Referring to
Jim Kershner’s bit on July 14th, and as an enthusiastic genealogist,
I had to know the rest of the story about young Walter Maydahl who was
sentenced to 24 hours in jail for “driving the car 47 miles an hour….with a
young woman on his lap.” Walter was 17
on that July day, the son of Sivert Maydahl (1867-1927) who had immigrated from
Norway and was a “motorman on the street railway” according to the 1910 census
for Spokane. On the 1920 census, Walter
was single, living at home, and was a “night clerk in telegraph office.” Albin Walter
Maydahl married Joy Acoam in 1922 in Vancouver, Washington; was she the lady on
his lap? In the 1930 census, Walter and
Joy were living in Wallace (with son Richard) where Walter was a “railroad car
inspector.” By 1940, they were living in Salt Lake City (with two more
children, James and Maria) where Walter was a “car foreman.” Joy died at age 89
in King County. Walter died in September 1964, according to the Railroad
Retirement Pension Index. Have you enjoyed reading what Paul Harvey called “the
rest of the story?” Hope so.
Sievert Maydahl rests in Greenwood Memorial Terrace in Spokane. There was no Find-A-Grave listing for either Joy or Walter.
