DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ - Martha Edgington

My father used to have a saying, "Don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see."  Like most of our parents' sayings, there is some truth to this.  For this month's story we are going to travel all the way to Compton, California, to the Angeles Abbey Mausoleum Park, to hear the story of the murder of Martha Edgington while she was visiting her daughter's crypt. 

Here is the story from the Long Beach (CA) Independent of August 3, 1976:

A horrible story, to be sure.  But even worse are all the factual errors in the newspaper account - even the name of the victim is incorrect.  Unfortunately once incorrect information gets out on the internet it is there forever, and almost impossible to correct.  But I will attempt to correct the errors and tell the story of the murder of Martha Edgington correctly.  

Before we look at the life and death of Martha Edgington, I want to tell you some information about where the murder took place - Angeles Abbey - a collection of free-standing mausoleums in Compton, California.  I have been fascinated by Angeles Abbey ever since I first heard about it, and will ultimately tell its entire story in a future blog post.   

The concept of a park of free-standing mausoleums was originally thought up by noted Long Beach, California ship builder (and my distant cousin) George L. Craig (not George Clegg as is reported all over the internet).  There is a story that Craig sent architects through India and the Middle East to gain inspiration for the design of his mausoleums.  This story is probably apocryphal, but we do know that he hired Long Beach architect Hugh R. Davies who reported that he got his inspiration for buildings of Moorish splendor during a trip to Spain and North Africa.   

The Long Beach (CA) Telegram from July 14, 1923 announced the completion of the first unit in what was named "The Mausoleum Park."  Its corporate entity, Mausoleum Park, Inc. had purchased ten acres at Compton Corner, one block east of Long Beach Boulevard, and had as its motto "For Those Who Care."  

The 1920s were booming all over the United States and Compton California was no exception.  Units in the completed mausoleums were sold almost as quickly as they could be built.  Craig proudly proclaimed that "as far as he knew" his were the only mausoleums in the country not connected to or affiliated with a cemetery.  The original plan was for eighteen mausoleum buildings, but only eight mausoleums would ultimately be built, the most famous being the "Abbey of the Angelus" which Craig had built to house Jean Francis Millet's famous painting of "The Angelus" reproduced in Art Glass.

The Abbey of the Angelus

The Memorial Chapel with pipe organ upstairs

Jean Francis Millet's THE ANGELUS in Art Glass

Now that I've told you a little bit about Angeles Abbey, let's see what we can dig up about the woman who was tragically murdered there.

Martha Ernestena Mittelstedt was born November 15, 1897 in Anaheim, California to Ferdinand Edmond "Fred" Mittelstedt (1866-1951) and his wife Louise Ernestine Hennig (1874-1961).  Fred Mittelstedt had originally been born in Russia/Poland but came to the US in 1890.  On census forms he listed his occupation as "miller," but he was employed as a street sweeper for the City of Long Beach, California.  

Fred and Louise Mittelstedt had six children:  Esther (1894-1932) [Mrs. Albert J. Brant], Martha (1897-1976), Freda (1900-1981) [Mrs. Hjalmer J. Johnson], Arthur John (1903-1999), William Fred (1906-1965) and Helen Louise (1916-2003) [Mrs. Marvin E. Ward].  

It does not appear that the Mittelstedts participated in the 1900 US Census, so Martha Mittelstedt didn't make her appearance until the 1910 US Census.  The Mittelstedt family was living at 429 Lime Street in Long Beach, California.  Modern apartments occupy that spot today.  The family consisted of  Frederick E. Mittelstedt (43 years old), his wife Louise (37), and children:  Esther (15), Martha (12), Frieda (9), Arthur (7), and William (4).  Living with them was Fred's brother John (31) who was working in a lumber yard.

On May 14, 1918 Martha E. Mittelstedt married Timothy Allan Larry (called "Allan") (1898-1987) in Los Angeles, California.  The bride was twenty years old; the groom was nineteen.  Allan was employed as a boiler maker for one of the Long Beach ship builders.  

Martha and Allan welcomed their first child, a daughter on May 8, 1919 in Long Beach.  They named her Barbara Alice Larry (1919-1988).  here is the announcement from the Long Beach (CA) Press of  May 08, 1919:

By the 1920 US Census Martha and Barbara were living with Martha's parents in Long Beach - at 427 Linden.  A parking lot occupies that parcel today.  The family consisted of Fred (54) who reported his occupation as "Teamster for the City."  With his was his wife Louise (48) and children Arthur (16), William (14) and Helen (3).  As mentioned Martha (22) and her daughter Barbara A. Larry were living with Martha's parents.  

History does not record why Allan was not living with his wife and daughter at the time of the 1920 census but any problems must have been resolved because their second daughter Margaret Louise Larry (1925-1962) was born in Alameda on April 8, 1925. 

However, all was not well with the Larry Family.  The 1928 City Directory for the City of Long Beach shows that Martha has started using her maiden name again and has moved back in with her parents. 

The separation must have been temporary however because the 1930 US Census shows Martha back with the Larry family living at 461 1/2 Twenty-seventh in Los Angeles.  Allan Larry was now a Foreman with the Gas Company.  

Martha was working in the home, taking care of their two daughters.

In 1932 the Larry family moved to Alhambra: 206 E. Graves Avenue.  A series of multi-family homes was built on this spot in 1961.

