James Irving “Toots” Higgins
1895 – 1947
#2 Toots Higgins and #7 Merle Warren in the Essex speedsters known as the “Twin Essexs” that they competed with in races around the area in the 1920s. As is plain to see, the two cars were not really “twins”. Both cars were owned by Merle Warren who also owned the Warren Motor Company which was the Essex dealership in Newton, Kansas at the time.
Page 4 of the March 23, 1922 issue of the Anthony Republican newspaper
Toots Higgins was born December 21, 1895 (according to his tombstone, or one year after that, according to his World War I draft registration) at Lebo in Coffey County, Kansas. He was the third of four children born to James E. Higgins (1861-?) and Daisy E. (Martin) Higgins (1874-?).
By 1900, the Higgins family was living a short five miles south in the small town of Lincoln, also in Coffey County, Kansas. Higgins had moved to Arkansas City, Kansas by 1916 and then on to Hutchinson, Kansas in 1917 where he married Sue B. “Susie” (1898-1986), whose maiden name is unknown. The new couple them moved to Newton, Kansas.
Higgins served as a cook in Company “B” of the 353rd Infantry, 89th Kansas Division of the U. S. Army during World War I. Following his time in the service, Higgins returned to Hutchinson, Kansas where he and Paul Andrea became co-managers of the Buzz Garage in July of 1920 but he soon left that job to except a position as an auto mechanic with the Warren Motor Company, an Essex dealership in Newton, Kansas owned by Merle Warren (1890-1948). By 1921, Higgins was the service manager at the Warren Motor Company. Both Higgins and Warren also began racing two Essex race cars, both owned by Warren, on racetracks in the area.
Following is an incomplete listing of the races that Toots Higgins is known to have participated in:
July 5, 1920 – ½ mile dirt oval – Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas
Car: Buick that Higgins co-owned with Tip Sealey of Hutchinson, Kansas
Finish: Higgins ran the 7th quickest time in time trials of 1:20.8 for one mile. Only the times turned in by Leonard Kerbs in a Ford, Johnny Mais in an Essex, Fred Lentz in a Hudson, Jake Strickler in a Hudson, Elmer J. Negy in a Haynes and ______ Stone in an Overland were faster.
Higgins drove 1 of 5 cars in the heat race for the slowest half of the cars in time trials but he did not finish among the top 3 finishers.
Higgins finished 5th in the 30-lap “free-for-all” race behind Johnny Mais in an Essex, Elmer J. Negy in a Haynes, Fred Lentz in a Hudson and Leonard Kerbs in a Ford.
Feature Race Winner: Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas in an Essex.
October 8, 1920 – ½ mile dirt oval – Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas
Car: Hudson special
Finish: Higgins ran the 5th quickest time in time trials of 1:11.2 for one mile. Only the times turned in by Harold Roller in a Ford special, Leonard Kerbs in a Ford, Johnny Lee in a Dodge and Jake Strickler in a Hudson, were faster.
Higgins was involved in a crash in a 6-lap match race. So many cars were disabled in that wreck that the race was canceled due to a lack of cars to run it.
Feature Race Winner: Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas driving his own Ford special
October 9, 1920 – ½ mile dirt oval – Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas
Car: Hudson special
Finish: Higgins finished 3rd in the 1st 10-lap heat race behind Bill Bryant in a Hudson “Super-Six” special and Murl Wilson in an Essex.
Feature Race Winner: Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas driving his own Ford special
October 12, 1920 – ½ mile dirt oval – Ellsworth County Fairgrounds in Ellsworth, Kansas
Car: Hudson special
Finish: Higgins finished 3rd in the 4-lap professional race behind Harold Roller in a Ford and Al Koepke of Topeka, Kansas in a Ford.
Higgins finished 4th in the 6-lap professional race behind Harold Roller in a Ford, Johnny Lee of Wichita, Kansas in his Dodge and Al Koepke of Topeka, Kansas in a Ford.
Higgins finished 4th in the 10-lap professional race behind Harold Roller in a Ford, Johnny Lee of Wichita, Kansas in his Dodge and Al Koepke of Topeka, Kansas in a Ford.
Feature Race Winner: Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas driving his own Ford special
June 14, 1921 – 1-mile dirt oval – Kenwood Park Speedway at Salina, Kansas
Car: Higgins drove an Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas. Warren then drove a second Essex special that he owned but that confused the newspaper reporter covering the races as he apparently could not tell which of the Merle-Warren-owned Essex was being driven by Higgins and which was being driven by Warren.
Finish: One of the Warren-owned Essex specials finished 3rd in the 1st 10-mile “free-for-all” race behind Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas in an Essex and Raymond Fry of Newkirk, Oklahoma in a 16-valve Ford special.
One of the Warren-owned Essex specials finished 2nd in the 10-mile race for cars with engines of 230-cubic-engines or less, behind Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas who was also driving an Essex.
One of the Warren-owned Essex specials was competing in the 50-mile feature race when it broke a connecting rod on the 28th lap and dropped out of the event.
Feature Race Winner: Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas in an Essex special.
