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Grandfather William D. Bond - Obituary & Service Records

Brick Walls

Tim Firkowski

Wednesday, 05 March 2014

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I had begun looking for the obituary of William D. Bond. Since I did not know where that obituary would be, I contacted the library in Sandersville, Washington County, Georgia, which was where he was living when he died. Beth at the library was very helpful. I told her what I was looking for and she said she would call me back. She called back shortly and said that they only had microfilm of the newspaper up to May of 2000. I thanked her for her help and we finished up the conversation. A short moment later she called me back, telling me that I may be able to get some information from the local funeral homes and provide me with those business names and numbers. Thank you Beth! Make sure you thank those people that have gone beyond the call of duty on behalf of your research efforts!

My last Blog post attracted some attention, which has resulted in getting some assistance in my search for more evidence. I received an email from someone who noticed that I had not mentioned anything about William Bond's obituary. Leah had taken the time to look up some of the information I had already provided, and here is what she sent me - The marriage announcement for William's parents Charles F. Bond & Thelma Hines. The announcement was found in the December 28th, 1921 issue of The Macon Daily Telegraph. Also provided from The Macon Telegraph was the text from the obituary of William D. Bond, which reads,

"CAIRO --- Services for William D. Bond will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Cedar Ridge Cemetery, Gray. Bond, 75, died Friday, Nov. 10, 2000, at his residence. He was born in Blackshear, son of the late Charlie and Thelma Bond. A Navy veteran and submariner, he was retired from Local 72 Plumbers and Steam Fitters Union. He was the widower of Norma J. Bond...."

it goes on to state the survivors. In addition to the information that corroborates the information I already have from the gravestone and SSDI, there is one key piece of information that adds strength to my case. Not only does it say that he was in the Navy, but it also says he was a submariner. His gravestone states he was in the Navy and his job description matches what was found in the Muster Rolls I posted earlier, but now I know that he was stationed on a submarine. As this evidence matches what I have collected, my case that I have the correct person is much stronger. I now also have the place of birth for William D. Bond. I contacted the library in Macon, GA for a copy of the actual obituary for William D. Bond and his wife Norma Bond from The Macon Telegraph. I want to have a hard copy of the actually obituaries for my records.

Obituaries and marriage notices can provide a wealth of information, that would not be otherwise found in Vital Records and they are a must in helping in find your ancestors. If you are stuck in your research, this is one avenue that may open doors for you.

I have also requested his service records from NARA in St. Louis, MO. Rather than have to pay $70 and wait up to three months to get those documents, I have opted to pay a little more and hired someone to acquire those for me. If NARA can pull the records by Friday, I stand a chance of getting them in hand sometime next week, if not, I should see them by the end of the month. The researcher I hired has informed me that he has seen documents that pertain to items like child support, in other service records, so I may get lucky and find the smoking gun I am looking for. There is no guarantee that those documents would be in William's service records, but I am hoping that will be the case. You can look forward to seeing the Blog post about what I find in the service records of William D. Bond.

Tags:

WWII Submarines NARA Navy Brick Wall William D. Bond

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).