The Proeger Family · Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings

Martha Ellen Bowles

Probable daughter of William Anderson Bowles · 1896–1980

Martha Ellen Bowles

Probable

Probable daughter of William Anderson Bowles · 1896–1980

Born
on 25 September 1896
Died
on 22 March 1980
Parents
William Anderson Bowles & Iona Belle Brock
Sources
2

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE daughter of William Anderson Bowles and Iona Belle Brock, later Mrs. Richardson. Evidence: the California death index lists Martha Ellen Richardson, also Bowles, with her mother’s maiden name as Brock and her father’s surname as Bowles S1644; the family typescript gives the same birth date, and her mother’s 1947 obituary names a daughter Martha Richardson of Los Angeles S1632. Added to the family tree on 10 October 2026

Evidence: The California death index lists Martha Ellen Richardson, also Bowles, born 25 September 1896, with her mother’s maiden name as Brock and her father’s surname as Bowles (S1644); her mother’s 1947 obituary names a daughter Martha Richardson of Los Angeles (S1632). Weak or missing: Only the index was read, and it gives her parents’ surnames, not their given names; her husband’s given name and their marriage are not found. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1896
Born on 25 September 1896 in Texas; died on 22 March 1980 in Orange County, California. Both dates are from the California death index, which is an index with no image S1644

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: only the index was read, and it gives her parents’ surnames, not their given names; her husband’s given name and their marriage are not found; any children are not named here. A Taylor County marriage record or her death certificate would settle it. Know more? Use “Add to this record”.
Cited on this card S1632 S1644 Card added 2026-10-10

In the record Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings

Martha Ellen Bowles · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

2 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S1632Obituary of Mrs. Iona Belle Bowles — Abilene Reporter-News, 5 July 1947, p. 1; burial report 8 July 1947, p. 5. Newspapers.com pages 761535105 and 761535181. Read from the newspaper text (OCR); the page images are not yet read by eye. Died Friday 4 July at the home of her son John W. Bowles near Potosi; born 31 December 1865 near London, Kentucky; married 24 December 1880 at Taft, Arkansas; to Taylor County in 1892. Names nine daughters, six sons, one brother (John Brock, Louisiana) and three sisters (Ada Estes, Mary Stansburry, Ida Stansburry). No parent is named.
  2. S1644California Death Index, 1940–1997 — Martha Ellen Richardson. Ancestry collection 5180, record 6146774. Read from the index; the death certificate is not yet read. Martha Ellen Richardson, also indexed as Martha Ellen Bowles; born 25 September 1896 in Texas; died 22 March 1980 in Orange County, California. Mother’s maiden name Brock; father’s surname Bowles. The index gives the parents’ surnames only.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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