valued at about $500,000. "The court was told the estate includes a large number of real-estate contracts, tracts on Hood Canal and near President Point, the Enetai Inn in Bremerton, a large number of artifacts and some silver and other articles that were former possessions of the French royal family" ("Gazzam Estate ...").
