San Francisco Call, Monday, December 18, 1899, Page 7, Image 7, Column 2 -
HIS WIFE REFUSED HIM
A DRINK OF WATER
---
An Old Man Found in a Dying
Condition in a Woodshed
ALAMEDA, Dec. 17 - William Abjohn, an aged man, was found by the police in a woodshed in the rear of the residence at 1360 Broadway. He was suffering from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. The place where Abjohn was found was not a fit habitation for a dog. He was without blankets, food or medicine. His bed consisted of an old mattress in one corner of the shed. During the night he had rolled on to the floor and injured himself so that he was unable to get back on his couch. Mrs. Abjohn resides a short distance from where the old man was found. She was informed of her husband¡¦s condition, but would do nothing for him. The report at the police station says that she even refused to give him a drink of water.
Abjohn is about 60 years of age and for years has been a character about town. He had accumulated a little real estate and owned a house at 1326 Broadway, but this is now in the possession of his wife. The couple was married about twenty years ago and through their family brawls have been frequently before the public of the Encinal. The physicians say that Abjohn cannot recover.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, December 20, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 & 3 -
LIVED IN A HUT UNFIT FOR HABITATION
ALAMEDA, Dec. 19 - Living in a hovel without the necessities, much less the comforts of life, Health Officer Stidham found William Abjohn, and had him removed to the Oakland Receiving Hospital, where the old man is now dying from pneumonia contracted in the hut in which he lived. This discovery by the Health Officer has disclosed a remarkable and unusual family condition. William Abjohn and his wife have lived for years within four doors of each other, the wife in a house of her own, and the husband in a little hut in the rear of the homestead, which has been placed in his wife¡¦s name and which is now rented. While they have lived thus for years, the wife never visited her husband and he never visited her, unless he got drunk and then he was always arrested for his visit.
Health Officer Stidham was notified last Sunday that the old man was sick in the hut in which he had been living, and visiting the place Mr. Stedham found that the old man was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and pneumonia, and that the place where he was staying was not fit for a well person, much less a sick man. He then ordered him removed to Oakland, where he is now being cared for.
Abjohn and his wife have been separated for several years, and so complete was this estrangement that she did not even visit him when he was taken sick, and the old man told the Alameda police that he had called at her house before he went to his hut and she would not give him a drink of water.
Mrs. Abjohn does not deny these statements, but says that she has been so badly treated by her husband that she wants nothing more to do with him.
"He has beaten me and broken the windows and furniture in my house, and has so ill-treated me that I cannot longer care for him. While we are not divorced I do not regard him as my husband."
Mrs. Abjohn called at the Receiving Hospital in Oakland tonight for the first time since her husband was taken sick. She refused to see him and left orders what to do with him should he die.
"If Mr. Abjohn dies I would like to have him sent to St. Mary's Cemetery," said an elderly woman, who did not introduce herself to Steward Borchert tonight.
"But the man is not dead yet." Said the steward in surprise, "and he must have some relatives. Are you a relative of his?"
"Not a blood relative." replied the woman.
"Well, we will have to see his wife," Mr. Borchert.
"I was his wife, but we are not living together." replied the woman.
"Would you like to see him?" asked the steward.
"No. I don't care to go in." said Mrs. Abjohn and she left, having merely made arrangements for his funeral while he was still alive.
Health Officer Stidham has ordered the hovel in which the old man lived cleaned, and has declared it unfit for habitation and will allow no one to occupy it in the future.
"I have very little hope of living and no regrets if I should die." said Abjohn today, as he lay on a cot at the Receiving Hospital. "Death would now he the greatest satisfaction of a life that has been full of mistakes. I would rather be dead ten times over than ever go back to my wife. It has been one continual battle between us and it is well that we are the only two fools perhaps, for we have neither friends nor enemies. Three times she has tried to get a divorce, because she says I was cruel, but she failed. I would not try to get one from her because I didn't think it worth the while, and any way all she wants is the property, worth about $4,000. I bought the property with my earnings from the railroad."
"But what is the use, of talking about her? It will all be over soon."
"We were married thirty years ago and I always worked hard and saved considerable money. I have also blowed in a good deal of money, but I am sorry as I lie here dying that I didn't blow myself for every cent I ever had."