July 4, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – West Side Racetrack in Wichita, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas
Finish: Higgins ran the 2nd quickest time in time trials of 30.5 seconds which was ½ second slower than the time turned in by Johnny Lee in his Dodge.
Higgins collected $50 from the posted purse by finishing second in the second 10-lap open heat race, 9 seconds behind Johnny Lee in his Dodge.
Feature Race Winner: No feature race was run due to a shortage of entries present.
August 6, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – Kay County Fairgrounds northeast of Newkirk, Oklahoma
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish:
Higgins
placed 2nd in the 5-mile race behind Bob Peckham of Blackwell,
Oklahoma who was driving a Dodge.
Higgins placed 2nd in the 3-mile
race behind Bob Peckham of Blackwell, Oklahoma who was driving a Dodge.
Higgins’ car owner, Merle Warren, also drove an Essex he owned in these races but he did not place in the money in any of them.
Feature Race Winner: Bob Peckham of Blackwell, Oklahoma who was driving a Dodge.
September 5, 1921 – 1-mile dirt oval – Kenwood Park Speedway at Salina, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish: Higgins ran the 6th fastest lap in time trials of 59.5 seconds which was slower than the laps burned in by Leonard Kerbs in a Ford, Harold Roller in a Ford, Harold Peterson in the Lassen Dodge special, William K. “Billy” Adolph in the “J.H.L. special” Dodge and Bill Bryant in a Hudson.
Higgins led the 1st four laps of the 50-lap feature race and was in 2nd place on the 37th lap but then dropped back with a dirty spark plug and finished the race in 4th place behind Billy Adolph in the “J.H.L. special” Dodge, Bill Bryant in a Hudson and Harold Peterson in the Lassen Dodge special. Higgins’ car owner, Merle Warren, finished the race in 5th place after dropping from 2nd place with engine trouble on the 36th lap, driving one of his “Twin Essexs.”
Feature Race Winner: William K. “Billy” Adolph of Salina, Kansas driving the “J. H. L. special” Dodge owned by Johnny Lee of Wichita, Kansas
September 7, 1921 - ½ mile dirt oval – Athletic Park in Newton, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas. Warren was also the race promoter of this event.
Finish: These races were postponed until September 8, 1921 so they would not interfere with other activities scheduled at Athletic Park on this date.
September 8, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – Athletic Park in Newton, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas. Warren was also the race promoter of this event.
Finish: Higgins ran the 4th quickest time in time trials behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge and Bill Bryant in a 16-valve “Hudson special”.
Higgins finished 2nd in the 1st 4-lap heat race 3.6 seconds behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge.
Higgins finished 3rd in the 6-lap “free-for-all” behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge and Merle Warren in an “Essex special” #2.
Higgins finished 2nd in the 2nd 4-lap heat race behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge.
Higgins finished 3rd in the 3rd 4-lap heat race behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge and Bill Bryant in a 16-valve “Hudson special”.
Higgins finished 3rd in the 30-lap “free-for-all” race behind Harold Peterson in the “Lassen special” Dodge and Bill Bryant in a 16-valve “Hudson special”. Bryant and Higgins ran most of this race side-by-side. Higgins was on the inside next to the rail but was unable to muster enough speed to complete the pass.
Feature Race Winner: Harold Peterson of Wichita, Kansas in the “Lassen special” Dodge that was owned by William Henry “Bill” Lassen of Wichita, Kansas.
October 2, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – West Side Racetrack in Wichita, Kansas
Car: Hudson owned by the Warren Motor Company in Newton, Kansas
October 3, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – West Side Racetrack in Wichita, Kansas
Car: Hudson owned by Merle Warren’s Warren Motor Company in Newton, Kansas
Finish: The Warren Motor-Company-owned cars driven by Merle Warren, “Toots” Higgins and Everett Bell, all of Newton, Kansas “took 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the 5-mile race and 1st, 2nd and 4th in the 10-mile race.” There was no indication as to which of Warren’s drivers drove which car except for the winning car of the 10-mile race.
Feature Race Winner: Merle Warren in an Essex #2 owned by his Warren Motor Company of Newton, Kansas
October 4, 1921 – ½ mile dirt oval – West Side Racetrack in Wichita, Kansas
Car: Hudson owned by the Warren Motor Company in Newton, Kansas
Finish: Higgins crashed into the fence during a 5-mile heat race when a steering knuckle snapped off. It was a one-car accident and there were no injuries but, by the time news of the accident had reached downtown Wichita that afternoon, the story had grown to say that a score, or more, had been killed or injured in the accident. That race was won by Johnny Lee in his 16-valve Dodge-powered “J.H.L. special”.
Higgins won the 10-mile feature race in 12:23.0
Feature Race Winner: James “Toots” Higgins of Newton, Kansas
March 31, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – Anthony Downs in Anthony, Kansas
Car: Essex special #7 owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas
Attendance: Between 1,200 and 1,500
Finish: Higgins ran the 5th quickest time in time trials behind Johnny Mais in his Dodge, Johnny Lee in his “J.H.L. special” Dodge, Harold Peterson in a Dodge and Bill Bryant in his Hudson.
