WI WI - Max Metcalf, 33, Princeton, 7 Oct 1958

[Pennysmom1]

Max Edward Metcalf (1925-1958) - Find a Grave...

SSGT US AIR FORCE KOREA

www.findagrave.com

 

[Richard]

Max Edward Metcalf (1925-1958) - Find a Grave...

SSGT US AIR FORCE KOREA

www.findagrave.com

This is his Veteran's Administration (VA) memorial marker. Note the inscription, "In Memory Of" above his name. This is the type of marker or headstone which is placed in a cemetery to honor a Veteran when the person's remains are not buried, or when the burial site is unknown.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Last bits today.

Correction; the couple that bought the farm with the Metcalfs had the name Kohnke.

Attached more readable copy of auction notice details.

Another clipping with a good bit more details on the farm operations and Metcalf family.

The Portage Daily Register 02 Jun 1960, Thu ·Page 9 states "Sunday guests at the Ross Kohnke home were her mother and sisters, Mrs. Max Rosek and Jolene and Mrs. Kathleen Metcalf and children of Princeton and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Turner of Wausau." Source: Newspapers.com​

The above article excerpt shows that the Metcalf family and the Ross Kohnke family knew each other and were close friends or relation.

Another article in the Portage Daily Register 05 Aug 1965, Thu ·Page 6 states "Pat Metcalf of Princeton spent a few days last week with Mr. and Mrs. Ross Kohnke and family." Pat Metcalf was one of Max Metcalf's children. Source: Newspapers.com

"Also just before Max's disappearance he had taken in a whole barn load of hay for the winter. The day after Max disappeared it was discovered that nearly all of the hay had been stolen, an entire barn's worth, only the front row was still there to make the barn look like it was full. Again, there was no follow up to this theft." Post #5 above.

The auction ad also states that for sale were 60 ton baled hay, 225 bales of hay and 200 bales of straw. That's a lot of hay for it having all been stolen except for one row.

The Oshkosh Northwestern 06 Feb 1959, Fri ·Page 11 at Newspapers.com states "Charge Former Metcalf Employee with Petty Theft. Clarence Johnson, 23, Baraboo, a former employee of Max Metcalf...Johnson was arrested by the sheriff's department...He is accused of taking small equipment from the Metcalf farm."​

November 1st, 1960 a fire destroyed the Metcalf farm and owned by Dr. R. F. Minken, Milwaukee. It was bought by Robert Williams about 1960 and was then known as the Lazy L Riding Ranch. The Oshkosh Northwestern 14 May 1976, Fri Page 24 shows it was still owned by Williams in 1976.


Max Edward Metcalf, born 3 Aug 1925, was a Korean War vet and a staff sergeant in the USAF and stationed in MO until Nov 1954.

 

[Keiri]

The Portage Daily Register 02 Jun 1960, Thu ·Page 9 states "Sunday guests at the Ross Kohnke home were her mother and sisters, Mrs. Max Rosek and Jolene and Mrs. Kathleen Metcalf and children of Princeton and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Turner of Wausau." Source: Newspapers.com​

The above article excerpt shows that the Metcalf family and the Ross Kohnke family knew each other and were close friends or relation.

Another article in the Portage Daily Register 05 Aug 1965, Thu ·Page 6 states "Pat Metcalf of Princeton spent a few days last week with Mr. and Mrs. Ross Kohnke and family." Pat Metcalf was one of Max Metcalf's children. Source: Newspapers.com

"Also just before Max's disappearance he had taken in a whole barn load of hay for the winter. The day after Max disappeared it was discovered that nearly all of the hay had been stolen, an entire barn's worth, only the front row was still there to make the barn look like it was full. Again, there was no follow up to this theft." Post #5 above.

The auction ad also states that for sale were 60 ton baled hay, 225 bales of hay and 200 bales of straw. That's a lot of hay for it having all been stolen except for one row.

The Oshkosh Northwestern 06 Feb 1959, Fri ·Page 11 at Newspapers.com states "Charge Former Metcalf Employee with Petty Theft. Clarence Johnson, 23, Baraboo, a former employee of Max Metcalf...Johnson was arrested by the sheriff's department...He is accused of taking small equipment from the Metcalf farm."​

November 1st, 1960 a fire destroyed the Metcalf farm and owned by Dr. R. F. Minken, Milwaukee. It was bought by Robert Williams about 1960 and was then known as the Lazy L Riding Ranch. The Oshkosh Northwestern 14 May 1976, Fri Page 24 shows it was still owned by Williams in 1976.

View attachment 482645
Max Edward Metcalf, born 3 Aug 1925, was a Korean War vet and a staff sergeant in the USAF and stationed in MO until Nov 1954.

