iPad 1 Mail app instantly crashing

I have an iPad running iOS 8. I have several accounts attached to the Mail app. In the last two weeks however, the mail app has refused to stay up. When I open the Mail app, a blank screen shows up, with the reply, delete, trash icons in the upper right. The border dividers are visible (inbox/reading pane) but nothing else shows up. After a few seconds, the app will promptly crash. The same thing will repeat after opening it up again.

I have tried uninstalling all mail accounts and re-adding them back into the Mail setting, but that doesn't solve the issue. What it does is make the Mail app usable as long as I never shut off the iPad or kill the process. If I do any of those, the Mail app will act as I have stated above.

Another temp workaround is restarting the iPad, but this is even more tedious, because if I decided to open the Mail app then move to a different app, the Mail app will stop working.

This is getting very frustrating. The iPad is the first generation of the iPad 1 with 16GB, with plenty of memory left.