Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-10-13
A MISSING WOMAN.
search Instituted for . Lady After
Sh8 had Been Gone From Her
Friends Twenty-Five Years-A Mys-
terfous Case.

A0o A&COn ~Onc To" IACE
Friends Twenty-Five Years-A Mys-
tertous Case.
Oshkosh Northwestern.
A brief paragraph has appeared in
some of the papers stating that efforts
were being made to find out the where
abouts Of q girl who, some twenty-five
years ago, came to Oshkosh under the
name of Rose Miller, but who has since
been entirely lost track of. This is no
new thing to the police authorities of
this city, who have known more or less
of the matter for the past four years.
But it has not been until lately that the
parties in search of the missing girl
have pushed the investigation so vigor-
ously, because of the fact that clew
has only lately been obtained which
leads to romantic story, about which
there Is one mystery yet to clear up to
make the tale complete. For four
years past parties in Chicago, and es-
pecially an attorney named w. G.
Purcell, has been in communication
with the police authorities of this city
on the subject. Chief of Police Casey,
during the past few months, has de-
voted considerable attention to looking
up clews, and has unearthed enough
testimony to connect the chain of evil
derce previously possessed by the
Chicago parties. The evidence dis
covered makes the story run like this:
twenty-five years ago young girl
came to Oshkosh, friendless and alone,
and stopped with people still living
here, and who remember her well, now
that their attention is called to it. The
girl evidently came of good family and
there was a mystery connected with
her history and previous home which
was never revealed. The girl worked
in family here for short time and
then went to Neenah. She gave her
name as Rose Miller,which turns out to
be an assumed name. 1t also turns
out that the girl had fallen from grace
in her fathers family, and had been
sent on the world adrift, as too many
are. From Neenah she has been
traced to Green Bay, where, in the
poor-houss 2, few months afterward,
a daughter. The records of the Brown
county poor-house still contain the
name of Rose Miller having given birth
to child at that time. The next clew
gained of her was that she again re-
turned to Oshkosh, few years after
ward, where she was employed as a
servant girl Ia several families, still 60
ing under the narne of Rose Miller.
Her history between that time and her
previous visit was known only to one or
two immediate friends, to whom she
told the story of becoming mother at
Green Bay. The records of Brown
county show that her child was adopt
ed by family named Sherwood, who
since have moved away from the city,
and SO far as known here nothing
further was ever heard of them. 1t is
evident, however, that the Chicago at
torney mentioned, Mr.. Purcell, knows
where the child is, for his search seems
TO indicate that that point is settled,
and in one of his letters to the chief of
police here he says that the object Of
finding Rose Miller is to prove the
identity of the child. Thirteen years
ago Rose Miller worked for Joseph
Staudenraus, about which time she
married man named Smith, or
Schmidt, an old bachelor, much older
OLlIl ShC, WIZ lINOu
from here, near Berlin, That is the
last ever heard from her. In investi-
eating this case many wild goose chases
have been made by Mr.. Purcell. He
visited this city last spring, got track
of a Miller girl who had married and
move to Colorado, and he went out
there, only to find that she belonged to
another family, connections of which
still reside in this city. After much
trouble and search the above clews
were secured of the rightful Rose Mil
Ter. Whether Mr.. Purcell had follow
ed up the clew beyond her marriage to
Smith is not known here, but as his
visits and letters to this city have sud
denly ceased, and nothing further heard
from him, it is believed here that he
has found her
The cause of this expensive and pro-
tracted four years search after the So
called Rose Miller is still mystery to
the officials here. One report, coming
from other localities where searches
have been made, is to the effect that
Rose Miller come of a wealthy family
in Buffalo; that her father died few
years ago, leaving her 100000 worth
of property if she could be found. An
other report has it that the father of
her child died and left it large for
tune, and that Rose is needed to estab
fish the child's identity. 1t is also said
that her family, as the holidays came
year after year, received in some mys-
FERROUS manner slight token from her
to show that she had not forgotten
them, though an exile from home.