The Owens Connection - continued

In the photo collection of Mary Merritt, there were a couple more pictures of John Robert Owens, also known as Bob Owens.  These 2 pictures were on a page in the album where several of the pictures seemed to all have been taken in 1940, probably around Massena.  The picture below had written under it, and I cropped the picture so the writing could be seen, "Glenn, Leta, and Bob 1940."

There were a couple other pictures on this same page taken in front of that big tree.  Since I haven't yet located a marriage record on Glenn and Leta, I don't know if they were married at this time.  There are newspaper records showing that Glenn Tilden and Leta Owens were visiting some relatives of Leta's, and the listing of the names shows they were indeed not yet married.  There is no intent to make an issue of the marriage, just being genealogically transparent in admitting that I do not yet have the date or place of marriage.

The picture below I have shared before, believing now that I know all the men on the back row, although still working on verification.  From left to right they are Donald Merritt, Glenn Tilden, Bert or Albert Smith, Otis Tilden, and Bob or John Robert Owens. Bob would have been about 16 in both of these pictures.  On the bottom row for the ladies, I do know that the 2nd from the left is Leta Remarque Owens Tilden and next to her is Mary Merritt.  I don't know the name of the baby she is holding at this time.  The next lady is Doris Smith, one of Albert Smith's daughters.  That identification comes from another picture taken in 1940.

Smith and Tilden family 1940

The Owens Connection

The photo album contained some nice pictures of person called Robert Owens and Bob Owens.  The pictures below state they were of Robert Owen US Navy.  And there were a couple of pictures of him in a kilt, presumably while in Scotland.  I wanted to identify who this Bob or Robert Owens was, but for some reason, it took me a while to make the connection of this Bob Owens to another Owens in the album, Leta R Owens.  Guess all of the pictures, names, and lots of facts can sometimes hide the relationships that become obvious.  I have been trying to work on one big blog post about the Owens connection, but with so many parts and pieces, and for the sake of time, I will post parts as I go.

So Bob Owens turns out to be John Robert Owens, born in Auburn, Cayuga, New York 7 Dec 1923. He was the son of Leta Remarque and Francis Claire Owens.  Finding his mother's maiden name was part of what challenged me, as the records I had always listed her simply as Leta R Owens.  Francis Claire Owens died in 1939, when Bob Owens was about 16.  Leta later married Glenn Tilden, bringing us back to the Tilden family and the connection to Mary Merritt.  So far as I know, Leta was Glenn's first and only wife.

John Robert Owens turned 18 on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He joined the Navy shortly thereafter.  He died in the Atlanta, Georgia area, 5 Aug 2001.  There is a transcription of his obituary that can be found at this link.  He had a very active and interesting life.  I always wondered if Ma ever had contact with him after she moved away to Florida.

John Robert Owens