Roger Sprague was born 15 Nov 1869 in San Francisco, CA, to Thomas Spragur (1817-1888) & Caroline Price (1831-1891).
Roger was an assistant to the Department of Chemistry at the University of California in San Francisco, CA in 1919. During this time, he was distraught over his inability to obtain a position he wanted. So, he shot Professor Edward O'Neill and Professor Dr. J. H. Hildebrand in the administration offices of Gilman Hall, then he went to shoot Vice President May L. Cheney but only managed to hit her hair braid before being subdued.
I found these newspaper articles, just click the links to read:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-roger-sprague/203425742/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-roger-sprague/203425094/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-roger-sprague/203425352/
Below is a letter Roger wrote to Theodore Roosevelt 26 Mar 1911. I added the link for it below the letter.
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| Passport 16 Mar 1909 |
Passenger list
Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving or Departing at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1900–1954.
Name: Roger Sprague
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Birth Year: abt 1870
Ship: Tenyo Maru
Port of Arrival: Honolulu, Hawaii, en route to Shanghai
Arrival date: 13 May 1910
Yearbook
1905
Name: Roger Sprague
Yearbook Date: 1905
School: University of California
School Location: Berkeley, California, USA
Yearbook Title: The Blue and Gold Yearbook
showing as an Associate in Chemistry in Chemistry Honorary Society Mim Kaph Mim
1891 Junior class
Name: Roger Sprague (C.E.)
Estimated Age: 20
Birth Year: abt 1871
Yearbook Date: 1891
School: University of California
School Location: Berkeley, California, USA
Yearbook Title: Blue and Gold
He was a teacher at a high school in Lompoc & in Redding, CA.
He taught in Hawaii and retired when he suspended a student, and it was overruled by the superintendent.
He wrote two books I will attach the links they can be read free.
One was "The Flamingo's Nest"
https://archive.org/details/flamingosnesthon00sprarich/mode/2up
And the other was "From western China to the Golden Gate; the experiences of an American university graduate in the Orient, with thirty illustrations"
https://archive.org/details/fromwesternchina00spra/mode/2up
He lived at 2112 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA which is now a Toyota shop.
After his trial he was committed to the State Hospital where he spent 13 years. The on 8 Jan 1933 in Napa, CA he committed suicide.
He had two sisters Edith & Bessie None married. Their father Thomas had some issues as well.
The sister lived together Edith was a teacher and Bessie was a Stenographer then a librarian at a university, both living in Berkeley.
Very sad he seemed to have a lot going for him until he didn't get that promotion. Must have been more chain of events that set him off.
The only photo I found of him were in the newspaper articles.
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