Robert Earl Bond: Lost Then Found

Robert Earl Bond was born on 20 March 1896 in Staunton, Illinois to William Francis Bond and Mary Alice Riggin, who was the half-sister of my great grandmother, Ida Mae (Riggin) Muir, making Robert Earl Bond my first cousin twice removed.

Relationship between Robert Earl Bond and me; chart created using
Microsoft Powerpoint

Robert's father was a teamster. Robert grew up in Staunton and when he registered for the World War I draft worked as chauffeur for his father's company, Bond & Son. He was drafted in 1918 and served as a private during the war assigned to Supply Company of the 347th Infantry Regiment, 174 Infantry Brigade, 87th Division. The division was in France, in the Pons area. They worked primarily as laborers while overseas. Robert was honorably discharged on 21 January 1919.

He returned to Illinois and continued working as a chauffeur. He was listed in the 1928 Staunton city directory with a wife named Minta, who was Araminta (Stewart) Johnson. She was the daughter of Green B. Stewart and Sarah Cockron and had been married previously and had two children. In 1930 Robert was farming a rented farm and lived with his wife, divorced step-daughter and step-son in Tyrone, Illinois. By 1940 Robert's step-children had moved out and he and Minta lived alone. The farm was also gone and Robert worked as a foreman for the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

In 1942 Robert lived in Mulkeytown and worked at the Illinois Ordnance Plant in Carbondale, Illinois. Minta was listed as the person who would always know his address.  She applied for a Social Security account in January 1943 as Minta Stewart Bond. But then I lost Robert when I first researched my Riggin line in late 2012 and early 2013.

Recently, a lot of my cousins have taken DNA tests and as I processed their matches, I decided to check the two matches most of us have with known common shared ancestors in the Riggin line. Those matches shared a third match with me I had not seen before. There were only 13 people in this new match's family tree, but the Bond surname was familiar.

DNA match pedigree chart; courtesy of Ancestry.com

It turns out the Robert E. Bond listed on this pedigree chart is the same Robert Earl Bond, who is in my tree. And he had a new wife! I don't know what happened to his first wife Minta. She was 14 years older than Robert so perhaps she died or perhaps they divorced.

On 24 May 1958 Robert married Ruby Elaine (Bailey) Sizemore, a divorced woman with three children in their early 20s in Gate City, Virginia. Robert lived in Cedar Bluff, Virginia, and worked as a coal miner. He was 62 years old at the time of their marriage and indicated when he applied for the license that he was single. Ruby was the daughter of James Bailey and Lepora Bumgarner and was 38 at the time of their marriage. They obviously had a child together as that person is a DNA match and from the looks of their family tree are either just beginning to research their family history or do not know much about their father's family.

Robert made a life claim on his Social Security account in 1959, perhaps he retired then. He died in Orange County, Florida, on 29 March 1962 and was interred at Grandview Memory Gardens in Bluefield, Virginia. Ruby married two more times before her death in 1998.

The Confusing Life of Elspeth Jennings

Elspeth Jennings was born on 31 October 1895 in Norfolk, Virginia, to Edward Winston and Annie M. (Porter) Jennings. Her father worked with sheet metal at the Norfolk Naval Base. She was the second of two children, a granddaughter of Daniel Rose Jennings, who fought in the Civil War, and my third cousin once removed.

On 13 February 1913 Elspeth married Job Palmer Manning, Jr., son of Job Palmer and Ada (Cocke) Manning, Sr. He had been born on 18 June 1897 in Portsmouth, Virginia, and worked as a routing clerk for a railroad. The couple had three children. Elspeth was granted a divorce on 26 June 1920 for desertion. The decree stated there were three minor children. However, I have only been able to find two of them. Mystery No. 1.

The decree listed Job Palmer Manning, Jr., as a non-resident, which meant he no longer lived in Virginia. I have been unable to find a trace of him after the divorce. Mystery No. 2.

Divorce decree between Job Palmer Manning, Jr., and Elspeth Jennings;
courtesy of Ancestry.com

Elspeth's father died four months before her divorce was granted. His death certificate indicated he was married at the time of his death but his son was the informant. I have been unable to find a record of Annie (Porter) Jennings' death or any record after 1922, when she was listed in a Norfolk city directory as a widow. Mystery No. 3.

