Mary Russell Hickman Crandall was born in Maysville, KY in 1858 to Henry John and Dulcinea Elizabeth Swem Hickman. Her family nicknamed her "Marnie."
As a young woman, Marnie moved to Long Beach, CA where she married Mr. Edwin E. Crandall, a wealthy dry goods merchant, partner in the Crandall and Lane Dry Goods business. She later divorced him. There is some evidence that her ex-husband survived until 1921. There were no children born of the marriage.
There were various reports in contemporary newspapers of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Bernardino CA that Marnie experienced delusions and may have been suffering from early onset dementia when she claimed to have been married to Henry E. Huntington, the railroad magnate, in 1905, that Mr. Hickman was not her father, that she was known as the widow of Mr. Crandall, and that grief had caused her to suffer from these "hallucinations." One report, dated Dec 1905, states that Marnie was "worth $100,000 in her own right..." (In today's dollars worth $2,863,704.55.) Another contemporary report stated that she had once been declared as having the second smallest foot on an American woman.
In a very long, now very fragile letter, dated October 8, 1908, Los Angeles, California, Marnie's sister Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey wrote to their brother, William H. Hickman, that Marnie had been in possession of some valuable California real estate at various times.
Grace wrote:
"The Long Beach ranch of 25 acres, which she sold for $14,000 8 or 9 years ago would now bring $250,000...the Kings County land is a problem. There are nearly 500 acres...and the men up there only offered $2 or $2.50 per A." In the same letter, Grace states that Marnie had not been careful with her money: "She has thrown her money away, spent it on fine clothes and was surrounded by swindlers & sharpies, mediums and such..."
Grace also informed William that "Marnie still has her delusions about being a Huntington and informed me very solemnly that she was left on Hickman's doorstep in a basket. She introduces me to the nurses as her foster sister." Grace's letter was composed on "The New Stewart, San Bernardino, Cal" stationary. Grace had crossed out "San Bernardino" and had written under it "Los Angeles."
(The site of the former Stewart Hotel in San Barnardino, CA is now occupied by the Clarion (formerly Radisson) Hotel and Convention Center on E Street.)
I found a newspaper report that supported Grace's statements about "mediums, and such," In the 21 Oct 1908, Wed edition of the Los Angeles Times, announcing Marnie's death:
" The Woman in Black" bought a house at Second Street and Crescent Avenue in this city of Los Angeles where she lived for some years...she flooded newspaper offices with communications of an occult nature, signing herself "' 'Countess de La Tours.' "
Marnie was preceded in death by her parents, Henry John and Dulcenia SWEM Hicknan, sisters Catherine Coates "Kate" Hickman, Anna Herbert Hickman Golden, Lillian Reed Hickman, and an infant brother, Joseph Johnston Hickman.
Marnie died of cancer in Long Beach at the Patton Asylum of the Southern California Hospital at the age of 50. (One of the newspapers reported erroneously that she was thirty-nine.)
Marnie was survived by her brother, William Henry Hickman, her sister, Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey, and a half-sister, Cora Virginia Hickman. Marnie was cremated. Her ashes were buried at Spring Grove.
In our Black family tree, Marnie is my husband Bruce's maternal Great (2) Grand-Aunt.
I have often wondered if perhaps Marnie suffered from a type of brain cancer, which is possible given her delusional behavior prior to her death at such a young age.
As a young woman, Marnie moved to Long Beach, CA where she married Mr. Edwin E. Crandall, a wealthy dry goods merchant, partner in the Crandall and Lane Dry Goods business. She later divorced him. There is some evidence that her ex-husband survived until 1921. There were no children born of the marriage.
There were various reports in contemporary newspapers of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Bernardino CA that Marnie experienced delusions and may have been suffering from early onset dementia when she claimed to have been married to Henry E. Huntington, the railroad magnate, in 1905, that Mr. Hickman was not her father, that she was known as the widow of Mr. Crandall, and that grief had caused her to suffer from these "hallucinations." One report, dated Dec 1905, states that Marnie was "worth $100,000 in her own right..." (In today's dollars worth $2,863,704.55.) Another contemporary report stated that she had once been declared as having the second smallest foot on an American woman.
In a very long, now very fragile letter, dated October 8, 1908, Los Angeles, California, Marnie's sister Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey wrote to their brother, William H. Hickman, that Marnie had been in possession of some valuable California real estate at various times.