San Francisco Call, Thursday, December 21, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 6 -
ABJOHN PASSED
AWAY, ALONE, AT
CITY HOSPITAL
---
Death of a Familiar
Character
---
OAKLAND, Dec. 20 - William Abjohn died at the early this evening with only the hospital attendants at his bedside. Death was due to pneumonia, with pleurisy and complications of inflammatory rheumatism, the result of being compelled to sleep in an old shed at the rear of his home on Broadway in Alameda, where for years he had been a familiar character. He had complained to the Alameda police of his wife's cruelty, and although he owned property valued at several thousand dollars, he was admitted to the Receiving Hospital for treatment on permission of Supervisor Mitchell.
Yesterday Mrs. Abjohn called at the hospital to request that when her husband died he should be buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. She announced, too, that he had requested a priest to administer the last rites and engaged an undertaker, but she did not care to see her husband.
Abjohn was a native of County Kerry, Ireland, age about 62 years, and had resided in Alameda for over 25 years, working for the railroad.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14164, Tuesday, 12 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Katharine Gillard was arrested yesterday on a charge of grand larceny, preferred by William Abjohn. He claims that Katharine stole $155 from him, being his savings of two years' hard labor.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14167, Friday, 15 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Yesterday the Abjohn boy, killed by the cars Tuesday night, was interred in Mountain View Cemetery. The corpse of deceased was the subject of much contention before the funeral. The father is a Protestant and the mother a Catholic. She wanted the boy laid in St. Mary's Cemetery. Abjohn bought a casket and placing therein the dead boy conveyed the coffin to his home in Alameda. During his absence from the house Mrs. Abjohn had the body taken to a local undertaker's. Much trouble ensued, but the father ultimately won his point. [Editor's Note: No, he did not. All the Abjohn's are buried at St. Mary's cemetery.]
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14171, Tuesday, 19 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The much afflicted Abjohn family received another blow yesterday by the death of Mary Abjohn from consumption. She was a sister of the little boy who was killed a little over a week ago.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 152, Saturday, 1 June 1889, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
William [John] Abjohn, a street laborer, and John O'Brien, a sail maker, are neighbors on Broadway. Their wives got into a dispute over the ownership of an egg. A hen of Mrs. Abjohn flew over the fence into the O'Brien yard, and laid the egg. Mrs. O'Brien claimed it because she found it in her yard. The two indulged in a war of words, and then referred the subject to their husbands for further discussion. These two decided to fight it out, and stripping themselves to the waist proceeded to the middle of Broadway and battered each other until separated by a police officer. They were booked at the City Prison for disturbing the peace.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 161, Monday, 10 June 1889, Page 5, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The trial of William Abjohn on the charge of battery will take place in Justice Byler's Court next Wednesday evening. Abjohn is the man who had a quarrel with his neighbor, John O'Brien, over the ownership of a hen's egg.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, October 23, 1895, Page 13, Image 13, Column 5 –
A Dramatic Defense
William Abjohn was arrested this afternoon on a charge of disturbing the peace of his wife. The couple has publicly aired their troubles several times, and the jury thought that both were to blame and Abjohn was discharged. The defendant made a dramatic and laughable speech in his own behalf.
San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 3, Wednesday, 3 June 1896, Page 14, Column 2 –
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Catherine Abjohn to Innocent Lagorio, lot on NE line of Calhoun and Regent Streets, E 106:10 by N 50:10, being the west 106:10 of lot 3, Boulevard Tract, Alameda; $800.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, December 1, 1896, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 –
Alameda Brevities
William Abjohn, charged with disturbing the peace, was acquitted by a Jury yesterday.
San Francisco Call, Thursday, March 15, 1900, Image 9, Column 4 –
ABJOHN HOUSE FIRED
BY AN INCENDIARY
ALAMEDA, March 14 — The old house formerly occupied by the Abjohn family at 1326 Broadway, was fired by an incendiary last night. It has not been occupied for more than a month and is isolated. Chief Krauth of the Fire Department is of the opinion that some miscreant maliciously set fire to a lot of bedding in the basement, for the fun of seeing a blaze and calling out the department. Two men were seen running away from the scene of the fire by Mrs. D. G. Alexander of 1240 Broadway, but she could not identify them.
San Francisco Call, Friday, March 21, 1913, Page 5, Image 21, Column 3 –
Alameda News Notes
Mrs. Catherine Abjohn, whose husband, the late William Abjohn, was one of the early day residents of Alameda, was taken to the detention ward in the county receiving hospital in Oakland to be examined as to her sanity. When searched at the police station she was found to have a purse containing $350 and a bank book showing a deposit of $1,228.60.
