Interesting Story of Frank Fish

[Crow]

Hello All I post link here to an interesting story on Frank Fish. Well presented. I give a big thumbs up . Not over the top presentation. But pure retelling the story what is allegedly known of Franck L Fish some what an enigmatic figure.

Frank Fish

Crow

 

[Crow]

Being Totally Anal Old Crow tried to dig deeper. ( Pardon The Pun ) To substantiate as much of the mans past as possible via independent sources. Frank Lawrence Fish allegedly born in 1900 died 1963? or 1965?

I found no birth record. No record of him being in any census in 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950. no voter registrations records No marriage record. No pass port application. No border crossing records. The only Frank Fish I found was born in 1903 and died in 1943 a forestry ranger working for the government recorded on census in 1930 and 1940.

While I cannot say for definite. I am at a loss he seem like ghost. An intriguing fellow.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here we go an egg on Old Crows face,

Details I can confirm the 1930 Census.


Name Frank Fish
Birth Year abt 1901
Gender Male
Race White
Age in 1930 29
Birthplace Illinois
Marital Status Married
Relation to Head of House Head
Home in 1930 Seattle, King, Washington, USA
Map of Home
Street Address Tenth Avenue North
Ward of City 215
Block 3635
House Number 425
Dwelling Number 311
Family Number 726
Home Owned or Rented Rented
Home Value 50.00
Radio Set No
Lives on Farm No
Age at First Marriage 26
Attended School No
Able to Read and Write Yes
Father's Birthplace Oklahoma
Mother's Birthplace Oklahoma
Able to Speak English Yes
Occupation Commercial
Industry Artist Art Co
Class of Worker Wage or salary worker
Employment Yes

it appears he was married in 1930.

Frank Fish 29 Head
Doreas Fish 21 Wife
John W Fish 0 Son.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the 1920 Census he is recorded as.

Name Francis L Fish
Age 19
Birth Year abt 1901
Birthplace Illinois
Home in 1920 Valley, Canadian, Oklahoma
Residence Date 1920
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Son
Marital Status Single
Father's Name John T Fish
Father's Birthplace Illinois
Mother's Name Mary E Fish
Mother's Birthplace Illinois
Able to Speak English Yes
Occupation Shore Cropper
Industry Home Farm
Employment Field Own Account
Attended School No
Able to read Yes
Able to Write Yes

John T Fish 58 Head
Mary E Fish 52 Wife
Walter J Fish 22 Son
Francis L Fish 19 Son

So it appears Frank fish some times known as Frances had a brother.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the 1910 Census

Name Frank L Fish
Age in 1910 9
Birth Date 1901 [1901]
Birthplace Illinois
Home in 1910 Valley, Canadian, Oklahoma, USA
Sheet Number 4b
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Son
Marital Status Single
Father's Birthplace Illinois
Mother's Birthplace Illinois
Attended School Yes
Enumeration District Number 0099
Enumerated Year 1910

John T Fish 48 Head
Mary E Fish 42 Wife
John W Fish 12 Son
Frank L Fish 9 Son

Its the small details that help build a profile of person up.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is more important Census given to where he was in 1940.

Name Frank Fish [Frank Frish]
Age 39
Estimated Birth Year abt 1901
Gender Male
Race White
Birthplace Illinois
Marital Status Married
Relation to Head of House Head
Home in 1940 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Map of Home in 1940
Street Commonwealth
House Number 1929
Farm No
Inferred Residence in 1935 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Residence in 1935 Los Angeles
Resident on farm in 1935 No
Sheet Number 63A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation 511
Occupation Com Artist
House Owned or Rented Rented
Value of Home 40
Attended School or College No
Highest Grade Completed High School, 2nd year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census 42
Class of Worker Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939 52
Income 2100
Income Other Sources No

Frank Fish 39 Head
Dorcas M Fish 31 Wife
John W Fish 10 Son

It was an appears he was and still was working as commercial artist between 1930 and 1940.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In 1950 he is divorced as shown below.

Name Frank Fish Age 51
Birth Date abt 1899
Gender Male
Race White
Marital Status Divorced
Relation to Head of House Lodger
Residence Date 1950
Home in 1950 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Street Name South Hill Street
House Number 227
Apartment Number Ma
Dwelling Number 10
Farm No
Acres No

Those he was lodging with.