Grace wrote:
"The Long Beach ranch of 25 acres, which she sold for $14,000 8 or 9 years ago would now bring $250,000...the Kings County land is a problem. There are nearly 500 acres...and the men up there only offered $2 or $2.50 per A." In the same letter, Grace states that Marnie had not been careful with her money: "She has thrown her money away, spent it on fine clothes and was surrounded by swindlers & sharpies, mediums and such..."
Grace also informed William that "Marnie still has her delusions about being a Huntington and informed me very solemnly that she was left on Hickman's doorstep in a basket. She introduces me to the nurses as her foster sister." Grace's letter was composed on "The New Stewart, San Bernardino, Cal" stationary. Grace had crossed out "San Bernardino" and had written under it "Los Angeles."
(The site of the former Stewart Hotel in San Barnardino, CA is now occupied by the Clarion (formerly Radisson) Hotel and Convention Center on E Street.)
I found a newspaper report that supported Grace's statements about "mediums, and such," In the 21 Oct 1908, Wed edition of the Los Angeles Times, announcing Marnie's death:
" The Woman in Black" bought a house at Second Street and Crescent Avenue in this city of Los Angeles where she lived for some years...she flooded newspaper offices with communications of an occult nature, signing herself "' 'Countess de La Tours.' "
Marnie was preceded in death by her parents, Henry John and Dulcenia SWEM Hicknan, sisters Catherine Coates "Kate" Hickman, Anna Herbert Hickman Golden, Lillian Reed Hickman, and an infant brother, Joseph Johnston Hickman.
Marnie died of cancer in Long Beach at the Patton Asylum of the Southern California Hospital at the age of 50. (One of the newspapers reported erroneously that she was thirty-nine.)
Marnie was survived by her brother, William Henry Hickman, her sister, Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey, and a half-sister, Cora Virginia Hickman. Marnie was cremated. Her ashes were buried at Spring Grove.
In our Black family tree, Marnie is my husband Bruce's maternal Great (2) Grand-Aunt.
I have often wondered if perhaps Marnie suffered from a type of brain cancer, which is possible given her delusional behavior prior to her death at such a young age.
Mary Russell Hickman Crandall was born in Maysville, KY in 1858 to Henry John and Dulcinea Elizabeth Swem Hickman. Her family nicknamed her "Marnie."
As a young woman, Marnie moved to Long Beach, CA where she married Mr. Edwin E. Crandall, a wealthy dry goods merchant, partner in the Crandall and Lane Dry Goods business. She later divorced him. There is some evidence that her ex-husband survived until 1921. There were no children born of the marriage.
There were various reports in contemporary newspapers of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Bernardino CA that Marnie experienced delusions and may have been suffering from early onset dementia when she claimed to have been married to Henry E. Huntington, the railroad magnate, in 1905, that Mr. Hickman was not her father, that she was known as the widow of Mr. Crandall, and that grief had caused her to suffer from these "hallucinations." One report, dated Dec 1905, states that Marnie was "worth $100,000 in her own right..." (In today's dollars worth $2,863,704.55.) Another contemporary report stated that she had once been declared as having the second smallest foot on an American woman.
In a very long, now very fragile letter, dated October 8, 1908, Los Angeles, California, Marnie's sister Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey wrote to their brother, William H. Hickman, that Marnie had been in possession of some valuable California real estate at various times.
Grace wrote:
"The Long Beach ranch of 25 acres, which she sold for $14,000 8 or 9 years ago would now bring $250,000...the Kings County land is a problem. There are nearly 500 acres...and the men up there only offered $2 or $2.50 per A." In the same letter, Grace states that Marnie had not been careful with her money: "She has thrown her money away, spent it on fine clothes and was surrounded by swindlers & sharpies, mediums and such..."
Grace also informed William that "Marnie still has her delusions about being a Huntington and informed me very solemnly that she was left on Hickman's doorstep in a basket. She introduces me to the nurses as her foster sister." Grace's letter was composed on "The New Stewart, San Bernardino, Cal" stationary. Grace had crossed out "San Bernardino" and had written under it "Los Angeles."
(The site of the former Stewart Hotel in San Barnardino, CA is now occupied by the Clarion (formerly Radisson) Hotel and Convention Center on E Street.)
