My late mother was a descendent of John Bomar and Barbara (Bush) Bomar through Robert Love “Big Bobby” McMillin (1796-1873) and Susannah “Susan” (Bomar) McMillin (1805-1861) of Spartanburg District, South Carolina.

Recently, I saw a Missouri Standard Certificate of Death for your John Bush Bomar in the Missouri State Archives’ online database of death certificates (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates). His Bush middle name caught my eye, so I did a little rooting around. From what I gather, he’s a descendent of John Bomar and Barbara (Bush) Bomar as well.

Here is some of the information John Bush Bomar’s death certificate included [my additions in brackets]:

Full Name: John Bush Bomar
Place of Death: Tipton, Moniteau County, Missouri
Usual Residence: Tipton, Moniteau County, Missouri
Length of Residence: 20 years
Citizenship: U.S. native
Personal Particulars: Male, White & Widowed
Date of Birth: 9 September 1861
Birthplace: Tennessee
Time & Date of Death: 4:50 PM; 5 August 1941
Age at Death: 79 years, 10 months, 24 days
Cause of Death: Myocarditis cronic [chronic?], 5 yrs.
Contributory Causes of Death: Arteriosclerosis; Senility
Occupation: Minister, Baptist Church
Name of Wife: Sallie J. Bomar (Deceased)
Name of Father: W. B. Bomar
Birthplace of Father: Unknown
Maiden Name of Mother: Elmira Beck
Birthplace of Mother: North Carolina
Burial: Versailles Cemetery, 7 August 1941
Funeral Director: Jewell E. Richards, Tipton, Missouri
Attending Physician: J. F. Potts, Tipton, Missouri
Informant: T. J. Bomar, Miami, Florida

The 1945 state census of Florida listed Dade County resident Tom J. Bomar (45, b. MO) as president of the “Dade Com. Title Co.” It also listed housewife Helen G. Bomar (43, b. MO) and Helen Marie Bomar (15, b. KS), a high school student.

The 1930 census listed Tom J. Bomer (30), Helen G. Bomer (29), and Helen M. Bomer (a newborn), as living in Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas. It showed Tom J. Bomer as having been born in Missouri; his father as having been born in Tennessee; and his mother as having been born in Virginia.

The Missouri database of death certificates also contains a death certificate for the Rev. Bomar’s wife:

Full Name: Sallie Jefferson Bomar
Place of Death: Willowfork Township, Moniteau County, Missouri
Personal Particulars: Female, White & Married
Date of Birth: 19 February 1858
Birthplace: Montgomery County, Missouri
Time & Date of Death: 9:55 PM; 23 July 1939
Age at Death: 81 years, 5 months, 4 days
Cause of Death: Mitral Inconstancy
Occupation: Housewife
Date deceased last worked at this occupation: 12 May 1939
Total time (years) spent in this occupation: Life
Wife of: J. B. Bomar
Name of Father: Bunker Jefferson
Birthplace of Father: Virginia
Maiden Name of Mother: Unknown
Birthplace of Mother: Unknown
Burial, Cremation or Removal: Versailles, Missouri; 26 July 1939
Funeral Director: Jewell E. Richards, Tipton, Missouri
Attending Physician: G. S. Wilson, Tipton, Missouri
Informant: J. B. Bomar, Tipton, Missouri

For readers not familiar with Missouri, Moniteau County is very near the center of the state, immediately south of the Missouri River. The county seat is California. Tipton is near the county’s western edge. Versailles is the seat of neighboring Morgan County. Sallie Bomar’s birthplace, Montgomery County, is farther east towards St. Louis, immediately north of the Missouri River.

A Texas death certificate for Kate (Jefferson) Avery (1862-1943), a younger, half sister of Sallie Bomar, lists her father as Booker Jefferson, not Bunker Jefferson. The Texas death certificate names Kate’s mother as Rainy Catherine Burgher. Other sources name her as Rainey Catherine (Berger) McHaney, a widow who became Booker Jefferson’s second wife. Other sources name Sallie Bomar’s mother as Lucy Ann (or Anna) Berger, Booker Jefferson’s first wife. I understand that Rainey Berger and Lucy Berger were first cousins; daughters, respectively, of brothers Jacob and George Berger.

This appears to have been the household headed by John Bush Bomar’s father William in Civil District No. 3, Bedford County, Tennessee, in 1870:

Dwelling 23/Family 23

BOMAR Wm. 59 Male White VA Farmer
BOMAR Elmyra A. 46 Female White TN Keeping House
BOMAR B. B. 13 Male White TN At Home
BOMAR W. B. 11 Male White TN At Home
BOMAR J. C. 9 Male White TN At Home
BOMAR J. B. 7 Male White TN At Home

Which J. Bomar was John Bush Bomar? Was he J. C. Bomar, born about 1861, with the wrong middle initial recorded? Or, was he J. B. Bomar, born about 1863, with the wrong birth year (1861) recorded on his death certificate?

