California Birth Index, Mendenhall Surname, Part 11

 ~Dates 1940-1950, Page 3

(I was able to finish this series but just didn't have time to blog about it, until now)

Continuing from: Previous California Death Index Posts

~Page 3

    41. Harold Dean Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed

        born: 18 Mar 1946 in Santa Clara County, California

       died: Still Living

       Parents: Harold Lloyd Mendenhall (1922-1995) & Bonnie Inez Schuler (1920-2003)

    

    42. Dianne Joy Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 3x removed

        born: 09 Nov 1944 in Kern County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Norman Elwood Mendenhall (1914-2007) & Johanna Krauss (1914-2003)

    43. Marsha Mae Mendenhall- couldn't find parents :( 

        born: 30 Oct 1944 in Oceanside, California 

        died: 16 May 1991

    44. Sandra Elaine Mendenhall- already in tree- 9th cousin, 2x removed

        born: 11 Feb 1946 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Robert Thomas Mendenhall (1920-1999) & Alice Doris Buck (1922-1997)

    45. Marcia Louise Mendenhall- found in tree- 7th cousin, 2x removed

        born: 13 Feb 1944 in Sacramento County, California 

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Warren Dale Mendenhall Jr. (1920-1995) & Maryann Erwin (1919-2000)

Marcia Mendenhall
Age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1961
San Juan High School in Citrus Heights, California

    46. James Bradley- couldn't find parents :( 

        born: 24 Aug 1946 in Los Angeles, California 

        died: Still Living

        Mother's Maiden Name: Densmore

    47. James Roy Mendenhall- found in tree- 6th cousin, 2x removed

        born: 15 Sep 1946 in Stanislaus County, California

        died: 23 May 2007 in Oakdale, California, age 60

        Parents: Ivor E. Mendenhall (1918-1999) & Betty Annetta Olsen (1918-2015)

Boy Scout Jimmy
Found from Ancestry.com

J. Mendenhall
age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1963
Leigh High School in San Jose, California 

    48. Sandra Lynne Mendenhall- couldn't find parents :( 

        born: 31 Jul 1944 in San Diego County, California

        Mother's Maiden name: Wood

    49. Dennis Lee Mendenhall- found in tree- 7th cousin, 2x removed

        born: 14 Feb 1946 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: 21 Jan 2017 in Westlake Village, California, age 70

        Father: Ralph Arthur Mendenhall (1922-2002) 

Dennis Mendenhall
Age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1962
William H. Taft High School
Woodland Hills, California 

Photo From Ancestry.com

    50. Robert Cameron Mendenhall- couldn't find parents :( 

        born: 24 Sep 1944 in Los Angeles County, California

        Mother's Maiden name: Taylor 

    51. Carolyn Sue Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed

        born: 13 Feb 1944 in Los Angeles County, California 

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Barney Mendenhall (1923-1980) & Pauline Weatherman (1926-2007)

    52. Charles Wesley Mendenhall- already in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed

        born: 14 Sep 1944 in San Jose, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Charles Floyd Mendenhall (1917-1999) & Beryle I. Smith (1925-1988)

    53. Joseph Leo Mendenhall- already in tree- 4th cousin, 2x removed

        born: 25 Jan 1943 in Yuba County, California

        died: 18 Aug 1943 in LIve Oak, California, age 7 months

        Parents: Robert L. Mendenhall (1918-1997) & Emma Louise King (1920-2001)

Live Oak Cemetery
Live Oak, California 

    54. Elaine Marie Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed 

        born: 08 Aug 1947 in Alameda County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: John D. Mendenhall (1907-1986) & Katharine B. Jorgensen (1911-1981)

This one makes me laugh- that Hair!!!
Elaine Mendenhall
Age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1963
Oakland High School in Oakland, California 

    55. Donald Hale Mendenhall- already in tree- 5th cousin, 3x removed

        born: 15 Feb 1947 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Donald Hale Sr. (1912-1989) & Eleanor P. McGowan (1917-2008)

Donald Mendenhall
Age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1964 
Delano High School in Delano, California