I found a newspaper report that supported Grace's statements about "mediums, and such," In the 21 Oct 1908, Wed edition of the Los Angeles Times, announcing Marnie's death:
" The Woman in Black" bought a house at Second Street and Crescent Avenue in this city of Los Angeles where she lived for some years...she flooded newspaper offices with communications of an occult nature, signing herself "' 'Countess de La Tours.' "
Marnie was preceded in death by her parents, Henry John and Dulcenia SWEM Hicknan, sisters Catherine Coates "Kate" Hickman, Anna Herbert Hickman Golden, Lillian Reed Hickman, and an infant brother, Joseph Johnston Hickman.
Marnie died of cancer in Long Beach at the Patton Asylum of the Southern California Hospital at the age of 50. (One of the newspapers reported erroneously that she was thirty-nine.)
Marnie was survived by her brother, William Henry Hickman, her sister, Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey, and a half-sister, Cora Virginia Hickman. Marnie was cremated. Her ashes were buried at Spring Grove.
In our Black family tree, Marnie is my husband Bruce's maternal Great (2) Grand-Aunt.
I have often wondered if perhaps Marnie suffered from a type of brain cancer, which is possible given her delusional behavior prior to her death at such a young age.
As a young woman, Marnie moved to Long Beach, CA where she married Mr. Edwin E. Crandall, a wealthy dry goods merchant, partner in the Crandall and Lane Dry Goods business. She later divorced him. There is some evidence that her ex-husband survived until 1921. There were no children born of the marriage.
There were various reports in contemporary newspapers of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Bernardino CA that Marnie experienced delusions and may have been suffering from early onset dementia when she claimed to have been married to Henry E. Huntington, the railroad magnate, in 1905, that Mr. Hickman was not her father, that she was known as the widow of Mr. Crandall, and that grief had caused her to suffer from these "hallucinations." One report, dated Dec 1905, states that Marnie was "worth $100,000 in her own right..." (In today's dollars worth $2,863,704.55.) Another contemporary report stated that she had once been declared as having the second smallest foot on an American woman.
In a very long, now very fragile letter, dated October 8, 1908, Los Angeles, California, Marnie's sister Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey wrote to their brother, William H. Hickman, that Marnie had been in possession of some valuable California real estate at various times.
Grace wrote:
"The Long Beach ranch of 25 acres, which she sold for $14,000 8 or 9 years ago would now bring $250,000...the Kings County land is a problem. There are nearly 500 acres...and the men up there only offered $2 or $2.50 per A." In the same letter, Grace states that Marnie had not been careful with her money: "She has thrown her money away, spent it on fine clothes and was surrounded by swindlers & sharpies, mediums and such..."
Grace also informed William that "Marnie still has her delusions about being a Huntington and informed me very solemnly that she was left on Hickman's doorstep in a basket. She introduces me to the nurses as her foster sister." Grace's letter was composed on "The New Stewart, San Bernardino, Cal" stationary. Grace had crossed out "San Bernardino" and had written under it "Los Angeles."
(The site of the former Stewart Hotel in San Barnardino, CA is now occupied by the Clarion (formerly Radisson) Hotel and Convention Center on E Street.)
I found a newspaper report that supported Grace's statements about "mediums, and such," In the 21 Oct 1908, Wed edition of the Los Angeles Times, announcing Marnie's death:
" The Woman in Black" bought a house at Second Street and Crescent Avenue in this city of Los Angeles where she lived for some years...she flooded newspaper offices with communications of an occult nature, signing herself "' 'Countess de La Tours.' "
Marnie was preceded in death by her parents, Henry John and Dulcenia SWEM Hicknan, sisters Catherine Coates "Kate" Hickman, Anna Herbert Hickman Golden, Lillian Reed Hickman, and an infant brother, Joseph Johnston Hickman.
Marnie died of cancer in Long Beach at the Patton Asylum of the Southern California Hospital at the age of 50. (One of the newspapers reported erroneously that she was thirty-nine.)
Marnie was survived by her brother, William Henry Hickman, her sister, Grace Stemmons Hickman Dewey, and a half-sister, Cora Virginia Hickman. Marnie was cremated. Her ashes were buried at Spring Grove.
In our Black family tree, Marnie is my husband Bruce's maternal Great (2) Grand-Aunt.
I have often wondered if perhaps Marnie suffered from a type of brain cancer, which is possible given her delusional behavior prior to her death at such a young age.
Gravesite Details
Spring Grove Interment ID: 78350
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