Jimmy Jump 48 Head
Louise Jump 38 Wife
Fred S Salamanca 38 Lodger
William Jackson 37 Lodger
Eva A Jackson 43 Wife
Ygired G Tuto 64 Lodger
Pallo Gutriez 25 Lodger
Delores Smith 27 Lodger
Charles L Scolari 62 Lodger
Tomas Escalocs 34 Lodger

As we can see at least by 1950 there seems to be trying time in his life.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the California, U.S., Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 franks fish is listed below in 1924.

Name Frank L Fish
Residence Date 1924
Street Address 605 E Washington St
Residence Place Los Angeles, California, USA
Party Affiliation Republican
Occupation Artist

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947


Name Frank Lawrence Fish
Gender Male
Race White
Age 41
Relationship to Draftee Self (Head)
Birth Date 18 Sep. 1900
Birth Place Baylis, Illinois, USA
Residence Place Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Registration Date 14 Feb. 1942
Registration Place Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Employer Electrical Products Corp
Height 5 9
Weight 192
Complexion Ruddy
Hair Color Brown
Eye Color Brown
Next of Kin Frank L Fish

It is an indication he was already divorced by 1942. Not having his Brother, Mother father or ex wife as next to kin indicates he had lost contact or was estranged from his family.

This help give us a better understanding on who this mysterious Frank Fish really was. here was the company below he worked for.

From the 1920s to the early 1960s, Electrical Products Corp., also known as EPCO, was the largest electric sign maker on the West Coast. Some of the most memorable and beloved signs can trace their origins to this California company.

Electrical Products Corp. was established in Los Angeles in 1912. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of electric signs, for lease and for sale. Business was good. By 1920, according to the Journal of Electricity, the company had a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, with more than 17,000 square feet of floor space. Operating in an assembly line fashion, the Electrical Products Los Angeles plant maintained a 24/7 production schedule.

The earliest electric signs were illuminated by incandescent bulbs. By the mid-1930s, however, the preferred technology for electric sign displays was neon.

Invented in 1902 by Georges Claude of France, the first neon lamp combined electricity and neon gas in a sealed glass tube. Neon was introduced commercially in the United States in 1923. In a brilliant business move, Electrical Products Corporation obtained the rights to the Claude neon patents, well-positioning the company to become a sign industry giant.

It was not long before the EPCO Los Angeles plant could not keep up with demand. In 1926, the company expanded its California presence by taking over the National Electric Sign Company’s outpost in Oakland. More California branches would come, including San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento.

In 1948, EPCO Headquarters would move into a new 80,000 square foot facility at 1100 North Main Street in Los Angeles, Signs of the Times magazine reported that year. The company would also expand into markets outside of California, including Denver, Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix.

In 1962, EPCO merged into Federal Sign out of Chicago. Within a year following the merger, most of the EPCO branding had vanished. Project files were discarded. Labels were pulled off signs or replaced with Federal labels. A company, once a powerhouse in the U.S. sign industry, had, poof, disappeared.

1965 marked a pivotal year for the U.S. sign industry. It was the year that Ladybird Johnson’s Highway Beautification Act passed. Cities across the nation launched “Scrap Old Signs” (SOS) initiatives. Countless signs were destroyed in a quest to clean up the “visual clutter” that came to be associated with outdoor advertising.

The vast majority of U.S. signs fabricated in the first half of the 20th century are gone forever. Historic signs that remain today are not only cultural place markers, they are rare survivors. And the public is starting to recognize their significance. Today, the acronym “SOS” has been revised to “Save Our Signs” as cities across the United States work to preserve their historic signs.

We know Frank worked for them for at least 8 years1942 to 1950? perhaps longer. So for me the stories of him being in the gas industry is not quite true.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the California, U.S., County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980

Name Francis L Fish
Gender Male
Event Type Marriage
Marriage Date 17 Sep. 1928
Marriage Place Los Angeles, California, USA
Spouse Doreas M Ross.

So we can guess his marriage lasted from 1928 to 1942. roughly 14 years. It appears he had an estranged relationship with his son. he left his son at 14.

Crow

 

[Crow]

in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997 records his death.