Snippet of Annie (Porter) Jennings' life story; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Sometime before 4 September 1930, I assume Elspeth married Alfred "Fred" Brodix Simmons as she had twin daughters in Evanston, Illinois, yet I have been unable to find her in the 1930 census. The person I believe to be her husband, Alfred B. Simmons was enumerated in Los Angeles, California, as living at the Palmer Hotel with a wife named Floy, who was born in Illinois. This Alfred B. Simmons has the correct year of birth, correct birth state, correct birth state for his parents, and a correct occupation. Mystery No. 4.

Snippet of Alfred Brodix Simmons life story; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Alfred Brodix Simmons was a interesting man in his own right. He was born on 9 Mar 1895 to Henry "Harry" Taylor and Caroline "Carrie" (Brodix) Simmons in Bloomington, Indiana. He was a mariner employed by China Mail aboard the S/S China. Starting in 1917, he lived in San Francisco and worked for his brothers's import export business. He made several trips to Japan, China, Hong Kong, French Indonesia, and India during that time.

Alfred Brodix Simmons' 1917 and 1920 passport photographs; courtesy of
Ancestry.com

After Alfred and Elspeth married they moved to Danville, Indiana, where he worked as an organizer in the insurance industry -- whatever that is. Elspeth traveled to Australia in 1939 to help her oldest daughter and two granddaughters move back to the United States after her husband was killed piloting a transport plane. By 1942 Alfred and Elspeth lived in Philadelphia and he worked for Empire Ordnance. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, by 1950. He was the president of Simmons Pump. Five years later, he worked as a salesman at Ethridge & Vannerman Realty.

Alfred died on 21 August 1967 in Fulton County, Georgia; he was 72 years old. Elspeth (Jennings) Manning Palmer died on 4 February 1973 in Baldwin County, Georgia; she was 77 years old.

So my mysteries for Elspeth are as follows:

1. What was the name of the third child she had with Job Palmer Manning, Jr.? There is no missing sibling in the obituaries of two of Elspeth's daughters.
2. What happened to Job Palmer Manning, Jr., after his 1920 divorce? And where was he living at the time of the divorce?
3. What happened to Elspeth's mother, Annie (Porter) Jennings after 1922? Did she remarry? 
4. Was Alfred married to a woman named Floy months before he and Elspeth's twins were born? When did Alfred and Elspeth marry?

Inquiring minds want to know!

52 Ancestors #24: Memories Are My Favorite Heirlooms

Ancestor Name: Charles Theodore JENNINGS (1931- ) and Dorothy Ailein (LANGE) Jennings (1930-2014)

I've never been much of an heirloom keeper. I love beautiful things, don't get me wrong; but I like things to have a purpose or enrich my interior surroundings in some way. When my parents decided to move to an assisted living facility, they asked my brothers and me to sell their home. Mom was extremely practical and for years had been asking us to identify what we wanted. So when the time came, the few things each of us desired were easy to divide. But what my brothers and I treasure most are the memories.

Of weekend drives on the Skyline Drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

My middle brother, me and my Mom at an overlook somewhere along
the Skyline Drive

Of vacations visiting family.

Mom and my middle brother visiting my aunt and uncle in Florida

Of Easter Sundays paying our respects to our deceased grandparents.

My family (before our young brother was born) on
Easter Sunday visiting the graves of my maternal
grandparents at Trinity Memorial Cemetery in
Waldorf, Maryland

Easter Sunday visiting the grave of my paternal Grandfather at National
Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia

Of Christmas dinners.

Christmas dinner (the children's table); photograph taken at my parents'
home in North Carolina in 1983

Of family reunions.

Lange first cousins; photograph taken on Christmas Eve at the home of my
maternal grandparents

Lange family reunion; photograph taken at my parents home in 1970

Of our baby brother joining the family.

From left to right: my middle brother, me, my Mom, and our new brother

Of our parents unswerving love for each of us. Those memories are my most treasured heirlooms and will live in my heart forever.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme Heirloom.

