Sanborn, Walker, abt. 1886-1934

SANBORN

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:38

From the Sioux Center News, July 19, 1934:

MAN LEAVES BUS HERE, MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS

According to the Sioux City papers this community has been disturbed by the disappearance of a “dark swarthy stranger, who leaped from the bus here, shouting ‘I won’t be killed.’” The Sioux City Tribune ran the following letter by our Marshal, Joe Te Veltrup, under the streamer head “Murder Mystery Near Sioux City,” with the sub-head “Passenger on St. Paul Bus Disappears.”

“As usual when the bus stopped here, the driver and several of the passengers stepped out for refreshments. Some of the passengers remained on the bus,” writes the marshal. “After the others had stepped out, one of the remaining passengers jumped up and yelled, ‘By ---, I’m not going to be killed here in cold blood.’ He jumped from the bus and ran away.

“The manager of the bus station phoned me but we could not find a trace of him. He left quite a little luggage including a set of golf clubs, one golf ball, two blue serge coats, a yellow sport coat, a pair of gloves, toilet articles, two grips and a cream colored hat purchased or made in Italy. He was dressed in a sport shirt and blue trousers. He was swarthy complexioned and about 32 years old. I looked through his grips but there is no evidence of identification. He had a ticket from Sioux City to St. Paul. A couple of blocks away several persons reported they had heard him yell and saw him running down the street.”

This letter was written to the Sioux City Chief of Police. Mr. Te Veltrup told the News Reporter that in addition to the articles mentioned in the letter he found a half pint flask of liquor, seven eighths empty. There is a supposition that the mysterious well dressed individual was perhaps in his cups, and suffering from the extreme heat of the day may have experienced temporary insanity.

Mr. Te Veltrup sent the baggage of the gentleman to Sioux City, where an attempt will be made to identify it.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the Sioux Center News, July 26, 1934:

GRUESOME FIND ENDS WEEK OF MYSTERY
Body Found Here Sent to Ashland

Finding of the body of Walker Sanborn, 45, of Redondo Beach, Cal., at Sioux Center, Ia., late Thursday failed to clear up the mystery of his sudden leap from a bus and his disappearance in a flight of apparent fright.

Search for the passenger, then unidentified, bound from Redondo Beach to Ashland, Wis., who transferred to a Sioux City-Twin Cities bus in Sioux City last Saturday, was ended when the badly decomposed corpse was found in an oats field a half mile east of Sioux Center by E. Haze, who was cutting grain. Dr. Will Maris of Sioux Center, who conducted a preliminary investigation, reported to Marshal Joe Te Veltrup that in his opinion death was the result of over heat.

Sanborn was identified by an American Legion card issued by Redondo Beach post No. 184. He was 5 feet 7 inches in height, weighed 160 pounds and had brown eyes and black hair.

Except for occasional mutterings he betrayed no signs of mental stress or physical ailment, Johnson, driver of the bus said, according to the Sioux City Tribune. “He sat in the second seat back of me,” the bus driver explained, “and I could hear him mumble to himself at infrequent intervals. For a brief time he engaged in conversation with two women sitting behind him, but evidently his remarks did not arouse their suspicions of anything wrong.

“I was in the Sioux Center bus depot when Sanborn got out of the bus and started running down the street. He left his coat, hat and tie and all his baggage in the bus. I immediately started a search for him in a small car borrowed at the Sioux Center office. Although he had only a few minutes start and the town is not large, I could find no trace of the fleeing passenger. The next day I learned he had stopped in a home not far from the bus depot and asked a call be placed for the police to save his life. However, when the resident placed the call, Sanborn fled from the home.”

Johnson kept up the search for half an hour, then turned over the belongings of the missing passenger to the bus depot manager and notified the marshal. He said a bottle of poor “moonshine” was found in the pocket of Sanborn’s coat but there were no indications the man had been drinking it.

“I could not say whether Sanborn had money in his pockets before he arrived at Sioux Center, because he did not get off at any time to make purchases from the time we left Sioux City,” he said, “but it would seem improbable that a man would attempt to travel from California to Wisconsin without ample funds for the entire trip.”

On Way to Reunion

According to an account in the Sioux City Tribune, information from Sanborn’s home in California was to the effect that he had left there July 10 to attend the golden wedding anniversary of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Sanborn at Ashland. He had been gassed and shell-shocked in the World war and was receiving government compensation as a permanently disabled veteran. Friends in the West expressed the belief that he may have been the victim of a heart attack as he had previously been afflicted and received treatment at the National Soldiers home at Sawtelle, Cal., two years ago.

Sanborn formerly was an attorney in Ashland, leaving there 10 years ago. His father is an attorney and former state senator who continues prominently active in northern Wisconsin affairs. In addition to his parents he is survived by a sister, Mrs. Helen Kiselberg, Manhattan Beach, Cal.

Body Delivered to Ashland

Saturday Chas. Vander Ploeg took the body as far as St. Cloud, Minn. where he was met by an undertaker from Ashland, Wis., who took the remains the rest of the way.

[The article goes on to discuss criticism of local and county officials for not having conducted a more thorough search immediately, and of Marshal Te Veltrup for taking over the duties of the coroner.]

* * * * * * * * * *

There is a death certificate available online at Ancestry.com, but it gives no additional information other than a presumed death date of July 19. An annotation “(over)” is written in the section for cause of death, but the back side of the certificate is not present.

There is a FindaGrave page for Lieut. Walker Sanborn, birth date unknown, death date 14 July 1934 (no place), buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Ashland, Wisconsin., accompanied by photos of two short newspaper articles, one repeating some of the information in the Sioux Center News article, the other saying that he is to be buried in Ashland.

The 1930 U.S. census shows him to be one of many, many residents of the National Military Home tuberculosis hospital in Los Angeles. A register of U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers shows him to have been admitted to the Home in Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, California, on October 9, 1929 suffering from chronic pleurisy and pulmonary tuberculosis; age 43, born in Wisconsin, a lawyer, residence Los Angeles, single, father A. W. Sanborn of Ashland, Wisconsin.