Name Frank L Fish
Social Security # 551071245
Gender Male
Birth Date 18 Sep. 1901
Birth Place Illinois
Death Date 7 Apr. 1963
Death Place Amador

So his era of treasure hunting was between 1950 and 1963. this is era that will help solve some of the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic figure.

Crow

 

[Crow]

in January 1963 frank Fish Published a book.

Buried Treasure and Lost Mines Paperback – January 1, 1963
by Frank Fish.

So we have a 13 year window where he made his discoveries.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is picture of Frank Fish below.

For those who grew up in Amador City, the memory of Fish creaking up and down planks of the jagged boardwalk, a double-barrel shotgun clasped in his battered, puffy knuckles, still invokes midnight images and a few disturbing questions. Such recollections of Fish’s “night patrols,” his human skulls, his pet rattlesnakes, are true and can be verified through photographs of him that still exist. Nevertheless, the photos play into the treasure hunter’s larger-than-life reputation, which now makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction; an issue that is critical to studying the question of whether his shocking death on April 7, 1963 was the result of suicide or undetected murder.

Fish was close with Amador City personalities John Moore and James Jippett. From them and others we know that he claimed to possess gold relics excavated from Costa Rica and one of two existing copies of the Peralta Map, which the international treasure hunting community felt was connected to the Lost Dutchman’s Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Fish always carried a silver handgun, vaguely referencing unidentified people he feared were out to take his map and artifacts.

Fish’s behavior played out over time as a human enigma. But what is verifiable about Frank Lawrence Fish? He hailed from Oklahoma and was the brother of Walter J. Fish and the father of John Fish. Existing photographs prove at least some of Fish’s claims about traveling throughout the western United States and countries in Central America. The photos also appear to establish that Fish owned an assortment of Mayan and American Indian jewelry and artifacts

Numerous articles were written about Fish during the 1950s in a variety of publications, though most pieces were authored by the same journalist: Lieutenant Harry E. Rieseberg. The lieutenant was an expert at deep-sea salvage and underwater treasure recovery. He was also a great admirer of Fish’s terrestrial relic sleuthing. Rieseberg wrote 30 different news stories about Fish in one year alone, a shotgun exposure that helped “Buried Treasure and Lost Mines” sell thousands of copies and attract some 38,000 visitors to Amador City in 1961."

Note: he died on April 8, 1963 from a suspicious gun shot wound.

Here is his father below. Who Died in 1930

Here is franks mother who died in 1924.

Franks older brother Walter John Fish

Birth 3 Jul 1897 Death 31 Mar 1971 (aged 73)
Burial Geary Cemetery Geary, Blaine County, Oklahoma, USA.

Franks son he was apparent estranged from him John Wendell Fish pictured below born 1930 Died 2008. Could not add anything in regards to his fathers death.

Name John Wendell Fish
Social Security Number 557-34-6007
Birth Date 26 Mar. 1930
Issue year Before 1951
Issue State California
Last Residence 93446, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Last Benefit 93446, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Death Date 17 May 2008


So the mystery remains did frank fish kill himself or was he murdered?


Crow

 

[Crow]

journalist: Lieutenant Harry E. Rieseberg wrote about Frank Fish in The Long Beach Independent, Volume 11, 20 January 1963 reported the following..

Here is picture of the inside of his museum .

These articles must drew unwanted attention from unsavory characters. And article tell most of his finds came from scavenging through old ghost towns with a metal detector. But he does say he found coins and gold bars. This would of drew a lot of unwanted attention.

Especially a poor newspaper photograph with cache of gold bars and coins below.

Ironic to think from 20 January 1963 newspaper story by April 7, 1963 he was dead. just over 2 1/2 months later he was dead.

This is why I always preach you never find anything especially gold and valuables. Lieutenant Harry E. Rieseberg newspaper story mentioning the gold bars and money. And Fish;s shameless bit of self promotion at 63 with his mueam. Became a death Warrant for Fish.

We have only one persons versions of events that night. The bar man from the hotel. with this alleged phone call? Maybe the bar man shot him and robbed his museum. Regardless every can agree the police did a shoddy investigation.

Crow

 

[sdcfia]

. . . Ironic to think from 20 January 1963 newspaper story by April 7, 1963 he was dead. just over 2 1/2 months later he was dead.

