Noteboom

The Missing Thomas

My 2nd great grandfather, Francis Theodore Thomas, went missing around 1902 or 1903.  He went swimming at Rockaway Beach in Brooklyn and never came home.  His clothing was found at the beach, but no sign of him ever turned up.  For years. I didn’t know anything about him really, other than his name.  Last year, when I went to Syracuse for my grandmother’s funeral, I found an entry for him in the family bible.  In that entry, I found the name of a brother and two sisters.

In the box my dad just brought home from his visit with my grandfather, I found a picture of my gg-grandfather – the only one I’ve ever seen.  In the photo, he is seated on Rockaway Beach in the year or so before his disappearance. Seated next to him is my gg-grandmother Anna Noteboom.  Pictured below is the photo as is and a cleaned up version.

image

Francis Thomas and Anna Noteboom at Rockaway Beach, circa 1900

image

Francis Thomas and Anna Noteboom at Rockaway Beach, circa 1900

My 3rd Great Grandfather Walter Noteboom
Walter Noteboom, c. 1905, probably in Brooklyn, NY

Walter Noteboom, c. 1905, probably in Brooklyn, NY

I don’t know much about my ggg-grandfather Walter Noteboom.  He was born in Holland in 1845.  At some point he immigrated to the United States and married my ggg-grandmother Kate Dulk.  I know much more about her – in later years, she and her twin brother survived the Morro Castle disaster.

However, my father came home from a visit with my grandfather with a big box of family photos and documents.  Hidden away in the box was this photo of Walter Noteboom.  It was taken in 1905 – I presume in Brooklyn based on where the family was living at the time.