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I will start with 1942 since there was no Wartime Polk's for 1944
1942 W. Porter Lewis Bette A. Lewis
1948 Note: "Andersen Dixie M Elmer" Odd entry Our lost "tenant" perhaps?
1952 James L Swofford ("Instructor' WCHS) & Mary B Swofford
1954 1957 1959 1960 Frank & Agnes C Asbury Frank Asbury, Jr (USN) Marian J. Asbury
Polk's is online only to 1960
For decades prior to the 40s, the home experienced alot of turnover with a variety of resident occupations. One long-lasting resident is a Maltby Jay Cleveland, who is listed as a 'News Dir" (sic) but a Google search came up empty for what "news" (real or fake) he might have been associated with.
This Edith Andersen passed in 1963 and would have been in her fifties for the post-War period of interest. The cemetery is the one at 1818 N. River which its history says was founded as an LDS cemetery and would match her LDS employer in her later years. See below. It does however list her as "Divorced" which conflicts with Polk's having her as a "Widow" of Alf. I suspect the info in Finda is likely the incorrect entry, presuming we have the right Edith.
But w/o asking MAD at this point to reveal his Solution to the Crime I will offer this up and suspect that he has drawn the same conclusion:
From my 1961 and 1963 Polk's:
The is in both years, an "Edith 'Anderson (sic)" who is listed as the WIDOW of ALF who is an employee of the "Social Services Center (LDS) and who resides at 1734 Northern.
So IMO we have a clear case of Mistaken ID of the "victim' It was NOT the Andersen who resided at 423 N Pleasant in the post-War years.
Perhaps it was Mrs John Swofford/Swafford (either spelling) or a female following her residency at the home. Highly doubtful it would be an Asbury as the female is (Agnes) is listed all the way to at least 1963
BTW The Swoffords were listed in 1950 also.
Perhaps the victim at that residence was Mary B Swofford/Swafford?
Last edited by MRG Dallas; 05-01-2023 at 11:28 AM..
What info were you finding the prior residents you speak of? Online source? Free or paid membership? When was "Maltby Jay Cleveland" residing at the residence? Do you have who started living there 1st? Still trying to find out (haven't tried too hard) who & when the 1st resident was at the house too - separate from this current thread of a murder mystery, of course. Earliest I have found was a Reverend W F Perry lived there in 1900.
This murder mystery is an example of how facts get distorted when passed down through the years. Adding to those complications is a difference in spelling of the last name, and not having the legal first name. All of those obstacles have been overcome to reach the truth.
This murder did not occur just after WWII, but a bit later, here is what I have found, compiled mainly from the KC Star/Times and official records.
On Sunday evening, December 8, 1963, a retired Independence Chief of Police (Louis Howell) and his wife went to the house at 423 N Pleasant to check on the occupant, Edith W Andersen, who was a sister of the chief's wife. She had not answered her phone for several days. Edith had last been seen about noon on Friday by her daughter, who lived in Lee's Summit.
They found her face up on a bed, with an electrical cord from a nearby sewing machine wrapped twice around her neck and knotted three times. There were no other signs of violence. Barney Myers, current Chief of Police, stated an autopsy would be performed. That autopsy was done the next day and confirmed strangulation as the cause of death.
On the death certificate the last name is spelled Anderson, which was also the spelling in most of the news articles. Her tombstone has Andersen.
Based on information gathered from relatives and neighbors of the victim a pickup order was issued for Marion Dean Andrews, who had recently been renting part of the house from Mrs. Andersen. He was located in Lubbock, Texas where he was being held on a bad check charge. He had previously served two terms in the Texas State Prison. Detectives (Lt. Fred King and Lt. Robert Wingate) from Independence headed south to interview him. The results were inconclusive.
The investigation seems to have languished for awhile until a warrant was issued in January 1966 for the former renter. At the time he was in jail at Lubbock. Andrews was finally extradited to Missouri and arraigned for first degree murder on October 21, 1966.
At this point the KC Star/Times seems to have lost interest in the case, as I found nothing after the arraignment. Unfortunately The Examiner online doesn't begin until 1967. Derek, this is where your next homework assignment comes in. The Examiner is available on microfilm at the library's Midwest Genealogy Center, not sure if they still have it at the North Independence Branch. Armed with the dates above I'm sure you will find more in-depth coverage there. You are required to share updates with us!
Congrats to Dallas, he did find the correct grave at Mound Grove Cemetery.
One other detail concerning the property. In January 1964 Walter Lienau, son of the deceased, sold the house to M. Vivian Stayton.
Great work, MAD I was able to pull up the Star/Times articles and by coincidence, solve another part of the mystery
"From my 1961 and 1963 Polk's:
The is in both years, an "Edith 'Anderson (sic)" who is listed as the WIDOW of ALF who is an employee of the "Social Services Center (LDS) and who resides at 1734 Northern.
So IMO we have a clear case of Mistaken ID of the "victim' It was NOT the Andersen who resided at 423 N Pleasant in the post-War years.
Perhaps it was Mrs John Swofford/Swafford (either spelling) or a female following her residency at the home. Highly doubtful it would be an Asbury as the female is (Agnes) is listed all the way to at least 1963
Was the scene @ 423 N Pleasant, or at 1734 S Northern, her listed residence in 1963? And how to explain the series of non-Andersens/Andersons at that address until 1963?
The articles do confirm the crime occurred at the Pleasant address. I limited my newspapers search to 1963 and by sheer coincidence, Edith's name pops up in a January 1, 1963 obituary of her mother, 1734 S Northern. It lists Edith "of the home" so apparently she was living with mom, 91, during the years following Alf's death (or divorce), but still owned 423. So all those folks listed in my post above were apparently tenants during that time. And within months, Edith moves back to 423 and "rents a part of the home" as per an article to her soon-to-be murderer.
