KM Genealogy

Research Request

Author: kmgenealogyDate: September 2015 Client: Stephen Luther

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Contents

BRIEF...........................................................................................................................3

RESOURCES UTILISED..............................................................................................3

GLENN AND BONNIE..................................................................................................4

Glenn Bodley’s early life 6

Bonnie Avery’s early life 7

Bonnie and Glenn’s life together 8

Glenn and Bonnie’s children 10

The ring 12

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BRIEFOur client, Stephen Luther, marries his fiancée Kate in July 2016. The ring they have chosen is engraved with the words "Glenn to Bonnie 26 June 12" and was purchased in York, England.

The brief is to uncover more of the story of Glenn and Bonnie.

RESOURCES UTILISEDNumerous sources of information have been consulted during this research. Some of the key areas and databases that have been researched in the compilation of this family genealogy project include:

Census records – United States Census records have been utilised to search for your ancestors. The questions asked from census to census did vary from year to year, but you can generally find information like confirmation of names, names of other household members, ages, birthplaces, residence and occupation and even details of specific relationships. These census records are great for placing your ancestors to particular locations and addresses at the time of each census. As with any hand written document the accuracy of data can be subject to the census enumerator’s interpretation of what he or she is told. The last census currently available in the United States is the 1940 US Federal census.

Find A Grave - an online database that allows contributors to upload grave information and associated photographs, obituaries and other relevant details. Because it is a voluntary project, success of finding information in the database varies.

UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878-1960 - This database is an index to the Board of Trade’s passenger lists of ships arriving in the United Kingdom from foreign ports outside of Europe and the Mediterranean. Exceptions to this are vessels that originated outside of these areas but then picked up passengers in European or Mediterranean ports en route. The UK port of arrival was not necessarily the final destination of the ship. In addition, the names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger lists, copied from The National Archives (TNA) collection series BT26.

U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards 1942 - This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration, the only registration currently available to the public (the other registrations are not available due to privacy laws). The Fourth Registration, often referred to as the "old man's registration", was conducted on 27 April 1942. The records include name of registrant, age, birth date, birthplace, residence, employer information, and physical description

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GLENN AND BONNIEThe start of the search begins with the inscription inside the wedding ring which says “Glenn and Bonnie 26 June 12”

Initial research pointed to Glenn and Bonnie being Glenn W Bodley and Bonnie M Avery who married on the 26th June 1912 at Three Rivers, St. Joseph’s County, Michigan, USA.

The original record is shown below along with a transcription.

The record tells us:

The licence was issued two days previously Glenn was age 26 and Bonnie 24 when they married and they were bachelor

and spinster. Glenn worked as a jeweller and Bonnie was a housekeeper Glenn was born in Indiana and Bonnie in Michigan Glenn’s father was Guy C Bodley, and his mother’s maiden name was Wilson Bonnie’s father was Oliver T Avery, and her mother’s maiden name Meyers Their witnesses were Ralph C Virgil and Mildred Avery

Original record

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Three Rivers, MichiganSharing Michigan's border with Indiana, St. Joseph County is bisected by the St. Joseph River. French explorers, missionaries and fur traders who traversed the St. Joseph River Valley during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, undoubtedly journeyed into St. Joseph County. It was only after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 that St. Joseph received its first permanent white settlers. Three Rivers was settled three years later in 1828.

Many of the pioneers that came to St. Joseph were responding to reports about the area's rich prairies. Stretching for miles, south-western Michigan's prairies provided unbroken plains where a pioneer could use his plough and turn up fertile soil without having his progress deterred by the difficulties of stone and stump. 

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Glenn Bodley’s early lifeGlenn Wilson Bodley was born in Salem, Indiana on the 26 th June 1885 to parents Guy Clarence Bodley and Frances Rosetta Bodley nee Wilson, who were also born in Indiana. Guy was of Danish descent.

Glenn grew up in both Michigan and Indiana. As a teenager he was living with his family in Lockport, Michigan where his father Guy worked as a carpenter. In 1910 the family had moved to Stueben, Indiana and father Guy had changed direction and had his own butcher’s shop. Glenn had one sister named Ethel (known as Effie) May Bodley who was born around 1882 in Ohio.

In 1910 Glenn stated on the census that he was a jeweller with his own shop and this was still the case when he married Bonnie two years later.

He lost his mother in 1922 and his father remarried in 1924.

Glenn’s sister Ethel married Clarence Honts, a foundry foreman in Three Rivers in 1903. She died in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1933.

