The Wings and the Taylors

There was Lester Wing, the former chauffeur. Does anyone know if Lester Wing was his real name or if he was really Chinese?

And then actress Anne Cornwall's 2nd husband Ellis Wing Taylor (1887-1951), who attended Columbia University and graduated from the University of California in construction engineering. was an architect & structural engineer born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles. Ellis' father was Frank Wing Taylor who was the son of Tracy Taylor & Ella M Wing. Frank & his wife Minnie moved to Los Angeles in 1894 and their first home was at 2110 Grand Ave. A year later they bought property at the corner of Adams and Grand. Ellis' oldest sibling Edward Cray Taylor was an architect. His brother Frank "Howard" Taylor was a physician specializing in x-rays. His other siblings included Barbara, a gifted harpist.

Familiar to the Taylor case is the William "Bill" Everett Wing family. Bill was a newspaper & scenario writer. Bill wrote the story for "The Love of Tokiwa" (1914) in which Ulysses Davis directed, Patricia Palmer (aka Margaret Gibson) and William D Taylor starred in. Bill Wing was born in Maine and moved to Los Angeles in 1897 and was working as an oil broker in the 1900 census and by 1910 was a writer for a newspaper. Bill's father was Kimball Winthrop Wing (1837-1908). Bill married Antoinette "Marie" Freeman (1874-1946) and they had 3 daughters:
1.) Mabel Wing (Edson, Fowks) (1896-1984)
2.) Marianne Wing (Dockey) (1903-1971)
3.) Ruth Wing (Taylor, Harrison) (b. 1898) Ruth became involved in the Taylor case by allegedly saying that she was told by some psychics that an assassin hired by a motion picture leader (insinuated it involved Mabel & Mack Sennett) who was a member of an alleged "dope ring" killed Wm D Taylor. Ruth's husband was Theodore Pierre "Ted" Taylor (1896-1963), the publicity agent for Wm D Taylor. Ted was born on 5 Sept 1896 in Oak, IL and his father was accountant Louis "LD" Taylor who departed for Vancouver, British Columbia shortly after Ted's birth. Ted & his mother, Annie Louisa Pierre (Taylor), the daughter of a prominent architect Osborne J. Pierce, joined LD in Vancouver in 1899. A recent biography suggests LD fled Chicago to Vancouver was because of a fraud investigation from a former bank job. In 1906, LD sent Annie, Ted, and son Kenneth O Taylor to live with Annie's parents in Los Angeles. LD was elected Mayor of Vancouver and he served 8 terms as mayor during a 3 decade span of time. In 1920, Ted was a publicity writer for motion pictures. By 1924, Ted was a newspaperman & his brother Kenneth was an editor at the LA Times. LD, who was still in Vancouver serving his lengthy role as a populist mayor, became quite involved in the newspaper business. In 1928, an exhaustive inquiry in Vancouver should that there were associations with well know vice operators in the city and the police department & city hall. Even though LD was cleared of any wrondoing, he is to have said that police resources should be spent on "major crimes" and not "victimless vice crimes".
Passport Ted Taylor June 1925:







A few more Wings:
Daisy Canfield's niece, Faith Whitney married Morgan Wing.
Elbert Wing, son of Dr. Horace Benjamin Wing, married Edith J Taylor, lived in both Los Angeles and Three Rivers in Tulare County, CA. Three Rivers, has quite a few connections to the Taylor Case. . . 

Recap of 3089 W. 7th Street

At the corner of Vermont & 7th Street was a duplex (rather than an apartment building) owned by Anna T. Durkee Gillon. Anna's daughter was Hazel Durkee Foster (aka Gillon) Dignowity who, according to Adela Rogers St. Johns, saw a person leave Taylor's home after the shot was fired. Hazel married Ralf Dignowity and they during the month of June 1917, lived at 404B S. Alvarado Street and moved to 3089 W. 7th Street upon Taylor's return to Hollywood in 1919. In the 1920 Census (21 January), the tenants of 3089 W. 7th St. included actresses Minnie & Edith Story; Mabel Normand & Mary J. Brent (nurse); John (lawyer/judge) & Sarah Street; actor Sydney Chaplin & his unnamed wife. In August 1922, Anne Cornwall said she & her husband Charles Maigne lived at 3089 W. 7th St. Also during 1922, Claudia Reddick, who lived at 410B S. Alvarado, had plans to marry businessman, John H Bonnell, who also lived at 3089 W. 7th.

Charles Minnegrode Maigne

Charles Minnegrode Maigne (b. 11 Nov 1881 Richmond, VA & d 28 Nov 1929 San Francisco, CA) was the grandson of the Rev. Charles Minnegrode, a friend & spiritual advisor to Jefferson Davis.
1900: Charles Maigne enlisted in the US army, joining Captain Reilly's battery in the Philippines. He also served in the Peking campaign.
1901: Charles was commissioned and joined the 7th Cavalry in Cuba.
25 April 1905: Charles married Florence English Davidson, the youngest daughter of Mr. FJ Davidson, at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church. Florence was described in the Washington Post as "a blond of exquisite beauty and grace."
1907: Charles was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas
1910: Charles was forced to retired from the US Army due to a physical examination. Upon his retirement, Charles & Florence lived in Washington, DC with their daughter Marianne M age 3.
1911: Charles was a professor at Oklahoma University Prep School & then at Georgia Military College.
1914: Charles was a war correspondent.
1920: 2033 Argyle, Los Angeles, CA- Charles Maigne age 36 single b. Virginia and Director- Motion Pictures; Faxon Dean (lodger) age 35 married b. NY and Cameraman- Motion Pictures; Anne Cornwall (lodger) age 23 single b. NY and Actress- Motion Pictures

August 1922: Article in the LA Times- "DIRECTOR'S SALARY IS HELD BACK" An accident three years ago finds echo in court restraining order"- the NY supreme court ordered $600 a week granted to Michael Bell (at 297 E 151st NY) for $2500 in damages against Maigne for 3 year old Rosina Bell, who was run over and killed by Maigne's automobile on 22 November 1919 in New York. At the time of the court decision, Charles Maigne was in Wyoming directing "The Cowboy and the Lady" according to his wife (Anne Cornwall) who was living at 3089 West Seventh Street (Los Angeles).

Note: Higham referred to Charles Maigne as Wm D Taylor's neighbor. However, there were indications such as the mention in the previous article (Aug 1922) of Charles & Anne's address of 3089 W. 7th Street. It is reasonable to assume that Charles was in fact Mabel's neighbor and not Taylor's. This could help explain how Mabel's maid notified Charles at 7:30am after Edna Purviance called Mabel.

29 Nov 1929: Charles Maigne died at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, San Francisco, with his wife, Anne Cornwall at his bedside. Charles was buried in the Presidio with full military honors.