EZRA LEMAL WIGGAINS

Ezra Wiggains was born December 22, 1903 at Hooker, OK in the central panhandle. The 1910 U.S. Census, his first, placed him at age six living in Nabisco, OK with his parents, Gilbert S. (age 35), Sallie A. (28), sister Carrie (10), brother Earnest (3) and another sister simply identified as "Baby" (3 months old). Their father was a general farmer, born in Tennessee. From his age, his father's family might have been participants in the Oklahama Land Rush of 1889, which opened the Oklahoma Territory to development by allowing citizens to claim land parcels ranging to 160 acres. His father would have been a teenager at the time.

Wiggains Crash, The New York Times, October 30, 1933 (Source: NYT)

 

By the time of the 1920 Census, the Wiggains family had expanded to ten members. Besides his two sisters ("Baby" was now Goldie S., age 10) and brother, Ida (7), Alma (5) and Chester and Lester, twins (2) were added. They lived in Nabisco with their mother and father (still farming). Ezra (16) was cited as a "Farm Laborer."

Wiggains was married in Liberal, KS on January 17, 1925 to Flossie Ann Hamlin (1905-1989). The 1930 U.S. Census places him at age 26 living at Nabisco with his new wife, age 25. His occupation was cited as "Farmer." There was no indication of an interest in flying.

The photograph, below, shows twins Chester and Lester, probably left and right, Ezra and Earnest. The source does not identify which is Ezra, but, being the oldest brother, he is probably at rear.

Chester, Lester, Ezra L. & Earnest Wiggains, Date Unknown (Source: ancestry.com)

Ezra Wiggains landed and signed the Peterson Field Register once, on October 15, 1931 at 4:10PM. He carried one unidentified passenger in the Alexander Eaglerock he identified as NC8246, a model A-13, S/N 824. He arrived at Colorado Springs from Pueblo, CO. He did not identify a home base or destination.

STUNT PLANES FALL, 4 KILLED. PLANES CRASH IN CIRCUS AS SPECTATORS WATCH. Amarillo, Tex. (AP) - While thousands of horrified spectators watched, two stunting airplanes collided Sunday over Amarillo, bringing death to four "air circus" fliers and severe injuries to another. A ship carrying Pilot EZRA WIGGINS [sic], of Hooker, Okla., BILL TULLIS, of Liberal, Kansas, and FRANK CLAY, of Morrill, Neb., plunged into a street three blocks from the city's main business thoroughfare. All three were killed. The other plane, piloted by ART STUDE of Woodward, Okla., crashed through the roof of a laundry. Only two persons were in the building and neither was hurt. STUDE was fatally injured. As part of the air show, streamers had been dropped from another plane and the two which collided were flying through them.

 

 

 

Just two years later, Wiggains died on October 29, 1933. The New York Times of October 30, 1933, above reported the details (and misspelled his name). Likewise, the Manitowoc Herald-Times, Wisconsin, October 30, 1933, right, also reported his accident, right, albeit with less detail.

Wiggains and Flossie had been married eight years at the time of his death. They had no children. There is no record that Flossie married again. She outlived all her siblings.

I could find no records of when or where Wiggains learned to fly, or why he was participating in the aerial display at Amarillo that day. We could say he is an example of the hundreds of Golden Age pilots who flew day-to-day with little compensation or motivation to set records or to be flamboyant and gain fame. But we'll never know for sure what his dreams were, losing him at age 29 years, ten months and seven days.

He is also an example of the dozens of Register pilots who lost their lives to aviation. None of those deaths stopped the others (see among others, for example, C.B.D. Collyer, Al Wilson, Ruth Stewart, Frank Hawks, Wiley Post, George Faw). Apropos is a quote from the NYT article, above, the other pilots in the exhibition that day, "... announced plans for continuing the show despite the crash."

Wiggains' death certificate and grave marker from Hooker, OK are below.

Ezra Wiggains, Death Certificate, 1933 (Source: ancestry.com)

 

Ezra Wiggains, Grave Marker (Source: findagrave)

 

A 38-second movie of the aftermath of Wiggains' accident is at the link. The film is courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration via the Texas Archives. The film shows both the airplanes, one crashed in the street and the other that went through the laundry roof. The film description states, "Apalling views of the wreckage of two airplanes, part of a ‘flying circus,' that crashed in mid-air while performing aerial acrobatics over Amarillo. One falls to the street, killing its occupants, while the other crashes through the roof of a building nearby, badly injuring the pilot." Wiggains flew West with pilot certificate 19580.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 05/03/16 REVISED: