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Post by sue75 on May 15, 2012 21:41:16 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on May 15, 2012 21:43:53 GMT -5
Missouri History Museum Home Dorn, Joseph Jennings. Papers (1929-1999.) Title: Dorn, Joseph Jennings. Papers (1929-1999.) Description: Joseph Jennings Dorn, son of J.M and Visle (Self) Dorn, was born in 1885 in Dornsville, Edgefield County, South Carolina. Dorn was a prominent businessman in McCormick, South Carolina. He was a co-owner of McCormick Manufacturing Company, Dorn Lumber Company, and president of the Dorn Banking Company. He and his brother, M. Gary Dorn, started the firm of M.G. and J.J. Dorn, which had lumber manufacturing plants and cotton gins across South Carolina. Dorn was also elected to the state senate in 1930. He married Nora Cuddy and they had a daughter, Mabel. Dorn's lumber company supplied wood that was used to make the ladder that Bruno Hauptmann used to kidnap Charles Lindbergh's son in 1932. Dorn testified at Hauptmann's trial in 1935. Joseph Jennings Dorn was killed in an automobile accident in 1936. The collection consists of correspondence, bills, newspaper clippings, magazines, photographs and other papers regarding Joseph Jennings Dorn's role in the trial of Bruno Hauptmann for kidnapping Charles Lindbergh's baby. The collection includes correspondence of Arthur G. Koehler, a wood identification expert for the Forest Service; letters from Dorn and his wife to their daughter while they were in New Jersey for the trial; newspaper clippings and magazine articles regarding the Hauptmann trial; correspondence from John K. Kelly, a professor at the University of Delaware who was researching the case; and a piece of wood from Hauptmann's ladder. Finding aid available. Place: Dates: 1929 to 1999 Type(s): archive, collection Maker/Creator: Dorn, Joseph Jennings. Subjects: Identifier: ARC:A2353 Permalink: collections.mohistory.org/archive/ARC:A2353
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Post by wolf2 on May 16, 2012 18:23:35 GMT -5
hi sue, john kelly was a teacher at that college and taught the case in his class. hes the one who set up a debate between jim fisher and anthony scaduto
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Post by sue75 on May 16, 2012 18:41:36 GMT -5
Steve,
What about the piece of wood from Hauptmann's ladder that's in the Joseph Jennings Dorn collection? Are there pieces missing from the ladder at the New Jersey State Police Museum?
Also, can Hauptmann's family claim that ladder and pull it out of the museum?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
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Post by wolf2 on May 16, 2012 19:12:45 GMT -5
i dont know about pulling the ladder, but i dont know how much of a piece of the ladder he had, it cant be much, its probably a piece from the attic like i took
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Post by Michael on May 16, 2012 21:17:51 GMT -5
I hope you don't mind my getting involved in this thread Sue. I started looking into it the minute you posted (another great find again by the way).
Dorn was involved in Koehler's attempted tracing of the planer marks supposedly found on Rails 12 & 13. Although Koehler got very little response to his form letter, Dorn Co. sent some samples that got Koehler's attention. As a result, he journeyed down to McCormick, S.C.. While there, Koehler requested the one of those Rails be cut in half and mailed down to him.
And so on 11-1-33 Bornmann saws the Rail in half and mails it where Koehler compares it to the planer marks and gets Dorn's opinions.
If you remember at Trial Pope made a big deal out of the fact the Ladder had been "altered" and pointed to this Rail having been cut as an example. However, before anyone gets excited thinking this half is what is referred to above.... I have letters from Koehler in '34 to Lamb which indicate all pieces were back in West Trenton.
And so the only thing I can determine is that since Dorn sent samples of wood with supposedly the same planer marks as well as bringing some more samples with him to Court, that perhaps when he returned with them the Archivist at the Missouri History Museum is mistaking these samples as actual pieces of the ladder itself.
The only pieces of ladder that are missing would be those little slivers Koehler took off with his pen knife in order to get a better look at the grain sequence.
If I am wrong this would be a HUGE problem to be explained - but I really think the odds are very much against that.
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kevkon
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,800
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Post by kevkon on May 17, 2012 6:41:56 GMT -5
There are actually pieces missing from the original ladder. I believe they went missing after the first disassembly by the NJSP. I know they were missing prior to being received by Koehler.
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Post by Michael on May 17, 2012 6:57:21 GMT -5
Kevin,
This is new to me. What was missing? If they were missing before Koehler then it can't place them in Dorn's hands due to the fact Koehler's Rail 12 & 13 Investigation is what involved Dorn in 1933, but still, I am interested to hear about it.
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kevkon
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,800
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Post by kevkon on May 17, 2012 15:42:43 GMT -5
Nothing major, but parts had been broken and pieces were missing when it arrived at FPL.
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Post by sue75 on Aug 17, 2012 17:39:04 GMT -5
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Post by Michael on Aug 18, 2012 8:14:23 GMT -5
Awesome Sue!
I don't believe I have ever read that letter before - which means it is not at the NJSP Archives. A unique find.
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kevkon
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,800
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Post by kevkon on Aug 18, 2012 11:27:00 GMT -5
Ditto that
The most interesting part is the very last bit of print. I basically made this point the other day to a television writer doing a documentry on Koehler.
Also, look through the other letters on that link. The letter from Dorn's daughter is quite interesting as is Koehler's letter looking for a link to someone in Ozone Park.
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