Ernest Fee, Law Man

Ernest Fee, 1939

WILLIAM MILLER > MILO VOLNEY MILLER > ALMIRA MILLER > WILLIAM HENRY FEE m (1) Lillis HOAGLAND > ERNEST FEE

We've covered Milo, Almira, and one of today's subject's half-nephews, Vernard, in the past week or so. William Henry Fee married twice. The first marriage was to Lillas R Hoagland, daughter of Mr & Mrs Silas and Francis Hoagland. They married 01 Jan 1885 in Linn County.

The couple had two children: Bessie and Ernest. Bessie would find herself  living with her Hoagland grandparents in 1900, at age 12. She would go on to marry twice and died 23 Sep 1969 in Orange County, California.

Her father William remarried in 1897 and had nine more children and then was divorced again. In 1900, Ernest Sidney Fee was living with his father.

By 1910, Ernest was living in Custer, South Dakota with his bride, Melinda "Linnie" Roseberry, whom he had married 16 Feb 1910 in Custer. Ernest's mother Lillas lived in Custer in a different residence. She died in Custer on 10 Feb 1914.

Ernest and Linnie moved to Omaha in 1911 and Ernest joined the Omaha police department. By 1923, he had worked his way up to sergeant.  In early September 1923, Fee and three other members of the "morals squad" were called to account after a warrantless search of the premises of Charles Nejetinsky. Think back to those crazy days of prohibition and you'll have a good picture of what life was like for Ernest, who appears to me to be very serious about his work.

SUSPENDS POLICEMEN WHO RAID RESIDENCE
OMAHA, Sept 4 - A police sergeant and three other members of the "morals squad" were suspended by the city council this morning following charges by Charles Nejetinsky that his premises was searched without warrant. He alleges damage to upset furnishings resulted from the raid.

The suspension resulted when Sergeant Ernest Fee failed "to answer summons for a hearing of the charges and will be in effect pending investigation."
Lincoln Star
Tuesday, September 4, 1923, Lincoln, Nebraska

He was reinstated after a 60-day suspension on 01 Nov 1923 and was assigned to patrol duty. He soon after secured a job as a Douglas County deputy sheriff and would remain so for the next 25 years. The shennanigans that got him into trouble with the OPD followed him to his next job, still,

Linnie Roseberry Fee

with little repercussion.

OFFICERS CHARGED WITH OPPRESSION
Omaha, Jan 20 - Deputy Sheriff Ernest Fee, found guilty of two charges of assault in connection with alleged "beating up" of persons during liquor raids, was fined $100 on each count by Judge Bryce Crawford in county court and posted bond for Fee's release.
The hearing on similar charges of "oppression under color of office" while conducting liquor raids in Douglas county, filed against Dan Phillips and postponed because of the defendant's illness. Federal agent Samardick and Schmidt will be arraigned in federal court on the same charges.
Beatrice Daily Sun
Wednesday, January 21, 1925, Beatrice, Nebraska

In mid-March 1951, Fee was named the deputy in charge of the county jail after two criminals busted out of the jail in early March. The former jailer was moved to the records bureau. Ernest remained in this position until the end of his career. He retired in about 1955 at age 69. He was the sheriff department's oldest deputy. He then went into private security.

3384 Grant St, North Omaha

The Fee's lived at 3384 Grant St in North Omaha. His wife Linnie preceded him in death of cancer on 05 Nov 1964 in Omaha. Fee died at the age of 86 in Omaha in early November 1972, where he resided at the Evans Towers in North Omaha. His two daughters, Lola Brittain and Theresa Cooper survived him.

A Murderous Aside: A Little Murder, this Way Comes
Deputy Fee made the news from time to time for all types of incidents, including traffic accidents, petty crimes, and an infamous long murder trial involving an Arizona horse trainer and a Tucson heiress. He provided critical testimony in the murder trial that caused a stir in the courtroom and may well have been one of the key elements to the case's outcome.This was in the case of the murder of Tuscon heiress Ardath (Noni) Kuykendall for which her husband of 3 months, horse trainer and blacksmith, Joe Kuykendall stood trial.

"There was a little flurry late in the session when Deputy Sheriff Ernest Fee testified

under cross examination that he "did not" see any mark or cut on Kuykendall's hands when he fingerprinted him the morning after Mrs Kuykendall's death.

Fingerprinting Shown
Controversy over the alleged "scuff marks" and "cut" had stalled the trial for two days earlier after a former deputy sheriff testified to them and then when confronted with a report of a county attorney's conference, said he did not at first recall the marks and cut but was reminded of them by another witness.

Defense Attorney Hugh Boyle stepped into the jury box Wednesday and had Fee demonstrate - using Boyle's hand - just how he takes the print of each finger and finally the whole hand. Then he asked him if he saw the marks on Kuykendall's hands. Fee replied, "I did not."

Cedar Rapids Gazette, Thursday, December 10, 1953, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

On 14 Jan 1953, Kuykendall was found "not guilty" after 29 hours of deliberation in one of the longest trials ever in Douglas County. Mrs Kuykendall was beneficiary of a 26-million dollar trust fund originally set up by her great grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Smith, who was said to be the wealthiest man in New England when he died in 1927. Her life income from this trust fund was estimated to be about $85,000 per year. A will executed 13 days before her death named Kuykendall principal beneficiary to Mrs Kuykendall's personal estate. The 34 year old horse trainer and blacksmith from Arizona, had come to Omaha for the horse racing season at Ak-Sar-Ben. They had been married three months and were living in a luxurious trailer so they could watch their string of horses compete. The defense claimed the wife was intoxicated and fell and hit her head, causing her death. Within two weeks of his acquittal, he filed on her $200,000 life insurance policy, taken out less than two weeks before she died. Thirty-year-old Ardath (Noni) Kuykendall was married eight times with two children by different fathers. The custody was awarded to the fathers after her death. Kuykendall lost his attempt to get the trailer they were traveling in - it went to her estate. He would be shot to death in 1958 while trying to run another man down on a horse at a race track in Texas.