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Hazel Beatrice Jarrett Kelley

Birth
Oklahoma, USA
Death
12 Mar 1979 (aged 83)
Fontana, San Bernardino County, California, USA
Burial
Childers, Nowata County, Oklahoma, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Daughter of Nellie Edwards and James H Jarrett. Most likely was born in Indian Territory (pre-Oklahoma statehood) in April 1895 as that is the location recorded for her birth in the 1900 Census. However, later records, including her Death Certificate, note Missouri as Hazel's birthplace.

The 1900 Census finds Hazel as 5 years old, living in Township 28, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, the area that became Oklahoma in 1907. Hazel joined a large family and she was not the youngest. Her siblings still living with her parents are Howard, 20; Levi, 17; Maude, 16; Floyd, 13; Ross, 10; Glenn, 9; Mable, 7; (Hazel, 5); Roger, 3; and "Baby", 5 months who would be named Bernard. The oldest sibling, Walter, has already left home as he was already 20 at the time of the 1900 Census.

The 1910 Census locates the family in Snow Creek Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma as Oklahoma declared statehood in 1907. I'm guessing their home is in the same location as in 1900 , but I don't know for sure. But with as many children as Hazel's parents had and her father being a farmer (at least that's what is recorded), it seems most likely once her parents settled in Oklahoma they likely "stayed put".

In 1910 Hazel is 14 and 3 more siblings have been born in the past 9 years: Earl, 8; Ralph H, 6; and Opal, 3. These are the first children born in Oklahoma (although of course the 1900 Census records Mabel and Hazel as born in Indian Territory which became Oklahoma). Hazel is now the oldest child at home as older siblings Levi, Maude, Floyd, Ross, and Glenn have all left home.

1912 was a significant year in Hazel's life for that October 5th she married Albert Connor. According to the marriage record, Hazel was 18 and Albert 25, but of course her birth date in 1895 makes her 17. The significance of the marriage, however, is that Albert was already an experienced bank and train robber who worked with several of Hazel's brothers in the robberies, the earliest of which I found in 1911.

I've now read many newspaper accounts of the robberies, shoot-outs, captures, trials, and deaths of most of Hazel's brothers and her husband, Albert. Hazel's oldest brother, Walter, is consistently reported to have worked alone and indeed was killed the same day he robbed "the State Bank" at Prue, Oklahoma in October 1912. But most of her other brothers are named frequently in accounts of train, bank, car, and store robberies as being in the company of Albert Connor. The way the articles read, I have the impression Albert was the leader of their "gang".

What must life have been like for Hazel? It is hard to know but obviously she was surrounded by men who were in the business of robbery and theft. Likely the Jarrett and Connor families lived a hard existence, perhaps accentuated in Albert's case as he was 1/2 Delaware Indian, his father having been full blooded Delaware and his mother white (born in Illinois).

Looking at the 1920 Census for Hazel and Albert, one would have no idea their lives were far from "normal". They are living in Armstrong Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma and have 3 children: Alexander, 7 (named for Albert's father); Marvin, 5; and Juanita, 3. Albert is recorded as a farmer, age 25 (actually 36) and Hazel as 24 (accurate).

The early1920's found Hazel's life coming to a climax with Albert as he is reported in newspaper accounts to have begun his criminal career "in earnest" in 1921, focusing on the small communities in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas (Coffeyville, Kansas is frequently mentioned). And most of the articles indicate that 2 or more of Hazel's brothers joined Albert in their criminal endeavors: Ralph, Earl, Lee (Levi), Buster (Roger) seem to be the most frequently mentioned.

Hazel became a widow on 24 March 1923 after Albert was shot by the owner of a grocery store he was holding up with another outlaw, Max Weabe\Weaber. Max Weabe/Weaber died the following morning at a hospital, but Albert survived with serious wounds for about a week during which he was in the Coffeyville, Kansas jail. He died in the jail on 3 April 1923.

One has to wonder about what Hazel and Albert's children knew about their father and how it affected them. At the time of his death, the 2 boys were 10 and 8 and the daughter was 6, making me think they probably were unaware of their father's activities. Nevertheless, it appears the children grew up to have fairly normal lives (oldest son Alexander is the only one I could not find many records for).

Hazel remarried in April 1925 to Samuel Hudson about whom I know little as of this first draft. While I found no marriage record, I did find the couple listed in the Marriage License column of The Perry Journal (Perry, OK) 18 April 1925 which reads "Sam Hudson, 28 and Beatrice O'Conner, 23, both of Ponca City". It is not surprising that Hazel modified her name given the notoriety of her name when married to Albert Connor.

I found Sam and Hazel Hudson together in the 1930 Census in Fairfax Township, Osage County, Oklahoma where his occupation is recorded as "Casing -Oil Fields". Both Sam and Hazel give their ages as 33 (Hazel actually 34 or 35). They have had a daughter, Lavona, born in 1926 as she is 4 years old in this Census. Hazel's 3 children by Albert Connor carry the Hudson surname in the Census.

