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Grandfather William D. Bond - Collecting Evidence

Brick Walls

Tim Firkowski

Thursday, 27 February 2014

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Now that I have located some records to corroborate the verbal story of my biological grandfather, it is time to start collecting evidence that will show who he is. I went to Ancestry.com and did a search for his full name "William D. Bond" and located a 16264986 116143349601-1

Photo used with permission of Jack Johnsongravestone memorial in Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Gray, Jones County, Georgia. which was on the website FindAGrave.com. The transcription of the War Memorial Plaque is WILLIAM D BOND, MOMM3 US NAVY, WORLD WAR II, NOV 18 1924, NOV 10 2000. As I found no other William D Bond who served in the Navy during WWII that was from Georgia, and the job description matches, I am going to conclude that this is the person I am looking for. So my grandfather was born 18 November 1924 and died 10 November 2000. From the link provided on the Find A Grave website, I searched for all Bonds within that cemetery and find NORMA JEANETTE BOND, born 28 October 1930, died 24 Jan 1998, with the exact same style of marker. I am going to assume that this is his wife. I will keep this information in mind as my research continues. At this point I am collecting evidence.

Looking through the Social Security Death Index results that come up on my search on Ancestry I find a record that matches what I find on the Cemetery marker described above. It states that William D. Bond, SSN# 256-24-2618, His last residence was Sandersville, Washington County, Georgia 31082 and he was born 18 Nov 1924, died 10 Nov 2000. His SSN was issued in Georgia before 1951. I can now write to the Social Security Administration and get a copy of his SS-5. The SS-5 is the document that was originally filled out, in order to receive his Social Security number. It would include his address and parents name. Due to rules by the Social Security Administration I would get a censored copy of this information and would not be able to see the names of his parents, unless I can prove his parents have died. So rather than spend the time to write to them and get pretty much useless information, I will have to find documentation of the parents of this William D. Bond. You see, it is almost never ending when it comes to researching to find the answers we seek.

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1940 CensusI next search the 1940 Census and find that there is only one William D. Bond listed in Georgia. Again because I have a middle initial of "D" to use and only one record turns up, I am going to assume that this is the person I am looking for. There is a wealth of information I find in this record. William D. Bond is listed as 15 years old, as of his last birthday and that he was born in Georgia. His father is Charlie Bond - 42yrs. mother is Thelma M. Bond 37yrs., 4 siblings are listed as Horace A Bond (son) - 17yrs, Etherie L. Bond (daughter) - 13yrs, Troy C. Bond (son) - 8yrs & Myrtle D. Bond (daughter) 2 yrs. The Bond family is living on Georgia Place, Militia District 1085, Vineville, Bibb County, Georgia. There is more information about him, but for the sake on these Blog Posts, I will stick to the pieces of information that pertain to solving my mystery. If any other information listed here is used to collaborate with any other documents in the future, it will be noted.

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1930 CensusI am unable to find a 1930 Census record for William D Bond and that has me puzzled. According to the age listed he should show up in the 1930 Census, so what do I do? I then search for his father Charlie Bond in Georgia and also come up empty. What to do, what to do. Hmmmm... OK, lets do a search for his mother, Thelma in Georgia and voila there she is, but her husband Charlie is not showing up. Before we address the fact that Charlie is not showing up with his wife, lets examine what information is listed. I find Thelma Bond in the household listed as daughter-in-law 27yrs. The head of the household is William H. Bond 68yrs with wife Bettie 57yrs. Others in the household are Harris Bond (grandson) 7yrs, Doc (grandson) 5 yrs, Etherie Bond (granddaughter) 3yrs 7mnths. If we compare the names and ages of these people in the William H. Bond household, we can conclude that this is the information I am looking for. But you say..... William D. Bond is not listed. I would respond that you are correct, but Doc Bond is listed and his age matches with that of the 1940 Census. The fact that his first name is not showing is not surprising as middle names often were used in different records. Based on this information I am going to conclude that the middle name of my William D. Bond is "Doc". So his full name would be William Doc Bond. Lets address the problem of Charlie Bond (Thelma's husband) not showing up in the 1930 Census. If you think about what year it is, I would venture to guess that Charlie was probably out working elsewhere. It was the beginning of the Great Depression and not uncommon for husbands to have traveled to wherever work was available.

From the information in the 1940 census I deduce that William D Bond was born somewhere between 7 May 1924 & 6 May 1925. The reason I can deduce this is because the date that the information was taken was on 6 May 1940, and the question of age is based on "age since last birthday". The same hold true for the 1930 Census which was taken on April 16th 1930. This birth information on the 1930 & 1940 Censuses match 18 November 1924 which is stated on the grave marker and the Social Security Death Index.

The question that comes to our attention is.. Is this the correct William D. Bond that is in the WWII Navy Muster Rolls that I located earlier. There is no way to know for sure, but by examining the information I will find, I will build a case that will say that it is the same man, as I have no information from my mothers birth record or from the Manitowoc County courts for child support. The only way that I would be able to prove this is my grandfather beyond a shadow of a doubt will be if his Naval records will include any financials or documents pertaining to the child support or a DNA match from any of his relatives. ....To be continued..

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About the author

Tim Firkowski

I have been doing genealogy research since 2002 & have worked full time as a Professional Genealogist since 2008. I specialize in Polish and American-Canadian Genealogy. As a member of APG, I was the 2010/2011 President of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG). I have Certificates of Completion for studies in "Foundations of Forensic Genealogy" and "Advanced Forensic Genealogy Techniques". I have been a volunteer librarian at the local Family History Center, and a genealogy research consultant at “Ask the Expert” Ancestry Road Shows. I have traveled to Poland numerous times & researched in churches and archives. At conferences and special events, you may find me dressed up in my Sherlock Holmes outfit, or my Kujawy (the folk costume from the region in Poland where my ancestors came from).