Arthur Robert Shinn was born May 8, 1909, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. He was the son of George Aaron and Emma May (Cox) Shinn. He was one of a large family, with siblings, Floyd, Mabel, Ruth, John, Mirl, Eva and Harold. George supported the family by working as a stone mason, and Emma was a homemaker.
By the beginning of World War II, Arthur was living on 186th Street, Hollis, Jamaica, Long Island, and was working at the Continental Baking Company. At this time he was described as being 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall, weighing 118 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He listed his brother Mirl, who lived in Brooklyn, as the person who would know how to contact him.
When Arthur's mother Emma died in 1945, her obituary in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune mentions him as living in Jamaica, Long Island, with brother Mirl still in Brooklyn.
Arthur Robert Shinn died on August 9, 1980, at the age of 71. On September 2, 1980, he was buried on Hart Island.
Sources: Ancestry.com
U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
U.S., WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
U.S. 1910, 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
