CEDRIC B. SWARTZEL

Mabel and Park Swartzel had only one child during their marriage, a son named Cedric B. Swartzel, born in Dublin, Wayne County, Indiana-almost two years after their marriage, which was on New Year's Eve in 1889.
Cedric's father was a full time baseball pitcher, who, when not pitching, worked in a hardware store, while his mother had opened a millinery store soon after her marriage.

On the (April)1900 Federal Census, Cedric B. Swartzel is listed as born in "Nov. 1891" and "8" years of age.
The census taker had spelled his name as "Sedric". That was most likely due to the pronunciation of his name.

On Cedric's newspaper death notice in Oct. 1901, he was mistakenly listed as 8 years of age. He was actually 9 years old by then.

**Only on the "1903 Orange County Directory", is his father's middle name shown instead of just the initial "B". Park's name is listed as Swartzel, P. Bert, instead of the usual "P.B." Swartzel or Park B. Swartzel.
It is very likely that Cedric's middle initial of "B." stands for his father's middle name of "Bert".

Sometime between July 1900 and early 1901, Mabel, Park, with young Cedric had made a big move to Orange, Orange County, California from Wayne County, Indiana, .
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( the below listing is from the '1901' 'Orange County Directory'.. Their residence, 'res', on 'south Glassell st.' "near center" is referring to 'near' the very 'center' of town. The center of town had and still has a roundabout at the intersection of Glassell and Chapman Ave, which is now called "the circle". )

-ORANGE-
Swartzel, P.B. and wife, res south Glassell st, near Center

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By April 1901, soon after arriving in Orange, Cedric's father, Park Swartzel, had gone into business with a local, long time real-estate agent, forming Craddick & Swartzel.
In 1903, Park is listed as being a hardware store 'clerk'.

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Shortly after their move to California, Cedric's mother, "Mrs. P. B. Swartzel", is in-charge of the music at the memorial service for the late president of the Methodist Church in Orange, CA. where they had since moved.
Mabel had been the organist at her Methodist Church and Sunday School back in Indiana, since her early youth.
This church is just a short walk from their house on Glassell St..

('Los Angeles Herald' Sept. 18, '1901'-Los Angeles, California)

.......................ORANGE..............................

...Memorial Services to Be conducted on Thursday Morning...
..............(Special Correspondence).....................
-ORANGE. Sept. 17--At a meeting of citizens held in the Methodist church last night, it was decided to hold memorial services for the late president in the Methodist church at 10 o'clock on Thursday morning. During the time of service an effort will be made to suspend all business. Rev. John Pattenger was elected chairman of the meeting, and Samuel Armor secretary.
- The following committees were appointed; Decorations of church--A.H. Bibber, S.M. Craddick, Captain J.M. Hart, P.W. Ehlers, Mrs. A.B. Tiffany and Miss Susie Scarritt; music--Mrs. P.B. Swartzel; program--Rev. A. Parker, Rev. J.E. Meese, Rev. Jacob Kogler and D.F. Campbell; ushers--Vandecar, Black and Bradstreet.
To the committee on program was also slotted the duty of requesting business men to close their places.
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** 3 weeks after the above article--A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT IS REPORTED BELOW; which started near the now called, Irvine Regional Park, and ending at Madame Modjeska's ranch.)

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('San Francisco Call'- October 7, '1901'-California)
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DRAGGED TO DEATH BY A FRIGHTENED HORSE

Boy Tries to Arrange Harness and Misses His Footing on the Shaft.
Orange, Oct. 6.
"While P.B. Swartzel and his eight-year-old son Cedric were in the Santiago Canyon to-day the boy got entangled in the harness and was dragged to death. Cedric got out upon the shaft to unloosen the check rein and slipped. His foot caught and he was dragged ten miles. The body was terribly mutilated."
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(The original full article that the above San Francisco article was based on, is from the 'Los Angeles Times', Oct. 7, '1901'.)-
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SMALL BOY'S AWFUL DEATH
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Caught in horse's harness and Body Dragged Ten Miles.
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ORANGE, Oct 6--(From the Times' Correspondent.)
Cedric Swartzel, aged 8 years, only child of P. B. Swartzel of this city, met death in a horrible manner this afternoon while out driving with his father. They had gone to Santiago canyon and were about to return when Mr. Swartzel stepped out upon the shafts of the buggy to fasten the check rein. As soon as he touched the horse the animal began to kick and plunge and Swartzel sprang to the ground, carrying the reins with him. He tried to hold the horse, but finding that the animal would get away from him he shouted to his son to jump out.

The little fellow sprang from the seat, and in falling his foot became caught either in the singletree or in some portion of the harness, and he fell to the ground with his foot still fast. This added to the fright of the horse, and although Mr. Swartzel clung to the reins the animal began running away. The father hung on to the lines as long as possible and was dragged quite a distance. All the time the little boy's body and head were being dragged along the road. Swartzel was compelled to release his hold, and the horse, free of the burden, dashed down the road.

Almost crazed, the father followed on foot, but was, of course, unable to overtake the runaway. The horse started to run at the first road crossing near the County Park, and stopped only when it reached the gate which crosses the road at the entrance to Mme. Modjeska's ranch, a distance of fully ten miles. There the men who had followed on horseback and in wagons found the horse, and there they also found the terribly mangled body of the boy with his foot still fast in the harness. The head had been pounded almost off the shoulders and the flesh on the body had been torn into shreds.

