An Unknown Soldier

One of the primary goals for Missouri Over There is to be an important resource for genealogists. The completed project will include a database of over 156,000 Missourians who served during World War I. Each service card will have a place for photos and users are encouraged to contribute family items that document their ancestor’s service. Project staff has already located large collections of obituaries for Missouri veterans and these will be included on the cards.

Unfortunately, some of the photos we have found are unidentified, though few can match the humorous description on the back of this one.

“While standing on a street corner in Marshfield Mo Mar 23 1919 I was approached by a stranger who ask if I would accompany him to the photo gallery

as we were going he told me his business

he said he was President of the Board of Agriculture and was looking for a person to pose for the purpose of making ‘scare crows’ to distribute to the farmers of Webster Co

so for a very small fee I consented to as he insisted that I was the best speceman he had saw lately so that is why this was made

Yours for a good crop RLH”

Although presumably from Webster County, all we know about this soldier is his initials, “RLH.” Please let us know if you can identify him, and consider contributing photographs, letters, and other mementos you may have. We hope to locate photos of as many Missouri soldiers as possible. All original items are professionally scanned and returned to the donor. The digital images are then uploaded to the site by project staff. Together, hopefully we can eliminate unidentified photos and help preserve Missouri’s World War I heritage for future generations.