Talk:Marvin Hewitt

This article was nominated for deletion on 30 April 2008. The result of the discussion was no consensus.

Incorrect name[edit]

The actual name of this person is Marvin Hewitt, not Martin Hewitt. I just got the book "Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar" and looked up the chapters dealing with him and his first name is given there as Marvin, not Martin. This also explains why when this article was discussed in the AfD earlier this month, nobody could find any google hits. I just did a google news search for "Marvin Hewitt" and sure enough, there is a fresh article in Times[1] that mentions him and his hoax. The name of this article should be changed and all the redirects should be changed too. Nsk92 (talk) 21:13, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well spotted! I remember being a bit puzzled at the time of the AfD that someone who with such a record seemed to have no online visibility. This guy has been discussed in plenty more reliable sources such as Time [2] and the New York Times [3] and has been the subject of academic research [4]. Phil Bridger (talk) 21:33, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well done, both of you! I was the nominator of th AfD, and now I am glad that it was not deleted. Goochelaar (talk) 22:21, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that is WP:V at work -:). However, could someone please move the page to a new name? I have not done page moves before and since there are also some redirects involved here, I am a bit worried about messing it up. Nsk92 (talk) 22:27, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Phil Bridger (talk) 09:01, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks. Nsk92 (talk) 14:43, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you - Skysmith (talk) 09:24, 26 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Research[edit]

I found an article which says that Hewitt was from Philadelphia and that his father was a police officer - https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/professor-marvin-hewitts-twisting-journey-dropout-imposter-rocket-scienti/. This matches with the referenced Life article.

In the 1940 census, he is living in Philadelphia with his family, his parents being a police officer called Samuel Hewitt and his mother, an housewife called Anna Hewitt (mistranscribed as Ada) -

Name: Marvin Hewitt

[Marvin Hewett]

Age: 18

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1922

Gender: Male

Race: White

Birthplace: Pennsylvania

Marital Status: Single

Relation to Head of House: Son

Home in 1940: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Map of Home in 1940: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Street: Marrine Street

House Number: 5449

Inferred Residence in 1935: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Residence in 1935: Philadelphia

Resident on farm in 1935: No

Sheet Number: 8A

Father's Birthplace: Samuel PA

Mother's Birthplace: Ada PA

Attended School or College: Yes

Highest Grade Completed: High School, 4th year

Weeks Worked in 1939: 0

Income: 0

Income Other Sources: No

Native Language: English

Veteran: No

Usual Occupation: School

Neighbors: View others on page

His WWII draft card gives his birthday as 24 March 1922 -

Name: Marvin Hewitt

Race: White

Age: 20

Relationship to Draftee: Self (Head)

Birth Date: 24 Mar 1922

Birth Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Residence Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Registration Date: 30 Jun 1942

Registration Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Employer: Unemployed

Height: 5 10

Weight: 160

Complexion: Light

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Hazel

Next of Kin: Ann Hewitt

He married in Wilmington, Delaware in 1947 -

Name: Marvin H. Hewitt

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Birth Date: abt 1923

Marriage Date: 6 Feb 1947

Marriage Place: Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, USA

Father:

Samuel Hewitt

Mother:

Anne Koff

Spouse:

Estelle Lesavoy

Film Number: 002025168

Hewitt died 31 March 1991 -

Name: Marvin H Hewitt

Gender: Male

Birth Date: 24 Mar 1922

Death Date: 31 Mar 1991

Claim Date: 19 Aug 1975

SSN: 177148090

His dad was shot in 1947, the man who did it was sent to prison, paroled in the 1970s and then a couple of years later was convicted of murdering his foster mother -

1947 sentencing - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99429507/the-central-new-jersey-home-news/

1972 release - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99429587/philadelphia-daily-news/

                    https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99429657/courier-post/

1974 trial - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99429706/philadelphia-daily-news/

1978 retrial - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99429837/philadelphia-daily-news/

Skycloud86 (talk) 23:08, 9 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]