The father was almost crazed with grief, and had to be restrained by those who accompanied him. The body was brought to the family home in this city tonight.
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('Los Angeles Herald' Oct. 8, '1901' )
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INQUEST ON DEATH OF CEDRIC SWARTZEL
(Special Correspondence.)
ORANGE, Oct. 7.--On account of the absence of the coroner and deputy coroner, Justice of the Peace Charles Chandler this morning held an inquest over the remains of little Cedric Swartzel, who met a tragic death yesterday. The jurors were: Samuel Annor, foreman: J. Purcell Boring, A.T. Smith, G.W. Moore, Roy W. Huff, Charles P. Peelor, James J. Gray and O.K. Brownell. The jury brought in a verdict that the boy came to his death by being caught by the foot between the shaft and the harness with his head downward and was dragged to death.
P.B. Swartzel, the boy's father, is quite ill as a result of the mental and physical strain. The funeral was held this afternoon and was attended by Cedric's classmates in a body. Floral offerings were numerous and very beautiful.
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**newspaper articles show that Park had still been a starting pitcher for a very-small local team in Missouri, just a couple weeks or so before this terrible accident.

Apparently, during the baseball season, he was still pitching for small Midwestern teams, and then returning to Orange, CA after the season ended in September, then returning to his other occupation as a hardware-store's salesman-clerk.
He then took his son and rented a horse and buggy for a Sunday, father-and-son, buggy ride in the nearby countryside, when the above death occurred.
Is it possible that Cedric had accompanied his father during the baseball season in the mid-west, since school was out for the summer?
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( the below is from the '1903' 'Orange County Directory' )

-ORANGE-
Swartzel, P. B., (Mrs. P. B.) Clerk, 432 S. Glassell St.

(Park's occupation is of a hardware-store 'clerk', he apparently has 'entirely' quit his baseball career, after his son's tragic death..Park had also gone into business with a local real estate agent, Samuel M. Craddick, right after arriving in Orange..They are placing ads in newspapers, selling agricultural land around Orange in April of 1901, just months before the accident)
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Their house where the body was brought back to on the evening of his death, was in the very center of town and there would be no chance of a burial at home, which was on a residential lot, and there were no burials at the church, only a block away.
The boy's body had been brought back to the house, and in those days, families held funerals at their home itself. Cedric's classmates attended the funeral, as per the newspaper article, but no mention of the burial.

Within about 3 or 4 years, Mabel and Park had moved to Los Angeles County. But Mabel came back to Orange for visits.

Mabel and Park years later, both chose to be cremated in Los Angeles County.
The "niche" that both of their urns are located in at the Mausoleum has room for 4 urns, however only the 2 of them are located inside according to the cemetery office.
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**2018. Now that Cedric's grave marker has finally been found, I notified the cemetery manager.
They researched and can find no records of the grave or marker even being there.
They 'probed' the ground and they did not find any evidence of a coffin or remains. The manager originally thought that perhaps the good size grave marker could be a 'cenotaph', and not an actual burial grave. He said this cenotaph info would now be entered into their own records, but not on their website of 'burials' at the cemetery..

* This is an actual grave. A child size wooden coffin from 117 years ago, would not survive to be 'easily' probed, as well as any child's remains.
The significant upright granite marker is just like others from that same era, with the letters being very well worn.

The grave site and surrounding ones were owned by another local family.
The day after the death, the funeral for Cedric was held. His body had been at his home overnight, as per the large newspaper article.
The news article said his father was very sick that day over the tragedy. Obviously the mother would be also after being told about it, while at the same time seeing her son's body.
A town neighbor apparently donated one of the several grave sites that he owned, so the funeral could be held that same day.
The news article also states that both the coroner and the assistant coroner were out of town. Paperwork for Calif. burial-permit, would have been delayed until after they returned, and 117 years later, cannot be found. Perhaps since the burial had already taken place, the paper was not filed: along with the fact that the family did not actually own the gravesite.

*After speaking again with the cemetery manager, he now agreed that there would be nothing left to probe, and that this would most likely be his grave; but with no paper records surviving, he cannot officially list it as a "burial" in the cemetery's records.
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The gravesite and surrounding ones were owned by another county resident, who apparently donated the gravesite in the obvious emergency situation of needing a burial location the very next day, as the body was in the family home. The emergency situation was further complicated by the recorded fact that the father was extremely sick from grief the day of the funeral as he had also been the day before. I am quite sure the same could be said of Cedric's mother's mental state.
The cemetery manager said he would take my copies of the 1901 newspaper articles on the death and funeral, to place them in their file for future researchers.
Some of the local Methodist Episcopal church records of the timeframe still survive at that Orange location, I am in the progress of gaining some access to them. They would probably provide documentation {as the pastor would have officiated} that the burial was held there at the cemetery: and usually in those days, the funeral would have been held at the family home where Cedric's body was located overnight.
Although the funeral could have been conducted at the church itself especially since it was only a block from the house and the fact of both parents being so overcome with grief at home. The news article states that Cedric's classmates attended the funeral so the number of people attending may have necessitated a larger location such as the nearby church. Mabel was a member of that M. E. Church, as a news article states that she was in charge of the music program at the funeral of that church's president, which was a month before Cedric's death.
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Bio written by t.garlow