Joseph S. Myers - Oakland

1906 ¹

Joseph Samuel (“J.S.”) Myers (June 1863 – January 1, 1918) had a successful real estate and development business around 1900. He built or bought then sold hundreds of properties in Oakland over a 25-year career in real estate. His name appeared in the papers for countless real estate listings and transactions, but he made front page news when he was accused by Miss Agnes Bendegard of secretly fathering a child with her then kidnapping the child.

Personal Life

Myers was born in Connecticut in 1863 to Joseph Myers and Jane Dworkin (Myers). He worked his way to California at age 21. In Oakland, he worked as a gripman on the Piedmont cable car line, then worked as a clerk for the grocery of Torrey, Whitney, and Gardiner.

On November 14, 1892, he married Mary Irene Augusta Gibson (Myers), the daughter of Judge E.M. Gibson. The 1900 census lists them living at 5620 Telegraph Avenue. Myers divorced her in 1901 on the grounds of "willful desertion." They did not have any children.

J.S. remarried c.1902-1903 in Portland, this time to Clara Elizabeth Jenkins (Myers). They had a daughter, Josephine Myers (Bronson), born c.1904. The 1910 census lists them living at 1290 Alice Street (1494 Alice Street after 1912 renumbering.) Clara divorced J.S. in 1913 on the grounds of desertion. He apparently left home without explanation and went to live at the Key Route Inn.

Some time c.1904-1905, Myers became partially paralyzed and got around in a wheelchair after that.

Agnes Bendegard

1915 ²

Myers' name appeared in the newspapers frequently, but almost always related to his real estate and development business. That is, until April 1915, when Miss Agnes Bendegard accused Myers of fathering a child with her and then kidnapping the boy, born in 1910 in Denver.

Myers' ex, Clara, stated she didn't believe Bendegard, who she recognized as having worked in Myers' office as a stenographer. Bendegard alleged that Myers had used the name Warner, and had promised to marry her. At this point she said she had no interest in marrying Myers, but that she just wanted her son back. ²

Bendegard says she first met Myers about 1904.

"Mr. Myers told me that he was not really married to the woman with whom he was living. He promised that he would get rid of her and marry me. It was after he had made this promise solemnly that I realized that I was going to become a mother.

"When Mr. Myers learned that a child was to be born, he took good care of me. He employed Miss Strasburg, a nurse, who took me first to Long Beach, where we stayed for while, and then to Denver, Colo., where little Jerome was born. ²

NB: early articles give the boy's name as Jerome, but later it is given as Gerald. Bendegard's nickname for him was "Toodles."

Myers had to be carried up the stairs to the courtroom, where he was arraigned. He was accompanied by his lawyer, Judge Abraham L. Frick, and a hearing was set for May 4th.

The prosecution had difficulty finding the key witnesses: Gerald, the missing boy; Mrs. Mary Williams, Myers' supposed sister, who was complicit in the kidnapping; William H. Warner, who Myers said was the father. So they asked for a continuance. But as Myers was being wheeled out of the courtroom, Bendegard tearfully asked, "Oh, Joe, please, please tell me where Toodles is?" Myers made no response. ³

After much testimony, including Bendegard stating that Myers kept a special office in the Bacon Block and often signed legal documents with as W.H. Warner, mining engineer, ⁴ the case was sent to superior court for trial. The trial went on for a week, with accusations back and forth. At the end of it, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. ^5,6

Things were quiet for a month, then it was reported that Bendegard had found Gerald in Oregon City, Oregon, and had telegrammed that everything was "O.K." She returned to Oakland with him, but was unable to determine what all had happened to him. She said she had received a number of anonymous letters and phone calls after the trial, but initially paid no attention to them. ^7,8

Bendegard initially said she was indifferent to whether Myers should be retried. The district attorney's office indicated that they planned to continue investigating. However, a month later, the assistant DA asked for the case to be dismissed, believing no jury would convict Myers now that Gerald had been safely reunited with his mother. ⁹

Real Estate Career

1893 ad

Myers seems to have begun his real estate career by borrowing and loaning money. The 1892-1893 directory lists his profession as "loans", with an office at 460 - 9th Street. The first reference found to him in the Oakland newspapers is in 1892 for a $1,900 mortgage with the Oakland Building and Loan Association for a lot. He leveraged that into more money, and a month later was advertising $8,000 to loan on improved property in Oakland.

By 1893, he had opened an office at 1002 Broadway. The Illustrated Directory of Oakland published in 1896 lists "Real Estate Agent and Notary Public. Housing Renting and Loans Negotiated." An article in 1897 says he had $100,000 from investors back east to loan on Oakland real estate:

"This is not from the Klondike or a result of the tariff bill," said Mr. Myers, "but of judicious advertising of Oakland through our late Eastern visitors, some of whom were favorably impressed with the opportunities offered by Oakland as a city in which to place capital. This money is available at current rates on first mortgage security." ¹⁰

An early building constructed for Myers was a house on Bella Vista in 1900, though others were listed soon after.

1902 ad

In 1903 Myers partnered with George W. Austin. Austin was general manager, and Myers focused on new home construction. The article also says Myers made a lot of money, possibly as much as $50,000, investing in the oil fields in Kern City. ¹¹

At the end of 1906, Myers incorporated the Athens Realty Company. George S. Tilden was secretary and treasurer. The board of directors included Myers, Tilden, E.M. Gibson (Myers' former father-in-law), Dudley Kinsell, A.N. Lewis, hardware merchant John P. Maxwell, and wine merchant Theodore Gier. The company was incorporated for $1,000,000. ¹

A not atypical example of how Myers worked was the land where the Key System Building was constructed. Myers bought the property in November 1909 for $130,000, then in January 1910, he sold it for an estimated $150,000. He made a tidy $20,000 profit in two months. Though that paled in comparison to the $10,000 he made in 10 days following the 1906 earthquake.

In 1911 Myers partnered with Willard W. White, formerly of Laymance Real Estate.

Myers continued in real estate, though the accusations and Bendegard trial in 1915 seemed to have slowed his business. He was retired by July 1917.

Death and Estate

Myers died January 1, 1918, at Merritt Hospital. His remains were interred at Chapel of the Chimes.

The Oakland Enquirer noted that Myers' will was "peculiar." It specified $5,000 to each of his former wives, provided they had not remarried, and $20,000 to be held in trust for his daughter Josephine until she was 35, with a $100 per month allowance until then. No money was left to his mother, stating she had enough money of her own, but $1,000 was left to his stepmother. The rest was divided between his brother William Myers, his sister Mary Marsh, and other relatives. ¹³ A few days later, Agnes Bendegard was back in the story, indicating she planned to fight for her son's right to a share.

Myers' estate was worth in excess of $300,000, but it was noted in court papers that a lot of that was in real estate, and some of the property had money owed on it. There were various claims against the estate, including for child support by Agnes Bendegard and a claim by Myers' first wife.