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Note: DNA- buszidog311- my grandfather Father- R1b1b2a1a2f2
1888 Orleans Parish Birth Index
Name Father Mother First and Last Sex Col DoB Vol Page
Wulliam H. William E. Mary E. Smart M W 11/18/1888 87 166
In his Diary:
April 1, 1913 left N.O. La.
April 8,1913 arrived Stockton, CA
April 26, 1913 arrived Alameda, CA
Jan 1 1914 Moved from Harry's (Harry White 1878 -?) to 128 E. Miner [Stockton]
Nov. 18, 1917
1917(May 8 On this day in 1914 I arrived in N.Y. from Stockton, Calif.)
Nov. 18
Twenty ninth birthday.
1919 200 W. 81st. St. N.Y. (with Mother) -Ida Schulman 341 W. 55 N.Y. Columbus 9413
More About WILLIAM HENRY BONNER:
Address 1: November 18, 1917, 1919- 200 W. 81st St. N.Y.
Address 2: April 08, 1913, Stockton, CA
Address 3: 1930, 180 W. 81st St, NY, NY
Burial: Nassau Knolls Cemetery
Occupation: 1930, Electrician- Build Line
1900 United States Federal Census
Name: William Boner
Home in 1900: New Orleans Ward 2, Orleans, LA , 1128 Thalia St.
Age: 12
Estimated birth year: Nov. 1887
Birthplace: LA
Race: White
Relationship to head-of-house: son
Occupation: none
Image source: Year: 1900; Census Place: New Orleans Ward 2, Orleans, LA
Roll: T623 570; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 10.
Mary E. Boner, b. 1/1856
Harry White, b. 7/1878
Clarence White, b. 11/1881
Lillian, b. 6/1891
Helen White, sister-in-law, b. 1/1864, dressmaker had 1 child, 0 living
1902-
New York Daily Mirror, May 26, 1950
"meter boy for the power company in New Orleans"
1910 United States Federal Census
Name: William H Bonner
Age in 1910: 21
Birth Year: abt 1889
Birthplace: Louisiana
Home in 1910: New Orleans Ward 10, Orleans, Louisiana, 1401 St. Mary St.
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Birthplace: Louisiana
Mother's Name: Mary E Bonner
Mother's Birthplace: Arkansas
Household Members:
Name Age
Mary E Bonner 46
William H Bonner 21
Lillian L Bonner 18
Clarence Mc C White 28
Sally White 30
Series: T624 Roll: 523 Part: 1 Page: 134B
1915-1916
NY Daily Mirror, May 26, 1950
Only Human
SIDNEY FIELDS
Bill Bonner: Broadway Lamplighter became a sky sign operator yesterday--for a while anyway, a very little while. Bill Bonner, the veteran sky sign man along Broadway, took me out on the narrow girders above the big animated cartoon sign on the northeast corner of 46th street. After one look at the sheer drop and the little people below us I figured it would be safer and saner to learn the business from the inside out. Besides, a man's in no position to take notes or make pictures when he's holding on to a girder with both hands and for dear life as it were.
In case you don't know it, there are 400,000 bulbs and 95 miles of neon tubing on all the signs from Times Square to Columbus Circle, and they burn 13,000,000 watts an hour. Bill, who now works for Douglas Leigh, the big sign man, has been tending this blazing confusion since 1917. He divides all signs into "spectaculars" and "semi spectaculars."
"A spectacular Is 75 feet above the roof.," he explained. "A semi-spectacular is anything under 75 feet. One whiskey sign is 150 feet above the roof, but it was put up before the law limited them to 75."
Bill is one of a crew of four that nurses the 17 big Leigh signs from sunset to one a. m, and from the Circle to the Square. He's up on at least one sign every night, swinging from a bosun's seat, repairing, or changing the motorgraph which spells out weather predictions, or lamping, which means replacing burned out bulbs. He estimates he's replaced about a million bulbs in his time. After the climbing, the crew inspects each sign three or four times a night and figures out the next day's work.
No More Solo Climbing
For 25 years sky sign men never carried a safety rope and always went up alone. During the war, with the Times Square blackout, they worked in war plants, became safety conscious, and now always climb up in pairs and carry safety ropes.
