This has been my first “deep dive” into the realm of LANCASTER BLOOMs.
I identified each family member, as no one else studying the BLOOM family seems to know the full roster, I hope to have closed that gap.
First I started with a chronological list of children of WILLIAM and ANNA MAY—i knew it would become foggy near the middle.
NEXT, i collected what i could of “positively” ID’d images and placed them in a folder with the MASTER, both black and white AND COLOR. I let facial recognition run its course (didn’t yield the “voila” result i was hoping for)… but as i started going through the “hints” for each BLOOM CHILD things seem to fall into place.
OBVIOUSLY, I am most interested in the BENSON-strand of things, but i have filled in some “gray” areas with color now. For some of you.
When possible, I have put under each subjects RIGHT ear the age, relative to the projected dated of each photo, SEVERAL folks date this photo to have been taken in 1937…but why…with the three youngest children being Matthew Raymond (born 1924), Norma Jean (in 1927) and George Grover (in 1929)—they are CLEARLY FRONT AND CENTER! Now take a look at them, I mean actually“` LOOK…no way are they, if the photo was taken in 1937– 13, 10 and 8 years of age, respectively.
I speculate, and we can discuss, the youngest GEORGE, CENTER of the three, to be 3 or 4; then NORMA JEAN on the RIGHT to be 4 or 5; meaning MATTHEW is 8 or 9. DO YOU CONCUR? Ultimately, I age the photo to have been taken circa 1932 NOT 1937.
Accuracy is important to me, so if your notice a discrepancy please don’t hesitate to make it known. I didn’t have to do much with regards to switching orders of things I simply took the names and took the faces and put them in order, all the while cross-checking what was available to me.
I do know, WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, that this photo was taken in the front lawn of 1500 GRAYLOCK, LANCASTER, OHiO—the address of the BLOOM home. My first clue as to location was the 1930 LANCASTER CITY DIRECTORY which indicates “3 W of ROOSEVELT”….good start, but once I saw the DRAFT CARD for MATTHEW—it clearly states 1500 GRAYLOCK—I head to GOOGLE MAPS—and there we have it!
—billy bushing temple of tickle britches dot art—
If one simply Googles: 1500 GRAYLOCK, LANCASTER, OHiO you discover that the home is still in possession of the family—listed under NORMA CRIST (i.e. NORMA JEAN BLOOM).
Hope you find my work compelling and enlightening.
KEVIN BENSON, FINDLAY, OHiO
—billy bushing temple of tickle britches dot art—
3 W of ROOSEVELTthe HOUSE of BLOOMTiTLE-the HOUSE of BLOOM 2 dead Edgar’s and a WeddingWiLLiAM Wiley BLOOMMiNNiE josephine BLOOM CANTRELLBLOOMs pre-SNAPSEEDBLOOM AFTERmrs LEWiS howard BENSON obitcomparison PATRIARCH BLOOMNORMA JEAN BLOOM CRiSTNORMA JEAN BLOOM CRiST 1974BUD BLOOMs WEDDiNG DATEWiLLiAM WiLEY BLOOM, Jr. “BUD”