HIS WIFE REFUSED HIM
A DRINK OF WATER
---
An Old Man Found in a Dying
Condition in a Woodshed
ALAMEDA, Dec. 17 - William Abjohn, an aged man, was found by the police in a woodshed in the rear of the residence at 1360 Broadway. He was suffering from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. The place where Abjohn was found was not a fit habitation for a dog. He was without blankets, food or medicine. His bed consisted of an old mattress in one corner of the shed. During the night he had rolled on to the floor and injured himself so that he was unable to get back on his couch. Mrs. Abjohn resides a short distance from where the old man was found. She was informed of her husband¡¦s condition, but would do nothing for him. The report at the police station says that she even refused to give him a drink of water.
Abjohn is about 60 years of age and for years has been a character about town. He had accumulated a little real estate and owned a house at 1326 Broadway, but this is now in the possession of his wife. The couple was married about twenty years ago and through their family brawls have been frequently before the public of the Encinal. The physicians say that Abjohn cannot recover.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, December 20, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 & 3 -
LIVED IN A HUT UNFIT FOR HABITATION
ALAMEDA, Dec. 19 - Living in a hovel without the necessities, much less the comforts of life, Health Officer Stidham found William Abjohn, and had him removed to the Oakland Receiving Hospital, where the old man is now dying from pneumonia contracted in the hut in which he lived. This discovery by the Health Officer has disclosed a remarkable and unusual family condition. William Abjohn and his wife have lived for years within four doors of each other, the wife in a house of her own, and the husband in a little hut in the rear of the homestead, which has been placed in his wife¡¦s name and which is now rented. While they have lived thus for years, the wife never visited her husband and he never visited her, unless he got drunk and then he was always arrested for his visit.
Health Officer Stidham was notified last Sunday that the old man was sick in the hut in which he had been living, and visiting the place Mr. Stedham found that the old man was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and pneumonia, and that the place where he was staying was not fit for a well person, much less a sick man. He then ordered him removed to Oakland, where he is now being cared for.
Abjohn and his wife have been separated for several years, and so complete was this estrangement that she did not even visit him when he was taken sick, and the old man told the Alameda police that he had called at her house before he went to his hut and she would not give him a drink of water.
Mrs. Abjohn does not deny these statements, but says that she has been so badly treated by her husband that she wants nothing more to do with him.
"He has beaten me and broken the windows and furniture in my house, and has so ill-treated me that I cannot longer care for him. While we are not divorced I do not regard him as my husband."
Mrs. Abjohn called at the Receiving Hospital in Oakland tonight for the first time since her husband was taken sick. She refused to see him and left orders what to do with him should he die.
"If Mr. Abjohn dies I would like to have him sent to St. Mary's Cemetery," said an elderly woman, who did not introduce herself to Steward Borchert tonight.
"But the man is not dead yet." Said the steward in surprise, "and he must have some relatives. Are you a relative of his?"
"Not a blood relative." replied the woman.
"Well, we will have to see his wife," Mr. Borchert.
"I was his wife, but we are not living together." replied the woman.
"Would you like to see him?" asked the steward.
"No. I don't care to go in." said Mrs. Abjohn and she left, having merely made arrangements for his funeral while he was still alive.
Health Officer Stidham has ordered the hovel in which the old man lived cleaned, and has declared it unfit for habitation and will allow no one to occupy it in the future.
"I have very little hope of living and no regrets if I should die." said Abjohn today, as he lay on a cot at the Receiving Hospital. "Death would now he the greatest satisfaction of a life that has been full of mistakes. I would rather be dead ten times over than ever go back to my wife. It has been one continual battle between us and it is well that we are the only two fools perhaps, for we have neither friends nor enemies. Three times she has tried to get a divorce, because she says I was cruel, but she failed. I would not try to get one from her because I didn't think it worth the while, and any way all she wants is the property, worth about $4,000. I bought the property with my earnings from the railroad."
"But what is the use, of talking about her? It will all be over soon."
"We were married thirty years ago and I always worked hard and saved considerable money. I have also blowed in a good deal of money, but I am sorry as I lie here dying that I didn't blow myself for every cent I ever had."
San Francisco Call, Thursday, December 21, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 6 -
ABJOHN PASSED
AWAY, ALONE, AT
CITY HOSPITAL
---
Death of a Familiar
Character
---
OAKLAND, Dec. 20 - William Abjohn died at the early this evening with only the hospital attendants at his bedside. Death was due to pneumonia, with pleurisy and complications of inflammatory rheumatism, the result of being compelled to sleep in an old shed at the rear of his home on Broadway in Alameda, where for years he had been a familiar character. He had complained to the Alameda police of his wife's cruelty, and although he owned property valued at several thousand dollars, he was admitted to the Receiving Hospital for treatment on permission of Supervisor Mitchell.
