SACRAMENTO-YOLO CO. INCIDENTS

1/6/1945 Mayhew near Sacramento, Sacramento Co., Calif. Fire of suspicious origin destroyed Mayhew Sunday School building in which was stored property belonging to groups of persons of Japanese ancestry. County officials consider case closed. WRA investigators still working on it.

1/18/45 AUBURN, Placer County, Calif: Two civilian brothers and two brothers AWOL from army held in case before Superior Court for attempted burning and dynamiting and scare shooting at Sumio Doi ranch home. Doi family has son in army unit which rescued Lost Battalion. No one injured.

1/22/1945 Florin near Sacramento, Sacramento Co., Calif. Night fire destroyed Fumi Mukai Fujimori ranch house and barn. Arson suspected though evidence is lacking. Incident caused short-term leave evacuee to become undecided about returning.  No one was injured. Local officials apathetic about fire. WRA continues to work on case. S.F. Area Office checking.

3/1/1945 Newcastle (rural nearby), Placer County: K. Kubo Placer Farm ranch home destroyed by 5:30 p.m. fire believed to be of accidental origin. Considerable evacuee property stored was destroyed. Kubo is relocated to Penryn, Placer County and knows about fire; expects wife and two children to open Penryn home with him about 10 days hence. Kubo organized Placer Farms Company prior to evacuation. His tenant of fire destroyed house uninjured.

3/7/1945 Davis, Yolo Co., Calif. Shigeki Murasaki, student at School of Agriculture, University of California, Davis, encountered difficulty when a druggist in the town refused to sell him any goods. Dr. Robbins, a professor at the college (also District Governor of Rotary International) interceded for Murasaki and the other druggist in town assured him he would be glad to serve him at any time.

  

3/11/1945 French Camp, Stockton, San Joaquin County: Kaname Fujishige and his sister Mrs. H.K. Minami, threatened with bodily harm by Filipino of nearby farm, reported to Stockton Sheriff by Mrs. Roscoe Rose, friend of evacuees. Sheriff sent two deputies to investigate who warned Filipino. WRA Relocation officer John R. Robertson verbally notified at office 10:00 next day. Mrs. Minami's address — 1150 W. Ferry, Detroit 2, Michigan. Threat occurred at residence at French Camp.

4/21/45 NEWCASTLE, Placer County, Calif.: Barn, property of T. Kaneko and leased to Gene Fowler, mysteriously burned down destroying Fowler's truck and other property. Mr. Hatch of WRA is investigating and intends contacting Ray McCarthy of the State Department of Justice.

6/8/1945 Lodi, San Joaquin Co., Calif, — For the third time in approximately three weeks fire again broke out on the property of the Buddhist Church. Believed set by children carelessly playing with matches inside church. A desk was destroyed and walls and floor scorched. Police investigating. Other fires took place on May 29th and 30th.

July 13, 1945.Walnut Grove, Sacramento County, Calif, (30 miles from state capi-tal):  On the evening of July 13, Mrs. Wilma Insigne, alias Kitty Ferguson, 36, wife of a Filipino and occupant of a house in Walnut Grove owned by an evacuee, Sugi Koga of the Granada Relocation Center, visited the home of a recent returnee of Japanese ancestry at Walnut Grove, Harry Matsuoka. Present at his home were his son, Pvt. Toshio Matsuoka, on furlough after 10 months in a German prisoner of war camp, other members of the family, and the family of K. Sasaki, a neighbor, and also a recent returnee from the Granada Relocation Center. One son in the latter family, Sgt. George Sasaki, is serving overseas with the U.S. Army.

     Mrs. Insigne used vile and abusive language in threatening the two families. She told Private Matsuoka, who wears the Combat Infantryman's Badge and two Bronze Stars, "You are not an American soldier. You are a Jap soldier." She told the families that she would go get a group of Filipinos and they would return arid either burn down the house or drive out the returnees.

     Telephoned by Mr. Matsuoka, Harry Khowles, assistant to the sheriff of Sacramento County had the Walnut Grove constable arrest Mrs. Insigne. When she was arrested she was in a Filipino poolroom, drunk and trying to get up a crowd of Filipinos aroused against the Matsuokas.

     The following morning, Milo Dye, Justice of the Peace at Walnut Grove, prepared a complaint which was signed by Private Matsuoka. Judge Dye set bail at $500 cash or $1,000 bond and set the hearing for the afternoon of Monday, July 16. Mrs. Insigne remained in jail because bail was not met.

     At the hearing in Dye's office she pleaded guilty to having willfully and unlawfully disturbed the peace and to having used vile and abusive language before women and children.

     Before passing sentence Dye spoke of the necessity for protecting the rights of the evacuees, basing his remarks on the fact that both the courts and the Army have approved their return. He told Mrs. Insigne that because she had attempted to incite riot which might have resulted in bloodshed, or death, and because of her 14-year record of many convictions, her sentence would be 90 days in jail, the last 60 to be suspended upon her agreement to leave the county for a period of one year. She is in the county jail.

     Received by telephone from Walter Mores of the Sacramento office of WRA at ll:30 a.m., July 18 by Arnold M. Serwer

Source: “Special Field Reports of Allan Markley” to Dillon S. Meyer, Director WRA, Attn: M.M. Tozier, Chief of Reports, WRA