Declared Dead for Four Years, a Widower Writes Home — and Asks Only for Money
Jacob Claterbos vanished after leaving Germany for Chicago; his sold property raised his children. Now he wants cash to come home, and never asks about the children at all.
White Salmon — A complicated case confronts the county court of Klickitat county, and the relatives of Jacob Claterbos, for after being considered dead for four years, Claterbos has written to a relative here for money to return to his home.
Believing that he was dead, the county court sold Claterbos' property, the money for the sale being used to take care of his four children.
His wife died several years ago, leaving him to care for four children. The widower went to Europe four years ago, taking two of his children with him and leaving the other two with his father-in-law here. While visiting in Germany he became engaged to a woman and arranged with his prospective bride to follow him a few months later with his children. He was known to have arrived in Chicago after leaving Germany, and after that nothing was heard of him. After he disappeared his parents in Germany were not able to care for his children, and the father-in-law sent the money for them to come back to Washington.
Claterbos, when he wrote, offered no explanations, nor did he make a single inquiry about his children. It is understood that his father-in-law will not send him the money.
“Claterbos, when he wrote, offered no explanations, nor did he make a single inquiry about his children.”
A presumed-dead man resurfacing to ask for money and never mentioning his children reads like a novel, but probate courts in small Washington towns handled abandonments like this constantly. Then as now, the family left behind carried the cost when someone disappeared.
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