From here I'm not quite sure what happened. I say that because there are numerous newspaper articles in December 1933 and January 1934 in which Hazel is called the wife of another outlaw, Wilbur Underhill. Wilbur was never mentioned with any of Hazel's brothers, but he was robbing banks especially in the Oklahoma-Kansas-Missouri "corner" of the USA, earning him the moniker "the Tri-State Terror".

Wilbur murdered at least 2 people in the 1920's/1930's while holding up banks or stores. He would get caught, jailed/imprisoned, and then escape. A 1927 murder resulted in a life sentence at the Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester, OK, but he escaped Memorial Day 1933 and the FBI precursor organization joined local authorities in searching for him.

Finally in December 1933 police tracked him to a house in Shawnee, Oklahoma where he and Hazel were about to retire for the night. Detailed accounts are in the Oklahoma papers (and possibly also Kansas and Missouri) of the events that led to his capture. Wilbur was shot 13 times and survived for a week or so and was moved from a Shawnee hospital to the State Prison at McAlester on 6 January 1934 where he died the following day, 7 January 1934.

Hazel. meanwhile, was taken into custody in Oklahoma City related to charges of harboring a fugitive. Articles state other of Wilbur's criminal cohorts' wives underwent the same ordeal. But it seems Hazel did not spend time in jail from the articles I found. Then, on7 July 1934 an article appeared "Outlaw's Wife Is Freed of Charges" stated a Federal Judge had dismissed the charge of "harboring her husband, Wilbur Underhill, slain Kansas outlaw". The venue for the case was Guthrie, OK.

The real puzzle is whether Hazel and Wilbur Underhill were really married. I think not. I found no marriage record or marriage license listed in local papers. And Hazel continued to use her Hudson surname after Wilbur died. I also looked at the Memorial for Wilbur Underhill and there is no mention of a wife. I do think Hazel and Wilbur Underhill posed as husband and wife but Hazel was actually still married to Sam Hudson. One has to wonder what the Hudson household was like at this time with Sam presumably caring for the 4 children in the house: Hazel's 3 by Albert Connor and the youngest daughter being Hazel's by Sam.

Based on the last article I found about Hazel having the charge of harboring Wilbur Underhill dismissed, more than likely Hazel was still living in Oklahoma in July 1934.

Fast forward to November 1939 and I finally found the marriage record I'd been seeking: the 17 Nov 1939 Marriage Record in Tulsa, OK for Hazel Conner (residence Tulsa, OK) and Sanford Kelley (residence Monett, MO). This because I'd found Hazel in the 1940 Census married to Sanford Kelly, both age 41, living in Monett, Missouri. Monett is a small town in Barry County (and Lawrence County, it's a "border town"). This area makes sense for Hazel as it's not far from the Oklahoma and Kansas borders, the area she'd lived in all of her life.

Living with Sanford and Hazel in 1940 are Hazel's daughters from her 2 prior marriages: Juanita Connor, 22; and Lavona Hudson, 14.

Sanford works as a railroad fireman per the 1940 Census. Per his Death Notice and Death Certificate, he worked for the Frisco Railway. Monett, I learned, was a railroad town.

I searched for records or articles for Sanford (who seemed to use Sam as his nickname) and Hazel but the timeframe from 1940 forwards is a hard one to find records for for most people as no Census records are available and most City Directories seem to stop in the late 1940's or 1950's. Indeed, there were no Monett, MO City Directories available on Ancestry past 1940.

I knew, however, that Hazel had died in San Bernardino County, California in 1979 as I had earlier found her in the California Death Index. So I wondered where she was between 1940 and 1979. I ordered her Death Certificate in early August 2018 to see if it might provide any additional information about Hazel's later life.

I've now received Hazel's Death Certificate. It confirms Hazel's date and place of death in 1979 in Fontana, California. It also confirms her parents' names and places of birth; the informant was her daughter by Sam Hudson. Hazel probably died at home as the Certificate indicates she was DOA at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana and gives her usual residence as 17458 Elaine Dr., Fontana. A new fact from the Certificate is that she had worked as a Nurse's Aide for 20 years, self-employed. I believe those 20 years were likely all spent in California and most likely in Fontana or other areas of southern California. Twenty years would go back to 1959, The document also confirms she was a Widow and that she was cremated. It provides the name of the cemetery or crematory as Montecito Memorial Park in San Bernardino County. I will check it for Hazel's name (do not expect to find it), but believe the statement I found in an Ancestry Family Tree about her ashes being interred in the grave of her first husband, Albert Connor, in Ball Cemetery in Oklahoma as very plausible and will leave it as the site of her interment.

