Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. was born on September 20, 1888, inKinsley, Kansas, son of Earl Winfield Spencer Sr., a socially prominentChicago stockbroker,[1] and the former Agnes Lucy Hughes ofJersey. He graduated from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1910 and in 1917 was sent to San Diego with instructions to set up a permanent naval air station, which was to be used for training exercises, and he became its first commanding officer.[2]
Spencer was married five times.[citation needed] Four of his wives were:
Bessie Wallis Warfield (1896–1986), only child of Teackle Wallis Warfield, member of a prominentMaryland family; they married in Baltimore on 8 November 1916. Spencer was alleged to be abusive and analcoholic. After several separations, the Spencers divorced in December 1927. After a second marriage, toErnest Aldrich Simpson, and a subsequent divorce, Wallis Spencer married the former KingEdward VIII of the United Kingdom and became the Duchess of Windsor.
Norma Reese Johnson (1891–1944), the widow of Homer Sturtevant Johnson, aDetroit manufacturer who died in 1928, and a daughter of Carl Reese, of Detroit,Michigan. Spencer and Johnson were married in Los Angeles, California, on 4 July 1937. By this marriage he had two stepdaughters: Betty L. Johnson, an actress and songwriter (married Balie Peyton Legare Jr. (1908–1984), a jazz musician, whom she divorced in 1942) and Kathryne Johnson (bornc. 1912, married Dell Myron Wade Jr). The Spencers' wedding was a double wedding with Betty and Peyton Legare, whose wedding in February 1937 in Tijuana, Mexico, was not valid under California law and needed to be resolemnized.[10][11] The couple separated on 9 February 1940, and were divorced later that year inSanta Monica, California. Both parties charged cruelty, and Norma declared that her husband was plagued by whatThe New York Times's announcement of their acrimonious divorce delicately called "habitual intemperance."Time magazine reported, "During a stormy session of accusations and counteraccusations Navyman Spencer, charged with cruelty and habitual intemperance, testified that his weekly liquor bill was only about $10, that his wife 'drank as much of it as I did.'"[12]
Lillian Phillips (1892–1981), daughter of Robert A. and Ella Burgess Phillips, whom he married October 2, 1941.[13][better source needed]
^Ralph S. Cooper, D.V.M."Earl W. Spencer, Jr". Earlyaviators.com. Retrieved10 April 2013.
^Spelling of wife's first name per the 1930 United States Federal Census for San Diego, California, accessed on ancestry.com on 23 December 2011. Mariam's maiden name, former husband's name, et cetera, were determined through research on ancestry.com, through censuses and marriage records, also accessed on ancestry.com.
^CORRECTION of FOOTNOTE 3 – The MIRIAM JEAN CARO daughter of Simon and Bertha Abrahamson Caro was born 29 June 1893 in Roseburg, Douglas Co., OR, and DIED UNMARRIED on 20 June 1982 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA.1. Ancestry.com [database on-line], 1940 U. S. Federal Census, (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T627_318; Page: 64B; Enumeration District: 38-502.2. Ancestry.com [database on-line], Oregon, Select Births and Christenings, 1868–1929, (Prove, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000), Name: Miriam Jean Caro, Gender: Female, Birth Date: 29 Jun 1894, Birth Place: Roseburg, Doulas, Oregon, Father: Simon Caro, Mother: Bertha Abrahamson Caro, FHL Film Number: 2259056.3. Ancestry.com [database on-line], California Death Index, 1940–1997, (Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000), Name: Miriam J Caro, Social Security #: 564589069, Gender: Female, Birth Date: 29 Jun 1893, Birth Place: Oregon, Death Date: 20 Jun 1982, Death Place: San Francisco, Mother's Maiden Name: Abrahamson.4. Ancestry.com [database on-line], U.S. Social Security Death Index, (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011), "Name: Miriam Caro, SSN: 564-58-9069, Last Residence: 94109 San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA, BORN: 29 Jun 1894, Died: Jun 1982, State (Year) SSN issued: California (1959)".
^"Spencer To Be in Double Wedding", Ogden (Utah) Standard Examiner, 29 June 1937, page 6A, column 6.
^The Legares' son, Balie Peyton Legare 3d (1948–1970), was a heroin dealer who "fell to his death ... when a bedsheet-rope snapped as he lowered himself from the roof of the seven-story San Francisco County Jail". Information cited in "Fall Kills Inmate", Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), 30 April 1970.
United States
United States Navy
Commander