Yesterday Mrs. Abjohn called at the hospital to request that when her husband died he should be buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. She announced, too, that he had requested a priest to administer the last rites and engaged an undertaker, but she did not care to see her husband.
Abjohn was a native of County Kerry, Ireland, age about 62 years, and had resided in Alameda for over 25 years, working for the railroad.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14164, Tuesday, 12 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Katharine Gillard was arrested yesterday on a charge of grand larceny, preferred by William Abjohn. He claims that Katharine stole $155 from him, being his savings of two years' hard labor.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14167, Friday, 15 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Yesterday the Abjohn boy, killed by the cars Tuesday night, was interred in Mountain View Cemetery. The corpse of deceased was the subject of much contention before the funeral. The father is a Protestant and the mother a Catholic. She wanted the boy laid in St. Mary's Cemetery. Abjohn bought a casket and placing therein the dead boy conveyed the coffin to his home in Alameda. During his absence from the house Mrs. Abjohn had the body taken to a local undertaker's. Much trouble ensued, but the father ultimately won his point. [Editor's Note: No, he did not. All the Abjohn's are buried at St. Mary's cemetery.]
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14171, Tuesday, 19 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The much afflicted Abjohn family received another blow yesterday by the death of Mary Abjohn from consumption. She was a sister of the little boy who was killed a little over a week ago.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 152, Saturday, 1 June 1889, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
William [John] Abjohn, a street laborer, and John O'Brien, a sail maker, are neighbors on Broadway. Their wives got into a dispute over the ownership of an egg. A hen of Mrs. Abjohn flew over the fence into the O'Brien yard, and laid the egg. Mrs. O'Brien claimed it because she found it in her yard. The two indulged in a war of words, and then referred the subject to their husbands for further discussion. These two decided to fight it out, and stripping themselves to the waist proceeded to the middle of Broadway and battered each other until separated by a police officer. They were booked at the City Prison for disturbing the peace.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 161, Monday, 10 June 1889, Page 5, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The trial of William Abjohn on the charge of battery will take place in Justice Byler's Court next Wednesday evening. Abjohn is the man who had a quarrel with his neighbor, John O'Brien, over the ownership of a hen's egg.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, October 23, 1895, Page 13, Image 13, Column 5 –
A Dramatic Defense
William Abjohn was arrested this afternoon on a charge of disturbing the peace of his wife. The couple has publicly aired their troubles several times, and the jury thought that both were to blame and Abjohn was discharged. The defendant made a dramatic and laughable speech in his own behalf.
San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 3, Wednesday, 3 June 1896, Page 14, Column 2 –
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Catherine Abjohn to Innocent Lagorio, lot on NE line of Calhoun and Regent Streets, E 106:10 by N 50:10, being the west 106:10 of lot 3, Boulevard Tract, Alameda; $800.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, December 1, 1896, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 –
Alameda Brevities
William Abjohn, charged with disturbing the peace, was acquitted by a Jury yesterday.
San Francisco Call, Thursday, March 15, 1900, Image 9, Column 4 –
ABJOHN HOUSE FIRED
BY AN INCENDIARY
ALAMEDA, March 14 — The old house formerly occupied by the Abjohn family at 1326 Broadway, was fired by an incendiary last night. It has not been occupied for more than a month and is isolated. Chief Krauth of the Fire Department is of the opinion that some miscreant maliciously set fire to a lot of bedding in the basement, for the fun of seeing a blaze and calling out the department. Two men were seen running away from the scene of the fire by Mrs. D. G. Alexander of 1240 Broadway, but she could not identify them.
San Francisco Call, Friday, March 21, 1913, Page 5, Image 21, Column 3 –
Alameda News Notes
Mrs. Catherine Abjohn, whose husband, the late William Abjohn, was one of the early day residents of Alameda, was taken to the detention ward in the county receiving hospital in Oakland to be examined as to her sanity. When searched at the police station she was found to have a purse containing $350 and a bank book showing a deposit of $1,228.60.