This is why I always preach you never find anything especially gold and valuables. Lieutenant Harry E. Rieseberg newspaper story mentioning the gold bars and money. And Fish;s shameless bit of self promotion at 63 with his mueam. Became a death Warrant for Fish.

We have only one persons versions of events that night. The bar man from the hotel. with this alleged phone call? Maybe the bar man shot him and robbed his museum. Regardless every can agree the police did a shoddy investigation.

Crow

Yes, I've also found the Frank Fish story strange. Based on the authenticity of the many anecdotes surrounding Fish's life and death, I tend to lean towards suicide as the cause of his end. I'd like to hope I'm wrong, but I suspect Fish didn't really know as much as he wanted people to believe.

 

[Crow]

Yes, I've also found the Frank Fish story strange. Based on the authenticity of the many anecdotes surrounding Fish's life and death, I tend to lean towards suicide as the cause of his end. I'd like to hope I'm wrong, but I suspect Fish didn't really know as much as he wanted people to believe.

I agree He certainly was not as rich as people make out and some stories about him are a bit showman. but just do not know about his death? I do not know if it was suicide or murder?

But the alleged suicide note and Will look very suspicious. It looks like several peoples hand writing on the alleged document. This document below was submitted on the 17th of may for probate and date of the will and testament is April 7 . Fish's death was recorded as of April 6th? Does a dead man write a will and suicide note dated April 7th?

He had a smart little business there to carry him over to retirement at 65. It appears other people coveted his museum.

Crow

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Good morning. May I suggest you read the book, "Dead Men Do Tell Tales", by Lake Erie Schaefer, Containing "Stories from the Diary of Frank L. Fish" Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Crow]

There was bitter Irony in his words. there are parts definitely Franks writing. He speaks of his brother back Okaloma and not being back home for his mother and father long since deceased. Suggests he was like with his son estranged from his family for many years.

Its has been claimed Puffy hands, also known as swelling or edema, can indicate various underlying issues ranging from simple causes like poor sleep position or high sodium intake to more serious conditions like heart or kidney disease. poor sleep. patterns. Suggest he was as healthy as people imagined. Since the 15 minute of fame with the book and newspaper fame. he could not get away from his museum because he was afraid it was going to be broken into. Add his poor health it is not hard to see him spiraling out of control.

But the question remained Who was this alleged women trying to contact him. The video accidentally claimed Allan More this bar tender? It was an error as it was John More.

In the 1950 United States Federal Census shoes below.

Name John B Moore
Age 61
Birth Date abt 1889
Gender Male
Race White
Birth Place Colorado
Marital Status Widowed
Relation to Head of House Head
Residence Date 1950
Home in 1950 Amador, Amador, California, USA
Street Name Flechart Street
Apartment Number Fleemart
Dwelling Number 10
Farm No
Acres No
Occupation Miner
Industry Gold Mine
Occupation Category Other
Worked Last Week No
Seeking Work Yes
Worker Class Private.

Where John more lived

John B Moore 61 Head
Grace A Boessig 58 Sister
William H Alsdorf 50 Lodge

Still there is no evidence that he had anything to do with his death. More would been 74 at the time. And he had little to gain out of it.

The Book Gregory E Davis mentioned may Bring more clues to light,

First edition. 8vo. Colored pictorial wrappers, 80 pp., about the author, illustrated mostly from photographs, portraits, map, advertisements, index. This is a book of treasure stories by and about Frank L. Fish. Some are stories of "treasure finds" that he has been connected with. Some are stories of still unfound treasure that he was actively working on up to the day he died. And some are stories and tales still in the "checking out" or research stage of development.

It made be with checking up on.

Crow

 

[Crow]

There has been some interesting posts about the map associated to Frank, I just cannot see any thing definite to confirm the later claims of Frank Fish connection. Other in the words of others.

Some interest posts in the following link. Well don with posters on that thread

Frank Fish

Crow

 

[Crow]

Yes, I've also found the Frank Fish story strange. Based on the authenticity of the many anecdotes surrounding Fish's life and death, I tend to lean towards suicide as the cause of his end. I'd like to hope I'm wrong, but I suspect Fish didn't really know as much as he wanted people to believe.

Sadly I agree I think you pretty much on the money there. I suspect things have been attributed to him out of convenience rather than reality.

Crow