My great uncle, James Francis Huston, was born on Nov. 16, 1909 in Los Angeles, CA. However, the State of California searched from 1905 thru 1914 (twice) and couldn't find a copy of his birth certificate.
His parents were James Lee Huston and Emma Cecilia Bachmann Howe. (The Bachmann was her birth name, Howe was her adopted name.) James had one sister, Geraldine Cecilia, born in 1915.
James was named for his father. I always thought his middle name, Francis, honored his mother's adopted mother, Frances Rose Howe. However, after finding earlier members of the Huston family, I could see that the name goes back many generations. James had a great uncle, Francis Lee Huston, who was named for an earlier family member, Francis Lee, who owned a tavern in Philadelphia, the Indian Queen. It is said that parts of the Declaration of Independence were written in this tavern. The Huston family had a long tradition of passing down names from one generation to the next. They even used the last names of family friends as middle names. (Robert January Huston, William Latta Lee and James Mallernee Huston are but a few examples of this.)
James was a trumpet player in Los Angeles. He played in a band with his good friend, Phil Harris. Mr. Harris became a Hollywood legend. You might remember his voice from the Disney cartoon, "The Jungle Book." He was the voice of the bear who sang, "The Bare Necessities."
James never married and had no children.
James committed suicide on March 16, 1937. His death certificate indicates his car was found in Malibu, 100 ft. off of Roosevelt Highway. It states, "Tubed exhaust to his closed Ford car." The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 27 years old.
The article in the Los Angeles Times regarding his suicide says he left a note saying, "I will take to the grave the reasons for my actions." On his death certificate, his occupation is listed as a musician in an orchestra. At the time of his death he lived at 1327 N. Kingsley, Los Angeles, CA.
His sister, Geraldine had two children, myself and my brother Michael. We were always told that Uncle Jimmy died in a car accident. In 1978, I went to the Los Angeles City Library and found the article about his death on microfilm. Imagine my shock when I learned that James had not died in a car accident, but committed suicide.
The family story goes that James's mother gave his trumpets and music to his good friend, Phil Harris.
James death certificate shows his name as Francis James Huston, although he was always talked about as Jimmy. Maybe he was given the name Francis James Huston and that is why CA shows no record of his birth under the first name James.
James died on March 16, 1937. He was cremated on Saturday, March 20, 1937 in Los Angeles. His funeral was held the same day. However, his cremated remains were not interred at Forest Lawn until Aug. 10, 1937. I suspect that his mother was trying to get the money together to pay the bill.
Unfortunately, I don't have any family pictures of James. I'm sure those were lost when I was in 5th grade. We lived in a motel and had our stuff in storage in the garage beneath our room. When we moved out, we left everything in that garage. My mother owed the place $50, but she never had the extra money to pay it, so we lost everything. I did find a picture in the Los Angeles Times with a side view of Jimmy, which is better than nothing. I'm looking into getting pictures from a number of sources: LA Unified School District, Coroner's office and the family of Phil Harris.
His parents were James Lee Huston and Emma Cecilia Bachmann Howe. (The Bachmann was her birth name, Howe was her adopted name.) James had one sister, Geraldine Cecilia, born in 1915.
James was named for his father. I always thought his middle name, Francis, honored his mother's adopted mother, Frances Rose Howe. However, after finding earlier members of the Huston family, I could see that the name goes back many generations. James had a great uncle, Francis Lee Huston, who was named for an earlier family member, Francis Lee, who owned a tavern in Philadelphia, the Indian Queen. It is said that parts of the Declaration of Independence were written in this tavern. The Huston family had a long tradition of passing down names from one generation to the next. They even used the last names of family friends as middle names. (Robert January Huston, William Latta Lee and James Mallernee Huston are but a few examples of this.)
James was a trumpet player in Los Angeles. He played in a band with his good friend, Phil Harris. Mr. Harris became a Hollywood legend. You might remember his voice from the Disney cartoon, "The Jungle Book." He was the voice of the bear who sang, "The Bare Necessities."
James never married and had no children.
James committed suicide on March 16, 1937. His death certificate indicates his car was found in Malibu, 100 ft. off of Roosevelt Highway. It states, "Tubed exhaust to his closed Ford car." The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 27 years old.
The article in the Los Angeles Times regarding his suicide says he left a note saying, "I will take to the grave the reasons for my actions." On his death certificate, his occupation is listed as a musician in an orchestra. At the time of his death he lived at 1327 N. Kingsley, Los Angeles, CA.
His sister, Geraldine had two children, myself and my brother Michael. We were always told that Uncle Jimmy died in a car accident. In 1978, I went to the Los Angeles City Library and found the article about his death on microfilm. Imagine my shock when I learned that James had not died in a car accident, but committed suicide.
The family story goes that James's mother gave his trumpets and music to his good friend, Phil Harris.
James death certificate shows his name as Francis James Huston, although he was always talked about as Jimmy. Maybe he was given the name Francis James Huston and that is why CA shows no record of his birth under the first name James.
James died on March 16, 1937. He was cremated on Saturday, March 20, 1937 in Los Angeles. His funeral was held the same day. However, his cremated remains were not interred at Forest Lawn until Aug. 10, 1937. I suspect that his mother was trying to get the money together to pay the bill.
Unfortunately, I don't have any family pictures of James. I'm sure those were lost when I was in 5th grade. We lived in a motel and had our stuff in storage in the garage beneath our room. When we moved out, we left everything in that garage. My mother owed the place $50, but she never had the extra money to pay it, so we lost everything. I did find a picture in the Los Angeles Times with a side view of Jimmy, which is better than nothing. I'm looking into getting pictures from a number of sources: LA Unified School District, Coroner's office and the family of Phil Harris.
