Mary's "Lost Son" Robert

I do not have many details on Robert. He was born in 1877 in Haguenau, Elsass. In the bottom picture, he is the one standing on the left, taken during his military service around 1900 - drinking beer. He left for the USA in 1908, well before World War I. and became a U.S. citizen. In the top picture, taken in early 1901, he is the man in the middle of 6 ladies - but who are they? His aunt Hetwig is on the picture, the lady on the left & Hilde is there, somewhere on the right. I am not sure who the others are. The point about Robert is that he went to live in Milwaukee and later in the Chicago area, and went missing in the late 1930s. We know he was working for a private railroad between 1920 and 1936, and I now believe it was the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad.

He came back to Germany in 1938, saw what was happening in disgust and vowed never to return. On his departure he gave Mary's grandchildren -including my dad- a substantial amount of money (enough to buy a car!), left and was never heard of again.

Exploring his fate will be next on the agenda.