John Wesley Boggess was born in June 12, 1896,
presumably in Henderson County, Kentucky. He was the eldest of seven
children Edmond Dargan Boggess and Sarah A. Terrill, and ultimately the eldest
of eight children born to Edmond. John was raised as the son of a
clergyman, and thus moved several times with his family during his youth.
John enlisted for service for the First World War on October 8,
1917, at the age of 21 years. He served
in the medical department at Army Headquarters Co. 1 in the B.H. Group at Camp
Greenleaf, Georgia. He was honorably
discharged as a Sergeant 1st Class on December 27, 1918.
John married Viola M. Bowles around 1919, probably in McLean
County, Kentucky. He was around 23 years old and she was around 33
years. Viola was born on June 24, 1884 in Kentucky, the daughter of
Thomas Knight Bowles and Carrie O. Gillette.
Shortly after their marriage, John and Viola moved to 1381 South
Street in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. John’s younger brother,
James, and Viola’s mother, Carrie Bowles, were living with them in 1920.
John and Viola had two children:
Argie Carolyn
born 1920
John
Knight
born 1922
John and Viola divorced in September 1924.
John was living in a rented room on Fourth Street in Louisville,
Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1930. He
was listed as a veteran of the First World War.
John married Mary Helen Langford on May 30, 1931 in Mount Vernon, Fayette County, Kentucky. She was 30 and he was 37 years old. Mary was born on November 12, 1899, the daughter of James Stephen "Tip" Langford and Dona Temple Childress.
By 1935, John and Mary were living in Mount Vernon, Rock Castle County, Kentucky,
where he found work as a salesman for a retail clothing store.
John and Mary had one child:
James D. Boggess born December 27, 1932
Meanwhile, the 1930 and 1940 census’ found Viola in Decatur,
Morgan County, Alabama, living with her children and widowed mother. To
provide for her children and aged mother, Viola was employed as a book keeper
at a bank in Decatur. The census listed
Viola as a widow at that time, but that was incorrect.
John Wesley Boggess died on September 1, 1957 at the Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville, Jefferson County,
Kentucky. He and Mary were living on Dersey Way in Anchorage, Jefferson County, Kentucky, where John was working as an administrative assistant in Louisville at the time of his death. The cause of death was listed as stomach cancer. John was 61 years old at his
death. He was buried in Resthaven
Memorial Park in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
On April 24, 1959, James D. Boggess and Mary H. Boggess applied
for a Military Veteran headstone on behalf of John Wesley Boggess. The mailing address for both
was Box 196, Rte. 1, Anchorage, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Viola M. Bowles Boggess died on February 4, 1971 in Tescumbia, Colbert
County, Alabama. She was 86 years old at her death. Viola was buried in the Roselawn Gardens of
Memory Cemetery in Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama.
The following was written in memory of Viola:
Times Daily – February 5, 1971
Mrs. Viola Boggess, 86, of 309 River Bluff Dr., Sheffield, died
Thursday at 10:15am.
Graveside services will be conducted at Roselawn Cemetery in
Decatur Saturday at 2pm. Morrison-Elkins
of Tuscumbia is in charge. She was a
native of Kentucky and had lived here a number of years.
Surviving are a son, John Boggess, of Panama City, Fla.; a
daughter, Mrs. Hurley Cheatham, Sheffield.
Notes for John W. Boggess
Birth, Military, & Death:
Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for
Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data:
Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm
publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the
Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
Marriage, and Residence in 1920: Year: 1920;
Census Place: Louisville Ward 8, Jefferson, Kentucky;
Roll: T625_581; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 148;
Image: 189.
Residence in 1930: Year: 1930; Census Place:
Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky; Roll: 756; Page: 18A; Enumeration District:
0087; Image: 242.0; FHL microfilm: 2340491.
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
Marriage to Mary: "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DD-Q4YJ : 22 July 2021), J W Boggess and Mary Helen Langford, 30 May 1931; citing Marriage, Mount Vernon, Fayette, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 1,943,710.
Residence in
1935/1940: Year: 1940; Census Place:
Mount Vernon, Rockcastle, Kentucky; Roll: T627_1353; Page: 61A; Enumeration
District: 102-1. Ancestry.com. 1940
United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations, Inc., 2012.
Notes for Viola Bowles
Birth & Death: Ancestry.com.
Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT,
USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: "Alabama Deaths and Burials,
1881–1952." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index
entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.
Occupation and Residence in 1930: Year: 1930;
Census Place: Decatur, Morgan, Alabama; Roll: 44;
Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 5; Image: 1031.0.
Residence in 1940:
Burial & Obituary: Ancestry.com. Web:
Alabama, Find A Grave Index, 1755-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original
data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi;
accessed 19 February 2015.
