Killed, Part 6- A Tragic Mistake

 

Date: 15 Jul 1961

Place: Ventura County, California 

The Story:

35 year old Earl Mason Mendenhall was a deputy sheriff in Ventura County, California. He had been on leave for sometime and was back 3 days when this tragic accident occurred. 

Earl was transporting a mentally ill prisoner to the psychiatric ward of Ventura County General Hospital. 27 year old James Edward Snow had threatened to kill his family- 25 year old wife named Neoma & young son Douglas. Neoma and Douglas were riding in the backseat of the car, which is probably why James was placed in the front seat of the the police car; However, he was not handcuffed. The man apparently started hearing voices, grabbed the wheel from Mendenhall and crashed the vehicle into oncoming traffic. The officer died. Snow, his wife and child all suffered minor injuries. 

The car that the police collided with was driven by 41 year old Stewart Walther. Also in the car were his daughter (15) and another passenger (15). Mendenhall was the only one killed. 

The Victim:

Earl Mason Mendenhall was born on 01 Sep 1925 in Akron, Ohio to 

Image from Findagrave.com

William E. Mendenhall (1894-1960) & Clara L. Jones (1892-1973). 

He had one brother- Howard P. Mendenhall (1928-2006).

Earl married twice. First, to Lota Mae Dixon (1927-2005) on 23 Jun 1944 in Craven County, North Carolina. They had 3 children: David, Daniel and Sue. On 22 Apr 1960, Earl married Barbara Ann Dickey and they had 4 sons: James, William & Robert (Twins), and Richard. Richard was just 2 months old when his father was killed.  

Image & newspaper info:
Ventura County Star-Free Press Newspaper
17 Jul 1961

After Earl's death, his wife/widow received $750 from donations called the "Mendenhall Fund"

Ventura County Star- Free Press
26 Jul 1961

Next, I wanted to see if I could find anything on James Snow, the prisoner. 

Things news articles have told me: 

James Edward Snow, 27 (born about 1934)

Former home- Lebanon, Missouri

Wife- Neoma, age 25 (born about 1936)

Son- Douglas (4 or 5 years old in 1961, born about 1956)

In late July, 1961, Snow was committed to Camarillo State Hospital, court ordered, but I know he escaped and by Dec 1961, he was on the run with his wife and child.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything else on Snow and his family. I feel like both his first and surname are far too common, it would be hard to pinpoint which person it is. 

~Earl Mason Mendenhall (1925-1961) was my 9th cousin, 3x removed.

Wednesday's Portrait: Earl Mason Mendenhall

 Today's Portrait:

Photo from Findagrave.com

Earl Mason Mendenhall (1925-1961)- Deputy police officer in Ventura County, California. 

On 15 Jul 1961, he was transporting an mentally ill prisoner. For whatever reason, the prisoner was not handcuffed and was sitting in the front passenger seat when he reached over, grabbed the steering wheel, causing the car to run into a concrete bridge pillar. Mendenhall died while the prisoner escaped. 

Who was W.L. Mendenhall (1873-1933)?

(Update at Bottom)

While researching the California Birth Index for the surname Mendenhall, I came upon some prison records for an W.L. Mendenhall 

He looks like a very sad man! From the card, you can read that his name was W.L. Mendenhall (or John Turner in Illinois??)- was imprisoned in the San Quentin State Prison for arson commited in San Joaquin. He's 44 and a laborer. He's also missing his left hand. The date he entered the prison- 26 Apr 1918. 

I wanted to know more about him and mainly, to find out how I'm related to this Mendenhall.  

First stop- Newspapers. I was able to find one news article about the arson committed to put him in jail-- 

Stockton Daily Evening Record
25 Apr 1918

From the article, W.L. broke into San Quentin and set the prison afire and then confessed to the crime. He was a sick man...suffering from TB and had lost his left hand in a saw mill accident 28 years earlier! From the card above, it looks like W.L. doesn't stay in San Quentin, but dies in Mendocino on 25 Nov 1933. The only evidence I have of this death is stated on the card...not sure how accurate that may or may not be.

Now, to find out how I'm related....

Things I know:

Name: W.L. Mendenhall

Born: abt 1874 in Illinois

I was able to find his full name from his World War I Draft Registration Card he had done while at San Quentin in 1918- Wilbur Lee Mendenhall, born 17 Aug 1873

It also states that his nearest relative is a Mrs. W.F. Adams at 3010 Locust St. in St. Joseph, Missouri. 

Before researching this Mrs. Adams, I wanted to look at the 1880 U.S. Census Record. Since Wilbur was born in 1873, the 1880 census would be the first one he would be listed on. I did find a Wilbur Mendenhall, born abt 1873 in Illinois living in Belle Plain, Illinois but this is a completely different Wilbur...one that is already in my tree. This Wilbur died in 1912 in Iowa so they couldn't have been the same person. 

I tried to look in the newspapers around 1890 for a saw mill accident that took a man's life, but it was just too little information. I have no idea where he was living at the time or what mill he was working at. I know he was jailed in Omaha Nebraska in 1914 (per prison card above), but I couldn't find any information on that jail time. 

Next, I decided to look up this Mrs. W.F. Adams who turns out to be Amanda Melvin Adams ('nee Palmer), daughter of Samuel C. Palmer (1824-1894) & Sarah Jane Lashley (1824-1869). She was married to William Freemont Adams (1864-1942). 

When Wilbur listed Amanda as his nearest relative in 1918, she was living in Saint Joseph, Missouri with her husband. This was April. Amanda died in Nov of the same year. 

Because they were close in age, her being 3 years older, I assumed she might be an older sister or maybe a cousin...

I've searched many family trees and tried several different paths on her family tree but I just can't find the Mendenhall connection! Which is annoying, to say the least.

Below is a picture of Amanda- 

From Ancestry.com

I'm going to keep searching, but I'm going to leave this here in case someone can help! :) 

UPDATE:

After posting the above information, I got some feedback from some people on the Genealogy Squad (Facebook). I am embarrassed to say that I didn't think to check her siblings. Ugg...it happens though. Anyway, Amanda's sister Rebecca Elizabeth Palmer married James T. Mendenhall on 19 Aug 1873 in Adair County, Missouri. (Marriage record on Ancestry.com). Now, there's a few things about this....

1. Rebecca & James were much older than Amanda and her relative Wilbur Mendenhall. 

Rebecca (born 1853), James (born 1847), Amanda (born 1870) & Wilbur (born 1873). It wasn't uncommon in those days to have multiple children and have them span 20 years like Rebecca & Amanda.

2. Rebecca & James married 2 days before Wilbur was born. This makes me wonder if he could be their child and Amanda is Wilbur's aunt. This could be plausible but there is something bugging me about this- Evidence shows that Rebecca and James married 2 days after his birth and they married in Adair County, Missouri. Evidence also shows Wilbur being born in Illinois. Either one of these records is mistaken (more than  likely, it would be Wilbur's birth) or they are not his parents. 

3. I thought it plausable that Wilbur could be James' brother but they are 26 years apart in age and I find this super unlikely. Also, I still can't find much about James anyways, so even though I have a possible brother or father, I still can't trace back the linage, which is SUPER frustrating.