Monday, December 10, 2018

Mrs. Lincoln's Trunks - The NARA Never Got Them

Mrs. Lincoln's Trunks

William H. Norton
Old Lone Pine Road
Post Office Box 505
Osceola, Nebraska, 68651

April 10, 1997

Mr. David G. Marwell
Executive Director ARRB
600 E. Street Northwest, Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20530

Re: Harold & Evelyn Lincoln

Dear Mr. Marwell:

Please let this letter serve as an acknowledgement of your letter of February 5, 1997, and our recent telephone conversation with regard to the above named individuals.

As I advised you I have in my possession three trunks which were shipped to me by Stephen C. Blakeslee, Jr. I received these trunks in accord with the provisions of the last wills and testaments of Harold & Evelyn Lincoln.

The trunks remain unopened, and are presently in the possession of the County Sheriff of Polk County, Nebraska. They were delivered to him for safe keeping while my wife and I were vacationing in Mexico. Since returning, I have gone back to active service as a District Judge in the Fifth Judicial District here in Nebraska. I am presently filling a temporary vacancy which has occurred in the Fifth Judicial District. 

Because of this fact, these trunks will probably not be opened and inventoried until later in the year. 

However, I bear in mind your concerns and I will keep you informed if any materials are located which might bear upon the assassination of President Kennedy.

Very Truly Yours,   SIGNED William Norton 

William E. Kelly, Jr.
Browns Mills, NJ, 08015

National Archives and Records Administration
JFK Collection
Archives II, College Park, Maryland

November 20, 2018

Re: Mrs. Lincoln’s Trunks and Mrs. Lincoln Project Papers and Recordings

According to the attached word document and link to same, attorney Mr. Norton had possession of two trunks that belonged to the late Mrs. Lincoln.

Can you tell me if the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) made an attempt to retrieve them? If so what became of them? What were the contents? Are the contents a part of the JFK Collection at the NARA?

In addition, it has come to my attention from the recently published book The Inheritance, that other documents, artifacts and evidence (tape recordings and watch) were among Mrs. Lincoln’s possessions that were inherited by Mr. Robert White.

Can you tell me what became of these items? The documents, the recordings and watch?

I understand that John Kennedy, Jr. obtained the watch at auction and intended to donate it to the NARA. Do you now possess that Cartier watch?

It is also been noted that this case was discussed at a ARRB meeting the minutes of which were kept in the files of ARRB staff member Kim Herd in Box 4, that inexplicitly went missing. Is Box 4 of Herd’s files still missing?

Can you tell me if there are any other cases of such missing ARRB boxes from the files?

Thank you for your time and interest in these matters,
William E. Kelly Co-coordinator of Research Committee  (CAPA) Citizens Against Political Assassinations 


Re: [19-09323] Mrs. Lincoln's Trunks and Records
Dec 6, 2018, 9:27 AM
From: Gene Morris 
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
to me
William E. Kelly:

This is in response to your November 20, 2018, request for information about the records of the JFK Assassination Records Collection. Specifically you are seeking information about Assassination Records Review Board records relating to the trunks, and their contents, willed by Mrs. Evelyn Lincoln to Mr. William H. Norton, as well as the various items willed by Mrs. Lincoln to Mr. Robert White. Additionally, you have a question regarding the location of Box 4 of the Kim Herd Files. We received your request on November 21, 2018.

We searched the finding aids to the records of the ARRB and identified the following boxes as containing files on Evelyn Lincoln, Robert White, or William Norton. We've included series, box number, file name, page count, and the locations of everything we found.

 650L1 68:15:3 means Stack 650L1, Row 68, Compartment 15, Shelf 3.
Series 4: Box 18 Evelyn Lincoln, 49 pages, 650L1 68:15:3   
Series 4: Box 68 Robert White, 122 pages, 650L1 68:16:2   
Series 4: Box 69 Robert White, estimated 1,000 pages, 650L1 68:16:2
Series 4: Box 70 Robert White, estimated 300 to 500 pages, 650L1 68:16:3 
Series 5: Box 29 Norton, 1 page, 650L1 68:18:1 (This is the Norton to Marwell letter you included in your request.) 
Series 5: Box 56 Lincoln, 650L1 68:18:4 (newspaper clippings, probably not relevant, so we didn't do a page count.)
Combs: Box 8 Lincoln Papers, 38 pages, 650L1 67:21:1 (material at JFK Library, probably not relevant), 
Gunn: Box 6 Robert White, 173 pages, 650L1 67:22:2
Gunn Box 6 Evelyn Lincoln, 81 pages, 650L1 67:22:2
Herd: Box 4 (not on shelf)
Herd: Box 7 Evelyn Lincoln, estimated 1,000 pages, 650L1 67:23:5
Marr: Box 5 Evelyn Lincoln, 26 pages, 650L1 67:24:2

