Résumé

Maury I. Diggs worked both as an architect and construction engineer during his career. He developed a specialty in designing horse-racing tracks.

Draftsman, R.A. Herold, Architect, Sacramento, CA, 1907. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1907, p. 177.)

Draftsman / Designer, State Engineer's Office, Sacramento, CA, 1910-1911. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1910, p. 166 and Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1911, p. 198.)

Partner, Cuff and Diggs, Architects, Sacramento, CA, c. 1911. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1911, p. 198.)

State Architect of California, Sacramento, CA, 1912. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1912, p. 202.)

Principal, Maury I. Diggs, Architect, Oakland, CA, c. 1918-1921. Diggs had an office at 428 13th Street, Room #1011 in Oakland in 1921. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1921, p. 413.)

Principal, Diggs Construction Company, Oakland, CA, c. 1928.

In 1921, a "M.I. Diggs" was listed as having an office at 428 13th Street, Room #1011. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1921, p. 1106.)The Oakland City Directory, 1934 (p. 860), listed his office at 364 14th Street, third floor.

Construction engineer, Oakland, CA, c. 1950. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll: 5645; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 67-180, accessed 06/10/2024.)

Relocation

Born in CA, Maury I. Diggs grew up in a well-to-do and politically well-connected family Woodland, CA. His father I.P. Diggs worked as a building contractor in Woodland, CA, and, later, Berkeley, CA. Diggs's uncle, Marshall Diggs, served as a former Mayor of Woodland, CA, and a CA State Senator and was an executive with the Thomson-Diggs Company, an important wholesale distributor of hardware in the state.

The 1900 US Census listed Maury living with his parents and two brothers on North Street in Woodland. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Woodland, Yolo, California; Roll: 116; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0206, accessed 06/10/2024.) He likely resided in Woodland, CA, until 1906, or so, when he moved to Sacramento, CA.

In 1907, Maury and Marshall both lived in Sacramento, CA, where his uncle was Vice-President of the Thomson-Diggs Company, dwelling at 1220 N Street. Maury lived at 1016 19th Street in Sacramento in that year. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1907, p. 177.) In 1910, Maury dwelled at 1514 12th Street in Sacramento. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1910, p. 166.)

Diggs resided with his wife and daughter in a multi-family dwelling at 1514 12th Street in Sacramento, CA, according to the 1910 US Census. The census indicated that Diggs worked as an "architect." (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Sacramento Ward 7, Sacramento, California; Roll: T624_93; Page: 4a; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1374106, accessed 06/10/2024.) They remained living there in 1912. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1912, p. 202.)

In 1912, he worked as the State Architect of California in Sacramento, CA, and also engaged in a partnership with Clarence C. Cuff (1871-1965) in that city. At this time, he was married and had a family and his architectural career was proceeding with successfully. Maury Diggs, however, liked to have fun, and his pursuit of entertainment--drinking, gambling and womanizing--would have significant consquences for him.

Diggs's career and personal life took a drastic turn in 1912. At that time, he and a friend, Farley Drew Caminetti (1886-1945), who also came from a wealthy and socially prominent family, both began extramarital affairs with two young women under the ages of 21, Marsha Warrington (age 20) and her friend, Lola Norris (then 19). Both women were considered local "debutantes," coming from affluent familiies. The four socialized together beginning in 10/1912 and continued into the next year. Maury Diggs's father sought to put an end to the relationship and hired a police officer to break it up. In order to avoid being caught, Diggs and Caminetti concocted the idea of taking the young women to Reno, NV, in order to continue their acitivities without interruption. The pair were arrested in a Reno bungalow on 03/10/1913 and charged with violating James R. Mann's (1856-1922) Mann Act, otherwise known as the "White Slave Act of 1910," which was passed by Congress to curtail the transportation of women for prostitution and human trafficking primarily, although the bill also sought to end "any other immoral purpose" occurring during interstate commerce involving transportation between two states. (The exact phrasing of the bill's eight sections can be read here.) While the two women were consenting and not involved in prostitution, Diggs and Caminetti were prosecuted for engaging in "any other immoral purpose" by transporting them between states. The arrests caused an uproar and attracted wide media coverage of the defendants' two separate trials in 08/1913. A note in The Voter magazine summarized the verdict of the case on 09/17/1913: "Maury I. Diggs, former state architect of California, found guilty of violating Mann anti-white slavery act, is fined $2,000 and sentenced to serve two years in the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Washington.--F. Drew Caminetti, son of the United State commissioner general of immigration, found guilt of violating Mann anti-white-slavery act, is fined $1,500 and sentenced to serce eighteen months in the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island." (See "Memoranda of the Month: September 17," The Voter, vol. 11, no. 126, 10/1913, p. 57.) Diggs entered prison on 04/04/1917 and fined $2,000. His sentence was set to end 05/03/1919, but he was released early on 12/10/1918. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation NARA Pacific Alaska Region (Seattle); Seattle, Washington; McNeil Island Penitentiary Prisoner Identification Photographs; ARC Number: 608846; Box Number: 7, accessed 06/10/2024 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation NARA; Washington, DC; McNeil Island Penitentiary Records of Prisoners Received, 1887-1951; Microfilm Series: M1619; Microfilm Roll: 2, accessed 06/10/2024.)