San Francisco Call, Monday, December 18, 1899, Page 7, Image 7, Column 2 -
HIS WIFE REFUSED HIM
A DRINK OF WATER
---
An Old Man Found in a Dying
Condition in a Woodshed
ALAMEDA, Dec. 17 - William Abjohn, an aged man, was found by the police in a woodshed in the rear of the residence at 1360 Broadway. He was suffering from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. The place where Abjohn was found was not a fit habitation for a dog. He was without blankets, food or medicine. His bed consisted of an old mattress in one corner of the shed. During the night he had rolled on to the floor and injured himself so that he was unable to get back on his couch. Mrs. Abjohn resides a short distance from where the old man was found. She was informed of her husband¡¦s condition, but would do nothing for him. The report at the police station says that she even refused to give him a drink of water.
Abjohn is about 60 years of age and for years has been a character about town. He had accumulated a little real estate and owned a house at 1326 Broadway, but this is now in the possession of his wife. The couple was married about twenty years ago and through their family brawls have been frequently before the public of the Encinal. The physicians say that Abjohn cannot recover.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, December 20, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 & 3 -
LIVED IN A HUT UNFIT FOR HABITATION
ALAMEDA, Dec. 19 - Living in a hovel without the necessities, much less the comforts of life, Health Officer Stidham found William Abjohn, and had him removed to the Oakland Receiving Hospital, where the old man is now dying from pneumonia contracted in the hut in which he lived. This discovery by the Health Officer has disclosed a remarkable and unusual family condition. William Abjohn and his wife have lived for years within four doors of each other, the wife in a house of her own, and the husband in a little hut in the rear of the homestead, which has been placed in his wife¡¦s name and which is now rented. While they have lived thus for years, the wife never visited her husband and he never visited her, unless he got drunk and then he was always arrested for his visit.
Health Officer Stidham was notified last Sunday that the old man was sick in the hut in which he had been living, and visiting the place Mr. Stedham found that the old man was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and pneumonia, and that the place where he was staying was not fit for a well person, much less a sick man. He then ordered him removed to Oakland, where he is now being cared for.
Abjohn and his wife have been separated for several years, and so complete was this estrangement that she did not even visit him when he was taken sick, and the old man told the Alameda police that he had called at her house before he went to his hut and she would not give him a drink of water.
Mrs. Abjohn does not deny these statements, but says that she has been so badly treated by her husband that she wants nothing more to do with him.
"He has beaten me and broken the windows and furniture in my house, and has so ill-treated me that I cannot longer care for him. While we are not divorced I do not regard him as my husband."
Mrs. Abjohn called at the Receiving Hospital in Oakland tonight for the first time since her husband was taken sick. She refused to see him and left orders what to do with him should he die.
"If Mr. Abjohn dies I would like to have him sent to St. Mary's Cemetery," said an elderly woman, who did not introduce herself to Steward Borchert tonight.
"But the man is not dead yet." Said the steward in surprise, "and he must have some relatives. Are you a relative of his?"
"Not a blood relative." replied the woman.
"Well, we will have to see his wife," Mr. Borchert.
"I was his wife, but we are not living together." replied the woman.
"Would you like to see him?" asked the steward.
"No. I don't care to go in." said Mrs. Abjohn and she left, having merely made arrangements for his funeral while he was still alive.
Health Officer Stidham has ordered the hovel in which the old man lived cleaned, and has declared it unfit for habitation and will allow no one to occupy it in the future.
"I have very little hope of living and no regrets if I should die." said Abjohn today, as he lay on a cot at the Receiving Hospital. "Death would now he the greatest satisfaction of a life that has been full of mistakes. I would rather be dead ten times over than ever go back to my wife. It has been one continual battle between us and it is well that we are the only two fools perhaps, for we have neither friends nor enemies. Three times she has tried to get a divorce, because she says I was cruel, but she failed. I would not try to get one from her because I didn't think it worth the while, and any way all she wants is the property, worth about $4,000. I bought the property with my earnings from the railroad."
"But what is the use, of talking about her? It will all be over soon."
"We were married thirty years ago and I always worked hard and saved considerable money. I have also blowed in a good deal of money, but I am sorry as I lie here dying that I didn't blow myself for every cent I ever had."
San Francisco Call, Thursday, December 21, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 6 -
ABJOHN PASSED
AWAY, ALONE, AT
CITY HOSPITAL
---
Death of a Familiar
Character
---
OAKLAND, Dec. 20 - William Abjohn died at the early this evening with only the hospital attendants at his bedside. Death was due to pneumonia, with pleurisy and complications of inflammatory rheumatism, the result of being compelled to sleep in an old shed at the rear of his home on Broadway in Alameda, where for years he had been a familiar character. He had complained to the Alameda police of his wife's cruelty, and although he owned property valued at several thousand dollars, he was admitted to the Receiving Hospital for treatment on permission of Supervisor Mitchell.
