This year marks the 40th anniversary of a truly unique case of a family finding and identifying a loved one. I don't know if it set any records, but here is the story:
Monroe Rutty of Saugatuck, Michigan was born in 1860, just a year before the Civil War began. In 1907, he was working as a logger on the west coast of Michigan when he was injured in an accident which caused him to lose his memory.
Although he was only 47 years old, he was moved into the Ottawa Home for the Aged where he spent the next fifty eight years not knowing who he was. In fact, no one at the hospital knew his identity, either.
In 1965, a newspaper published a story and picture of the mystery man on the occasion of his 105th birthday. Another old man happened to see the story and recognized Rutty as his long lost uncle. He came forward and positively identified him 58 years after the 1907 accident.
Monroe Rutty lived another six years. He died in 1971 at the age of 111.
Monroe Rutty of Saugatuck, Michigan was born in 1860, just a year before the Civil War began. In 1907, he was working as a logger on the west coast of Michigan when he was injured in an accident which caused him to lose his memory.
Although he was only 47 years old, he was moved into the Ottawa Home for the Aged where he spent the next fifty eight years not knowing who he was. In fact, no one at the hospital knew his identity, either.
In 1965, a newspaper published a story and picture of the mystery man on the occasion of his 105th birthday. Another old man happened to see the story and recognized Rutty as his long lost uncle. He came forward and positively identified him 58 years after the 1907 accident.
Monroe Rutty lived another six years. He died in 1971 at the age of 111.