Clem Bray's Orchestra

Clement Elliott Bray, Jr. was born on 27 Jul 1896 in Brooklyn, New York, to Clement Elliott and Benna Bray. His father was a newspaperman and his mother taught piano.

Based on a 25 February 1914 article in the Cumberland Evening Times, Clement was a classically trained musician, who performed along with his mother at the Second Annual Concert of the G Clef Club:

"The club was assisted by Miss Ernestine Wittig, Mrs. A. K. Rarig, Miss Beatrice Holmes, Mr. Clement E. Bray, Jr., Mrs. Clement E. Bray and a string quintette, composed of Dr. S. Lua Sykes, Mr. Clarence Spitnas, Mr. Russell Paupe, Mr. Lloyd Rawlings and Mr. Robert Colony. The work of this quintette was most excellent and was a most enjoyable part of the program." During Part I of the concert, Clement played two violin solos -- "Inconstancy" written by Chadwick and "The Elephant and Chimpanzee," an arrangement by Lyons.

"Inconstancy" was written in 1910 by George Whitefield Chadwick. It is in the first set of Four Choruses. In that chorus Chadwick set the text "Sigh no More Ladies" from Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing to music he composed.

Fascinating, isn't it? But I digress...

Clement married Della Virginia Jennings, my third cousin once removed on 21 May 1918 in Lynchburgh, Virginia. Her father had killed her mother and them himself in Toledo, Ohio, five years before. At the time of their marriage, Clement was an orchestra leader and his band played at several venues throughout the mid-Atlantic states. By 1920 Clem and Della were living in Easton, Maryland, on 19 Glenmore Avenue, not far from his parents. His occupation was listed as bookkeeper, which surprised me greatly. I have often wondered if Della wanted a less nomadic life, or if work had merely dried up for the time being.

On 23 March 1923, Clem was in Cumberland, Maryland, presenting Cliff Hosken's Orchestra at the Great Easter Festival and Bazaar at the State Armory.

As published in the Cumberland Evening Times

On 11 July 1924, Clem and his orchestra were in Garrett, Maryland, making their second appearance at the Old Trails Inn. They were fresh off B. F. Keith's vaudeville in New York City.

In 1925 Clem and Della were living at 324 South Water in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

On 22 November 1927 Clem was back in Cumberland, Maryland, directing an orchestra that performed at the Police and Fireman's Annual Dance. He was described as a well known orchestra leader.

In 1927 he and Della were living in Fairmont, West Virginia on 609 Jamison and Clem was the leader of the Fairmont Theatre orchestra.

On 22 December 1928, Clem and the Fairmont Theatre orchestra participated in the historic inaugural broadcast of WMMN radio station. According to the Fairmont Times, "Robin Hood of this city sent a wire from far Hot Springs, Arkansas, announcing unequaled receptivity and asking that Clem Bray and his Fairmont Theatre Orchestra play 'Hail West Virginia'."

But perhaps trouble was brewing already in 1929. The city directory listed Clem Bray as still living in Fairmont, West Virginia, but for the first time Della was not listed. And in 1931 Clem was living in Tampa, Florida, with a new wife named Inez R.

A little digging revealed that Inez R was in fact Ruhamer Inez Bosserman. She was the daughter of Walker Greenleaf and Helen (Burruss) Bosserman and was born in Fairmont, West Virginia. At the time she must have met Clem, she was married to Clarence R Kuner.

Article and photograph of Clem Bray
published in the Harrisburgh Telegraph

In 1934 Clem and Ruhamer were living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he managed Club Lido and led their in-house orchestra. In 1935 they were living in Baltimore and in 1940, they were living in Washington, DC, with a daughter named Jo Clare Bray, who I believe but have not yet proved was actually the daughter of Clarence and Ruhamer Kuner.

A photograph that was published in the Harrisburg Telegraph; Ruhamer
is on the far left

In 1930 Clem and Ruhamer received a copyright for "Living in the World of Tomorrow." He also wrote "Ruhamer," which the Harrisburg Telegraph described as "distinctive."

