I'm still playing catch up for the 52 Ancestors challenge, LOL. Life tends to get in the way. Today I'm highlighting my husband's maternal great-grandfather.
Some basic facts:
Name: Sherry Victor Bowlby
Born: 21 December 1900
Parents: Joseph Victor Bowlby and Anna Rhoda (Greenway) Bowlby
Spouse: Gertrude Viola (Warren) Bowlby
Marriage: About 1922
Died: 6 December 1984
Sherry was born 21 December 1900. He was born to Joseph Victor Bowlby and Anna Rhoda (Greenway) Bowlby. He married Gertrude Viola (Warren) Bowlby sometime around 1922. Sherry and Gertrude had only had one child that I'm aware of, Shirley Ann Bowlby.
Sherry lived all his life in Kansas. He was born sometime after June 15, 1900 (the enumeration date of the 1900 census) because he doesn't appear with his parents on that census.
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| Joseph Victor Bowlby and family 1900 U.S. census record |
According to the 1910 census he was born in Kansas.
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| Joseph Victor Bowlby and family 1910 U.S. census record |
According to D1, Sherry did many things in his life. The 1929 Wichita City Directory lists him as being a foreman with the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita. According to the Kansas State Historical Society, Travel Air Manufacturing was the world's largest air manufacturer until the Great Depression affected it in 1929. There's a great abridged history of Travel Air here. The 1930 U.S. census has him working as a welder in a foundry. At least he was able to find employment during the Depression. Google became my best friend when D1's family told me he invented things. I was very excited to find two patents held by Sherry: one for a sander and one for a machine to store and exchange used wiping cloths for fresh wiping cloths. I've heard that he should have a few other patents on file as well.
He died and is buried in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas. He's buried in Jamesburg Park Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas next to his wife, Gertrude.
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| Gertrude Viola (Warren) Bowlby and Sherry Victor Bowlby Tombstone Jamesburg Park Cemetery, Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas |
That's about all the information I have on Sherry. Here's my genealogy list for Sherry:
Have:
- 1910 U.S. Census
- 1920 U.S. Census
- 1930 U.S. Census
- 1940 U.S. Census
- Find-A-Grave Listing
- U.S. Patent for Sander
- U.S. Patent for Machine for Storing and Exchanging Used Wiping Cloths for Fresh Wiping Cloths
- 1929 Wichita City Directory Listing
- Birth Certificate
- Death Certificate
- Marriage Certificate
- Check for appearances in Kansas State Census'
- Try to locate additional patents
