Amy E. Blackmore was a senior at Plymouth High school in Wayne County, Michigan in this photo. Very little is known about this young woman. She was born about 1914 in Michigan. The second youngest of 6 children; her mother (Avis … Continue reading
Olive Margarete L. Bowers was Senior at Plymouth High School in 1931 in Wayne County, Michigan. She was either Olive or Margarete depending on which census record you look at. In 1920, 8 year old Margreathe L. Bowers lived with … Continue reading
For a change of pace I’m going back to the Willaimsville Township High School class of 1934. There we find Velma Cook. A great smile AND coif! Williamsville Township HS was in Williams, Illinois, part of Sangamon county. Only one … Continue reading
At first I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find much on H. B. Dye of Manzanola, first in line in the “bottom row standing.” With only initials to go on making an ID can be tough. But, I remembered … Continue reading
William W. Bronson, 1931, Plymouth High School
The third in the series from Plymouth High School in Plymouth, Michigan 1931 is William W. Bronson. Mr. Bronson was the oldest son and child of Walter and Elizabeth Bronson; born about 1913. He had a younger brother Donald, and a younger sister, Maryan (also went by Patricia). The Bronson’s lived in Detroit in 1920 where Walter was a commercial traveler (salesman) for a button company. By 1930, the family lived in Plymouth where William attended high school. Dad was still a traveling salesman. He must have traveled to Canada at some point because that’s where William’s brother Donald was born. By 1940, the last census available so far, William and his sister were still at home with their parents. The family was back in Detroit. Walter was a traveling rep for wholesale dry good and William (who was in 5th year college) worked as a technician in a hospital. Was he in medical school?
Those are all the facts I can attribute to young William Bronson. Find A Grave does have a listing for a Dr. William W. Bronson born in 1913, died in 1981, buried in Evergreen cemetery in Lansing, Michigan. I don’t know yet if this is the same William or not. I hope a family member can confirm.
Mary Virginia McKinnon, 1931, Plymouth High School
This is one of those photos that I just had to force myself to stop researching! Still so much to find out, but I do have enough to pass on to a hopefully searching descendant.
Mary Virginia McKinnon was born in Oregon about 1914. The rest of her family was born in Michigan, where they lived most of their lives. Her family included dad, Donald Neil McKinnon (1899-1966); mom, Dorothy B. McCorkle (1899-?); sister, Dorothy Paterson McKinnon (1920-?); grandmother, Mary E. Barnes McCorkle (1864-?); and a great-aunt who lived with or near them, Cordelia McCorkle (1853-1945).
It appears that only Mary’s birth and her parents marriage (Canada) took place outside of Michigan. Why the family was in Oregon is unknown, other than it was likely work. Mr. McKinnon worked as a salesman for steel products. His daughters lived at home at least through 1940 when Mary was 27. Neither of the girls were listed as having a job. If they married after that is unknown. Donald McKinnon’s death and aunt Cordelia’s were confirmed through the Social Security Death Index and Find A Grave. I can’t find when/where wife Dorothy passed away. But there are University of Michigan year books from 1910 that show she was a student there. She and Donald married in 1912.
Good luck Mary Virginia!
Delphine L. Jaynes, 1931 Plymouth High School
Delphine “dimples” Jaynes, well that’s my nickname for her anyway. All I really know from this lovely class photo is that she was born in 1912 to Clinton and Armina Jaynes in Michigan. She was the oldest of 3 siblings all sisters. Delphine born in 1912, Helen in 1914, and Norma Frances in 1919. They, as well as their parents, were all from Michigan.
Mr. Jaynes worked as a farmer, salesman, and real estate broker in 1920, 1930, and 1940 respectively. Unsurprising job changes due to the depression. In 1940 his mother, Delphine’s grandmother, lived with the family; Estella Jaynes. She was a widow at the time. Clinton’s father Alfred Jaynes had passed away in 1923. Thanks to a wonderful obituary on Find A Grave we know much more about Alfred than we do his granddaughter Delphine. Clinton died in 1966, but his burial as well as that of the rest of the family has not yet been found.
When or if Delphine married is unknown so far. But hopefully she has some descendants who will want this photo.
Floyd Blum, 1923 Liberty Union High School in Ohio
Meet Floyd, as promised, the husband of Dorothy Cowan from the previous post. They were in the same class at Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Fairfield county, Ohio. Whether or not they were high school sweethearts is unknown. Dorothy, we know, had 3 years of college before she married.
Like Dorothy, Floyd was born in Ohio. According to Find A Grave his birthday was April 14, 1906 and he lived until September of 1981. Unlike Dorothy, not all that time was spent in Ohio. The son of Charles Blum(e) and Nellie Strayer, both of Ohio, Floyd moved with his family to Michigan sometime before 1915. We know this because Floyd and his younger sister Relva (who is daughter is named after apparently) were both born in Ohio, but younger brother Paul was born in Michigan in 1915. Charles was working as a motor builder in Detroit during the 1920 census. Before that, in 1910, he had been an oil well drilling supervisor in Lancaster, OH. Clearly the family was back in Ohio by 1923 for this photo.
We know a bit about Floyd and Dorothy in 1930, they were married with one child, Relva. The directory of Newark, Ohio listed Floyd and Dorothy in 1927, 1929, 1931, and 1934. I believe it was 1935 when Dorothy was once again living with her family and the couple had divorced.
I was unable to find Floyd in the 1940 census, but we do know that in 1943 he joined the WWII effort from Philadelphia, PA. And, according to the SSDI, Floyd died in Parksburg, Chester county, PA. Whether he ever remarried is unknown. But he hadn’t by 1943 as he’s listed as “divorced with dependents” on the WWII draft registration card. Floyd is buried in Grandview Cemetery in Fairfield, the same cemetery where his mother is buried.
Mildred C. Burch, 1931 Plymouth High School
Mildred C. Burch, was a very studious looking 18 year old in 1931! She was born in Michigan in June of 1913 and lived her entire live in Canton, Wayne County, Michigan. She died there on May 13, 2006.
She was the youngest child of Elmer Burch and Catherine Kobbeman. The family consisted of brother Ralph (4 years older) and sister Henrietta (2 years older). Elmer was a farmer. He married Catherine, a much older woman, in 1908. Elmer was 26 and Catherine was 38 – at least according to 2 out of 3 census records. Catherine’s brother, Mildred’s uncle, lived with the family for many years.
According to her obituary, Mildred married Albert Foege and they had 3 children. She died in Canton where she has was born and raised and is buried in Riverside cemetery in Plymouth – probably not far from where this photo was taken. Find A Grave reports that husband Albert passed away 33 years before she did! I hope this photo is a welcome new addition to the family collection.
A reader with questions prompted me to do a little more digging on a photo I gave up on too fast. Here’s the result:
On the original post of Cora and Ethel, I had a grand time finding out to Cora was but remained stumped on Ethel. I was so thrilled to have found Cora with her two last names that I stopped early. But Ethel has now been identified, because she was sitting next door to Cora in 1900 all this time.
Ethel Thompson was born in Michigan in 1882. The middle child of Hiram & Libbie Thompson, although there may have been some older siblings that had left the home. In 1900 when Ethel was 17, her father was 62 and her mother 57.
Here’s the Find A Grave memorial.
Welcome Ethel!
Unclaimed Ancestors 