By 1935, Martha and Allan Larry had divorced and Allan had remarried.  The re-constituted Allan Larry Family was living in Eagle Rock, California.  It consisted of  Allan, his new wife May, Larry's daughter Margaret, and May's two children, Nancy and Harry Whitney.

When she registered to vote (Democrat) in 1936 Martha used the name Martha Larry.  She gave her occupation as "Waitress" and her address as 210 E. Graves Avenue in Monterey Park.  A modern apartment building occupies that spot today.   

On September 11, 1938, Martha's daughter Barbara Alice Larry married Ralph Henry Pejsa (1915-1967) in Santa Ana, California.    

By the 1940 US Census the re-constituted Allan Larry family was living in Pasadena.  Martha, now on her own, reverted to using her maiden name, Martha Mittelstedt and did not appear to have participated in the 1940 census.

By 1942 Martha had remarried - to Jesse Leigh Edgington (1875-1955).  He and Martha registered to vote together - she as a Democrat, he as a Republican.  They lived at 2613 Del Mar Avenue, in Rosemead, California.  I'm sure the difference in politics made for some spirited pillow talk.

I was unable to find out how long Martha and Jesse were married, but when he died in 1955 Martha was not still his wife - the wife he had then was named Ruth.

Martha's youngest daughter Margaret Louise died on January 30, 1970 in Los Angeles.  I found records of her having been married at least three times.  One of her husbands had been a man with the last name of  Brown.  Even though the marriage did not last, Margaret liked his last name, so she kept it - going by the name of Margaret Louise Brown.  She was not married when she died, so her parents and sister Barbara made the decision to inter her at Angeles Abbey.  She was interred in the Abbey of the Angelus on the mezzanine level:

                                             Photo courtesy of Find a Grave volunteer mns

                                                              

Although her crypt plate refers to her as "Beloved Mother," I was not able to find any record of her having had any children.  Perhaps they were step-children.  Strangely it does not refer to her as "Sister."

So that brings us up to 1976 when her Mother was so tragically murdered visiting her crypt.  As I stated at the beginning of this article, much of what was reported in the newspaper was incorrect, so let's take a look at the article and see what mistakes were made:

"The body of a 76-year-old Rosemead woman who had apparently been beaten to death several days earlier was found Monday is a secluded area of a Compton mausoleum."

Just the next day newspapers reported that she had been dead only two hours when found, not "several days." 

"Compton Sgt. Robert Stover said the body of Martha Eddington of 7852 Graves ave. was found..."

Her name was Martha EDGINGTON not "Eddington."

"Philip A. Sonntag, president and owner of Angeles Abbey, said none of the employees saw Mrs. Eddington (sic) enter the stately mausoleum, which houses the crypts of her late husband, daughter and son-in-law."

Martha had two husbands, T. Allan Larry and Jesse Edgington.  Neither is interred at Angeles Abbey.  T. Allan Larry died in 1987 and is buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana.  Jesse Edgington died in 1955 and is buried in the San Gabriel Cemetery in San Gabriel.

"He (Sonntag) said Mrs. Eddington's (sic) body had been found in such an area, adjacent to the room holding the crypts of her daughter and son in law.  

I was always confused by the reference to her "daughter and son-in-law."  I knew from other articles that her daughter was "Margaret Brown" and her son-in-law was "Ralph Pejsa."  How could Margaret Brown be Mrs. Ralph Pejsa?  And if she was, why didn't her crypt say "Margaret Pejsa" instead of "Margaret Brown?"  It was not until I started the research for this article that I found that Martha had two daughters: Margaret and Barbara and that it was Barbara who was married to Ralph Pejsa, not Margaret.     

The other Eddington (sic) crypt is in a corridor in the same area, he said.

There is no "other" Eddington (sic) crypt.  He may be referring to the crypt Martha Edgington purchased for herself, because there are no other Edgingtons interred at Angeles Abbey.  There is a Calvin Eddington (1911-1931) who is interred at Angeles Abbey but he is not related.

Lastly, I read in an article that subsequent to the murder, the bodies of Martha Eddington (sic), her daughter and son-in-law were all removed from Angeles Abbey and reinterred elsewhere.  Not surprisingly, this is not entirely correct.  In 1977, Barbara Larry Pejsa purchased three crypts at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills and April 20, 1977 she had her mother's and her husband's bodies removed from Angeles Abbey and re-interred at Forest Lawn.  Her sister Margaret Brown remains at Angeles Abbey to this day.  Barbara joined her late mother and late husband at Forest Lawn when she died in 1988.

                                                 Photos courtesy of Find a Grave volunteer Linda Carole Mustion

On September 05, 1976, jiust one month after Martha Edgington's murder, the Long Beach (CA) Independent Press-Telegram newspaper offered a $2,000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of Martha Edgington (and they spelled her name correctly):

To the best of my knowledge, the murder of Martha Edgington has never been solved, and her murderer has never been caught.  To this day, all of the mausoleums at Angeles Abbey are locked at all times, and visitors must be let in by a member of the staff. 

Martha Edgington, Margaret Larry Brown, Ralph Pejsa and Barbara Larry Pejsa - may they rest in peace.

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As an aside:  For years I have been trying to find a copy of this brochure about Angeles Abbey:

There was a copy on ebay years ago before I knew anything about Angeles Abbey but nothing recently as far as I know.  IF YOU HAVE A COPY you would be willing to part with, I will pay you top dollar.  You can contact me at jwcraig11@comcast.net

Thanks~~~