My great uncle, James Francis Huston, was born on Nov. 16, 1909 in Los Angeles, CA. However, the State of California searched from 1905 thru 1914 (twice) and couldn't find a copy of his birth certificate.
His parents were James Lee Huston and Emma Cecilia Bachmann Howe. (The Bachmann was her birth name, Howe was her adopted name.) James had one sister, Geraldine Cecilia, born in 1915.
James was named for his father. I always thought his middle name, Francis, honored his mother's adopted mother, Frances Rose Howe. However, after finding earlier members of the Huston family, I could see that the name goes back many generations. James had a great uncle, Francis Lee Huston, who was named for an earlier family member, Francis Lee, who owned a tavern in Philadelphia, the Indian Queen. It is said that parts of the Declaration of Independence were written in this tavern. The Huston family had a long tradition of passing down names from one generation to the next. They even used the last names of family friends as middle names. (Robert January Huston, William Latta Lee and James Mallernee Huston are but a few examples of this.)
James was a trumpet player in Los Angeles. He played in a band with his good friend, Phil Harris. Mr. Harris became a Hollywood legend. You might remember his voice from the Disney cartoon, "The Jungle Book." He was the voice of the bear who sang, "The Bare Necessities."
James never married and had no children.
James committed suicide on March 16, 1937. His death certificate indicates his car was found in Malibu, 100 ft. off of Roosevelt Highway. It states, "Tubed exhaust to his closed Ford car." The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 27 years old.
The article in the Los Angeles Times regarding his suicide says he left a note saying, "I will take to the grave the reasons for my actions." On his death certificate, his occupation is listed as a musician in an orchestra. At the time of his death he lived at 1327 N. Kingsley, Los Angeles, CA.
His sister, Geraldine had two children, myself and my brother Michael. We were always told that Uncle Jimmy died in a car accident. In 1978, I went to the Los Angeles City Library and found the article about his death on microfilm. Imagine my shock when I learned that James had not died in a car accident, but committed suicide.
The family story goes that James's mother gave his trumpets and music to his good friend, Phil Harris.
James death certificate shows his name as Francis James Huston, although he was always talked about as Jimmy. Maybe he was given the name Francis James Huston and that is why CA shows no record of his birth under the first name James.
James died on March 16, 1937. He was cremated on Saturday, March 20, 1937 in Los Angeles. His funeral was held the same day. However, his cremated remains were not interred at Forest Lawn until Aug. 10, 1937. I suspect that his mother was trying to get the money together to pay the bill.
Unfortunately, I don't have any family pictures of James. I'm sure those were lost when I was in 5th grade. We lived in a motel and had our stuff in storage in the garage beneath our room. When we moved out, we left everything in that garage. My mother owed the place $50, but she never had the extra money to pay it, so we lost everything. I did find a picture in the Los Angeles Times with a side view of Jimmy, which is better than nothing. I'm looking into getting pictures from a number of sources: LA Unified School District, Coroner's office and the family of Phil Harris.
His parents were James Lee Huston and Emma Cecilia Bachmann Howe. (The Bachmann was her birth name, Howe was her adopted name.) James had one sister, Geraldine Cecilia, born in 1915.
James was named for his father. I always thought his middle name, Francis, honored his mother's adopted mother, Frances Rose Howe. However, after finding earlier members of the Huston family, I could see that the name goes back many generations. James had a great uncle, Francis Lee Huston, who was named for an earlier family member, Francis Lee, who owned a tavern in Philadelphia, the Indian Queen. It is said that parts of the Declaration of Independence were written in this tavern. The Huston family had a long tradition of passing down names from one generation to the next. They even used the last names of family friends as middle names. (Robert January Huston, William Latta Lee and James Mallernee Huston are but a few examples of this.)
James was a trumpet player in Los Angeles. He played in a band with his good friend, Phil Harris. Mr. Harris became a Hollywood legend. You might remember his voice from the Disney cartoon, "The Jungle Book." He was the voice of the bear who sang, "The Bare Necessities."
James never married and had no children.
James committed suicide on March 16, 1937. His death certificate indicates his car was found in Malibu, 100 ft. off of Roosevelt Highway. It states, "Tubed exhaust to his closed Ford car." The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 27 years old.
The article in the Los Angeles Times regarding his suicide says he left a note saying, "I will take to the grave the reasons for my actions." On his death certificate, his occupation is listed as a musician in an orchestra. At the time of his death he lived at 1327 N. Kingsley, Los Angeles, CA.
His sister, Geraldine had two children, myself and my brother Michael. We were always told that Uncle Jimmy died in a car accident. In 1978, I went to the Los Angeles City Library and found the article about his death on microfilm. Imagine my shock when I learned that James had not died in a car accident, but committed suicide.
The family story goes that James's mother gave his trumpets and music to his good friend, Phil Harris.
James death certificate shows his name as Francis James Huston, although he was always talked about as Jimmy. Maybe he was given the name Francis James Huston and that is why CA shows no record of his birth under the first name James.
James died on March 16, 1937. He was cremated on Saturday, March 20, 1937 in Los Angeles. His funeral was held the same day. However, his cremated remains were not interred at Forest Lawn until Aug. 10, 1937. I suspect that his mother was trying to get the money together to pay the bill.
Unfortunately, I don't have any family pictures of James. I'm sure those were lost when I was in 5th grade. We lived in a motel and had our stuff in storage in the garage beneath our room. When we moved out, we left everything in that garage. My mother owed the place $50, but she never had the extra money to pay it, so we lost everything. I did find a picture in the Los Angeles Times with a side view of Jimmy, which is better than nothing. I'm looking into getting pictures from a number of sources: LA Unified School District, Coroner's office and the family of Phil Harris.
