FBI RM

DARE

DARE

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Have been trying to establish provenance for my RM.
You guys have been a lot of help with this, so am calling on you again.
The gun is .357 Magnum REG 657, SN 47138.
Have my factory letter that says the gun appears to have been owned by an FBI agent in the San Antonio, TX area.
Have a document from S&WHF that says gun is property of Jomer C White c/o The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
One of our members has a wife that is an FBI agent. She emailed Dr. John Fox (the FBI historian) for me. There was not an agent named Jomer C White.
I did a FOIA request on James C White and got about 800 pages of documents, but nothing that tied the gun to the agent.
I have a document from the FOIA request that I have included a photo of. It lists a .45 Auto, I assume a Colt and a .38 Detective Special. I assume these were agent White's duty weapons. Stamped Oct 18, 1947, which is about the date agent White retired.
No other documents that mentioned specific firearms.
Hoping you guys can come up with a helpful document or a suggestion for what I should do next.
Thinking maybe I could email Dr. Fox (I would need an email address). Or perhaps do another FOIA request that was more specific. Any help appreciated.

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Nothing about any of his personal firearms but a bit of info on James White.
historicalgmen.squarespace.com/agents-of-the-30s-biographie/
 
"Have my factory letter that says the gun appears to have been owned by an FBI agent in the San Antonio, TX area.
Have a document from S&WHF that says gun is property of Jomer C White c/o The Federal Bureau of Investigation."

I think you've probably gotten all the information you need to conclude that the gun was owned by the FBI agent James C White and that the S&W document is simply a typo of the first name.

Nice gun, enjoy.

Jeff
SWCA #1457
 
Since the gun is a 30's gun, and the info you have is from the mid-late forties, I would see if James White had employment elsewhere before the FBI. If so, perhaps there are contacts there that may be able to shed some light on the gun. You might also pursue finding out if he had a partner or work team at the FBI and try to pursue information through those sources.
Also, have you tried Ancestry.com? If you could find any living family members, perhaps they could help as well.
Good Luck!
 
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Here are 2 photos of Doc White from the book Holstory, taken while he was serving as a Texas Ranger and wearing Colt Single Actions- understandable as the Registered Magnum hadn’t come along yet.
I agree with 22hipower’s conclusion regarding a typo and the probable ownership by Doc White.
F636-DF86-6-E53-495-B-8252-B17-E1038-BA25.jpg

17-B87-FEF-5-DED-45-B7-8-D92-A0-A34-C3-D665-A.jpg


Regards,
 
I don't know what your factory letter said, but from its SN, it is likely to have been shipped sometime during 1936. Exactly what did the letter say about White and the shipping date?
 
There used to be a former FBI agent who occasionally posted here, and he was somewhat of an expert on FBI firearms and FBI history. His name was Larry E. Wack, and he ived in Buffalo NY. You might see if you can find him, as I do not know how he can be contacted.
 
Nightowl said:
You might try the census records from the area. They list occupations addresses, etc. maybe an obituary would provide some clues.
Click to expand...
Fold3 is a great source for that info and military records...They also have a no-charge version available through some subscribing public libraries...:cool:...Ben
 
DWalt,
Was looking through old posts and realized I had not answered your question.
The letter shows the shipping date as 12/24/1935. No mention of White, just that the gun appeared to have been owned by an FBI agent in the San Antonio, Texas area.

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The gun appears to have light usage and may have been used for strictly recreational purposes only, target practice,etc. May not be listed in any official capacity or job related activity.
 
They dang sure got the gun right when manufacturing!

Another letter would seem right for myself. The fact it was called a .375
makes me want to fix it.
 
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turnerriver said:
Here are 2 photos of Doc White from the book Holstory, taken while he was serving as a Texas Ranger and wearing Colt Single Actions- understandable as the Registered Magnum hadn’t come along yet.
I agree with 22hipower’s conclusion regarding a typo and the probable ownership by Doc White.
F636-DF86-6-E53-495-B-8252-B17-E1038-BA25.jpg

17-B87-FEF-5-DED-45-B7-8-D92-A0-A34-C3-D665-A.jpg


Regards,
Click to expand...
Dude, you rock. Thank you!
 
'James' instead of 'Jomer' is a reasonable alternative name. It occurs to me that maybe his real or legal name was 'Jerome', and friends and family might have called him 'Jomer'. I wonder if Don actually found a document with the name 'Jomer' in it, or if the name in whatever he found was barely legible, and 'Jomer' was his best guess.

Regards, Mike Priwer
 
Mike,
Post 18 has a pic of the SWHF document. From Potchernick's to S&W. Requesting repair and names the agent as Jomer C White. Agents name I believe was James. If the typist was looking at something written in cursive an "a" could be mistaken for an "o" and an "r" for an "s" quite easily.
At any rate the FBI historian Dr. John Fox says there was never an agent named Jomer.
In 1936 there were about 400 special agents. 7 in San Antonio. No name is close except James C White.
 
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DARE said:
ImprovedModel56Fan,
I had the same idea. Plus they called the gun a .375 instead of .357. Maybe not a careful typist.
Click to expand...

I'm an interested bystander on the topic of RMs. Weren't the RMs pretty much hand-built early on? I'm curious how one left the factory "out of time", as the letter claimed in 1936.
 
Borderboss,
The repair order was about a year after the gun shipped, so maybe it got out of time in a year rather than being shipped that way. The gun shipped 12/24/1935. The repair letter dated 12/11/1936.
 
DARE said:
Borderboss,
The repair order was about a year after the gun shipped, so maybe it got out of time in a year rather than being shipped that way. The gun shipped 12/24/1935. The repair letter dated 12/11/1936.
Click to expand...

Thanks David. The wording and tone of the 1936 letter is such that it intimates that the revolver arrived that way.
 
Mike,

From a newspaper article in the Austin American-Statesman 7 April 1906.

State Rangers Doc White and M H Wright will leave today for San Antonio where they have been summoned as witnesses in the Monk Gibson case, which will be called for trial for the second time Wednesday. Rangers Wright and White will bring some of the state mules to Austin on their return, for the use of the Rangers.

Don't you just love history?
 
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Truckman, hold on. Years ago I had a mule, Lilly, on the farm. She was a sweet heart and rode her all the time. She had free range of the farm and came right to me when I whistled. I didnt have a Texas Ranger Star and carry two SAA Colts. Its like that Eastwood movie when he rides into town and the bad guys laugh. You remember the outcome?
 
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