I am honored to create this Memorial for Hazel Jarrett who lived an extremely colorful life. As a distant cousin, I am still processing her birth family's outlaw way of life and her own relationships with her first husband and Wilbur Underhill ("pretend husband"?). Nevertheless, finding that she had no existing Memorial and the recording in the Ball Cemetery records that her cremated remains were interred in her first husband's grave, has allowed me to tell her story and a bit about her siblings.

Siblings of Hazel Jarrett:

--- Walter D Jarrett: 28 Sep 1879, Kansas - 12 Oct 1912, Osage County, OK; OUTLAW who was killed shortly after robbing a bank in Prue Oklahoma; had a reputation for always working "alone"
--- Howard M Jarrett: 25 Aug 1881, Daviess County, MO - 7 Jun 1955, Nowata County, OK; FARMER; married to Francis Mae McCauley. I found Howard in every US Census except for 1910 and no newspaper articles about him so believe he somehow escaped the outlaw/criminal life that most of his brothers pursued. Married to Frances Mae McCauley 22 Nov 1911 in Nowata County, OK whose mother was 1/4 Cherokee. Had 4 children: Gladys, Violet, Howard M Jr., and Wayne, all born OK.
--- Levi "Lee" Morris Jarrett: 25 Nov 1883, Hiawatha, Brown County, KS - 14 Dec 1921, Lenapah Township, Nowata County, OK; killed when ejected from a car driven by his brother-in-law, outlaw Albert Connor; had earlier been tried on a robbery charge with Albert Connor but was acquitted
--- Maude L Jarrett Kirby: 31 Oct 1884, Hiawatha, Brown County, KS - 30 Nov 1968, Ottawa County, KS; married to George E Kirby approx. 1907, but I could only find them together in the 1910 Census in Labette County, KS (just across the border from Nowata County, OK); reportedly divorced in 1935
--- Floyd James Jarrett: 6 Sep 1886/1887, Missouri - 3 Nov 1957, Phoenix, AZ; married to Frances. OUTLAW. Bank robber. I believe Floyd is buried in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Frances based on his Death Certif. which gives his father's name as James H Jarrett and his mother's name as Mellie/Nellie (hard to distinguish first letter). I found his obit which states he came to Phoenix 20 years prior (does not state from where), that he was born in Missouri (Obit further states Joplin, MO). What's so incredulous is that if this truly is Hazel's brother, it appears he lived openly under his real name after escaping from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on 6 Jan 1935 but surrendering 10 days later (16 Jan 1935). Since his sentence was for 25 years for a bank robbery in which 4 people were killed (started serving time on 3 Jan 1930 and indeed he is in prison in the 1930 Census), it seems unlikely he would have been released before his full sentence was up. The alternative of course is that he escaped again, but I made a thorough newspaper search and found no more articles for Floyd after 1935.
--- Ross E Jarrett: 1 Oct 1889, Pattonsburg, MO - 31 Jan 1945 McLeansboro, IL; left OK by 1910, but returned by 1913 per the OK birth locations of his 2 daughters with wife Elizabeth Reich; left again after 1920 for West Virginia and Illinois; worked as an oil well driller. His FAG Memorial spells his surname Jerrett (spelled that way on his grave marker). The person who manages his memorial declined my edits to link him to his parents and his birth and death dates and places per the Illinois Death Index and his WWI and WWII Draft Registrations; my hunch is the manager does not want him linked to this outlaw family; so be it.
--- Glenn Jarrett: 10 May 1891, Pattonsburg, MO - 21 May 1920, McAlester, OK (OK State Penitentiary); OUTLAW. Glenn had "a long criminal record" per the 22 May 1920 Coffeyville Daily Journal (KS) which reported on his death at the penitentiary where he was serving a 15 year sentence for assaulting a 13 year old girl; he reportedly died when a portion of wall of a shale pit he was working in caved in. Buried in an unmarked grave at Ball Cemetery according to one source, likely true.
-- Mabel Jarrett Wetzel/Logan: Aug 1893, Indian Territory (OK) - currently unknown; records show she likely married twice: (1) to George Wetzel in Jasper County, MO on 3 Aug 1908; and (2) to Boyd D Logan, 28 Nov 1913 in Tulsa, OK.
--- HAZEL JARRETT, 24 April 1895, Indian Territory (OK) - 12 Mar 1979, San Bernardino, CA
--- Roger "Buster" Jarrett: Feb 1897, Missouri - 8 July 1966, Rogers County, OK; OUTLAW. Participated in bank and other robberies led by Albert Connor; reportedly buried in an unmarked grave at Ball Cemetery.-
--- Bernard Jarrett: 20 Jan 1900, Montgomery County, Kansas - 6 Aug 1963, Nowata County, Oklahoma; lived with his parents/mother until 1920 or shortly thereafter; as of age 18 he had lost his right eye, possibly in working at a gasoline plant. Was charged in 1923 with receiving stolen property (a car), but found no other criminal activity and don't believe he ever served time in jail or prison. Some time after 1940 he married a woman named Jewell who had 7 children so was obviously married before. Died in 1963 in Nowata County, Oklahoma.