"If anything ever happened to you alone,” Bill said, "you could starve to death before they'd find you. One man spilled off a sign on to a roof and was found four hours later."
The weather is mild now, but Bill has worked in six below zero when he couldn't operate more than ten minutes at a time. During the Winter he always carries a shovel with him to make sure he can dig through the snow, to the maintenance hut on the roots, and while hoisting himself up he usually kicks the snow and ice off the signs with his feet.
He will be 62 soon. He's a slight, agile, bird-faced man with thinning hair, and long, sure fingers. At 14 he went to work as a meter boy for the power company in his native New Orleans. At the Pan American Exposition in San Francisco he helped construct a big spectacular and then operated it.
"When they moved it to New York I came with it," he said. "They were supposed to take me back, so they still owe me the fare. Once in New York I fell in love with it, and wouldn't leave."
Mistakes don't happen on the big signs often. But when they do they're lulus. Bill's crew once made the weather motorgraph read: "Fair and Rain." They got a lot of quick phone calls and ribs about it and rushed right over to fix it...
"They even call us when the Camel smoker's mouth is dirty. So we have to climb up and clean his mouth with a napkin."
Wrong -Way Rain
The two classic mistakes on record, not made by Bill and his crew, were these: One electric sign, showing falling rain, was made ready one afternoon, but when the operator returned to see how it was working at nightfall, he found the rain going up instead of down.
"And you've heard about the second one." Bill said. "It was when they checked the sign on the Essex House during the day, but at night they found the first two letters on Essex House were out. You guess how the sign read."
Since 1917 only one sky sign man was killed by a fall. But Bill has had his share of slips, bumps, burns and shocks. One night, while right on top of the big Chevrolet sign on 17th Street, he was doubled up by a shock and couldn't let go. The charge was 15,000 volts, more than twice the pressure used in the Sing Sing electric chair...
"But luckily it was only 30 miliamps, Bill said, so the quantity of electricity is very small. I suppose it could burn hole in your pants, or even your leg. But I just threw myself back and broke the circuit, and after while went back to work. Now we always turn the sign of entirely before we go up."
Bill's highest climb is a 75 foot cough medicine sign on top of a 13-story building, whose letters are each 45 feet tall and it's a straight drop all the way down.
" I ever fall that's the one I want to fall from." Bill said, "because if I drop off that one I won't ever know the difference."
Electrical Merchandising, Volumes 13-14
Publisher-McGraw-Hill., 1914
pg. 61
The searchlight scintillator, which, in a modified form, was experimented with during the Hudson-Fulton celebration, will be used in its perfected form, from a tower upon an outjutting point enclosing the yacht harbor. A battery, the most powerful ever seen in this country, composed of forty-eight. 36-inch searchlight projectors, will throw intense rays of light through color diffusers, which will separate the flood into fan-shaped rays of all colors of the spectrum. These rays will be thrown upon the, jeweled walls of the palaces, and upon the gardens and courts, and will play upon the beautiful white fog banks which often at twilight roll in through the Golden Gate.
pg. 105
The aurora borealis of the polar seas has long stood as natures challenge to man in the line of wonderful illumination. The Panama-Pacific exposition has outdone it with its scintillator-an additional source of light-comprising more than 2,600,000,000 projected candle power from a huge bank of searchlights at the water front. This aurora reaches from the Golden Gate to Sausalito across the Bay of San Francisco, and the effect of the illumonation extends for miles around. The scintillator can regulate its beams, and produce Scotch plaids and weird effects called "ghost dance" and the "spooks parade". The famous San Francisco fog is seized as a background for reproductions, by light, of express trains, artillery fire, flags of all nations and other effects to the number of 300. When the fog fails, man again comes to the rescue and installs a huge railway locomotive to furnish with steam and smoke a background for his electric gambols.
California, Voter Registrations, 1900-1968
San Joaquin County 1912-1918
Stockton, 3d Precinct, Second Ward
Bonner,, Mrs. Mary, dressmaker, 603 N. San Joaquin
Bonner, William Henry, electrician, 603 N. San Joaquin, Dem
Bonner, Miss Lillian, nominal, 603 San Joaquin, Dem
White, Harry S., contractor, 603 San Joaquin, Dem
White, Mrs. Mattie, housewife, 603 San Joaquin
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
May 29, 1917
Name: William Henry Bonner
City: Stockton, 530 E. Freemont St.
