“A petition for letters of administration in the estate of Joseph Barron, missing for 10 years, has been instituted by his mother, Mrs. Matilda Barron of 608 West Buffalo Street, for Joseph Barron today is ‘presumed to be dead.’
He disappeared some time between December, 1919, and August 25, 1920, from Buffalo, where he resided at 853 Seneca Street. He went to Paris Island, Va. In September, 1920, his wife, who is now dead, received a telegram from him. He requested permission to join the United States Marine Corps. The telegram was never answered and to this date no word has been received from Joseph Barron and no one has presumably ever seen him.
For 10 years, he has been sought through various agencies, the Tompkins County Red Cross helping in the investigation for some time. He has been sought in the United States Marine Corps in vain. The search has extended to Hartford, Addison and Glastonbury, Conn., Waverly, Sayre, Pa., Rochester and Buffalo.
Today, since no word has ever come to his parents, his brothers, or his children, his mother has instituted proceedings in the court of Surrogate Willard M. Kent. Lawrence M. Mintz is the attorney. A hearing will be held September 9.
Born October 25, 1891, Joseph Barron lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Barron for 21 years. In October, 1912, he married Mrs. Catherine Klinko of 788 Carroll Street, Buffalo, who was working in Ithaca at that time. Barron himself worked in Burns Bakery.
In 1919 he moved his family, his wife and four children, to Buffalo, where he became employed with the International Railway Corporation.
Then came the mysterious disappearance. In January, 1921, Mrs. Barron brought her daughter-in-law and her four grandchildren back to Ithaca. Joseph Barron’s wife died January 17, 1921, of typhoid fever.
Two of Joseph Barron’s children are now living with their grandmother. They are Edward and Joseph. Two other children, Charles and Catherine, are living in Buffalo.
The case is an unusual one, for it is the first time that letters have been sought on such grounds in this county for many years.”
“Surrogate Asked to Issue Letters in Estate of Man Missing Nearly Ten Years,” Ithaca Journal-News, July 29, 1920, 5.