--- Earl E Jarrett: 1902, Oklahoma - some time after 1940; OUTLAW, wanted for several bank robberies and convicted of murder of a prohibition agent for which he was given a life sentence; he escaped, however, from the OK State Penitentiary at McAlester in 1925. Nothing more found for him until 1935 when a newspaper article reported he had been living in Kentucky under an alias, "as a respected citizen with a wife who was a school teacher". The governor of KY, however, refused to extradite Earl to OK, saying he was "rehabilitated". Evidently Earl remained "free" as the final article I found for him was dated 12 Apr 1940 (The Daily Oklahoman, p 13). It reported that an extradition requisition "was prepared for Governor Phillips' signature" for presentation to the state of Illinois where Earl was reportedly found living in Salem, still under the name Howard Martin. I searched for a Howard Martin in KY and IL with a school teacher wife and did not locate such a person. It did not help to find there were 3 towns named Salem in Illinois. At least one Ancestry Family Tree shows Earl dying in Morrow County, Ohio in 1977 but not enough evidence was included to convince me it was him. Earl's life remains a mystery, to me anyway, after 1940.
--- Ralph H Jarrett: 1904, Kansas - Unknown; OUTLAW. Ralph lived with his parents thru the 1910 Census and probably somewhat after. But in 1920 when his mother is in St. Joseph, Missouri with 3 other of her younger children (Bernard, Earl, Opal), I found Ralph living with the Anna Ray family in his home area of Snow Creek Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma. He is 16 and working as a farm laborer along with Clearie Nobel, 35. Anna Ray is a widow with 5 children between 5 and 14 years of age, the older 3 girls, so Anna undoubtedly needed help with the farm. In this Census, Ralph correctly identifies his birthplace and those of his parents so there is no doubt it is the right Ralph Jarrett. But he is in trouble with the law 2 years later for robbery and auto theft, along with his brother Earl (obviously returned from St. Joseph) and brother-in-law Albert Connor. Ralph is then specifically named as breaking out of jail. The men were caught and Ralph served time in prison, confirmed by a later crime in Iowa. But before that he evidently served his time in Oklahoma and was released only to participate in a bank robbery prior to 1935 in Kansas. The sequence of his prison terms was summarized by Ralph himself when he was arrested for pulling a knife on some men in Iowa City, Iowa on 8 Aug 1947. He stated during the Iowa trial that he had spent about 17 years in prison: the first stint in Oklahoma for robbery (5 - 10 year sentence) and the second stint also for robbery in Kansas (10 - 21 year sentence). Indeed, I found Ralph in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in the 1930 Census and in the Kansas State Penitentiary (Leavenworth) in the 1940 Census. It was unclear when he had been released from Leavenworth or when he arrived in Iowa. In any event , the knife incident resulted in a trial that was fully covered by the local newspapers and resulted in Ralph receiving a 1 year sentence "at hard labor" at the Fort Madison Penitentiary in Lee County, Iowa. The sentence started 31 Jan 1949, so I assume he was released 31 Jan 1950, but I found no further articles or records after the 1949 sentencing. Ralph would have been 45 at the time of his sentencing and 46 one year later. My conclusion is he left prison and kept a low profile and out of trouble with the law from that time forward. But I do not know where he went or lived nor when or where he died. I checked all his "home territory" as well as areas his siblings lived in (to my knowledge), but found nothing to suggest he lived in any of those areas. He may very well be buried at Ball Cemetery in Nowata, Oklahoma where his parents and some of his siblings are buried, but I have no records to indicate that.
---Opal I Jarrett Williams: 20 Aug 1908, Nowata, Oklahoma - 11 Jul 1976, Orlando, Florida; lived with her mother and 2 older brothers in St Joseph, Missouri in 1920. Could not find her in the 1930 Census, but in the 1940 Census she was married to Luther Williams and living in McDowell County, West Virginia where she is 33 years old (accurate); no children listed. My take is she moved to distance herself from her family's outlaw reputation. Per her obituary, she and Luther moved to Florida around 1961, was Presbyterian, ad a member of the Senior Citizens Center. She is buried in Orlando, Florida with her husband.

6 - 11 Aug 2018: Draft
16 Aug 2018: Updated 3 siblings re death dates or locations per OK Death Index (ok2explore.health.ok.gov)
28 Aug 2018: Linked to parents and 3 husbands; updated summary of brother Ross E Jarrett re the manager of his Memorial declining my edits
30 Aug 2018: Updated bio per Hazel'd Death Certificate, received today
Vicki Edwards
Los Angeles
Descendant of John M Edwards, younger brother of Nellie Edwards Jarrett

---
Daughter of Nellie Edwards and James H Jarrett. Most likely was born in Indian Territory (pre-Oklahoma statehood) in April 1895 as that is the location recorded for her birth in the 1900 Census. However, later records, including her Death Certificate, note Missouri as Hazel's birthplace.