Yesterday Mrs. Abjohn called at the hospital to request that when her husband died he should be buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. She announced, too, that he had requested a priest to administer the last rites and engaged an undertaker, but she did not care to see her husband.
Abjohn was a native of County Kerry, Ireland, age about 62 years, and had resided in Alameda for over 25 years, working for the railroad.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14164, Tuesday, 12 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Katharine Gillard was arrested yesterday on a charge of grand larceny, preferred by William Abjohn. He claims that Katharine stole $155 from him, being his savings of two years' hard labor.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14167, Friday, 15 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Yesterday the Abjohn boy, killed by the cars Tuesday night, was interred in Mountain View Cemetery. The corpse of deceased was the subject of much contention before the funeral. The father is a Protestant and the mother a Catholic. She wanted the boy laid in St. Mary's Cemetery. Abjohn bought a casket and placing therein the dead boy conveyed the coffin to his home in Alameda. During his absence from the house Mrs. Abjohn had the body taken to a local undertaker's. Much trouble ensued, but the father ultimately won his point. [Editor's Note: No, he did not. All the Abjohn's are buried at St. Mary's cemetery.]
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14171, Tuesday, 19 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The much afflicted Abjohn family received another blow yesterday by the death of Mary Abjohn from consumption. She was a sister of the little boy who was killed a little over a week ago.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 152, Saturday, 1 June 1889, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
William [John] Abjohn, a street laborer, and John O'Brien, a sail maker, are neighbors on Broadway. Their wives got into a dispute over the ownership of an egg. A hen of Mrs. Abjohn flew over the fence into the O'Brien yard, and laid the egg. Mrs. O'Brien claimed it because she found it in her yard. The two indulged in a war of words, and then referred the subject to their husbands for further discussion. These two decided to fight it out, and stripping themselves to the waist proceeded to the middle of Broadway and battered each other until separated by a police officer. They were booked at the City Prison for disturbing the peace.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 161, Monday, 10 June 1889, Page 5, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The trial of William Abjohn on the charge of battery will take place in Justice Byler's Court next Wednesday evening. Abjohn is the man who had a quarrel with his neighbor, John O'Brien, over the ownership of a hen's egg.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, October 23, 1895, Page 13, Image 13, Column 5 –
A Dramatic Defense
William Abjohn was arrested this afternoon on a charge of disturbing the peace of his wife. The couple has publicly aired their troubles several times, and the jury thought that both were to blame and Abjohn was discharged. The defendant made a dramatic and laughable speech in his own behalf.
San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 3, Wednesday, 3 June 1896, Page 14, Column 2 –
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Catherine Abjohn to Innocent Lagorio, lot on NE line of Calhoun and Regent Streets, E 106:10 by N 50:10, being the west 106:10 of lot 3, Boulevard Tract, Alameda; $800.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, December 1, 1896, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 –
Alameda Brevities
William Abjohn, charged with disturbing the peace, was acquitted by a Jury yesterday.
San Francisco Call, Thursday, March 15, 1900, Image 9, Column 4 –
ABJOHN HOUSE FIRED
BY AN INCENDIARY
ALAMEDA, March 14 — The old house formerly occupied by the Abjohn family at 1326 Broadway, was fired by an incendiary last night. It has not been occupied for more than a month and is isolated. Chief Krauth of the Fire Department is of the opinion that some miscreant maliciously set fire to a lot of bedding in the basement, for the fun of seeing a blaze and calling out the department. Two men were seen running away from the scene of the fire by Mrs. D. G. Alexander of 1240 Broadway, but she could not identify them.
San Francisco Call, Friday, March 21, 1913, Page 5, Image 21, Column 3 –
Alameda News Notes
Mrs. Catherine Abjohn, whose husband, the late William Abjohn, was one of the early day residents of Alameda, was taken to the detention ward in the county receiving hospital in Oakland to be examined as to her sanity. When searched at the police station she was found to have a purse containing $350 and a bank book showing a deposit of $1,228.60.