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Ethel Honts nee Bodley, Glenn’s sister

Bonnie Avery’s early lifeBonnie M Avery was born in Three Rivers, Michigan on the 1st November 1887 to parents Oliver T Avery and Anna F Meyers who were also born in Michigan. Oliver was of English descent and Anna’s parents were of German descent.

Bonnie grew up in Lockport, Michigan where father Oliver worked as a joiner in a crate factory and later as a superintendent in a tannery.

Bonnie had an older brother and two younger siblings:

Clyde Francis 1886

Mildred Lucile 1891

Paul 1896

Her mother died in 1933 and her father in 1940.

Bonnie’s brother Clyde married Jean Hull in 1907. He died in Three Rivers in 1936.

Mildred married Lawrence Thomas. She died in Three Rivers in 1961.

Paul married Mildred Lucy Hawley in 1926. He died in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1976.

Paul Avery, Bonnie’s youngest brother

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Bonnie and Glenn’s life togetherThe first census after their marriage was taken in 1920, and Glenn and Bonnie were living at 406 West Street in Three Rivers, Michigan which they owned rather than rented.

West Street, Three Rivers today

Glenn was still a jeweller and he and Bonnie had two sons: 6 year old Harold and 3 year old John.

In terms of their neighbourhood, there were thirteen other houses recorded on their census page. 6 families rented their homes whilst the others were home owners. There was a printer, a labourer in a machine shop, a car dealer, two machinists, delivery man, book keeper, accountant, three clerks, and a grocer who had a maid. So we can see that West Street was a real mixed residential area. Glenn and Bonnie’s direct neighbours either side were Edith and Harriet Dunham, spinster sinsters. Edith was a seamstress and Harriet a book keeper. On the other side was the Diggins family; Mr Diggins was a machinist.

By the time the 1930 census was taken Glenn and Bonnie are found 2,000 miles away in Los Angeles, California living in St Charles Place which they are renting. Glenn is still working as a jeweller although he is an employee rather than self-employed and is working in the wholesale trade. Both sons are still at home.

Six years later, Glenn died after 24 years of marriage. His death took place on the 21st October 1936 in Grants Pass, Josephine County, Oregon, He was 50 years of age and recorded as a saleman at the time of death. It is not known if the family had moved to Oregon, or Glenn was there in connection with work. He was however brought back to Three Rivers for burial at Riverside cemetery.

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Two months later on the 12th December 1936 son Harold Avery Bodley married Margaret Armstrong in Three Rivers. Margaret was the daughter of Adam E Armstrong.

Son John married Betty Oettel in Los Angeles in 1939. Their marriage appeared in the Los Angeles Times (below). By the following year they were living in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Bonnie remarried one year after the death of Glenn. The marriage took place in Three Rivers on the 11th December 1937. You may recall that her son Harold married Margaret Armstrong who was the daughter of Adam E Armstrong. Adam was also widowed; his first wife having died in 1935. It was Adam that Bonnie married in 1937. This means that her son Harold was both her son and her son-in-law!

Adam was the founder of the Armstrong machine works in Three Rivers. He died in 1964 and is buried in a family mausoleum. Bonnie is also buried with Adam in the mausoleum. She died in 1978:BURRIED IN THE MAUSOLEUMBonnie Avery,1887-1978. 2nd wife of Adam E.Margaret Fowler, 1887-1935, 1st wife of Adam E.Mary Caroline,1908-1911 daughter of Adam & Margaret

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Glenn and Bonnie’s childrenSon John died in 1989 and his obituary states that his wife was still alive at that point. He had a son and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.

BODLEY, JOHN J., MARCH 28, 1989. Word has been received of the death of John J. Bodley in Burbank, Calf. on March 28, 1989. Mr Bodley was a former resident of Three Rivers and was the son of the late Mrs. A.E. Armstrong. He is survived by his wife, Betty, a son and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren; a brother, Harold of Ft. Worth, Texas; a step-brother, Lawrence Armstrong and step-sister, Mrs. Howard (Betty) Lambertson of Three Rivers; several nieces, nephews and cousins also survive. It was Mr. Bodley's wish to be cremated and no services will be held. He was called up for duty in WW2 but it is not known if he ever actually served:

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Harold died the following year in 1990 in Fort Worth, Texas. There is no online obituary for Harold at Find a Grave. But there is one for his son (i.e. Glenn and Bonnie’s grandson). It mentions several names that it may be possible to follow up via Google, social media etc. and see if anyone knows any more about the sale of the ring.