Is this auction snippet the same year as his disappearance?

 

[Quoththeraven]

Is this auction snippet the same year as his disappearance?

Max Metcalf (Town of Brooklyn, WI) disappeared 8 pm, 7 Oct 1958 after telling his wife he was going to a nearby tavern about 1/2 mile from his farm. The auction ads in the The Oshkosh Northwestern ran from Tues, Nov 4 1958 thru Mon, Nov 10, 1958. It is odd they auctioned the farm while he was missing, but, the auction could have already been planned. His Dodge 330 truck was found in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin that same night between 11 pm and 12 am and had been parked behind a Main St. storage company building. News reports state he disappeared from Princeton, Green Lake County, WI, 40 miles SW of Oshkosh, WI.

For accuracies sake:
(the Portage Daily Register, Fri, Jan 23, 1959, Page 4, stated Metcalf was from the Town of Brooklyn, near Green Lake, 8 miles east of Princeton)

(the Oshkosh Northwestern, Thu, Nov 06, 1958, Page 31, stated the farm was 6 miles southwest of Green Lake, 6 miles southeast of Princeton on County Trunk T, 1 1/2 miles south of Highway 23)

So, he actually disappeared from his farm in the Town of Brooklyn, which is only 27.9 miles from Oshkosh, 39 minutes away. Now, we just need to know the name of the tavern he was going to. Does anyone know?

The Oshkosh Northwestern Wed, Jan 28, 1959, Page 16 stated that the handbrake was set, which puzzled authorities, as the brake was not in working order and Mrs. Metcalf said her husband never used it.

So the question is, did he ever make it to the nearby tavern? Also, one would assume someone else was involved in his disappearance and had set the handbrake, not knowing that it didn't work nor that Metcalf never used it.

 

[Keiri]

I’ll search for the tavern name. I’m still weirded out by the auction timing. The auction says the court was appointed receiver for the absentee owner - which is astonishingly fast. And where was the wife? Had the couple previously abandoned the farm? Usually you need to put notices to the absentee owner for a few weeks before the court would hear anything about a receiver.

And it makes the hay story sound like a lie. What’s going on here?

 

[Molly's Mom]

Just came across this so here are my first thoughts - the farm was only in Max's name. Remember this is the 50s, a time when a lot of women still didn't own property. I would guess if there were marital problems they could have been based on finances and the couple was in debt. Debtors came to collect and there was no choice but to auction the farm. Likely scenario is that the wife and kids lived with her parents after being "deserted".

Again, these are just my thoughts after a very quick read through.

 

[Keiri]

There’s a lot more to this than the story posted above. First of all, the ancestry note story said the wife put the farm up for auction. The notice states the court did.

Get this though. The green lake sheriff Leo Bartol reported him missing to the newspaper but “didn’t know the details.”
The Oshkosh police learned of his disappearance through reading the article in the newspaper. Fine, chalk it up to bartol not knowing max’s car was in Oshkosh. The green lake sheriffs get a tip that a part of the farm had been newly dug. But they were “too busy” to get to it. (Seriously, if someone did kill max, they could have moved the body because of this warning). (More in next post)

 

[Keiri]

Here it’s said he already had farmland there, but acquired more. Was this the land he bought with the kohnke family? Or the first lot? He was deeply in debt, and the auction only sells off his interest in the farm, not the kohnkes. I wish I could pull title to the farms. Who was he in debt to? The kohnkes? And in her obituary, the wife’s sister’s married name was kohnke. She moved off the farm and lived in Princeton with family. I’m going to try to determine who.

Now suddenly the tipster doesn’t remember where the disturbed dirt was.

 

[Keiri]

January 16, now husband went in an “errand” not to a bar. And they informed the fbi missing persons! I just noticed in one article they described him as “husky” - no picture I’ve seen shows him as anything but trim.

Finally the last article completely contradicts the auction notice and says the wife sold the farm because she couldn’t run it even with the aid of max’s brothers (what, for three weeks? Then she listed the farm? And why could max do it and not these brothers?) and she moved to montello to be near family. The wife’s father died and her parents lived in Princeton. The kohnkes lived in montello. This article also says he was making all payments on time and had no reason to disappear. What about the debts mentioned in other article? No dogs were brought out to search the spot that was disturbed. Only one hole was dug. Suddenly neighbor forgets. Wife must have either been involved in debt proceedings and asked the judge to sell the farm and appoint a receiver to pay off the associated debts (presumably some to the kohnkes!) or the newspaper articles are wrong. And there’s nothing about the hay. Look, it seems to me this is small town coverup.