- He owned and ran a newspaper in Thomas County, Kansas, in the 1890s
undated photo of Philip Troutfetter,
courtesy Kansas State Historical Society - He homesteaded in Colorado and also had a timber claim there in the 1890s
- He married in Colorado in the late-1890s and later had two girlfriends at the same time that he was married
- He borrowed money from his mother-in-law in the late 1890s (at least $5000) and never paid it back
- He worked in Cuba as a newspaper reporter for a short time
- His associate C. F. W. Neely was involved, along with Estes G. Rathbone, in a Cuban stamp fraud scandal of over $100,000. Troutfetter was cleared of any involvement in this scandal.
- He spent time in Columbia investigating gold mining operations for C. F. W. Neely
- He was arrested in a Boston, Massachusetts restaurant in 1902 based upon charges filed by his former mother-in-law. He was eventually cleared.
- Troutfetter used the alias P. A. Taylor
Troutfetter was investigated by the United States Postal Service around the turn of the 20th century for his peripheral involvement in the Cuban stamp scandal. One of my current goals is to see what records of the investigation remain at the National Archives and I have someone working on accessing those records. I'm hoping they mention something of his time in Cuba and South America.
And yes, he's related to me as he's a member of the Hancock County, Illinois, Trautvetter family from which I descend as well.
Stay Tuned.
