WI WI - Rothschild, WhtMale pre-50s, UP131512, possibly WWI veteran, lavender checkered tie, tattoos, Sep’30

[cenazoic]

It’s assumed he drowned but never found, he could’ve left on a raft or something.

I mean, he left letters for loved ones, to the ship’s captain for luggage disposal, a will, etc, in what was clearly a premeditated suicide.

 

[madamx]

MP96395 Melvin Leonard Raphe was last seen in Indianapolis, IN 12/31/27.

His physical stats fall into the estimated range of this UID including brown hair and balding. He would have been 34 in 1930. He was reported to be 5’8-5’11 and 150-180 lbs.

Melvin’s NamUs also mentions tattoos indicating his military service in the 12th Cavalry Regiment; 1st Kansas National Guard and the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Force but nothing specific.

There is almost a 3 year gap from when Melvin was reported missing to when unidentified was found but there does appear to be a few similarities between the two.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

View attachment 566783

This is a pretty good find ! The guy had a belt buckle with the letter R and this guys last name starts with the letter R .

 

[chiaracelli]

MP96395 Melvin Leonard Raphe was last seen in Indianapolis, IN 12/31/27.

His physical stats fall into the estimated range of this UID including brown hair and balding. He would have been 34 in 1930. He was reported to be 5’8-5’11 and 150-180 lbs.

Melvin’s NamUs also mentions tattoos indicating his military service in the 12th Cavalry Regiment; 1st Kansas National Guard and the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Force but nothing specific.

There is almost a 3 year gap from when Melvin was reported missing to when unidentified was found but there does appear to be a few similarities between the two.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

View attachment 566783

Came here to post the same guy

 

[Keiri]

There’s a book about the raphe fellow, by his descendant, there’s a lot of history there.
The thing I question is he was cavalry, whereas the tattoos sounded distinctly naval to me. Also the Statue of Liberty tattoo and the letter contents suggest someone not natively American born. Someone come probably from Europe through castle garden, immigrated here, and the “land of plenty” let them down.

So I believe we are looking for a navy veteran (not necessarily American veteran) born in English-speaking Europe (unless he learned English somewhere else). Which gives me an idea... I've got some records to check.

 

[Keiri]

I’m working through three pages of names, will post results when they are done.

 

[Tower]

Honestly just occams razor here I wouldn’t spend too much time on the whittlesey angle. It’s a long way from the ocean a day out from ny to Midwest nowheresville Wisconsin. Plus this guy left a letter complaining America wasn’t the land of plenty it pretended to be and he couldn’t find a job. That seems quite unlike anything whittlesey would say. He had assets and left them to family.
Plus the whole PR tattoo thing. I think it’s entirely more likely it was an out of stater or even a Canadian.

Canadian with a Statue of Liberty? Maybe? But I’d guess emigrated through Ellis Island or US born.

 

[Keiri]

Canadian with a Statue of Liberty? Maybe? But I’d guess emigrated through Ellis Island or US born.

Statue of Liberty meant you immigrated to the us. Some Canadians did but I doubt our guy did. I’m going through military naturalizations right after the war with p r initials. The records are no joke, it requires three books to even get to the right (unindexed) files, if they are even available, then going by hand until you find the right document number. Each one is taking me an hour or more, and some aren’t online. Others don’t have dates of birth. But I’m also searching newspapers at the same time and hopefully an obvious one pops up.

 

[Keiri]

This is perhaps the hardest research I’ve done. But I figured you might want to see what I’m working on. These are all the military naturalizations after ww1. Click to enbiggen. Not all the naturalizations are online and some are useless. I’ve managed to rule quite a few out, and not all of them are really initials p r. Some of these guys were naturalized posthumously. Where they were naturalized is where they were stationed, has nothing to do with where they lived. Only some had ww1 draft cards since some joined in Europe. The goal is to get the dob from naturalization, compare to death records and see if they went missing or are accounted for.

 

[Gee_rich1]

What about Louis C Lakin? He served as a veteran In the war. He went missing either in Oregon, or Montana. He was kinda in between states mainly due to being in a logging company. Is it possible he could have gone to another state, like Wisconsin?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[Keiri]