The 1900 Census finds Hazel as 5 years old, living in Township 28, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, the area that became Oklahoma in 1907. Hazel joined a large family and she was not the youngest. Her siblings still living with her parents are Howard, 20; Levi, 17; Maude, 16; Floyd, 13; Ross, 10; Glenn, 9; Mable, 7; (Hazel, 5); Roger, 3; and "Baby", 5 months who would be named Bernard. The oldest sibling, Walter, has already left home as he was already 20 at the time of the 1900 Census.

The 1910 Census locates the family in Snow Creek Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma as Oklahoma declared statehood in 1907. I'm guessing their home is in the same location as in 1900 , but I don't know for sure. But with as many children as Hazel's parents had and her father being a farmer (at least that's what is recorded), it seems most likely once her parents settled in Oklahoma they likely "stayed put".

In 1910 Hazel is 14 and 3 more siblings have been born in the past 9 years: Earl, 8; Ralph H, 6; and Opal, 3. These are the first children born in Oklahoma (although of course the 1900 Census records Mabel and Hazel as born in Indian Territory which became Oklahoma). Hazel is now the oldest child at home as older siblings Levi, Maude, Floyd, Ross, and Glenn have all left home.

1912 was a significant year in Hazel's life for that October 5th she married Albert Connor. According to the marriage record, Hazel was 18 and Albert 25, but of course her birth date in 1895 makes her 17. The significance of the marriage, however, is that Albert was already an experienced bank and train robber who worked with several of Hazel's brothers in the robberies, the earliest of which I found in 1911.

I've now read many newspaper accounts of the robberies, shoot-outs, captures, trials, and deaths of most of Hazel's brothers and her husband, Albert. Hazel's oldest brother, Walter, is consistently reported to have worked alone and indeed was killed the same day he robbed "the State Bank" at Prue, Oklahoma in October 1912. But most of her other brothers are named frequently in accounts of train, bank, car, and store robberies as being in the company of Albert Connor. The way the articles read, I have the impression Albert was the leader of their "gang".

What must life have been like for Hazel? It is hard to know but obviously she was surrounded by men who were in the business of robbery and theft. Likely the Jarrett and Connor families lived a hard existence, perhaps accentuated in Albert's case as he was 1/2 Delaware Indian, his father having been full blooded Delaware and his mother white (born in Illinois).

Looking at the 1920 Census for Hazel and Albert, one would have no idea their lives were far from "normal". They are living in Armstrong Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma and have 3 children: Alexander, 7 (named for Albert's father); Marvin, 5; and Juanita, 3. Albert is recorded as a farmer, age 25 (actually 36) and Hazel as 24 (accurate).

The early1920's found Hazel's life coming to a climax with Albert as he is reported in newspaper accounts to have begun his criminal career "in earnest" in 1921, focusing on the small communities in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas (Coffeyville, Kansas is frequently mentioned). And most of the articles indicate that 2 or more of Hazel's brothers joined Albert in their criminal endeavors: Ralph, Earl, Lee (Levi), Buster (Roger) seem to be the most frequently mentioned.

Hazel became a widow on 24 March 1923 after Albert was shot by the owner of a grocery store he was holding up with another outlaw, Max Weabe\Weaber. Max Weabe/Weaber died the following morning at a hospital, but Albert survived with serious wounds for about a week during which he was in the Coffeyville, Kansas jail. He died in the jail on 3 April 1923.

One has to wonder about what Hazel and Albert's children knew about their father and how it affected them. At the time of his death, the 2 boys were 10 and 8 and the daughter was 6, making me think they probably were unaware of their father's activities. Nevertheless, it appears the children grew up to have fairly normal lives (oldest son Alexander is the only one I could not find many records for).

Hazel remarried in April 1925 to Samuel Hudson about whom I know little as of this first draft. While I found no marriage record, I did find the couple listed in the Marriage License column of The Perry Journal (Perry, OK) 18 April 1925 which reads "Sam Hudson, 28 and Beatrice O'Conner, 23, both of Ponca City". It is not surprising that Hazel modified her name given the notoriety of her name when married to Albert Connor.

I found Sam and Hazel Hudson together in the 1930 Census in Fairfax Township, Osage County, Oklahoma where his occupation is recorded as "Casing -Oil Fields". Both Sam and Hazel give their ages as 33 (Hazel actually 34 or 35). They have had a daughter, Lavona, born in 1926 as she is 4 years old in this Census. Hazel's 3 children by Albert Connor carry the Hudson surname in the Census.