I lost track of Clem in Ruhamer after 1940. And so I have yet another mystery on my hands. But I wonder if this is my Clem:

As published in the Upper Des Moines Algona

If so, he was performing, along with his Jolly Lumber Jacks at Iowa's Wonder Show Place in Cedar Lake, Iowa, on 25 May 1973!

I would so like to find the sheet music for his songs, but as yet have been unable to find them. Any suggestions?

Finding Della...Again (The Power of Offline Records)
Yet More Woe for Della (Your Family Tree, Autumn 2014)
Wordless Wednesday: I'm Published!
Finding Della (The Power of Social Media)
I'm Published
Murder-Suicide in Toledo

Finding Della...Again (The Power of Offline Records)

Earlier this week I blogged about finding my third cousin, once removed, Della Virginia (Jennings) Bray Borgard, after her father killed her mother and then himself in 1913. A reader of Your Family Tree magazine in the United Kingdom found a record of Della's marriage to Clement Elliott Bray, Jr. She contacted me through my public genealogy Facebook page.

Della's marriage record on Ancestry.com. The indexer has
certainly made a hash of Clement's first name

I sent my Jennings research collaborator, Ann, an email with the marriage information. We both started researching Della immediately. I quickly discovered a Della Bray, who died in Hancock County, Ohio, in 1931. From the index I could not definitely determine if it was our Della. That same year Clement and his second wife, Ruhamer Bray, were living in Tampa, Flordia, and, in 1940 Clement and Ruhamer Bray were living in Washington, DC. Clement worked as a composer. A 16-year-old daughter named Jo Clare was living with them. So the death date made sense as Clement could have remarried soon after Della's death. I was able to find Ruhamer's birth registration and a marriage registration for her first marriage on the West Virginia Division of Culture and History's website.

But Ann found a different Della, one who didn't die in 1931. Her record trail indicated Della had married Eugene Alexander Borgard, Jr., in the 1930s and they lived together with a daughter, Maxine Elliott Bray, in Pittsburgh. The blended family took several vacations to Bermuda together in the mid 1930s. Maxine married James Patrick Lennon and moved to Miami. They divorced in 1967 and Maxine moved to Colorado and died there in 1998. Della moved to Miami, likely following her daughter, and died in 1959.

Passenger list from Ancestry.com with Della, her daughter, and
second husband Eugene Borgard

Ann's information seemed more likely to be correct than the Della I had found. Maxine having the same middle name as Clement was one small clue. I also discovered several newspaper articles, using Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com, which confirmed Clement Bray was a musician, composer and orchestra leader. He wrote and copyrighted several songs, including one entitled, "Ruhamer," which seemed to confirm the name of his second wife. That little bit of trivia didn't really help determine which Della Bray was the correct one, however.

So I ordered Della Bray's 1931 death certificate from the Ohio Historical society. It arrived a few weeks ago. When I first read the death certificate, I was crestfallen. The father and mother for this Della Bray were unknown. So I read more of the certificate. This Della Bray was almost 66 years old, which was too old to be our Della. She also was African-American, and her husband's name was Willis Bray, which ruled her out, confirming Ann had found the correct Della.

Death certificate for the Della Bray who died in Ohio
in 1931, confirming she was not our Della.

Twitter enabled me to connect with the editors of a British magazine and write the article that a reader found interesting enough to stop and look for Della. She contacted me on Facebook with information she found about Della's marriage. That's the power of using social media to aid your family history quest. However, there is still a place for offline records and old-fashioned research. Without it, we would have lost the trail of Della again and not known for sure which Della Bray was the correct one.

There are still a few marriage and divorce records to be ordered and I have not yet found the entire cast of characters in the 1930 census, but I made a lot of progress, thanks to a lovely Your Family Tree reader in the U.K.

Murder-Suicide in Toledo
Finding Della (The Power of Social Media) 
Tangled Roots and Trees on Facebook
@TweetTRnT on Twitter
Your Family Tree magazine

Wordless Wednesday: I'm Published!

My article in Your Family Tree magazine about a random act of genealogical kindness that helped me find Della, missing since the tragic death of her parents in 1913.

