Individual Details
Henry Wathem Ensor
(1863 - 13 Feb 1914)
Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California, Friday February 14, 1914, Page 1 Col. 6: A Miller and Lux Carpenter Is A Suicide. Henry Ensor Kills Himself By Shot from Revolver at Buttonwillow. Died Late Yesterday. Leaves Note Saying Liquor Was the Cause of His Downfall. Henry Ensor, aged about 52 years, and for the past twenty-five years employed as carpenter for Miller & Lux at their Buttonwillow ranch, committed suicide shortly after 5 o'clock last evening by shooting himself through the head with a .22 caliber automatic Colt's revolver. the inquest over the remains was held at Buttonwillow this morning by Coroner McGinn, the jury returning a verdict of death due to a short would with suicidal intent, after which the remains were brought to Bakersfield by J C Flickenger and placed in the parlors of Templeton & Company to wait word from relatives regarding interment.
No direct cause for the act is known, although intimate friends of Ensor say that he has been an unsuccessful speculator in oil lands of late and think that is the possible reason. A note on the dresser in the dead man's room, written in a nervous hand and unsigned read as follows: "Liquor was the cause of my downfall. I have $1100. Send my body to *Springfield."
The name of the state was not given, but he often referred to relatives residing in Kentucky and a message was sent there this morning with a view of locating them. He had no known relatives in California.
Friends of the deceased noticed that he had been acting strange of late and out of the ordinary, but did not anticipate that he would take his own life. After finishing work yesterday afternoon he went to his room in the ranch bunk house and a few minutes later the report of the shot as heard. A friend in an adjoining room rushed to Ensor's door and saw him lying on the floor with the revolver in one hand a stream of blood oozing from his head. He survived two hours, but was unconscious all the time. On examination it was found that the bullet entered the left side of his head about an inch above the eye, going entirely through and coming out at the back of the neck.
During his long residence in Kern county Ensor made innumerable friends, especially among the employees of the Miller & Lux Company, who were shocked to learn of his untimely death and were at a loss for any definite solution. The body will remain at Templeton & Company's until relatives are located.
*Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky.
No direct cause for the act is known, although intimate friends of Ensor say that he has been an unsuccessful speculator in oil lands of late and think that is the possible reason. A note on the dresser in the dead man's room, written in a nervous hand and unsigned read as follows: "Liquor was the cause of my downfall. I have $1100. Send my body to *Springfield."
The name of the state was not given, but he often referred to relatives residing in Kentucky and a message was sent there this morning with a view of locating them. He had no known relatives in California.
Friends of the deceased noticed that he had been acting strange of late and out of the ordinary, but did not anticipate that he would take his own life. After finishing work yesterday afternoon he went to his room in the ranch bunk house and a few minutes later the report of the shot as heard. A friend in an adjoining room rushed to Ensor's door and saw him lying on the floor with the revolver in one hand a stream of blood oozing from his head. He survived two hours, but was unconscious all the time. On examination it was found that the bullet entered the left side of his head about an inch above the eye, going entirely through and coming out at the back of the neck.
During his long residence in Kern county Ensor made innumerable friends, especially among the employees of the Miller & Lux Company, who were shocked to learn of his untimely death and were at a loss for any definite solution. The body will remain at Templeton & Company's until relatives are located.
*Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky.
Events
| Birth | 1863 | Kentucky |  | ||
| Marriage | 21 May 1891 | Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas - Frances "Fannie" M. Burwell | | ||
| Death | 13 Feb 1914 | Buttonwillow, Kern Co., California | |
Families
| Spouse | Frances "Fannie" M. Burwell (1870 - 1938) |
| Child | George Burwell Ensor (1892 - 1967) |