    56. Sharon Diane Mendenhall- found in tree- 9th cousin, 3x removed

        born: 12 Apr 1947 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Clarence H. Mendenhall (1919-1973) & Darlene Townsend

Sharon Mendenhall
Age 16
Yearbook Photo From 1963
Anaheim High School in Anaheim, California

    57. Lucienne Mendenhall- couldn't find parents :(

        born: 22 Jul 1947 in Los Angeles County, California 

        Mother's Maiden name: Hain

    58. Leonard Lee Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed

        born: 25 Nov 1943 in Los Angeles County, California 

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Leonard Lee Sr. (1918-1992) & Lillian Haworth

    59. Sandra Dianne Mendenhall- found in tree- 8th cousin, 4x removed

        born: 22 Sep 1943 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Garland L. Mendenhall (1917-2004) & Ruth Grace Laxson (1923-1991)

    60. Katherine Louise Mendenhall- already in tree- 9th cousin, 3x removed

        born: 18 Sep 1947 in Los Angeles County, California

        died: Still Living

        Parents: Floyd R. Mendenhall (1929-2009) & Wilma Fay Gillette (1926-1990)

        

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. 

Tombstone Tuesday: Howard Mendenhall 1924-2005

Today, I needed a break from my kiddos and husband so I decided to drive a half an hour north to Rocklin (California) and search for a gravestone of my 8th cousin, 4x removed.

I found his grave on Findagrave.com...buried in Rocklin Cemetery. This is the picture on the site.

So, I jumped in the car, grabbed a strawberry acai refresher from Starbucks, turned up the radio (Pandora- Michael Buble radio) and set off for Rocklin.

With Google Maps, the cemetery was easy-enough to find but it's a fairly large site and I had no plot number to search by. I stopped by the office (which was closed because of Covid (open for appts only) ). Luckily, a man was leaving the office and he was super kind enough to lookup Howard's plot number for me!

At the time, there were several workers maintaining the grounds. I also saw some squirrels and a ton of geese... and I mean a TON... goose poop everywhere!

And found the grave of my distant cousin! 

I was a little disheartened... the gravestone has not been kept up... it's really dirty and weathered. Certainly different than the picture on Findagrave.com, which I can imagine was when it was new. 

I wanted to upload a video of all the geese but blogger is being difficult so Im uploading a tiktok a made of it this morning-

Cemetery Walk

A Conundrum!

While researching a Mendenhall name in the California death index (see previous posts of this series here), I came upon a very annoying "problem" that I just can't figure out!!

I was researching Marsha Mae Mendenhall, born 30 Oct 1944 in San Diego, California; mother's maiden name was Dershan.

I traced her line back to her great-grandparents: Arthur Mendenhall (1876-1904) & Eliza J. Huffman (b. 1878). 

Here is where I get confused.

I did find a grave for Arthur:

Art Mendenhall

b. 10 Oct 1876

d. 17 Sep 1904 

Buried in Springfield, Greene, Missouri

Hazelwood Cemetery
Springfield, Greene County, Missouri

Where it gets confusing- 

I found a newspaper article for an Arthur Mendenhall who died 17 Sep 1904 in Kansas City Missouri and his body was taken to Springfield to be buried- this would match the death date & burial site.

19 Sep 1904
The Kansas City Times
Kansas City, Missouri

The problem is- this Arthur Mendenhall was 35 years old...which would have his birth year around 1869. I even found a Missouri Death Record for him- his birth date being "abt 1869" and death "17 Sep 1904". 

So we have 2 Arthur Mendenhalls: 

1. Arthur Mendenhall                                2. Arthur Mendenhall

b. abt 1869                                                    b. 10 Oct 1876

d. 17 Sep 1904                                                d. 17 Sep 1904

I was able to find a census record for Arthur #2- matches what I have for my possible ancestor- wife's name, child's name, etc. However, I wasn't able to find any census records for Arthur #1. 

Either the grave is wrong or the news article and the death record are wrong... 

Needless to say, I'm not sure where to go from here. I can't find any parental information for either one of these two persons...