Oregon, August 1939. Unemployed lumber worker goes with his wife to the bean harvest. Social Security number tattooed on his arm identifies him as Thomas Cave.
This is Thomas Urs Cave in 1938. He was born on July 2, 1912 and died June 4, 1980. He was a Sergeant in WWII. His wife's name was Ann Kathryn Cave. She was born in January 23, 1916 and died on February 18, 2000.
They are both buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, OR.
Edit - Okay so some new information: He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and his status at that time was "Divorced." He later remarried Ann Kathryn, so the woman in that photo isn't Ann Kathryn. It's actually his first wife, Vivian, whom he was still married to in 1940. The woman in this photo is Vivian.
Edit 2 - So, per census records he was living in Shasta, OR in 1940 and was a truck driver with an 8th grade education. Vivian was a fruit picker on a farm. Thomas and Ann (his second wife) had a daughter Juanita on September 13, 1949.
Why that's interesting is because census records have a Tillman T.U. Cave (T.U. for Thomas Urs) and his sister Juanita with their parents Tillman B and Sarah N Cave in a farm in Buckham, OR.
There's a 1940 census record for Benjamin T (Tillman B aka Thomas' father) and Sadie N Cave in Buckham, OR in 1918 with a WW1 draft registration for Tillman B. Then a 1930 census record for them in Los Angeles, CA, then a 1940 census record for them in Portland. So basically, Thomas' father Benjamin lived in Buckham, OR where he was registered for the WW1 draft and moved his family in 1930 to Los Angeles (possibly due to the Great Depression and searching for work), but by 1940 they had moved back to Oregon.
The reason we think Tillman B is Thomas' father is because there's a 1934 marriage record of a Tillman T.U. Cave to a Vivian Couture, witnessed by Benjamin Cave and Sadie Cave in Multnomah County, OR. So Benjamin and Sadie (Sarah) are almost 100% his parents and he named his daughter with Ann (Wife #2) after his sister, Juanita.
Edit 3 - So I'm more interested in Vivian, because less is known of her and she looks drop dead beautiful in this photo. She was born on October 28, 1912 to Joseph Henri Couture and Grace Maude Couture in Amrstrong, British Columbia Canada. She was married 3 times, lastly to Virgil Loghry and died in January 1986. She has one known child to her second husband, whose name isn't known.
Edit 4 - A tragic story from a local Washington state newspaper:
May 4, 1952 issue: "Kelso Grid Star Dies in Collision". It reads:
KELSO, Wash. May 3 (AP) - Richard "Rip" Raappana, 24, well-known southwest Washington athlete, was killed early Saturday. His automobile swerved into a Consolidated Freightways truck and trailer a mile north of here on the Pacific Highway, the state patrol reported.
Louise N. Robinson, 21, Longview, a passenger in his car, was injured critically.
The state patrol said the truck driver was Thomas U. Cave, 39, of Portland.
Raappana was an all-round athlete at Kelso high. He played college football for Eastern Washington college at Cheney and last fall was with the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.
mozzaknocks on February 3rd, 2018 at 18:01 UTC »
Was tattooing social security numbers common place in the past?
dunkel624 on February 3rd, 2018 at 18:13 UTC »
That is one handsome dude
TheEclectic on February 3rd, 2018 at 19:09 UTC »
This is Thomas Urs Cave in 1938. He was born on July 2, 1912 and died June 4, 1980. He was a Sergeant in WWII. His wife's name was Ann Kathryn Cave. She was born in January 23, 1916 and died on February 18, 2000.
They are both buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, OR.
Edit - Okay so some new information: He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and his status at that time was "Divorced." He later remarried Ann Kathryn, so the woman in that photo isn't Ann Kathryn. It's actually his first wife, Vivian, whom he was still married to in 1940. The woman in this photo is Vivian.
Edit 2 - So, per census records he was living in Shasta, OR in 1940 and was a truck driver with an 8th grade education. Vivian was a fruit picker on a farm. Thomas and Ann (his second wife) had a daughter Juanita on September 13, 1949.
Why that's interesting is because census records have a Tillman T.U. Cave (T.U. for Thomas Urs) and his sister Juanita with their parents Tillman B and Sarah N Cave in a farm in Buckham, OR.
There's a 1940 census record for Benjamin T (Tillman B aka Thomas' father) and Sadie N Cave in Buckham, OR in 1918 with a WW1 draft registration for Tillman B. Then a 1930 census record for them in Los Angeles, CA, then a 1940 census record for them in Portland. So basically, Thomas' father Benjamin lived in Buckham, OR where he was registered for the WW1 draft and moved his family in 1930 to Los Angeles (possibly due to the Great Depression and searching for work), but by 1940 they had moved back to Oregon.
The reason we think Tillman B is Thomas' father is because there's a 1934 marriage record of a Tillman T.U. Cave to a Vivian Couture, witnessed by Benjamin Cave and Sadie Cave in Multnomah County, OR. So Benjamin and Sadie (Sarah) are almost 100% his parents and he named his daughter with Ann (Wife #2) after his sister, Juanita.
Edit 3 - So I'm more interested in Vivian, because less is known of her and she looks drop dead beautiful in this photo. She was born on October 28, 1912 to Joseph Henri Couture and Grace Maude Couture in Amrstrong, British Columbia Canada. She was married 3 times, lastly to Virgil Loghry and died in January 1986. She has one known child to her second husband, whose name isn't known.
Edit 4 - A tragic story from a local Washington state newspaper:
Edit 5 - Here's a second picture from Lange's negatives. Vivian is seen smoking in the background.
Edit 6 - Thomas Cave's enlistment has him at 5'6" and 156lbs. He served in the Army from November 12, 1942 to February 4, 1946.