Timothy Withers, a United States Air Force retiree, is trying to solve a lost-and-found mystery.
Somebody lost (or perhaps forgot about) a handful of World War II savings bonds issued in 1942, and Withers eventually found them inside an old safe.
The former Dalton, Georgia, resident, who now lives in Liberty Township, Ohio, is trying to locate the rightful owner (or, more likely, their heirs) so the bonds can be returned.
The face value of the seven $25 U.S. war savings bonds is modest, Withers said, but he'd still like to see them in the right hands. The bonds were issued by the former Hamilton National Bank to a Mary P. Parker.
A Treasury Department website calculates that $25 Series E savings bonds, like these, issued in 1942 would have earned interest for 30 years and would be worth $99.95 each today.
"I've attempted several different search avenues [to find the owner]," said Withers, who reached out to the Times Free Press for help returning the bonds, "but I've run into dead ends.
"Historic things pique my interest," he said. "I put myself in their shoes. If my great-grandfather left something, I would want it as a family keepsake."
The safe provides clues to the original ownership of the bonds.
Withers said he was given the old, cabinet-style safe many years ago by a friend in Dalton, who believes it was salvaged from a closed bank branch in Chattanooga.
The friend gave it to Withers just to get it out of his garage. It took three men to move it, he recalled.
Eventually, Withers was able to open the safe after getting instructions from a locksmith friend in Atlanta. A couple of whacks with a hammer and a little chisel work and the door opened.
"It took maybe an hour," Withers said.
The safe was virtually empty, he said, except for an envelope containing the savings bond certificates and a handwritten last will and testament for a Hugh A. Cureton.
Interestingly, the 1955 will was written on City of Chattanooga letterhead from the office of the late City Commissioner Pat Wilcox. The beneficiary of the estate was Hugh A. Cureton's sister, Annie Cureton Fowler, who was also named as the executor.
Federal records show there was a Hugh A. Cureton buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery in November 1958.
The name on the savings bonds doesn't match the will, but Withers believes that since they were bundled together inside the safe that they might have been connected.
Withers said he reached out to the city of Chattanooga and the U.S. Department of the Treasury years ago but couldn't find anyone willing to devote time to help him solve the mystery of the 78-year-old bonds.
The Department of the Treasury website notes: "Under the Privacy Act of 1974, if you are not the owner or co-owner of a security, we are limited in the information we can provide."
For years, Withers put the whole matter aside, but during his move to Ohio he ran across the documents again and decided to give it one last shot.
"I'm sort of out of options," he said. "I gave up hope for awhile and stuck them in the back of a file cabinet. Then I found the envelope and decided to try one last time."
Maybe a news report will jog someone's memory, he said.
If you know, or are related to, a Mary P. Parker who would have been alive in 1942, or a Hugh A. Cureton who might have drafted a will in 1955 on city hall stationery, Withers would like to hear from you.
Inquiries about this matter received at this writer's e-mail address (see below) will be forwarded to Withers.
Fingers crossed.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.
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Mark Kennedy / Staff file photo