Feature Race Winner: Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas in his Dodge
July 4, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas
Car: Essex special #7 owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas
Finish: Higgins ran the 4th quickest time in time trials of 1:15.0 for one mile. Only the times turned in by Bill Crow in an Essex, Bill Bryant in a Hudson special and James Watkins in a Studebaker #17 were faster.
Higgins finished 2nd in the 1st 10-lap heat race behind Bill Bryant in a Hudson special. Higgins had started in 5th position and moved from 5th up to 2nd place on the final lap. Higgins won $75 from the purse for that 2nd place finish.
Higgins did not place in the 20-lap “free-for-all” race after he lost 2-laps when he stopped in the pits on the 15th lap to change a flat tire and replace a burned coil wire.
Feature Race Winner: Fred Lentz of Hutchinson, Kansas who was driving an Essex special #1.
September 4, 1922 – 1 mile dirt oval – Kenwood Park Speedway at Salina, Kansas
Car: Essex special #7 owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas. (Note: Higgins switched from driving the Merle-Warren-owned #2 Essex that he had been scheduled to drive, to Warren’s #7 Essex due to “car trouble”.)
Finish: 4th place in the 50-mile final event behind Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas in a Dodge, Billy Adolph of Salina, Kansas in a Dodge and _____ Davis who was driving a Studebaker owned by the Mouse Brothers of Emporia, Kansas.
Feature race winner: Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas who was driving a Dodge
September 9, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – Chase County Fairgrounds at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish: These races were postponed until September 11, 1922 due to rain.
September 11, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – Chase County Fairgrounds at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish: Higgins ran the 8th fastest 2-lap time in time trials of 1:12.5. That was only slower than the 2-lap time trials run by Johnny Lee of Wichita, Kansas who was driving his own 16-valve Dodge-powered “J.H.L. special” that he had built himself; Floyd Willard of Tulsa, Oklahoma who was driving a “little white Ford special”; Dick Calhoun of Cleveland, Oklahoma who was driving a 16-valve Dodge special #24 owned by Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas; Albert “Al” Koepke of Topeka, Kansas own 231-cubic-inch-displacement Dodge special he called “Maggie”; Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas who was driving his own Ford special; Harold Peterson of Wichita, Kansas who was driving a Lassen special 16-valve Dodge owned by William Henry “Bill” Lassen of Wichita, Kansas and _____ Davis who was driving a Studebaker owned by the Mouse Brothers of Emporia, Kansas.
Feature Race Winner: Dick Calhoun of Cleveland, Oklahoma who was driving a 16-valve Dodge special #24 owned by Johnny Mais of Salina, Kansas.
September 28, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – City Park (probably at the fairgrounds) in Abilene, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish: Although he was entered in these races, Higgins’ name does not appear in the published race results.
Feature race winner: Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas who was driving his own Dodge special.
October 5, 1922 – ½ mile dirt oval – City Park Racetrack in Council Grove, Kansas
Car: Essex special owned by Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas.
Finish: Higgins ran the 10th fastest 1-mile time trial of 1:13.4 which was slower than the laps turned in by Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas in his own Dodge special; Merle Warren of Newton, Kansas in his own Hudson-Six special; John Gerber of Meriden, Kansas in his own Chevrolet special; Archie Bane of Salina, Kansas in a Ford special; Hugo Haucke of Council Grove in his double-engine Ford special; Roy Lamb of White City, Kansas in his own Dodge special; Glenn Royer of Council Grove in a Ford special owned by Ted Schwendener of Enterprise, Kansas; George Drashner of Council Grove in his own Essex special and John Wall of Enterprise, Kansas in a Ford special.
Higgins received a few minor bruises in a 5-car pileup on the 2nd lap of the 1st 5-mile, 8-car heat race that also involved the double-engine Ford special of Hugo Haucke’s of Council Grove; the Essex special of George Drashner’s of Council Grove; the Ford special of Archie Bane’s of Salina, Kansas and the Ford special owned by Ted Schwendener of Enterprise, Kansas and driven by Glenn Royer of Council Grove. Higgins’ Ford received a bent axle in the crash. Haucke also received some minor injuries in this accident. When the racetrack was cleaned up, the heat race was restarted and was won by Harold Roller of Abilene, Kansas in his own Dodge special with an experiential flathead aluminum cylinder head of his own construction.
More races were run on this afternoon but results of those have yet to be located.
Higgins moved to Marion, Kansas in the spring of 1923 and assumed charge of the Hudson-Essex automobile Agency there for the Warren Motor Company. By 1930, Higgins back, living in Newton, Kansas and was the owner / operator of a service station.
In the early 1940s, Toots took a job as an auto mechanic at the Taylor Pontiac dealership in Cheyenne, Wyoming and he was still residing in Cheyenne when he passed away on December 8, 1947. Both he and Susie are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Newton, Kansas. Higgins longtime race car owner, friend and employer, Merle Warren, is also buried in that same cemetery.
If you know anything more about James Irving “Toots” Higgins, please contact Bob Lawrence at: sprintguy @ cox.net
Autograph signed in 1917
