John R McKellar was born 29 Aug 1903 Manhattan, NY, although he did give a birthdate as 29 June 1902 to get his Seamna Papers. His parents were Robert McKellar (1868-1915) and Francis Caroline Burnes/Barnes (1879-1940).
Inmate: #5247 Stockton, CA Jail
Arrested: 27 Aug 1917
Crime: Sodomy
Age: 16
Was sent to Ione Reform School
He had been in and out of trouble and had committed robbery.
At age 17 he applied for his Seaman Papers
He got a job on ships as a fireman and he traveled all over the world, Hawaii, Australia, Bombay, British Columbia, Iraq, and Manila. I didn't find any spouse or children but he had a sister. Caroline Elizabeth McKellar (1909-1966).
John died in California in 1985.
Otto John Duscher was born 24 May 1880 in Illinois.
Inmate: #5236 Stockton, CA Jail
Arrested: 27 Aug 1917
Crime: Crimes Against Nature
Crimes against nature involve sexual acts that do not involve the traditional sexual act of a man and woman having penile to vaginal sexual intercourse. Essentially, anything outside of this definition could result in a charge for a crime against nature.
The crime against nature or unnatural act has historically been a legal term in English-speaking states identifying forms of sexual behavior not considered natural or decent and are legally punishable offenses.
He was sentenced to 1yr to life in prison.
Inmate: #31127 San Quentin Prison
Rec: 24 Nov 1917
Crime: Crimes Against Nature
Was transferred to Folsom.
Otto would die in prison on 14 July 1927 and was buried in the Folsom Prison Cemetery.
Here is the link to his Find A Grave Memorial:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173505179/otto-j-duscher
I never found his parents or any spouse. I do not know how or why he died.
Gay people were still persecuted and sacked from their jobs for being 'homosexuals during this time and charged with crime of this kind.
The crime against nature or unnatural act has historically been a legal term in English-speaking states identifying forms of sexual behavior not considered natural or decent and are legally punishable offenses. Sexual practices that have historically been considered to be "crimes against nature" include masturbation, sodomy and bestiality.
Wikipedia's definition:
For much of modern history, a "crime against nature" was understood by courts to be synonymous to "buggery", and to include anal sex (copulation per anum) and bestiality. Early court decisions agreed that fellatio (copulation per os) was not included, though mainly because that practice was virtually unknown when the common-law definition was established (it remained so rare that first attempted fellatio prosecutions under the "crime against nature" statute date to 1817 in England and 1893 in the United States.) Likewise, sexual activities between two women were not covered. Over time, particularly starting in the early 20th century, some jurisdictions started enacting statutes or developing precedents the extended the scope of the crime to include fellatio and, sometimes, other sexual activities.
The term crime against nature is closely related to, and was often used interchangeably with, the term sodomy. (This varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Sometimes the two terms were understood to be synonymous; sometimes sodomy was limited to sexual activities between two humans; and sometimes sodomy was taken to include anal sex or bestiality, whereas crime against nature also included fellatio.)
Until the early 19th century, courts were divided on whether the act needed to be completed (to result in ejaculation) in order to be a punishable offense. This question was deemed sufficiently important that, in 1828, English law was explicitly amended to specify that proof of ejaculation was not necessary for convictions for buggery and rape. The crime was not limited to same-sex activities, and, in case of an act between two adults, both participants were guilty, regardless of consent. Attempted or completed act of sodomy, committed by a husband against his wife, was grounds for divorce in common law.
Historically, the offense was usually referred to by its longer name, the detestable and abominable (or abominable and detestable, or, sometimes, infamous) crime against nature, committed with mankind or beast. This phrase originates in Buggery Act 1533, with words "crime against nature" substituted for "vice of buggery" in the original, and it was present in one of these forms in criminal codes of most U.S. states. Specific acts included under this heading were typically deemed too detestable to list them explicitly, resulting in a number of vagueness-based legal challenges to corresponding statutes. One of the most recent, and one of the rare successful challenges, is the 1971 Florida case of Franklin v. State. On the other hand, just 7 years prior, a similar challenge (Perkins v. State) failed in North Carolina. (In Perkins, the Court wrote that, if this were a new statute, it would have been "obviously unconstitutional for vagueness", but, since this was a statute whose history was traceable back to the reign of Henry VIII, it accumulated a number of judicial interpretations, and, backed with these interpretations, it was not unconstitutionally vague.)
Penalties for this offense varied greatly over time and between jurisdictions. Crime against nature remained punishable by death or life imprisonment both in the UK and in many U.S. states well into the 19th century. Liberalization of sexual morals led to reduction of penalties or decriminalization of the offense during the second half of the 20th century, so that, by 2003, it was no longer a punishable offense in 36 out of 50 U.S. states, and was only punishable by a fine in some of the remaining 14. (See Sodomy laws in the United States for details.)
