brass piece

[Crankinstien]

I was detecting in Switzerland county, Indiana and found what looks to be a brass tag. It is approx. 2 inches x 3 inches. On the tag it states TELEGRAPH NO. 2648 TO THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AND INTERMENT BUREAU CHICAGO "THEY KNOW ME". What is it !

 

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[TomW244]

If I had to guess, it's a tag that accompanied a body to a funeral home and referenced a telegraph sent in advance of the arrival of the body. You should upload a picture of the tag and repost this in the "What is This?" Forum on this site. There are a lot of very knowlegable members, and I'm betting one of them will have an answer for you. (I joined this site to help identify an object I found and they id'd it within an hour!). Welcome to Treasurenet, by the way! If you stick around for any length of time, you are going to learn a LOT about history! ��

 

[vpnavy]

1st - I noticed this was your very first post - so, Welcome Aboard Crankinstien! Take a look at Sub-Forums: Indiana for information (i.e., clubs, etc.) directly related to your state.

2nd - A picture(s) is worth a zillion words! If you are having problems posting pictures - take a look at: How to post pictures with your story...

3rd - I moved from Today's Finds! over to Forum: What Is It? for more exposure.

 

[diggummup]

Welcome to treasurenet. All I can tell you is that the company was dissolved in 1920, so it should predate that time frame.
https://books.google.com/books?id=i...IDENTIFICATION AND INTERMENT BUREAU""&f=false

 

[Plug N Play]

Here's a reasonable possibility.

“An identification badge, to be worn on the suspender, is furnished to our policy holders free with each policy. This badge is made of metal, highly polished, and practically indestructible. It gives the number of the policy holder's policy, and should he be found helpless through injury or sickness, or become unconscious from any cause whatever, the badge will be noticed and the number telegraphed to this company. We will then notify his friends and relatives without expense. In case of death, it might be the only means of identification, and should be worn at all times.”

Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine - Ask Mark Parker

 

[against the wind]

Welcome to the forum from Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania

 

[marion moore]

Welcome to t-net from s.c. happy digging. marion

 

[diggummup]

Found another article that mentions the company in the Chicago Tribune from July 15, 1893.

It states "TELEGRAPH NO. 2648 TO THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AND INTERMENT BUREAU CHICAGO THEY KNOW ME"? By the way it is written, I believe that number to be the persons personal ID number versus a telephone number for the place. I don't believe it to be a tag for a deceased body. I believe by the size of it, that it would have been carried in a billfold for reasons of "in case of death".
That number, if it were an actual telephone number, should have an exchange name tacked on the front, like dial Mulberry2345 or something to that effect. I believe this to be from the era before that, where you would pick up the phone and just give the switchboard operator the name/address of the place you were trying to call. Do you have a photo of it?

 

[Plug N Play]

Insurance companies would offer these little trinkets as an extra, with your insurance.
They included the policy number ... one would telegraph the company and give the number of an unconscious or deceased person.

"Missing Person" wasn't "dead".
Insurance wouldn't pay.

Having one of these could change "missing" to "deceased".
Now they could settle the policy.

Suspender clip, key fob, watch fob, pendant, ... they varied. (we need a picture, or better description)

 

[Crankinstien]

how do I add a picture to my already created post

 

[Crankinstien]

Found another article that mentions the company in the Chicago Tribune from July 15, 1893.

It states "TELEGRAPH NO. 2648 TO THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AND INTERMENT BUREAU CHICAGO THEY KNOW ME"? By the way it is written, I believe that number to be the persons personal ID number versus a telephone number for the place. I don't believe it to be a tag for a deceased body. I believe by the size of it, that it would have been carried in a billfold for reasons of "in case of death".
That number, if it were an actual telephone number, should have an exchange name tacked on the front, like dial Mulberry2345 or something to that effect. I believe this to be from the era before that, where you would pick up the phone and just give the switchboard operator the name/address of the place you were trying to call. Do you have a photo of it?

 

[diggummup]

View attachment 1569449

This article would best explain what your ID tag/badge was used for back in the day before personal Id's and SS #'s.
Dog tags: A 19th-century scheme to offer civilian identification


Nineteenth-Century Dog Tags ... for Civilians
By Rebecca Onion
This identification check, issued to Midwesterner Frank Novak in 1896, was a forerunner of the present-day military dog tag. In a time before drivers' licenses and social security numbers, personal identification was haphazard—a gap this tag would fill.

If something were to happen to the bearer while away from friends and family, and she or he were rendered unconscious or incapacitated, those present could contact the issuing company by telegram; the company would then alert loved ones. Novak paid the Standard Registry Company a dollar a year for this service.
The military dog tag became standard issue in the early-20th century, after the patchwork system of ID used during the Civil War left many war dead unidentified. In that conflict, some soldiers did wear tags, but it was a matter of personal choice. Insurance companies seized upon the idea in the late nineteenth century, offering civilians ID on the free market.


Life insurance companies, which proliferated after the Civil War, sometimes issued badges that, unlike Novak’s, carried benefits. A payment for bearers killed while using a “public conveyance” was popular. Registry companies like the one that issued Novak’s tag also offered their services to people looking to keep tabs on valuable items, such as keys. If keys bearing an ID check were found separated from their owners, a telegram to the company would reconnect the two.
Frank Novak and this identification check were at the center of a sensational true-crime news story, after Novak’s general store in Walford, Iowa burned down in 1897. As author Peter Kaufman writes in his book Skull in the Ashes: Murder, a Gold Rush Manhunt, and the Birth of Circumstantial Evidence in America, Novak was known to wear this badge clipped to his suspenders at all times.


When the tag was found near human remains in the ruin of the store, it was initially assumed that Novak had perished in the fire. (The tag likely has the fire to thank for its tarnished and battered appearance.)


Later investigations found that Novak faked his own death, and planned to start a new life fueled by riches gained in the Klondike Gold Rush.

 

[A2coins]

cool find