Pennysmom1
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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.
Is this auction snippet the same year as his disappearance?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.
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.Is this auction snippet the same year as his disappearance?
Wow. Incredible. It sounds like bumbling police work.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)
boy did you hit the nail on the head. The owner of the case in NamUs is “Berlin police dept” - which would sound almost correct if they had the phone number for the town of Berlin, in green lake county, but they don’t. The phone number is for the police in city of Berlin, in marathon county, nowhere near! Plus, looks like the town doesn’t even have police, just an elected sheriff!Regarding the towns being in different counties, is this per today's boundaries? Could the towns have been located in the counties at the time Max went missing?
I looked into them, but not the thief. I really want to know if the wife set this up as a way to get out of the marriage and have her sister and brother in law repaid.Kohnke is the married name of Katherine Metcalf's sister.