From here I'm not quite sure what happened. I say that because there are numerous newspaper articles in December 1933 and January 1934 in which Hazel is called the wife of another outlaw, Wilbur Underhill. Wilbur was never mentioned with any of Hazel's brothers, but he was robbing banks especially in the Oklahoma-Kansas-Missouri "corner" of the USA, earning him the moniker "the Tri-State Terror".

Wilbur murdered at least 2 people in the 1920's/1930's while holding up banks or stores. He would get caught, jailed/imprisoned, and then escape. A 1927 murder resulted in a life sentence at the Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester, OK, but he escaped Memorial Day 1933 and the FBI precursor organization joined local authorities in searching for him.

Finally in December 1933 police tracked him to a house in Shawnee, Oklahoma where he and Hazel were about to retire for the night. Detailed accounts are in the Oklahoma papers (and possibly also Kansas and Missouri) of the events that led to his capture. Wilbur was shot 13 times and survived for a week or so and was moved from a Shawnee hospital to the State Prison at McAlester on 6 January 1934 where he died the following day, 7 January 1934.

Hazel. meanwhile, was taken into custody in Oklahoma City related to charges of harboring a fugitive. Articles state other of Wilbur's criminal cohorts' wives underwent the same ordeal. But it seems Hazel did not spend time in jail from the articles I found. Then, on7 July 1934 an article appeared "Outlaw's Wife Is Freed of Charges" stated a Federal Judge had dismissed the charge of "harboring her husband, Wilbur Underhill, slain Kansas outlaw". The venue for the case was Guthrie, OK.

The real puzzle is whether Hazel and Wilbur Underhill were really married. I think not. I found no marriage record or marriage license listed in local papers. And Hazel continued to use her Hudson surname after Wilbur died. I also looked at the Memorial for Wilbur Underhill and there is no mention of a wife. I do think Hazel and Wilbur Underhill posed as husband and wife but Hazel was actually still married to Sam Hudson. One has to wonder what the Hudson household was like at this time with Sam presumably caring for the 4 children in the house: Hazel's 3 by Albert Connor and the youngest daughter being Hazel's by Sam.

Based on the last article I found about Hazel having the charge of harboring Wilbur Underhill dismissed, more than likely Hazel was still living in Oklahoma in July 1934.

Fast forward to November 1939 and I finally found the marriage record I'd been seeking: the 17 Nov 1939 Marriage Record in Tulsa, OK for Hazel Conner (residence Tulsa, OK) and Sanford Kelley (residence Monett, MO). This because I'd found Hazel in the 1940 Census married to Sanford Kelly, both age 41, living in Monett, Missouri. Monett is a small town in Barry County (and Lawrence County, it's a "border town"). This area makes sense for Hazel as it's not far from the Oklahoma and Kansas borders, the area she'd lived in all of her life.

Living with Sanford and Hazel in 1940 are Hazel's daughters from her 2 prior marriages: Juanita Connor, 22; and Lavona Hudson, 14.

Sanford works as a railroad fireman per the 1940 Census. Per his Death Notice and Death Certificate, he worked for the Frisco Railway. Monett, I learned, was a railroad town.

I searched for records or articles for Sanford (who seemed to use Sam as his nickname) and Hazel but the timeframe from 1940 forwards is a hard one to find records for for most people as no Census records are available and most City Directories seem to stop in the late 1940's or 1950's. Indeed, there were no Monett, MO City Directories available on Ancestry past 1940.

I knew, however, that Hazel had died in San Bernardino County, California in 1979 as I had earlier found her in the California Death Index. So I wondered where she was between 1940 and 1979. I ordered her Death Certificate in early August 2018 to see if it might provide any additional information about Hazel's later life.

I've now received Hazel's Death Certificate. It confirms Hazel's date and place of death in 1979 in Fontana, California. It also confirms her parents' names and places of birth; the informant was her daughter by Sam Hudson. Hazel probably died at home as the Certificate indicates she was DOA at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana and gives her usual residence as 17458 Elaine Dr., Fontana. A new fact from the Certificate is that she had worked as a Nurse's Aide for 20 years, self-employed. I believe those 20 years were likely all spent in California and most likely in Fontana or other areas of southern California. Twenty years would go back to 1959, The document also confirms she was a Widow and that she was cremated. It provides the name of the cemetery or crematory as Montecito Memorial Park in San Bernardino County. I will check it for Hazel's name (do not expect to find it), but believe the statement I found in an Ancestry Family Tree about her ashes being interred in the grave of her first husband, Albert Connor, in Ball Cemetery in Oklahoma as very plausible and will leave it as the site of her interment.

