Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 December 28

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December 28

Merle Haggard's friend "Rabbit"

One of the leading lights of outlaw country music, Merle Haggard, died in 2016, and I was looking over stories about him. One that you see repeated over and over is how Haggard was imprisoned in San Quentin Prison at the same time as Caryl Chessman, whom he met, and he was deeply affected by Chessman's execution. He also had another acquaintance by the name of "Rabbit" who escaped San Quentin, killed a police officer, and was returned to the prison, where he also was executed. These events supposedly altered Haggard's path in life, made him seek a more profitable one.

If you go looking for who exactly "Rabbit" was, you'll find it as Jimmy "Rabbit" Hendricks in a number of sources, including at least one Wikipedia article.

Problem is, no one named Hendricks has been executed in California in the postwar era, at least according to this page. However, there is listed a James Kendrick, from approximately the right time. Kendrick's appeal to the California Supreme Court, which was denied, can be found here. In the recounting of the background facts, it appears that he did in fact kill a police officer. The escape is not mentioned, but unless it was charged in the same court proceeding, I suppose it might not have been.

Can anyone find out whether Kendrick escaped from San Quentin prior to his fatal crime spree, and whether he had the nickname "Rabbit" or knew Merle Haggard? --Trovatore (talk) 05:49, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Looks to be the case. I don't want to join newspapers.com, but the front page of the San Bernardino County Sun for March 1, 1960 has a huge headline KENDRICK IS CAPTURED. "Escaped convict James Kendrick was taken alive after a brief gunfight last night at Shell Beach." --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 06:13, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, that's helpful. I'd still like to find confirmation that he had escaped specifically from San Quentin, and anything about his nickname.

(Ideally, it would be nice to be able to clarify the situation in the Sing Me Back Home article, and anywhere else the story is mentioned in Wikipedia, but right now what I know is suggestive but not conclusive, and even if it were 100% convincing I'm not sure there's too much hope of finding something that passes muster with the original-synthesis rules.) --Trovatore (talk) 06:46, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

From California Highway Patrolman, here, we find "James Kendrick, San Quentin escapee". --Trovatore (talk) 06:53, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

You could as on Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange if there are any Wikipedians in the San Quentin area who could check the newspapers in the main library. LongHairedFop (talk) 11:07, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

The article mentioned for March 1 says, "Kendrick, known to be armed and considered dangerous, escaped from San Quentin last Dec. 7, apparently riding out of a maximum security area in a laundry truck. Since then he is believed to have left a trail of armed robberies in Southern California, culminating in the shooting of Duvall." Duvall being CHiP officer Richard D. Duvall. The article says nothing about any nicknames except "Jimmy". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:05, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

The paper for November 4, 1961, reports on the execution, which had occurred the previous day. No mention of any nicknames. One interesting comment from governor Pat Brown (Jerry's father): "Brutal, vicious attacks on peace officers, which have recently increased across the nation, must stop." Note the relatively short time between capture and execution. They didn't mess around in those days. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:17, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

This Rolling Stone article from this past spring identifies Haggard's friend as James "Rabbit" Kendrick.[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:26, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Bugs, that's perfect. Seems that Haggard just misrembered the name; wouldn't be hard to do. (Whether he mixed it up with another individual whose name sounds like Jimmy Hendricks would be speculation, of course.) --Trovatore (talk) 17:10, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Did Haggard himself ever call the guy "Hendricks" or was he mis-heard? Hendricks is probably a lmore common surname than Kendrick. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:34, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

It's written as "Hendricks" in Haggard's autobio, Sing Me Back Home. The book is written "with Peggy Russell", so I suppose it's possible that she mis-heard him. --Trovatore (talk) 21:41, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

It's possible. Obviously, a mistake was made somewhere. If it's quoted by us or anyone else, it should have a [sic] appended and a footnote presenting the facts. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:07, 29 December 2016 (UTC)