Inmate: #5247 Stockton, CA Jail
Arrested: 27 Aug 1917
Crime: Sodomy
Age: 16
Was sent to Ione Reform School
He had been in and out of trouble and had committed robbery.
At age 17 he applied for his Seaman Papers
He got a job on ships as a fireman and he traveled all over the world, Hawaii, Australia, Bombay, British Columbia, Iraq, and Manila. I didn't find any spouse or children but he had a sister. Caroline Elizabeth McKellar (1909-1966).
John died in California in 1985.
Otto John Duscher was born 24 May 1880 in Illinois.
Inmate: #5236 Stockton, CA Jail
Arrested: 27 Aug 1917
Crime: Crimes Against Nature
The crime against nature or unnatural act has historically been a legal term in English-speaking states identifying forms of sexual behavior not considered natural or decent and are legally punishable offenses.
He was sentenced to 1yr to life in prison.
Inmate: #31127 San Quentin Prison
Rec: 24 Nov 1917
Crime: Crimes Against Nature
Was transferred to Folsom.
Otto would die in prison on 14 July 1927 and was buried in the Folsom Prison Cemetery.
 |
| Otto Duscher Grave Folsom Added by EDHGS |
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173505179/otto-j-duscher
I never found his parents or any spouse. I do not know how or why he died.
Gay people were still persecuted and sacked from their jobs for being 'homosexuals during this time and charged with crime of this kind.
The crime against nature or unnatural act has historically been a legal term in English-speaking states identifying forms of sexual behavior not considered natural or decent and are legally punishable offenses. Sexual practices that have historically been considered to be "crimes against nature" include masturbation, sodomy and bestiality.
Wikipedia's definition:
For much of modern history, a "crime against nature" was understood by courts to be synonymous to "buggery", and to include anal sex (copulation per anum) and bestiality. Early court decisions agreed that fellatio (copulation per os) was not included, though mainly because that practice was virtually unknown when the common-law definition was established (it remained so rare that first attempted fellatio prosecutions under the "crime against nature" statute date to 1817 in England and 1893 in the United States.) Likewise, sexual activities between two women were not covered. Over time, particularly starting in the early 20th century, some jurisdictions started enacting statutes or developing precedents the extended the scope of the crime to include fellatio and, sometimes, other sexual activities.
The term crime against nature is closely related to, and was often used interchangeably with, the term sodomy. (This varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Sometimes the two terms were understood to be synonymous; sometimes sodomy was limited to sexual activities between two humans; and sometimes sodomy was taken to include anal sex or bestiality, whereas crime against nature also included fellatio.)
Until the early 19th century, courts were divided on whether the act needed to be completed (to result in ejaculation) in order to be a punishable offense. This question was deemed sufficiently important that, in 1828, English law was explicitly amended to specify that proof of ejaculation was not necessary for convictions for buggery and rape. The crime was not limited to same-sex activities, and, in case of an act between two adults, both participants were guilty, regardless of consent. Attempted or completed act of sodomy, committed by a husband against his wife, was grounds for divorce in common law.
Historically, the offense was usually referred to by its longer name, the detestable and abominable (or abominable and detestable, or, sometimes, infamous) crime against nature, committed with mankind or beast. This phrase originates in Buggery Act 1533, with words "crime against nature" substituted for "vice of buggery" in the original, and it was present in one of these forms in criminal codes of most U.S. states. Specific acts included under this heading were typically deemed too detestable to list them explicitly, resulting in a number of vagueness-based legal challenges to corresponding statutes. One of the most recent, and one of the rare successful challenges, is the 1971 Florida case of Franklin v. State. On the other hand, just 7 years prior, a similar challenge (Perkins v. State) failed in North Carolina. (In Perkins, the Court wrote that, if this were a new statute, it would have been "obviously unconstitutional for vagueness", but, since this was a statute whose history was traceable back to the reign of Henry VIII, it accumulated a number of judicial interpretations, and, backed with these interpretations, it was not unconstitutionally vague.)
Penalties for this offense varied greatly over time and between jurisdictions. Crime against nature remained punishable by death or life imprisonment both in the UK and in many U.S. states well into the 19th century. Liberalization of sexual morals led to reduction of penalties or decriminalization of the offense during the second half of the 20th century, so that, by 2003, it was no longer a punishable offense in 36 out of 50 U.S. states, and was only punishable by a fine in some of the remaining 14. (See Sodomy laws in the United States for details.)
Comments
Post a Comment