HIS WIFE REFUSED HIM
A DRINK OF WATER
---
An Old Man Found in a Dying
Condition in a Woodshed
ALAMEDA, Dec. 17 - William Abjohn, an aged man, was found by the police in a woodshed in the rear of the residence at 1360 Broadway. He was suffering from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. The place where Abjohn was found was not a fit habitation for a dog. He was without blankets, food or medicine. His bed consisted of an old mattress in one corner of the shed. During the night he had rolled on to the floor and injured himself so that he was unable to get back on his couch. Mrs. Abjohn resides a short distance from where the old man was found. She was informed of her husband¡¦s condition, but would do nothing for him. The report at the police station says that she even refused to give him a drink of water.
Abjohn is about 60 years of age and for years has been a character about town. He had accumulated a little real estate and owned a house at 1326 Broadway, but this is now in the possession of his wife. The couple was married about twenty years ago and through their family brawls have been frequently before the public of the Encinal. The physicians say that Abjohn cannot recover.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, December 20, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 & 3 -
LIVED IN A HUT UNFIT FOR HABITATION
ALAMEDA, Dec. 19 - Living in a hovel without the necessities, much less the comforts of life, Health Officer Stidham found William Abjohn, and had him removed to the Oakland Receiving Hospital, where the old man is now dying from pneumonia contracted in the hut in which he lived. This discovery by the Health Officer has disclosed a remarkable and unusual family condition. William Abjohn and his wife have lived for years within four doors of each other, the wife in a house of her own, and the husband in a little hut in the rear of the homestead, which has been placed in his wife¡¦s name and which is now rented. While they have lived thus for years, the wife never visited her husband and he never visited her, unless he got drunk and then he was always arrested for his visit.
Health Officer Stidham was notified last Sunday that the old man was sick in the hut in which he had been living, and visiting the place Mr. Stedham found that the old man was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and pneumonia, and that the place where he was staying was not fit for a well person, much less a sick man. He then ordered him removed to Oakland, where he is now being cared for.
Abjohn and his wife have been separated for several years, and so complete was this estrangement that she did not even visit him when he was taken sick, and the old man told the Alameda police that he had called at her house before he went to his hut and she would not give him a drink of water.
Mrs. Abjohn does not deny these statements, but says that she has been so badly treated by her husband that she wants nothing more to do with him.
"He has beaten me and broken the windows and furniture in my house, and has so ill-treated me that I cannot longer care for him. While we are not divorced I do not regard him as my husband."
Mrs. Abjohn called at the Receiving Hospital in Oakland tonight for the first time since her husband was taken sick. She refused to see him and left orders what to do with him should he die.
"If Mr. Abjohn dies I would like to have him sent to St. Mary's Cemetery," said an elderly woman, who did not introduce herself to Steward Borchert tonight.
"But the man is not dead yet." Said the steward in surprise, "and he must have some relatives. Are you a relative of his?"
"Not a blood relative." replied the woman.
"Well, we will have to see his wife," Mr. Borchert.
"I was his wife, but we are not living together." replied the woman.
"Would you like to see him?" asked the steward.
"No. I don't care to go in." said Mrs. Abjohn and she left, having merely made arrangements for his funeral while he was still alive.
Health Officer Stidham has ordered the hovel in which the old man lived cleaned, and has declared it unfit for habitation and will allow no one to occupy it in the future.
"I have very little hope of living and no regrets if I should die." said Abjohn today, as he lay on a cot at the Receiving Hospital. "Death would now he the greatest satisfaction of a life that has been full of mistakes. I would rather be dead ten times over than ever go back to my wife. It has been one continual battle between us and it is well that we are the only two fools perhaps, for we have neither friends nor enemies. Three times she has tried to get a divorce, because she says I was cruel, but she failed. I would not try to get one from her because I didn't think it worth the while, and any way all she wants is the property, worth about $4,000. I bought the property with my earnings from the railroad."
"But what is the use, of talking about her? It will all be over soon."
"We were married thirty years ago and I always worked hard and saved considerable money. I have also blowed in a good deal of money, but I am sorry as I lie here dying that I didn't blow myself for every cent I ever had."
San Francisco Call, Thursday, December 21, 1899, Page 11, Image 11, Column 6 -
ABJOHN PASSED
AWAY, ALONE, AT
CITY HOSPITAL
---
Death of a Familiar
Character
---
OAKLAND, Dec. 20 - William Abjohn died at the early this evening with only the hospital attendants at his bedside. Death was due to pneumonia, with pleurisy and complications of inflammatory rheumatism, the result of being compelled to sleep in an old shed at the rear of his home on Broadway in Alameda, where for years he had been a familiar character. He had complained to the Alameda police of his wife's cruelty, and although he owned property valued at several thousand dollars, he was admitted to the Receiving Hospital for treatment on permission of Supervisor Mitchell.