This Bomar household was very close by:

Household 25/Family 25

BOMAR E. T. 33 Male White TN Farmer [Elijah?]
BOMAR Virginia 25 Female White TN Keeping House
BOMAR Laura B. 6 Female White TN At Home
BOMAR Carey L. 4 Female White TN At Home

I found who I suspect was John Bush Bomar in this household in Montgomery City, the Montgomery County seat, in 1880:

HENSLEY Franklin B. Head Married Male White 50 MO VA VA Farmer
HENSLEY Lizzie J. Wife Married Female White 25 MO KY KY Keeping House
HENSLEY John T. Son Single Male White 12 MO MO MO
HENSLEY Sarah I. Daughter Single Female White 10 MO MO MO
HENSLEY Buell F. Son Single Male White 5 MO MO MO
HENSLEY Willie R. Son Single Male White 8M MO MO MO
HENSLEY Dora Other Single Female White 12 MO MO MO Servant
GRAHAM Lizzie Other Single Female Mulatto 16 MO MO MO Servant
BOMER John Other Single Male White 19 TN NC NC Laborer
WYATT Charles Other Single Male Black 24 MO MO MO Laborer
BOGIE Joseph Other Single Male Mulatto 20 MO MO MO Laborer

I didn’t any immediate connection between John Bomer/Bomar and head-of-household Franklin B. Hensley, who actually may have been Benjamin Franklin Hensley. (Note: There’s a death certificate for Benjamin Franklin Hensley, 1826-1910, in the Missouri database, as well as one for his brother, Bush R. Hensley, 1835-1917. I though Bush Hensley’s given name might have been a clue, until I learned he actually was Bushrod R. Hensley. The R. middle initial was for Rust, his mother Harriett’s maiden name.)

I found Sallie Jefferson, John Bush Bomar’s future bride, in this Montgomery City household in 1880:

GRAVES J. Frank Head Married Male White 31 MO VA VA Physician
GRAVES F. Jane Wife Married Female White 31 MO VA VA Keeps House
GRAVES Lucy M. Daughter Single Female White 10 MO MO MO At School
GRAVES Anna J. Daughter Single Female White 7 MO MO MO At School
GRAVES F. Beth Daughter Single Female White 5 MO MO MO At School
GRAVES J. Walter Son Single Male White 3 MO MO MO
GRAVES Wm. Adams Son Single Male White 1 MO MO MO
JEFFERSON Sallie Other Single Female White 22 MO VA VA

I believe Frances Jane (Jefferson) Graves was Sallie’s sister.

It’s likely that Frances Jane “Fannie” Jefferson married a cousin. James Francis Graves is reported to have been a son of Washington Graves and Mildred (Berger) Graves. Mildred Graves is reported to have been a sister of Rainey Catherine (Berger) McHaney Jefferson.

This was John Bush Bomar’s household in Round Grove, Jackson County, Missouri, in 1910:

BOMAR John B. Head Married White Male 46 TN VA NC
BOMAR Sally J. Wife Married White Female 50 MO VA VA
BOMAR Katheran A. Daughter Single White Female 13 MO TN MO
BOMAR Thomas J. Son Male White Single 11 MO TN MO
BOMAR Elmira A. Mother Widowed White Female 85 NC NC NC

There does not appear to be a death certificate for an Elmira or Elmyra Bomar (or a likely Bomer) in the Missouri database, which now covers the years from 1910 to 1960. It appears she may have died outside Missouri.

This was John Bush Bomar’s household in Tipton, Moniteau County, Missouri, in 1930:

BOMAR Head Married White Male 65 TN VA NC
BOMAR Sallie Wife Married White Female 69 MO VA VA
MORRIS Everett E. Son-in-Law Widowed White Male 35 MO MO MO
MORRIS Margaret Granddaughter Single White Female 12 MO MO MO
MORRIS Etta J. Granddaughter Single White Female 10 MO MO MO
MORRIS Helen Granddaughter Single White Female 7 MO MO MO
MORRIS Evelyn Granddaughter Single White Female 5 MO MO MO

The Missouri database of death certificates contains a death certificate for Kathryn (Bomar) Morris:

Full Name: Kathryn Morris
Place of Death: Willow Fork Township, Moniteau County, Missouri
Personal Particulars: Female, White & Married
Date of Birth: 17 February 1896
Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri
Time & Date of Death: 12:35 AM; 3 February 1929
Age at Death: 32 years, 11 months, 15 days
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis of Lungs
Occupation: Housewife
Wife of: Everett Morris
Name of Father: J. B. Bomar
Birthplace of Father: Tennessee
Maiden Name of Mother: Sally Jefferson
Birthplace of Mother: Missouri
Burial, Cremation or Removal: Versailles, Missouri; 5 February 1939
Funeral Director: Jewell E. Richards, Tipton, Missouri
Attending Physician: J. B. Norman, Tipton, Missouri
Informant: Rev. J. B. Bomar, Tipton, Missouri

From Kathryn (Bomar) Morris’ death certificate and the 1910 census, I suspect, but can’t prove, that John B. Bomar and his family were in Jackson County (Kansas City) in 1900. I haven’t found them on the 1900 census.

I don’t have online access to the 1920 census, so it’s not clear to me when the family moved east to Moniteau County.

Someone reading this may be able to fill in those puzzle pieces.

As an aside James and Fannie Graves in 1883 had another son, Booker Samuel Graves. A retired dry goods merchant, he died in 1931 at Barnes Hospital in the City of St. Louis. His death certificate is in the Missouri database of death certificates as well. By coincidence, my late mother was the head of a very small administrative office at Barnes Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s.

Fannie Graves, of Richfield, Idaho, the wife of James F. Graves and the daughter of Booker Jefferson and Lucy Berger, died at St. Luke’s Hospital in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, on 5 August 1919. Her death certificate is in the Missouri database. The Informant on her death certificate was Frank Y. Gladney. Frank Young Gladney was the husband of Katherine Lewis (Graves) Gladney (1882-1938), a daughter of James and Fannie Graves. “Googling,” I learned that James Francis Graves Gladney (1907-1976), a son of Frank and Katherine Gladney, was illustrator Graves Gladney, who was known for his covers of science fiction and mystery pulp magazines, like “The Shadow.”

I’d welcome any, comments, corrections or additions. I’m a terrible typist; there are bound to be typos.