Alameda-San Francisco County CA Archives Obituaries.....Ashton, Frank A. February 17, 1906 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Steve Harrison raleighwood@juno.com February 23, 2010, 4:19 pm San Francisco Call, February 21, 1906 San Francisco Call, February 21, 1906 (Wednesday), Page 14, Column 1. “DIED. ASHTON— In Alameda, Cal., February 17, l906, Frank Ashton, beloved husband of Mary S. Ashton, and son of Elizabeth C. and the late Charles Ashton, a native of Sonora, aged 52 years. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend the funeral services tomorrow (Thursday), February 22, at 2 o'clock p. m., at the chapel of Charles J. Truman, 1909 Mission Street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth. Interment private.” END AND San Francisco Call, February 20, 1906 (Tuesday), Page 6, Column 5. “BAY YIELDS UP BODY OF F. E. ASHTON Rifled Pockets Indicate That Man Who Was Prominent in Print Years Ago Fell a Victim to Foul Play FOUND IN THE MUD IN OAKLAND HARBOR Varied Career, Beset With a Weakness for Drink, Ends in the Tragic Fashion in Which Life Had Been Lived ALAMEDA, Feb. 19.— Stripped of every article of, value, including probably a large amount of money, but with personal papers Intact in the pockets of the clothing, the body of Frank E. Ashton, 1721 Grove street, Berkeley, was found this afternoon, lying face downward in the mud of Oakland harbor near the California Yacht Club house. According to his wife, by whom he was last seen alive on Saturday afternoon, Ashton had about $200 in his possession and the disappearance of this money, as well as of the personal effects of the deceased, indicates foul play. The body was discovered by W. Johnson, who lives near, the yacht club house. It was lying with face in the mud near the low tide mark. Johnson at once notified the Coroner and Deputy Hugh C. Gallagher was sent to bring the remains to the Alameda branch morgue. Finding it impossible to approach the spot where the body was lying owing to the soft mud, the Deputy Coroner was forced to wait until the rising tide made it possible to reach the corpse in a boat. Identification was made complete as soon as the body was searched at the morgue, for despite the fact that no money, nor a single article of value were found in the pockets of the clothing, a number of letters and papers were found which left no question as to the identity. This circumstance led the officials in charge of the case to at once search for any evidence of crime, but no marks of violence were found on the body and it is believed that if a crime has been committed it was accomplished by means of poison. WATCH AND JEWELRY GONE. Among the letters found was one from Mrs. Charles Ashton, the mother of the deceased, who resides at 124 Frederick street in San Francisco. Mrs. Ashton is a member of the real estate firm of Ashton & Gardiner, whose offices are located at 411 Montgomery street. This letter was written on February 7. From the appearance of the body it is certain that it had not been in the water more than twenty-four hours. It was learned to-night that when last seen alive on Saturday afternoon Ashton had a watch and jewelry and a large sum of money on his person, the latter having been given to him by his mother for the purpose of purchasing some property for her. He left his home in Berkeley Saturday afternoon and nothing more was seen or heard of him until his body was found to-day, half buried in the mud off the Alameda shore. Ashton was about 50 years of age. His death recalls a romance which a few years ago was given wide publicity. Twelve years ago he was married to Miss Mary Cooney [Coney], the daughter of a wealthy Honolulu family, and after his marriage resided in Berkeley. Soon after his wedding he began drinking heavily, the result being a series of bitter quarrels with his wife, who finally brought suit for a divorce on the ground of cruelty and intemperance. Previous to the filing of the divorce suit, however, Ashton searched his wife's trunks and in one of them discovered a number of letters couched in most ardent language, which were alleged to have been written to Mrs. Ashton after her marriage by Rear Admiral Merry of the United States navy. DRINK HIS UNDOING. In her complaint Mrs. Ashton had asked [for] the custody of their only child, Leoni, but, Ashton used the letters to force his wife to renounce her claim to the child, who when the divorce was granted was given into the custody of Ashton's mother. It was said that the husband promised that the letters should never be made public, but in some way their contents were learned, and the tongues of gossip quickly coupled the names of Mrs. Ashton and Rear Admiral Merry in a scandal which was published throughout the country. Two years ago Ashton took his daughter from the custody of his mother and went to Mexico with her. On his return, he visited several of the large cities on the coast, continuing to drink, heavily. So bad did his condition finally become that in Seattle the child was taken from him by the police and returned to the care of her mother. Last November Ashton returned to Berkeley, and visited his wife, and on his promise to stop drinking, they were remarried. He failed, however, to keep his promise to shun liquor, and for the last week has been drinking heavily. Before leaving his home on Saturday afternoon he again renewed his promise, and set out to purchase some real estate which he had been commissioned to buy for his mother. That was the last seen of him until his body was found to-day. Philip H. Levy [Levey], a stepson of the deceased, called at the Morgue to- night and positively identified the body as that of Ashton. An inquest will be held.” END AND San Francisco Call, February 21, 1906 (Wednesday), Page 6, Column 5. “MUCH MYSTERY IN ASHTON CASE Jurymen at Inquest Fail to Gain Any New Light on Berkeleyan's Strange Death MOVEMENTS UNTRACED Relative Says He Could Not Get a Clew [sic] to the Man's Wanderings From Home ALAMEDA, Feb. 20.— Whether Frank E. Ashton, whose body was found lying in the mud of the estuary near the CaliforniaYacht Club house yesterday, came to his death accidentally or intentionally, or whether he was the victim of foul play, are questions that will probably go unanswered with the dead man to his grave. Those queries were not solved at the inquest held this afternoon by Justice of the Peace F. S. Cone, and the jury returned a simple verdict that Ashton’s death was due to drowning. Dr. W. O. Smith made a careful inspection of the body, but could find no trace of any wound that might indicate that Ashton had been violently dealt with. It was the physician's opinion that death resulted from drowning. The fact that Ashton was known to have had considerable money on his person when he left his home, 1721 Grove street, Berkeley, Saturday afternoon, and the fact that no coin was found in the pockets of the clothing, leads some to think that Ashton may have fallen in with persons who, taking advantage of his weakness for drink, plied him with liquor, robbed him and then threw him into the estuary. W. E. Johnson, who first observed Ashton's remains in the mud near the California Yacht Club house, testified to-day that there was a double trail in the mud leading from a point near the Webster street bridge to where the body was noticed, lying face downward. This trail appeared, Johnson said, as if it might have been made by the feet of the corpse being dragged along the bottom at high tide. Johnson was of the opinion that the rush of the outgoing tide was strong enough to have carried the body along from the point near the Webster street bridge where it is supposed Ashton fell, jumped or was pitched overboard to the place where the body rested when found. Philip H. Levy [Levey], Ashton's stepson, stated today that he had made a search in Berkeley and Oakland to find where his father went after leaving home Saturday, but obtained no clew [sic]. Levy said Ashton often carried large sums of money that he made from real estate deals and that he spent much for drink. Ashton had been in good health and was not known to have been despondent or to have made threats to end his own life. Another theory of those who have investigated the case is that Ashton while intoxicated wandered down to the water front and fell into the estuary. Arrangements for the removal of Ashton's body to San Francisco, where the funeral is to be held, were made today.” END Additional Comments: Frank E. Ashton was a son of Charles Ashton and Elizabeth C. (O'Meara) Ashton. I have not been able to determine where he was buried. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/alameda/obits/a/ashton86ob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 9.1 Kb