County: San Joaquin
State: California
Birthplace: LA;United States of America
Birth Date: 18 Nov 1888
Race: Caucasian
Roll: 1544418
Draft Board: 0
Age: 29
Occupation: Sky Sign Operator, Rice Electric Display Co., on roof of Hermitage Hotel*
Nearest Relative: Mother
Registration Place: Stockton
Height: Medium
Build: Medium
Color of Eyes: Blue
Color of Hair: Brown
Prior Service: Capt. LA Nat'l. Guard
[[So he was in NYC by May 29, 1917, I guess he had just come from California and didn't know he was going to stay in New York]
*"June 28. 1917- MAMMOTH ELECTRIC SIGN OF THE RICE LEADERS OF THE WORLD
Atop the Hotel Hermitage Roof. Times Square, New York"
other Rice Electric Display Co. signs he worked on-
1933- A.&P. Coffee, 47th Street and Seventh Avenue
1938- Coke, north side of Columbus Circle
1941- Camel billboard, southeast corner of 44th Street and Broadway
1948- Bond Clothing Store, 44th to 45th Streets
How Rice Electric Display Co. became Rice Leaders of the World:
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time, Volume 47
Contributors-James Terry White, George Derby
Edition-reprint
Publisher--J. T. White, 1891
pg. 672
RICE, Elwood Ernest, business executive, was born in Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 11, 1879, son of Franklin and Mary Victoria (Dryden) Rice, grandson of Fleming and Catherine (Feushermaker) Rice, and greatrandson of William and Martha (Rice) Rice
In 1908 he organized and became president and treasurer of the Rice Electric Display Co., incorporated at $500,000 with main otfices in Dayton, which he developed into one of the largest concerns of its kind in the world. In 1908 it erected a mammoth electrical display in Dayton of a chariot race, in which the wheels of the chariot revolved and the horses a peated to be racing. Similar displays were erected in Detroit in 1909 and New York City in 1910, th latter becoming one of the first major animated electrical display signs to be erected in that city. In 1912, while continuing as president and treasurer of Rice Electric Display, he founded and became president of the Rice Leaders of The World Associates, with operating headquarters in New York City and financial headquarters in Dayton. This organization was designed to further the practice of right business principles. emphasizing character, an to confer distinction upon concerns worthy of public respect and confidence. To qualify for membership, a business organization had to be found to have an established reputation for honor in business, quality in product. strength in finance, and efficiency in service. These standards were embodied by word and symbol in the association emblem, which became widely known and accepted as a mark of business character.
For several years the emblem was publicized through electrical displays, including an enormous display at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Calif., in 1915 and a large display overlooking Times Square in New York City in 1917-18.
The Pottery & Glass Salesman, Volume 15
Contributor-Pottery, Glass and Brass Salesmen's Association of America
Publisher-O'Gorman Publishing Company, 1917
pg. 9
(June 28. 1917)
MAMMOTH ELECTRIC SIGN OF THE RICE LEADERS OF THE WORLD.
Atop the Hotel Hermitage Roof. Times Square, New York.
The Lower Porton of the Sign Changes Every Minute, Advertising in Turn the Products of Members.
Rice Leaders of the World Banquet
On Thursday evening of last week the Rice Leaders of the World, the membership of which consists of some of the leading manufacturers of the country in their respective lines, tendered a banquet to their members and nearly two hundred invited guests at the Hotel Astor to commemorate the opening of a wonderful electric display illumination at Times Square.
The entire party then adjourned en masse to the roof of the Astor to see the great electric display sign lighted up for the first time. The sign is one of the largest ever erected. It is located on the roof of the Hotel Hermitage, just below Forty-second Street and facing Times Square. It will be seen nightly by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people. The party had hardly assembled when the illumination began. The first to appear in the upper left-hand corner was the Rice association coat1 of arms, or trade-mark. This was shown in the rich heraldic colors of the design, with the horses which draw the chariot that tops the coat of arms galloping as though in a race. By means of complicated but perfectly controlled mechanism, the signs changed every minute.
