On this date in 1934, Seal Beach tailor Thomas W. Duncan shot himself his shop at 137 Main Street where he also lived.
Owner of the Seal Beach Drug Company next door, Lee Benno heard a shot in the night and called the police. All the doors to Duncan’s shop were locked, and the police forced the rear door open and found Duncan in his living quarters in the back of the shop. He died before a doctor could be summoned.
According to the California Death Index Duncan was 57 at the time of his suicide, Duncan had been ill for sometime and was divorced from his wife who purportedly lived in Salem, Oregon with their two sons. He had left Oregon seven years earlier and opened the tailor shop in 1930 — not the best year for launching a new business. The country was reeling from the 1929 stock market crash and sliding downward through the Great Depression.
Duncan was a Spanish-American War veteran and member of the Anaheim Bay American Legion. He also served in the Canadian military before switching to the American armed forces and serving as a private in Company K of the 32nd Michigan Infantry when the U.S. entered World War I.
He was give a conduct funeral on October 30 at the Soldier’s Home in Sawtelle and buried in the cemetery there, now known as the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
– Michael Dobkins
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