It appears that in addition to the material willed to the JFK Library Evelyn Lincoln willed material that may have contained JFK assassination record material to at least 7 people, including White and Norton. All of these people were contacted by the ARRB at some point. There are inventories of the material Lincoln willed to the JFK Library and of the items that White intended to put up for auction in 1998.

We haven't found an inventory of the contents of the Norton trunks. Beyond a few mentions, there's nothing much to be found for the Norton trunks. The ARRB files contain no mention of any follow up on the contents of the Norton trunks. We cannot say what, if any actions, were taken to inventory the contents of the trunks, what they contained, or where they might be now.

As you can see from the above list, there are extensive records relating to the interaction between Mr. White and the ARRB. We can make these records available to you at our College Park, Maryland, facility. We can also arrange to copy them at a cost of 80 cents per page. We do know that several items were withdrawn from the planned 1998 auction, but we could not determine the current disposition of those items.

The JFK wristwatch that was among the items willed by Mrs. Lincoln to Mr. White. It was not withdrawn from the auction and was presumably sold. We can find no record that has since been donated to NARA and it is not part of the JFK Assassination Records Collection, nor does it appear to be in the custody of the JFK Library.

Box 4 of Kim Herd's files in ARRB records is still missing, but Box 7 contains a large file on Evelyn Lincoln. We're unaware of any additional missing records in the ARRB records.

We hope that this information is of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or would like to be sent an order form for any or all of the above cited material, please feel free to respond by return e-mail or by calling (301) 837-1993.

Gene Morris
Archives II Textual Reference Branch (RDT2)
Room 2400 

William H. Norton
OBIT
YORK News Times


William H. Norton
Dec 6, 2003
Osceola resident, 77

The Honorable William H. Norton, 77, of Osceola, died Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003, at the St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln.

He was born at Pierce, to William Wendell Norton and Catherine (Hayden) Norton. He attended school in Osceola, graduating from Osceola High School in 1944. He then began serving in the Army Air Corps, after which he attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He received his law degree in 1951 then returned to Osceola to practice law with his father at Norton and Norton Law Firm.

He was united in marriage to Nancy Sayer. To this union, one son and one daughter were born. On Jan. 27, 1973, he was united in marriage to Margaret Watkins in Osceola. Judge Norton completed his last term on the bench in 1991, but for the next eight years he was a state/district judge willing to serve.

Bill was a charter member of Ryan Hill Country Club and served on the Ryan Hill Board of Directors and was credited for setting up the Albert Ryan Trust. He and his brother, James, established the W.W. and Catherine Norton Scholarship fund in Osceola. Bill was also active in numerous organizations including Osceola Chamber of Commerce, Annie Jeffrey Memorial County Health Center Board of Directors. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church where he served on the church board. he was also a member of the Osceola Masonic Lodge #65 A.F. and A.M., Sestrosis Temple, Forty & Eight Club, Osceola American Legion William Wolfe Post #91, the Polk County Bar Association, the Nebraska Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He was past president of the Nebraska District Judges Association, served as Polk County Attorney, served as attorney for the Nebraska Rural Electric Association. Bill was chairman of the Nebraska Power Review Board, and served on the Osceola Cemetery Board at the time of his death.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret of Osceola; one son, William Hayden Norton Jr., of Omaha; one daughter, Lisa Dale Norton of Gig Harbour, Wash. He is also survived by two stepsons, John B. Watkins of Baltimore, Md. and Laird W. Watkins of Lincoln; three step-grandchildren, Alex Watkins, Andrew Watkins of Baltimore, and Cody Watkins of Lincoln; as well as one brother, James M. Norton of Green Valley, Ariz., and Ericson; two nephews; one niece; and other relatives and a host friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Funeral services will be held Monday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Osceola with Rev. Richard Dimond officiating. Visitation will be Sunday, Dec. 7, from 3-7 p.m. at Roberts-Dubas Funeral Home in Osceola. Burial will be in the Osceola Cemetery.
Roberts-Dubas Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.




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