Birth:  Sep. 24, 1956Fort WorthTarrant CountyTexas, USA

Death:  May 5, 2009

Jeffry Scott Bodley, 52, died Tuesday, May 5, 2009, at his home.Funeral: 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Greenwood Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Greenwood Funeral Home.Pallbearers: Dave Haug, Mark Dodson, Chuck Freeney, Oleta Baker, Patrice Barron, Kim Perrone McLaughlin, Craig Bull, Bob Parker, Eduardo San Roman, and Darrin Inglehart.

Jeff was born Sept. 24, 1956, in Fort Worth, the son of Harold and Elizabeth

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"Betty" Bodley. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth in 1975. Jeff attended Tulane University in New Orleans, La., graduating with degrees in economics, philosophy, and political science in 1979. Graduate school was back in Texas, where Jeff earned both a law degree as well as an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.Following law school, Jeff joined Hart and Crohn Law Firm in Houston. His career brought him back home to Fort Worth where he became manager of real estate, oil and gas, and other legal matters for Acme Brick, a subsidiary of Justin Industries from 1985-1989. Over the last two decades Jeff had been involved in a wide variety of business endeavors with longtime business partner, Bob Parker of Fort Worth.Jeff was preceded in death by his mother; father; and beloved sister, Amy Laham.Survivors: Life partner, Luis Jimenez; birth mother, Lorraine Lutonsky and husband, Ludwik, and their three children, Kim, Rick and Cheri; brother-in-law, Andrew Laham and wife, Pam, and their children, Andrea and Nicholas Laham; cousins, Cara Beth Wakefield and husband, Doug, and their sons, Grant, Joel and Drew; Dr. Sue Kenderdine and husband, Hank Brackman, Claire Farris and husband, Mike, Wes Phelan, and Robert Phelan; and a great many family and friends who loved him dearly and will miss him terribly.Published in Star-Telegram on 5/8/2009 

 

The ringWhen we consider what might have happened to the ring, we don’t know if it was sold on in the United States and a dealer then sold it abroad; or whether a family member may have travelled to the UK and brought it with them for sale.

If we consider a timeline, there are several possible options.

Glenn died in 1935 and Bonnie remarried in 1936. She may have wished to dispose of the ring upon her remarriage.

Her second husband died before her, so it’s not a case of being passed on as part of his estate.

Both sons married shortly after their father’s death. It’s possible that the ring was given to one of her sons to pass onto their brides. If this was the case then the ring may have passed onto Margaret Bodley nee Armstrong, or Betty Bodley nee Oettel.

Betty Bodley died Burbank, California in 1991:

John’s obituary claims he and Betty had a son and three grandchildren but their names are currently unknown. It is possible the ring passed onto them after Betty’s death. The following record lists possible relatives of John:

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Bonnie’s other son Harold married Margaret Armstrong in 1936. They had a daughter named Bonnie E Bodley around 1939 who was born in California. They divorced after five years of marriage.

Harold enlisted in the Air Corps in 1942 but it is not known if he actually served and if he did, whether he came to Britain, but it is a possibility. He described himself as single without dependants.

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After his divorce Harold presumably went on to marry someone named Betty as she is stated as the mother of son Jeff in his obituary above. According to Jeff’s obituary he had a sister Amy who had died before him. She was married to Andrew Laham, who appears to have remarried, according to the obituary, and also had children.

Bonnie did also have two step children (according to John’s obituary) - Lawrence Armstrong and Mrs. Howard (Betty) Lambertson

Another alternative is that it was passed onto one of Bonnie’s two sons, but not for use by their wives as suggested above, and they simply disposed of it any time after the 1930s.

In summary, there are a number of routes that they ring may have passed on via Bonnie’s descendants.

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UK incoming ship passenger lists exist up to 1960. After that air travel became more popular and unfortunately there are no current air passenger lists available.

This UK incoming ship database was checked for any mention of the following people:

Bonnie Bodley

Bonnie Armstrong

Harold Bodley

Margaret Bodley

Elizabeth/Betty Bodley

John Bodley

Adam Armstrong

Lawrence Armstrong

Elizabeth/Betty Lambertson

Howard Lambertson

No matches were found in the records

There is no will/administration information for Michigan available online after 1850.

In terms of further research, possible contact via google, social media has already been mentioned for those living relatives listed in Jeff Bodley’s obituary above.

Adam Armstrong, Bonnie’s second husband was the owner of Armstrong Machine Works. This company still exists in Three Rivers in the name of Armstrong International Inc. and is still in the family. They perhaps may be able to provide some leads:

http://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/companies/armstrong-international-inc.htm

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