Keeping the Faith: A belated burial in Cazadero
The long, strange tale of an old, unsolved murder and its aftermath
By Bob Jones
I’m 91 now and thought I was through with these little essays about west county characters and happenings, but last Sunday there was a happening in Cazadero that must be made known.
The story starts on July 31, 1910, when a posse found that three members of the Kendall family had been brutally murdered in or around their Cazadero home on the Ingram Ranch. The murderer had attempted to dispose of the bodies, so the posse found only bones and ashes and blood stains. The main suspect was Manjiro Yamaguchi, a Japanese man in the hire of Margaret Starbuck of Oakland.
Mrs. Starbuck owned the 956-acre Ingram Ranch, which she leased to the Kendalls in 1908. By 1909, Mrs. Starbuck wanted to break the lease, but the Kendalls refused to leave. She went to court to get them off her property, and the judge ruled against her.
The Sunday after the bodies were found, Yamaguchi was seen boarding the train out of Cazadero accompanied by the Kendall’s dog. Margaret Starbuck said he had confessed to her that he killed the family. However, people in Cazadero didn’t think Yamaguchi was that kind of person. Further, it was pointed out that Margaret Starbuck certainly wanted the Kendalls gone. Still, there was no solid evidence tying her to the crime, and Yamaguchi was never found. The murders are still unsolved.
The Kendall’s remains were put into two mason jars and stored in the most official place in town, the Post Office, located in the Cazadero General Store. In 1962, Gant King discovered the jars and was told to keep them in the Post Office. In 1975, Rex Nance, then owner of the General Store, found the jars in the attic.
In August of that year, Cazadero held a memorial service for the Kendalls and buried the jars at the foot of the Trosper Monument at the intersection of Fort Ross Road and King Ridge Road. This impressive monument honors Justice of the Peace Francis Drake Trosper who, among other things, led the posse that discovered the Kendall’s mutilated bodies. Jane Barry, President of the Russian River Historical Society writes, “The Trospers and Kendalls had been friends in life and now shared a memorial in death.”
Fifty years later, which is to say Sunday, August 10, 2025, people came from far and near for Cazadero Hometown Days. They enjoyed a pancake breakfast, a fundraiser of the Cazadero Community Club, and gathered to set a proper marker at the Kendall’s grave.
My wife Arline and I arrived about noon and sat on the porch of the General Store and chatted with several generations of the Bohan and Canelis families, among others. I told them that the foundation of our house in Guerneville is concrete from the Bohan and Canelis enterprise, and the lumber is from Barry’s Mill when it was still in Cazadero
There was to be a procession from the General Store to the Trosper Monument at one o’clock in the afternoon. At quarter to two, Arline asked Paul Barry when the procession would start. He said, “At one o’clock, Cazadero time.” And so it did.
A good number of us walked behind a horse-drawn wagon full of flowers to be planted around the monument. There, Paul Barry, dressed in old time clothes, reviewed the Kendall’s sad history and celebrated the fact that finally their grave has a proper marker. His wife Jane, also dressed for olden days, held the mason jar their ashes had filled for 115 years. Now these ashes rest in a tasteful urn.
In preacher attire worn by my wife’s father, I offered a prayer for the Kendall’s safe repose and said a few words about the spirit of a community that was making the very best out of a troubling situation.
The marble headstone came from North Bay Monument and was made possible by contributions from the Cazadero Community Club and Cazadero General Store, along with anonymous donors. Steve Parmeter set the headstone and prepared the land around it to plant the flowers. Doug Parmeter brought his 1946 Peterbilt with hay bales on the back and transported folks to the monument. Harmony Farms gave a discount on 24 bags of soil in which to plant the flowers, and old-time newspapers were reproduced by Electric Crayon and Draftech. The Russian River Historical Society conceived of and sponsored the entire event. All contributions were gratefully acknowledged.
And so, we laid a proper stone at the Kendall’s resting place and perhaps closed a lengthy chapter in the little town’s long history.
Bob Jones wrote “Keeping the Faith,” a column in local weeklies for 50 years. He was pastor of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Churches for 20 years, living in Guerneville since 1966. His column appeared in Sonoma West Times and News for its entire run.
Any day that Rev. Bob Jones puts his pen to paper and shares his thoughts and memories is a good day, indeed. It helps us all to "keep the faith."
Wow. What a beautiful way to honor a family that might have been forgotten otherwise. Very cool community involvement.