The flashing of the Fostoria name with its reference to Fostoria quality, illustrated elsewhere, evoked loud applause.
http://www.italiangen.org/NYCMarriage.stm
New York City Marriage Records
Schulman Ida Aug 30 1919 Manhattan 32302 S455
Bonner William H Aug 30 1919 Manhattan 32302 B560
Marriage Certificate:
32302 County of New York, City of New York
Groom: Wm. H. Bonner
200 West 81st. St.
Age: 31
Occupation: Electrician
Name of Father: Wm. E. Bonner
Name of mother: Mary E. Smart
Country of Birth:USA
Number of Marriage: First
Bride: Ida Shulman
341 West 55th St.
Age: 25
Occupation: None
Place of Birth: Budafok, Budapest XXII. kerület, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, Hungary
Name of Father: Joseph Schulman
Name of Mother: Bertha Drexel
Country of Birth: Hungary
Number of Marriage: First
Signed: William Henry Bonner, Ida Shulman
Marriage Certificate to Clergymen and Magistrates
8/30/1919
Municiple Bldg., County of New York
William H. Bonner and Ida Schulman
witnesses: C. Lin Bonner, Barney Tompkins
New York, New York City Marriage Records
Name:William H Bonner
Event Type:Marriage
Event Date:30 Aug 1919
Event Place:Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Gender:Male
Age:31
Marital Status:Single
Race:White
Birth Year (Estimated):1888
Birthplace:New Orleans, LA
Father's Name:Wm. O [[E.]]
Mother's Name:Mary E Stuart [[Smart]]
Spouse's Name:Ida Shulman
Spouse's Gender:Female
Spouse's Age:25
Spouse's Marital Status:Single
Spouse's Race:White
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):1894
Spouse's Birthplace:Buda Pest [[Budapest]], Hungary
Spouse's Father's Name:Joseph
Spouse's Mother's Name:Bertha Drexel[[Drechsler]]
Reference ID: cn 32302 , GS Film Number: 1643458
1920
Name: William H. Bonner (not indexed)
Age: 31 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1889
Birthplace: LA
Race: White
Home in 1920: Manhattan, New York, New York 200 West 81st St.
Home owned: R
Sex: M
Occupation: Electrician- Signs
Marital status: M
Household Members:
Name Age
Mary E Bonner 63
William H Bonner 31
Ida E Bonner 26
Edwina Williams 34, Lodger, b. abt 1886, NY, Bookkeeper
Celia Wall 38, Lodger, b. abt 1882, England, Nurse
Roll: T625_1198
Page: 12B
ED: 571
Image: 314
New York, State Census, 1925
Name: William H Bonner
Birth Date: abt 1890
Birth Place: United States
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Residence Place: New York, New York, 200 W. 81 St.
Relationship: Head
Color or Race: White
Occupation: Electrician
Assembly District: 07
House Number: 200
Line Number: 46
Page Number: 28
Household Members:
Name Age
William H Bonner 35
Ida Bonner 33
Lillian Mary Bonner 04
Betty Bonner 03
Mary E Bonner 69
Thomas Brown 54, Lodger, b. England, Elevator Operator
Thomas Maloy 56, Lodger, b. US, B.M. J. Ticket Agent
Gertrude Achoy 22, Lodger, b. Japan, Artist
Ivy Achoy 10, Lodger, b. US, School
Neighbors:
Helen Walker, Lodger, 35, b. US, accountant
1930 United States Federal Census
Name: William H Bonner
Gender: Male
Birth Year: abt 1889
Birthplace: Louisiana
Race: White
Home in 1930: Manhattan, New York, New York, 180 West 81st Street
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Ida Bonner
Father's Birthplace: Louisiana
Mother's Birthplace: Arkansas
Occupation: Electrician- Build Line
Military service: N
Rent/home value: R
Age at first marriage: 32
Parents' birthplace: LA, AR
Owned a radio: yes
Image source: Year: 1930; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1554; Page: ; Enumeration District: 413; Image: 358.0.