I've reduced the list to seven.
1. Philip Rossi, can write, also listed as Philipe. Co. F 5th Rep. Reg. Italy. Born January 15, 1896.
2. Peter Rush, Born July 3, 1891, lived in Scranton, PA. Worked in a mine. Possibly can't write, his signature was basically illegible. pvt co 55 14 prov rct bn
3. Pasquale John Reggione. Could write. Units Pvt Co 10 152 Dep Brigade, Co A 68 Camp Sheridan Ala to Disch. Alias Patrick Reggione. This guy's bday is March 22, 1896, from Naples, Italy and lived in Auburn, NY as a shoemaker. I cannot find a date of death, most likely because of aliases.
Note - if you research this guy, note he's NOT the Brooklyn one who ended up in Sing Sing. Different birthdate - his was 4/15/1898 and died in 1950 in Brooklyn.
4. Patrick Joseph Reidy AKA Joseph R. Johnson. The problem here is Duval, Florida naturalizations are up, but they are actually linked to marriage licenses. I have contacted Familysearch about the problem. Until then this guy is something of a mystery man.
Possibly could be this man: USMC Manchester NH born 3/17/86 pension claim no death date
5. Peter Reilley - Co D 35th FA born Lambford Ireland, May 16, 1892 on one card, May 6, 1892 on his service card. Name also spelled Riley. Lived in Purchase, Westchester, NY cannot find death date.
6. Pierre Rick, No records online, Fort Bliss, he probably didn't use the name Pierre Rick. This fella is a complete brick wall without the proper records online.
7. Peter Rodriguez. Another brick wall. His naturalization papers would be at Newark, NJ, but not online.

Going to go search for missing people or dead people with these names/histories. Will update you. Everyone else has been excluded because I found their death dates.

 

[Keiri]

I've reduced it to three men, born elsewhere than the US, were naturalized here by the war, who are "p. r." and who I cannot find a death date for.
1. Peter Rodriguez, still pretty much nothing. The records I need are not online.
2. I can find no death for Peter Rush (probably a shortening of his real name, he was Russian). I made a profile for him on Familysearch. He is not Michigan Peter Rush.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

www.familysearch.org

3. Pasquale John Reggione dob March 22, 1896, also went by John Reggione. He is not the Pasquale Reggione who lived in NYC and ended up in Sing Sing. He was from Auburn, NY. Well, Italy originally.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

www.familysearch.org

and finally, I just saw a "missing war veteran" article from 1932, which I haven't followed up on, from the vets agency saying a Peter H. Roy was missing. I know nothing more about him. Going to take a break from this for a while, if you feel like researching further, go for it.

 

[Caring1]

I've reduced it to three men, born elsewhere than the US, were naturalized here by the war, who are "p. r." and who I cannot find a death date for.
1. Peter Rodriguez, still pretty much nothing. The records I need are not online.
2. I can find no death for Peter Rush (probably a shortening of his real name, he was Russian). I made a profile for him on Familysearch. He is not Michigan Peter Rush.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

www.familysearch.org

3. Pasquale John Reggione dob March 22, 1896, also went by John Reggione. He is not the Pasquale Reggione who lived in NYC and ended up in Sing Sing. He was from Auburn, NY. Well, Italy originally.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

www.familysearch.org

and finally, I just saw a "missing war veteran" article from 1932, which I haven't followed up on, from the vets agency saying a Peter H. Roy was missing. I know nothing more about him. Going to take a break from this for a while, if you feel like researching further, go for it.

Wow Keiri, that is a tremendous amount of research. Thank you for your persistence not only on this case but many others. I hope it turns out to be one of these gentlemen. You do great work.

 

[Keiri]

Wow Keiri, that is a tremendous amount of research. Thank you for your persistence not only on this case but many others. I hope it turns out to be one of these gentlemen. You do great work.

Thank you, I really am touched you noticed. I think this was some of the hardest genealogical work I've ever done because of the complexity of multiple databases needed even just to get the right naturalization. I'm not giving up, I just need a break hehe.

 

[Teamir]

Thank you, I really am touched you noticed. I think this was some of the hardest genealogical work I've ever done because of the complexity of multiple databases needed even just to get the right naturalization. I'm not giving up, I just need a break hehe.

If you ever apply for a job at Othram or similar, just show them your work on this thread - amazing!

 

[vls12345]

@Keiri, I'm in awe of the amount & detail of the work you've done on this case. I do hope it leads to id/resolution.

 

[Mfleish]

I believe we can rule out Pasquale Reggione. I found in the New York, U.S., Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, which is an abstract of his service in WWI and it states that he did not serve overseas. Birthday and location are a match for @Keiri's research.

 

[Mfleish]

Same with Peter Rush on his Pennsylvania, U.S., World War I Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948, it also states that he did not serve overseas.

 

[Keiri]

Yeah, after I went to bed I woke up realizing I never checked the service. I looked up the units and found what you did. So unless Rodriguez is our magical answer, I am thinking two things: either he served elsewhere, like in Canada and came here after the war, or he was from somewhere else but naturalized before the war.
I’m going to look at Canada. Thanks for the help, mfleish. Two things I got from this, I learned how to do it and I have a better sense of what we need to know. Also it was kinda fun.

 

[Keiri]

Check this out! The Canadian WWI draft papers have tattoo descriptions 0.0

 

[annemc2]

Amazing work, @Keiri!! Boy am I glad that nobody really records "girth when fully expanded" anymore. I'd hate to see my measurements after the holidays!