I am honored to create this Memorial for Hazel Jarrett who lived an extremely colorful life. As a distant cousin, I am still processing her birth family's outlaw way of life and her own relationships with her first husband and Wilbur Underhill ("pretend husband"?). Nevertheless, finding that she had no existing Memorial and the recording in the Ball Cemetery records that her cremated remains were interred in her first husband's grave, has allowed me to tell her story and a bit about her siblings.

Siblings of Hazel Jarrett:

--- Walter D Jarrett: 28 Sep 1879, Kansas - 12 Oct 1912, Osage County, OK; OUTLAW who was killed shortly after robbing a bank in Prue Oklahoma; had a reputation for always working "alone"
--- Howard M Jarrett: 25 Aug 1881, Daviess County, MO - 7 Jun 1955, Nowata County, OK; FARMER; married to Francis Mae McCauley. I found Howard in every US Census except for 1910 and no newspaper articles about him so believe he somehow escaped the outlaw/criminal life that most of his brothers pursued. Married to Frances Mae McCauley 22 Nov 1911 in Nowata County, OK whose mother was 1/4 Cherokee. Had 4 children: Gladys, Violet, Howard M Jr., and Wayne, all born OK.
--- Levi "Lee" Morris Jarrett: 25 Nov 1883, Hiawatha, Brown County, KS - 14 Dec 1921, Lenapah Township, Nowata County, OK; killed when ejected from a car driven by his brother-in-law, outlaw Albert Connor; had earlier been tried on a robbery charge with Albert Connor but was acquitted
--- Maude L Jarrett Kirby: 31 Oct 1884, Hiawatha, Brown County, KS - 30 Nov 1968, Ottawa County, KS; married to George E Kirby approx. 1907, but I could only find them together in the 1910 Census in Labette County, KS (just across the border from Nowata County, OK); reportedly divorced in 1935
--- Floyd James Jarrett: 6 Sep 1886/1887, Missouri - 3 Nov 1957, Phoenix, AZ; married to Frances. OUTLAW. Bank robber. I believe Floyd is buried in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Frances based on his Death Certif. which gives his father's name as James H Jarrett and his mother's name as Mellie/Nellie (hard to distinguish first letter). I found his obit which states he came to Phoenix 20 years prior (does not state from where), that he was born in Missouri (Obit further states Joplin, MO). What's so incredulous is that if this truly is Hazel's brother, it appears he lived openly under his real name after escaping from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on 6 Jan 1935 but surrendering 10 days later (16 Jan 1935). Since his sentence was for 25 years for a bank robbery in which 4 people were killed (started serving time on 3 Jan 1930 and indeed he is in prison in the 1930 Census), it seems unlikely he would have been released before his full sentence was up. The alternative of course is that he escaped again, but I made a thorough newspaper search and found no more articles for Floyd after 1935.
--- Ross E Jarrett: 1 Oct 1889, Pattonsburg, MO - 31 Jan 1945 McLeansboro, IL; left OK by 1910, but returned by 1913 per the OK birth locations of his 2 daughters with wife Elizabeth Reich; left again after 1920 for West Virginia and Illinois; worked as an oil well driller. His FAG Memorial spells his surname Jerrett (spelled that way on his grave marker). The person who manages his memorial declined my edits to link him to his parents and his birth and death dates and places per the Illinois Death Index and his WWI and WWII Draft Registrations; my hunch is the manager does not want him linked to this outlaw family; so be it.
--- Glenn Jarrett: 10 May 1891, Pattonsburg, MO - 21 May 1920, McAlester, OK (OK State Penitentiary); OUTLAW. Glenn had "a long criminal record" per the 22 May 1920 Coffeyville Daily Journal (KS) which reported on his death at the penitentiary where he was serving a 15 year sentence for assaulting a 13 year old girl; he reportedly died when a portion of wall of a shale pit he was working in caved in. Buried in an unmarked grave at Ball Cemetery according to one source, likely true.
-- Mabel Jarrett Wetzel/Logan: Aug 1893, Indian Territory (OK) - currently unknown; records show she likely married twice: (1) to George Wetzel in Jasper County, MO on 3 Aug 1908; and (2) to Boyd D Logan, 28 Nov 1913 in Tulsa, OK.
--- HAZEL JARRETT, 24 April 1895, Indian Territory (OK) - 12 Mar 1979, San Bernardino, CA
--- Roger "Buster" Jarrett: Feb 1897, Missouri - 8 July 1966, Rogers County, OK; OUTLAW. Participated in bank and other robberies led by Albert Connor; reportedly buried in an unmarked grave at Ball Cemetery.-
--- Bernard Jarrett: 20 Jan 1900, Montgomery County, Kansas - 6 Aug 1963, Nowata County, Oklahoma; lived with his parents/mother until 1920 or shortly thereafter; as of age 18 he had lost his right eye, possibly in working at a gasoline plant. Was charged in 1923 with receiving stolen property (a car), but found no other criminal activity and don't believe he ever served time in jail or prison. Some time after 1940 he married a woman named Jewell who had 7 children so was obviously married before. Died in 1963 in Nowata County, Oklahoma.