Household Members:
Name Age
William H Bonner 41
Ida Bonner 34, m. at 25, year of immigration, 1910, b. Austria
Lillian Bonner 9
Elizabeth Bonner 7
Irene Spanner 18, Lodger, b. abt 1912, Bank Clerk
Neighbors:
Edward Lenahan abt 1892 Ireland Head
Margaret Lenahan abt 1890 Wife
Joseph Gillhooley M abt 1900 Ireland Head
Mary Gillhooley abt 1910 Sister
Michael Layden abt 1878 Ireland Head
Nellie Layden abt 1882 Wife
Robert Layden abt 1908 Son
Margaret Hatch abt 1860 New York Head
Joseph Reynolds abt 1900 Ireland Cousin
Frank Reynolds abt 1902 Cousin
George Malone abt 1882 Canada Head
May Malone abt 1886 Wife
John Irving abt 1868 New York Head
Anna N Irving J abt 1868 Wife
Beatrice S Irving abt 1896 Daughter
Eva Malkinshaw Mabt 1896 West Virginia Head
Willie Avery abt 1899 West Virginia Sister
William E Avery M abt 1893 Brother-in-law
Henry L Davidson abt 1884 West Indies Head
Abraham Hebron A abt 1901 Maryland Head
Adulah Hebron abt 1901 Wife
Jane M Lynch M abt 1882 New York Head
William H Lynch abt 1893 Brother
Anna Lynch abt 1894 Sister
Ralph Seggerman abt 1889 Germany Head
Anna Seggerman abt 1895 Wife
Walter Seggerman abt 1916 Brother
Agnes Seggerman abt 1918 Daughter
1931-
Manhattan & Bronx Directory Publishing Co., 1931.
Name: Bonner
City: Manhattan
Book Section: B
Page: 106
William H. Bonner- 560 Eagle Ave. (Bronx)
1940 United States Federal Census
Name: William H Bonner
Age: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1888
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Louisiana
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: New York, Bronx, New York
Street: Haviland Avenue
House Number: 2342
Farm: No
Inferred Residence in 1935: New York, Bronx, New York
Residence in 1935: Same Place
Sheet Number: 1A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 2
Occupation: Electrician
House Owned or Rented: Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 5000
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: High School, 4th year
Duration of Unemployment: 2
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 50
Income: $1,920
Income Other Sources: No
Household Members:
Name Age
William H Bonner 52
Ida Bonner 47
Lillian Bonner 19
Betty Bonner 18
Neighbors:
2344 Haviland Ave.
William J Tracey, b. abt 1894, Irish Free State, Head
Mary Tracey, b. abt 1901, Irish Free State, Wife
Mary Tracey, b. abt 1921, New York, Daughter
William Tracey, b. abt 1932, New York, Son
Bernard Tracey, b. abt 1934, New York, Son
2346 Haviland Ave.
Anthony Galcik, b. abt 1898, Czechoslovakia, Head
Josephine Galcik, b. abt 1902, Czechoslovakia, Wife
Vatentine Galcik, b. abt 1917, New York, Nephew
2348 Haviland Ave.
Andrew Porter, b. abt 1890, Hungary, Head
Rose Porter, b. abt 1891, Hungary, Wife
Andrew Porter, b. abt 1924, New York, Son
Beale Porter, b. abt 1917, New York, Son
Helen Porter, abt 1920, New Jersey, Daughter-in-law
U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
April 27, 1942
Name: William Henry Bonner
Birth Date: 18 Nov 1888
Birth Place: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Residence: Bx, New York, USA, 2342 Haviland Ave.
Race: White
Age:53
Telephone Number- Underhill 3-6649
Occupation:Douglas Leigh, Inc., 45 Rockefeller Plaza, NY, NY
Nearest Relative: Ida Bonner- 2342 Haviland Ave., Bx.
Height/Build:5' 7", 138 lbs.j
Color of Eyes/Hair:
Notes: scar on right eyebrow
Death Certificate:
Died September 1963 in Fair Lawn, NJ, cardiac failure
Nassau Knolls Memorial Park #3126 Plot 162B Fairlawn Section
4 graves
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