Beyond the taboo sex appeal of the cases, media attention was fanned because Drew Caminetti's father Anthony Caminetti (1854-1923) was a Democratic politician with wide influence in Sacramento and Washington, DC. (It probably also did not help that Caminetti's family had Sicilian origins at a time when prejudice against Catholic, Italian immigrants was increasing.) Anthony Caminetti used his connections in Washington to "encourage" US Attorney General James Clark McReynolds (1862-1946) to have the US District Attorney for the Northern District of California, John L. McNab (1873-1950), postpone or abandon the prosecution of the cases. Instead of dismissing the charges, McNab resigned on 06/21/1913 causing a stir and alerting the media (particularly Republican-leaning newspapers) that a cover-up had been intended. (See "J.L. M'nab Resigns U.S. Attorneyship: Refused To Be Made Administration Tool," Ukiah Republican Press, 06/27/1913, p. 1.)

Because both men came from respectable, established backgrounds and sought to have their good names restored, Caminetti, at least, could afford to argue his case before the US Supreme Court, which at first rejected it on appeal, then decided to hear it on 06/21/1915. The 2001 book The Supreme Court in Conference (1940-1985), edited by Del Dickson, said of the Caminetti case: "Caminetti v. United States, 242 US 470 (1917) F. Drew Caminetti, the son of Woodrow Wilson's commissioner of immigration, and Maury I. Diggs, the former state architect of California, were prosecuted under the Mann Act for transporting two high school girls from California to Reno, Nevada. The Supreme Court sustained Caminetti's conviction. Professor Powell of Harvard argues unsuccessfully that the Mann Act applied only to commercialized vice and did not cover 'nonpecuniary interstate fornication.'" (See "Statutory Interpretation: Cleveland c. United States (1946)" in The Supreme Court in Conference (1940-1985), Del Dickson, ed., [New York: Oxford University Press, 2001], p. 141.) In short, any interstate travel involving women could potentially violate the "immoral purpose" clause of the bill.

The architect had an address of 816 14th Street in Sacramento in 1913, the year his legal troubles began. (See Sacramento, California, City Directory, 1913, p. 130.) He left that city in that year.

Diggs entered the McNeil Island Penitentiary on 04/04/1917 and was paroled in about eight months, far earlier than the end of his original 24-month sentence, on 12/20/1917. (Given the prominence of Drew's father in the Wilson Administration and the embarrassment this caused, it is likely that government officials expedited the release of both men so that they could arrive home before Christmas.)

His practice and reputation shattered in Sacramento, Diggs was divorced by his wife in 1914. He married Marsha Warrington on 12/15/1915, and started another family with her.

Diggs lived at 1445 Oak Street in Oakland, CA, c. 1917, in the Lakeside neighborhood. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Alameda Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 06/22/2023.)

The 1920 US Census recorded Maury living with his second wife Marsha at 220 Wildwood Avenue in Piedmont, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Piedmont, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_92; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 204, accessed 06/10/2024.)

Interestingly, both Diggs and Caminetti continued to seek redemption from their criminal convictions, each receiving presidential pardons by the next Democratic president, Franklin Roosevelt, in 1937.

From at least 1942 until 1950, he lived at 2122 Lakeside Avenue, again in the Lakeside neighborhood. He and his wife second wife Marsha occupied apartment #601, in 1950. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 06/10/2024 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll: 5645; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 67-180, accessed 06/10/2024.)

He passed away in Napa County, CA, at the age of 66.

Parents

Diggs's father Irvin Pitts (I.P.) Diggs (born c. 01/1858 in CA-d. 01/07/1922 in Berkeley, CA) worked both as a farmer and building contractor during his life In 1900, he was listed in the US Census as a farmer in Woodland, CA. His mother was Nora Snell Lasley. (born 09/1862 in MO-d. 04/15/1925 in Alameda County, CA) His parents married on 12/20/1882 in Yolo County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 06/10/2024.)

In 1918, I.P. worked as a builder and he and his wife lived at 2444 Bowditch Avenue in Berkeley. (See Polk-Husted Oakland, California, City Directory, 1918, p. 382.)

Maury had at least two siblings, Roy Lasley Diggs (born 04/22/1884 in Woodland, CA-d. 05/21/1936 in Alameda County, CA) and Ashby Westover Diggs (born 11/19/1891 in Woodland, CA-d. 08/08/1956 in San Diego, CA). Roy worked as a salesman for the Morgan and Allen Company, a sales agent for cutlery and knife manufacturers in San Francisco in 1908. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1908, p. 563.) Ashby worked as a police officer in 1921. (See Polk-Husted Oakland, California, City Directory, 1921, p. 413.)

Spouse

Diggs married Lina Belle Kincheloe (born 05/05/1888 in CA-d. 12/16/1979 in Sacramento County, CA) in 1906 in Sacramento County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 06/22/2023.) They likely divorced, and she wed at least twice after Diggs.

He wed Marsha L. Warrington on 12/15/1915 in Alameda County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1850-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 06/22/2023.)

Children

He and Lina had a daughter, Evelyn Diggs Smith (bonr 09/10/1907 in CA-d. 03/28/1970 in Sacramento County, CA).

Biographical Notes

His middle initial probably stood for "Irvin," his father's first name.

His World War I draft card indicated that Diggs was Caucasian, with blue eyes and light brown hair. He was described as having medium height and build. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Alameda Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 06/22/2023.) Prison records from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary said in 1917, that Diggs was 5-feet, 8-and-1/2-inches tall and weighed 175-and-3/4 pounds with light brown hair and a ruddy complexion. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation NARA; Washington, DC; McNeil Island Penitentiary Records of Prisoners Received, 1887-1951; Microfilm Series: M1619; Microfilm Roll: 2, accessed 06/10/2024.)

His World War I draft card indicated that his "citizenship [was] denied," presumably becaused of his felony conviction.