(To listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)
How I Met Robert Parks
by Jim Potter
Most people, including museum curators, have never heard of a reward, or wanted, postcard. Yet, I have hundreds in my collection.
Reward cards are best described as miniature wanted posters. They usually announce the amount of the reward being offered, inform the reader what crime has been committed, then give a detailed description of the stolen property and/or suspected criminal, if known. At the bottom of the card is the name of the contact person, usually the local sheriff.
I met Robert Parks online when I observed his photograph on a postcard for sale. When I noticed a $25 reward being offered, I wondered if he had robbed a bank or escaped from jail. I soon learned he had not broken any law. He had merely left home without informing his parents. His concerned elders contacted McPherson County Sheriff O. M. Knowles to see if the lawman could locate their boy, or young man, and check on his welfare.
The card didn’t give the age of Robert Parks, so I did a quick calculation. Since the card was postmarked in 1915, I knew Robert was dead and gone.
I began looking for clues to further my investigation of his disappearance. Fortunately, the reward card was a goldmine of information. The photograph of Robert was a big plus. A minute percentage of reward postcards include a picture of the wanted person. Secondly, Robert’s description included his height, weight, eye color, and that he might be found around garages or tractor engines. As a bonus, I had the date Robert left home: October 21, 1915.
On the reverse side of the card, I observed it had been postmarked on October 25 and sent to the chief of police of San Francisco, California. The location, over 1,600 miles away from McPherson, Kansas, confirmed to me that Robert’s parents and the sheriff had taken his disappearance seriously.
I considered the possible outcomes of the Parks family’s dramatic, century-old event. Was Robert ever found? Did he return home? Or, could he have vanished forever, without a paper trail for anyone to follow? If the latter, I would never learn his fate.
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Leaves me wanting more!
Thaanks for your comment! Stay tuned to this website page. There’s a whole lot more.
Talk about cold cases! Go for it, Jim.
Gloria, so good to hear from you again! Thanks for your comment. You have triggered a great idea for promoting this blog post series and maybe, a book someday.
So after listening to your Jan.16 blog, you got me, I’m hooked. Looking forward to being reeled in during the upcoming episodes.
Well done.
Phil McDaniels
Phil, thanks so much for your encouragement! After my last book, I told myself I was going to spend my time selling, not writing. Well, here I go. I can’t help it! Jim