Or perhaps, Wallace Rolf Bond. Or, Rolfe Wallace Bond. Or Bonde. Between several documents he is listed in different ways.
Not all family stories are Happily Ever After. Sometimes the people in our families do not always act with integrity and honor. Sometimes people are selfish. Sometimes people walk away from their families. People's motives, especially after their deaths, are a matter of memory of those they may have wronged. There are two sides to every story. The purpose of my blog is not to right wrongs or prove anything one way or another, it is to present the history of my family. Good or bad.
That being said, this is my great-grandfather, Rolf Wallace Bond.
I have always been told was kind of a loser. He left his family when my grandfather, Richard Bond, was fairly young. Pre-teen anyway. No one seems to remember why. My grandfather didn't talk about him much, so my mother doesn't remember much about him either.
This is what I do know. . .
Rolf Wallace Bond was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming on 28 July 1887 to Frank and Henrietta Wallace Bond. This photo was taken in front of their home in about 1891, making Rolf about 3-4 years old.
Henrietta, Rolf and Frank Bond
This photo was taken of Rolf in the spring of 1895, just before he turned eight years old.
The next time Rolf shows up is on the 1910 United States Federal Census, living with his parents in Washington DC. He is on line 29 and his age is 22 years and his occupation is listed as a Surveyor.
It is not clear at this point how Rolf ends up clear across the country, but on 10 March 1914 he is marrying Miriam Griffiths in Twin Falls, Idaho. On the Marriage Certificate, his name is written as Wallace R. Bonde. He was 26 and Miriam is 21.
This is an undated photo of Wallace/Rolf and Miriam.
This photo was taken in 1914, and on the reverse it read: "To Mrs. Miriam Bond, from your Devoted Husband, All Yours and Yours Alone. Wallace R. Bonde"
Wallace/Rolf Bond's Military Registration card, dated 5 June 1917
Now Wallace/Rolf is a married man, and within three years of their marriage, they have two children. The oldest is my grandfather, Richard Griffiths Bond, born 26 December 1914 in Twin Falls, Idaho, and the youngest is Evalyn Ruth, born 17 August 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah. On his Military Registration card he lists his wife and two children. He describes himself as being tall and slender with gray eyes and dark brown hair. He lists his occupations as Clergyman, and a Laborer for the Oregon Short Line, North Yards in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was 29 years old.
Ruth, Wallace/Rolf, Miriam and Richard Bond taken 18 August 1918
There is virtually no information on Wallace/Rolf, until his death in 1947. He is mentioned in a affidavit in 1945 where a Sereno B. Tuttle swears, deposed and says that he knew Rolf when he was born and knew him all his life and that he is a citizen of the United States, etc. It is unclear what the affidavit was for.
Rolfe W Bond's death certificate
Rolfe/Wallace/Rolf died in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California on 16 March 1947. If anyone can decipher the writing to see what he died of, I would be grateful. Any doctors out there? To me it looks like he died of Shork due to Pulmonary mumblemumble. I don't know, I can't tell. Haha!
Interestingly enough, he is listed as separated from his wife, Miriam, but she had remarried twice before his death, the second time being prior to February of 1945. It is unclear where the hospital got that information, so either there was a divorce in there somewhere, or Miriam remarried without a divorce. (My mother thinks that is entirely a possibility.)
Rolf/Rolfe/Wallace/Rolf was cremated and buried with his parents in the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC.
A little over a week ago, the 1940 Census became available and I am interested to see if I can find Rolf there to find another small piece of the puzzle of his life.
Direct Line Ancestry: Rolf Wallace Bond --> Richard Griffiths Bond --> Kathryn Bond Berkowitz --> Lora Marshall Nehring