--- Earl E Jarrett: 1902, Oklahoma - some time after 1940; OUTLAW, wanted for several bank robberies and convicted of murder of a prohibition agent for which he was given a life sentence; he escaped, however, from the OK State Penitentiary at McAlester in 1925. Nothing more found for him until 1935 when a newspaper article reported he had been living in Kentucky under an alias, "as a respected citizen with a wife who was a school teacher". The governor of KY, however, refused to extradite Earl to OK, saying he was "rehabilitated". Evidently Earl remained "free" as the final article I found for him was dated 12 Apr 1940 (The Daily Oklahoman, p 13). It reported that an extradition requisition "was prepared for Governor Phillips' signature" for presentation to the state of Illinois where Earl was reportedly found living in Salem, still under the name Howard Martin. I searched for a Howard Martin in KY and IL with a school teacher wife and did not locate such a person. It did not help to find there were 3 towns named Salem in Illinois. At least one Ancestry Family Tree shows Earl dying in Morrow County, Ohio in 1977 but not enough evidence was included to convince me it was him. Earl's life remains a mystery, to me anyway, after 1940.
--- Ralph H Jarrett: 1904, Kansas - Unknown; OUTLAW. Ralph lived with his parents thru the 1910 Census and probably somewhat after. But in 1920 when his mother is in St. Joseph, Missouri with 3 other of her younger children (Bernard, Earl, Opal), I found Ralph living with the Anna Ray family in his home area of Snow Creek Township, Nowata County, Oklahoma. He is 16 and working as a farm laborer along with Clearie Nobel, 35. Anna Ray is a widow with 5 children between 5 and 14 years of age, the older 3 girls, so Anna undoubtedly needed help with the farm. In this Census, Ralph correctly identifies his birthplace and those of his parents so there is no doubt it is the right Ralph Jarrett. But he is in trouble with the law 2 years later for robbery and auto theft, along with his brother Earl (obviously returned from St. Joseph) and brother-in-law Albert Connor. Ralph is then specifically named as breaking out of jail. The men were caught and Ralph served time in prison, confirmed by a later crime in Iowa. But before that he evidently served his time in Oklahoma and was released only to participate in a bank robbery prior to 1935 in Kansas. The sequence of his prison terms was summarized by Ralph himself when he was arrested for pulling a knife on some men in Iowa City, Iowa on 8 Aug 1947. He stated during the Iowa trial that he had spent about 17 years in prison: the first stint in Oklahoma for robbery (5 - 10 year sentence) and the second stint also for robbery in Kansas (10 - 21 year sentence). Indeed, I found Ralph in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in the 1930 Census and in the Kansas State Penitentiary (Leavenworth) in the 1940 Census. It was unclear when he had been released from Leavenworth or when he arrived in Iowa. In any event , the knife incident resulted in a trial that was fully covered by the local newspapers and resulted in Ralph receiving a 1 year sentence "at hard labor" at the Fort Madison Penitentiary in Lee County, Iowa. The sentence started 31 Jan 1949, so I assume he was released 31 Jan 1950, but I found no further articles or records after the 1949 sentencing. Ralph would have been 45 at the time of his sentencing and 46 one year later. My conclusion is he left prison and kept a low profile and out of trouble with the law from that time forward. But I do not know where he went or lived nor when or where he died. I checked all his "home territory" as well as areas his siblings lived in (to my knowledge), but found nothing to suggest he lived in any of those areas. He may very well be buried at Ball Cemetery in Nowata, Oklahoma where his parents and some of his siblings are buried, but I have no records to indicate that.
---Opal I Jarrett Williams: 20 Aug 1908, Nowata, Oklahoma - 11 Jul 1976, Orlando, Florida; lived with her mother and 2 older brothers in St Joseph, Missouri in 1920. Could not find her in the 1930 Census, but in the 1940 Census she was married to Luther Williams and living in McDowell County, West Virginia where she is 33 years old (accurate); no children listed. My take is she moved to distance herself from her family's outlaw reputation. Per her obituary, she and Luther moved to Florida around 1961, was Presbyterian, ad a member of the Senior Citizens Center. She is buried in Orlando, Florida with her husband.

6 - 11 Aug 2018: Draft
16 Aug 2018: Updated 3 siblings re death dates or locations per OK Death Index (ok2explore.health.ok.gov)
28 Aug 2018: Linked to parents and 3 husbands; updated summary of brother Ross E Jarrett re the manager of his Memorial declining my edits
30 Aug 2018: Updated bio per Hazel'd Death Certificate, received today
Vicki Edwards
Los Angeles
Descendant of John M Edwards, younger brother of Nellie Edwards Jarrett

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