The listing of the Northern address in Polk's is what distracted me from Edith being the victim to that of someone following at 423. Especially that the Asburys would live there for years before, but Edith is back by 1963
One article states that police believe she was killed on Friday, two days before the Sunday discovery. To put the date in perspective, that would have been exactly two weeks after JFK.
This murder mystery is an example of how facts get distorted when passed down through the years. Adding to those complications is a difference in spelling of the last name, and not having the legal first name. All of those obstacles have been overcome to reach the truth.
This murder did not occur just after WWII, but a bit later, here is what I have found, compiled mainly from the KC Star/Times and official records.
On Sunday evening, December 8, 1963, a retired Independence Chief of Police (Louis Howell) and his wife went to the house at 423 N Pleasant to check on the occupant, Edith W Andersen, who was a sister of the chief's wife. She had not answered her phone for several days. Edith had last been seen about noon on Friday by her daughter, who lived in Lee's Summit.
They found her face up on a bed, with an electrical cord from a nearby sewing machine wrapped twice around her neck and knotted three times. There were no other signs of violence. Barney Myers, current Chief of Police, stated an autopsy would be performed. That autopsy was done the next day and confirmed strangulation as the cause of death.
On the death certificate the last name is spelled Anderson, which was also the spelling in most of the news articles. Her tombstone has Andersen.
Based on information gathered from relatives and neighbors of the victim a pickup order was issued for Marion Dean Andrews, who had recently been renting part of the house from Mrs. Andersen. He was located in Lubbock, Texas where he was being held on a bad check charge. He had previously served two terms in the Texas State Prison. Detectives (Lt. Fred King and Lt. Robert Wingate) from Independence headed south to interview him. The results were inconclusive.
The investigation seems to have languished for awhile until a warrant was issued in January 1966 for the former renter. At the time he was in jail at Lubbock. Andrews was finally extradited to Missouri and arraigned for first degree murder on October 21, 1966.
At this point the KC Star/Times seems to have lost interest in the case, as I found nothing after the arraignment. Unfortunately The Examiner online doesn't begin until 1967. Derek, this is where your next homework assignment comes in. The Examiner is available on microfilm at the library's Midwest Genealogy Center, not sure if they still have it at the North Independence Branch. Armed with the dates above I'm sure you will find more in-depth coverage there. You are required to share updates with us!
Congrats to Dallas, he did find the correct grave at Mound Grove Cemetery.
One other detail concerning the property. In January 1964 Walter Lienau, son of the deceased, sold the house to M. Vivian Stayton.
Thank you for all the info! Can you post a link to any of the newspaper articles related to this case, or so those websites require paid subscriptions? I will try to go find the online article of his trial/court case, for sure! Thank you all!
On that page are links to "Access Newspaper Archive" which has some years of The Examiner. Further down the page is the KC Star/Times link. In their search box be sure to put the name in quotes or you'll get 275 billion responses.
Thank you for all the info! Can you post a link to any of the newspaper articles related to this case, or so those websites require paid subscriptions? I will try to go find the online article of his trial/court case, for sure! Thank you all!
Well, Derek, there you have it. I listed the residents of 423 via Polk's Independence City Directory which I was able to access via my local library with its genealogy link to Heritage Quest. Unfortunately this list doesn't start until the late 1920s, I suspect the Polk's Independence did not originate until then. I will list the pre War residents at a later date. It looks like Maltby's wife inherited the property from her father, and they lived there for almost a decade.
That Edith was divorced explains why Alf is not listed in the cemetery directory, nor is he mentioned in her Find A Grave profile. Unusual for a divorce post War, and she apparently got the home as a property settlement since she had it until 1963
BTW I couldn't find anything on Alf, supposedly a DDS
In 1968 the residents were the Moons, he a truck driver. In 1972 the house is listed as vacant
1911 There was no WL Perry listed. By this time, the Reverend at Cumberland Presbyterian Church is Rev. John A Ward. The address is the NE corner of Liberty and "Blue" I believe this is Truman Rd and at that location now is not a church. There is a Cumberland (I think) north in the rural area of Independence/Atherton.
This is an incomplete edition perhaps, as there was not a cross directory, no streets listed. But there is an Ernest W Leas at that address. There are inconsistencies, not surprisingly, much like reading Census records. Typos, incorrect names, et al
1912 The Leas continue to reside here, at LEASt a Mary and a William. Not mention of Ernie
Next record skips to 1924 Presumably many editions are missing from the Heritage Quest library. Somewhere along the line, there are multiple residents with differing surnames, so my guess is the property was converted in part to one or more rentals.
1924 we have both the Long family, Clark Josephine and Martha. As well as George and Margaret Simpson, George being an agent for Ct. Mutual Life
1926 the Longs continue to reside and a "P Margaret" appears. A major error perhaps meaning Margaret Simpson, above?
By 1930. one Elihu Boan shows up, and as mentioned prior, it looks like Helen, Mrs Maltby, inherited the house. Whereupon she and Malthy resided from 1932 until at least 1936, and shared the house with the Snells, Jack/John/Thelma
That's all I have from a quick glance. I see a couple of editions are missing from my list.
Separate "mystery"? Can someone direct me to how I can determine whether or not there has ever been a "coffee roaster" in Independence before? I called and briefly spoke with the Jackson County Historical Society, she said she couldn't see anything. She then directed me to a facebook page that I tried posting the question on, with no response. I recently started a coffee roasting business up on the square, Pleasant Street Coffee, so I am trying to know if there is any coffee roasting history in Impendence. Would be cool to know if I was the 1st, or the 1st since "so & so" did it back in "18xx". Thanks.
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