The idea for this post came from Geneabloggers.

52 Ancestors #8: Immigration Redux

Ancestor Name: Robert Orr Muir Airlie

I almost got seasick following my second cousin twice removed back and forth across the Atlantic. He was born 8 June 1905 at New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia, which was on the eastern tip of Cape Breton Island on Glace Bay. The neighborhood was developed in the late 19th century to house the miners working at the Dominion No. 20 coal mine near West Avenue. His parents lived in Canada for 20 months but had returned to East Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland soon after his birth.

From Belcher's Province of Nova Scotia map

Not surprisingly, Robert became a coal miner when he was old enough to work. At the age of 24, he made his second trip across the Atlantic aboard the Anchor Line's transatlantic twin-screw steamship Cameronia.

Anchor Line wharf on sailing day

On 3 October 1930 Robert married 19-year-old Annie Lee Muir, his second cousin, at Findleyville, Pennsylvania. Her father had immigrated in 1902 and was working as a miner for Montour Mines at the time of their marriage. About three weeks after their marriage they boarded the Anchor Line's S/S Transylvania in New York. They arrived in Glasgow, Scotland on 27 October 1930 after making stops in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Londonderry, Ireland. This was Robert's third trip across the Atlantic.

Anchor Line Steamship Transyvlania; this is the second Anchor Line ship named Transylvania.
The first sank with loss of life after being torpedoed in 1917

The couple lived in Scotland until 1937. Robert's parents lived at the village of East Whitburn in the parish of Whitburn, West Lothian. Annie's grandparents had lived in the same village. Perhaps they lived there and Robert worked in a mine in the area.

British Ordnance Survey of East Whitburn; the coal mines are just to the north

On 12 November 1937, Annie and Robert boarded the Anchor Line's S/S Caledonia; they arrived in New York 10 days later. This was Robert's fourth trip across the Atlantic. By 1940 they were living in Floyd County, Kentucky, where Robert was a track man at a coal mine. They rented their home and Robert made $570 a month. He had worked for 41 weeks the previous year, which was very good as the Depression was not quite over.

In 1948 the couple made another trip to Scotland, however, this time they traveled by air. They returned to the U.S., leaving Prestwick, Scotland, on Royal Dutch Airlines flight 631 and landed at New York on 12 August. This was Robert's sixth trip across the Atlantic.

By 1958, the couple had moved to Hollywood, Florida, where several of Annie's siblings had settled. Annie's brother, James Lee Muir, owned a construction company, which built several hotels, apartments and churches in the area.

Robert's wife, Annie, died on 5 August 1978 and was buried at Fred Hunter's Memorial Gardens East in Hollywood. The next year on 14 August 1979 Robert married Mary Madeline Kenny. He died on 23 April 1981 and was buried beside his wife.

Fred Hunter's Memorial Gardens

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

_______________
Robert Orr Muir Airlie was born on 8 Jun 1905 at New Aberdeen, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to Andrew and Martha (Muir) Airlie. He married Annie Lee Muir on 3 October 1930 at Findleyville, Washington, Pennsylvania. They were second cousins. Her parents were Robert and Annie Robertson (Lee) Muir. They had no children. After Annie died, Robert married Mary Madeline Kenny at Broward County, Florida. Robert died on 23 April 1981 at Hollywood, Broward, Florida, and was buried beside his first wife at Fred Hunter's Memorial Gardens East.

Shot in the Line of Duty

Today I am remembering my sister-in-law's recently discovered fifth cousin once removed. Robert Quincy Tucker was a police officer with the Jacksonville Police Department. On Christmas Eve 1952, he was shot and killed while transporting a man to jail, who was arrested for motor vehicle theft. The suspect produced a gun from beneath his shirt and shot officer Tucker, killing him instantly. Another officer, who was following Tucker's patrol car, subdued the suspect when he fled from car and tried to get into another car that was stopped at a traffic light.

Robert Quincy Tucker, was 27 years old at the time of his death

The suspect was convicted and executed in the electric chair on April 18, 1955.

Robert Quincy Tucker Obituary