Yesterday Mrs. Abjohn called at the hospital to request that when her husband died he should be buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. She announced, too, that he had requested a priest to administer the last rites and engaged an undertaker, but she did not care to see her husband.
Abjohn was a native of County Kerry, Ireland, age about 62 years, and had resided in Alameda for over 25 years, working for the railroad.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14164, Tuesday, 12 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Katharine Gillard was arrested yesterday on a charge of grand larceny, preferred by William Abjohn. He claims that Katharine stole $155 from him, being his savings of two years' hard labor.
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14167, Friday, 15 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
Yesterday the Abjohn boy, killed by the cars Tuesday night, was interred in Mountain View Cemetery. The corpse of deceased was the subject of much contention before the funeral. The father is a Protestant and the mother a Catholic. She wanted the boy laid in St. Mary's Cemetery. Abjohn bought a casket and placing therein the dead boy conveyed the coffin to his home in Alameda. During his absence from the house Mrs. Abjohn had the body taken to a local undertaker's. Much trouble ensued, but the father ultimately won his point. [Editor's Note: No, he did not. All the Abjohn's are buried at St. Mary's cemetery.]
Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14171, Tuesday, 19 June 1888, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The much afflicted Abjohn family received another blow yesterday by the death of Mary Abjohn from consumption. She was a sister of the little boy who was killed a little over a week ago.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 152, Saturday, 1 June 1889, Page 8, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
William [John] Abjohn, a street laborer, and John O'Brien, a sail maker, are neighbors on Broadway. Their wives got into a dispute over the ownership of an egg. A hen of Mrs. Abjohn flew over the fence into the O'Brien yard, and laid the egg. Mrs. O'Brien claimed it because she found it in her yard. The two indulged in a war of words, and then referred the subject to their husbands for further discussion. These two decided to fight it out, and stripping themselves to the waist proceeded to the middle of Broadway and battered each other until separated by a police officer. They were booked at the City Prison for disturbing the peace.
Daily Alta California, Volume 80, Number 161, Monday, 10 June 1889, Page 5, Column 1 –
THE EASTERN SHORE
─────
News from Alameda, Berkeley,
Oakland and Environs
─────
Alameda
─────
The trial of William Abjohn on the charge of battery will take place in Justice Byler's Court next Wednesday evening. Abjohn is the man who had a quarrel with his neighbor, John O'Brien, over the ownership of a hen's egg.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, October 23, 1895, Page 13, Image 13, Column 5 –
A Dramatic Defense
William Abjohn was arrested this afternoon on a charge of disturbing the peace of his wife. The couple has publicly aired their troubles several times, and the jury thought that both were to blame and Abjohn was discharged. The defendant made a dramatic and laughable speech in his own behalf.
San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 3, Wednesday, 3 June 1896, Page 14, Column 2 –
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Catherine Abjohn to Innocent Lagorio, lot on NE line of Calhoun and Regent Streets, E 106:10 by N 50:10, being the west 106:10 of lot 3, Boulevard Tract, Alameda; $800.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, December 1, 1896, Page 11, Image 11, Column 2 –
Alameda Brevities
William Abjohn, charged with disturbing the peace, was acquitted by a Jury yesterday.
San Francisco Call, Thursday, March 15, 1900, Image 9, Column 4 –
ABJOHN HOUSE FIRED
BY AN INCENDIARY
ALAMEDA, March 14 — The old house formerly occupied by the Abjohn family at 1326 Broadway, was fired by an incendiary last night. It has not been occupied for more than a month and is isolated. Chief Krauth of the Fire Department is of the opinion that some miscreant maliciously set fire to a lot of bedding in the basement, for the fun of seeing a blaze and calling out the department. Two men were seen running away from the scene of the fire by Mrs. D. G. Alexander of 1240 Broadway, but she could not identify them.
San Francisco Call, Friday, March 21, 1913, Page 5, Image 21, Column 3 –
Alameda News Notes
Mrs. Catherine Abjohn, whose husband, the late William Abjohn, was one of the early day residents of Alameda, was taken to the detention ward in the county receiving hospital in Oakland to be examined as to her sanity. When searched at the police station she was found to have a purse containing $350 and a bank book showing a deposit of $1,228.60.
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ABJOHN
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