The Proeger Family · Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings

Lily Olene Bowles

Daughter of William Anderson Bowles · born 1907

Lily Olene Bowles

Confirmed

Daughter of William Anderson Bowles · born 1907

Born
27 July 1907
Died
18 January 1991
Parents
William Anderson Bowles & Iona Belle Brock
Married
Elmo D. Blackburn
Children
Harald Dean Blackburn
Sources
8

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED — added 24 September 2026 from a record that names the parents; entered in the family tree the same day.

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1907
Born 27 July 1907, Texas S186
Death1991
Died 18 January 1991
Census1930
🆕 In 1930 she was 21, single, a waitress in Amarillo, living with her sister Jean and Harry Julius, the cafe manager and proprietor S615. added 26 September 2026.
Military1942
🆕 Elmo's own 1942 draft card gives his full name as Elmo David Blackburn, born 15 March 1904, of 1601 B Pierce Street, Amarillo, working for Southwestern Public Service Company S717. The card gives Amarillo as his birthplace, but that is self-reported and not yet settled. The 1940 Amarillo directory lists “Blackburn Elmo (Lily)”, a serviceman for the same company, at 1601b Pierce S720. The Texas birth index records their daughter Iona Beth Blackburn, born 26 April 1938 in Potter County, with her mother entered as Lily Olene Bowles and her father as David St. Elmo Blackburn S718. It is the first state record found that names Lily Olene Bowles as Elmo's wife, though no marriage record has yet been read. In 1950 Elmo, 46, married, ran his own electric shop from 2804 Taylor, Amarillo; no wife was listed with him on that sheet S719. added 26 September 2026.
Census1910
🆕 Elmo's parents were probably David J. Blackburn and Ruth E. Blackburn Probable confirm or correct →: the 1910 census of Salem Township, Lewis County, Missouri, read from the image, lists Elmo D., 6, son, in the household of David J. Blackburn, 38, a farmer, and his wife Ruth E., 32, the mother of three children, all living, with Bessie, 14, and Clarence, 11, all born in Missouri S873. His son's 1933 death certificate also gives Elmo's birthplace as Missouri S697. What is weak: nothing read ties the boy of 1910 to Lily's husband beyond his name, middle initial and age, and his 1942 draft card gives Amarillo as his birthplace S717; Ruth's maiden name, given in family trees as Tate, and both parents' birth days and death dates are on no document read. Accepted by Earl on 28 September 2026 pending more evidence. added 28 September 2026.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents
Daughter of William Anderson Bowles and Iona Belle Brock; sister of Lydia Mae Bowles
Marriage1904
🆕 Married Elmo D. Blackburn (born 15 March 1904, by his own draft card S717) Probable confirm or correct →: the 1940 Amarillo, Texas census has Elmo Blackburn, 36, at 1601 Pierce with his wife Lily and a daughter named Iona B., after Lily's mother Iona Belle, and the 1949 Amarillo directory lists “Blackburn Elmo D (Lily)”. What is weak: the census gives the wife's age as 22, ten years off Lily's 1907 birth, and no marriage record has been found. added 26 September 2026.
Children1933
🆕 Her son Harald Dean Blackburn, a premature twin, died at St Anthony's Hospital in Amarillo on 8 December 1933, one day old. His death certificate names his parents as Elmo D. Blackburn and Lillie Bowles, born in Texas S697. It is the first record found that names her as Elmo's wife. added 26 September 2026.

In the record Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings

Lily Olene Bowles · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

8 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S1861910 U.S. Federal Census — William A. Bowles household, Justice Precinct 7, Taylor County, Texas. Ancestry record 123373807; ED 268, sheet 2A, enumerated 16 April 1910. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. William A., 52; Iona, mother of 18 children born, 15 living; twelve children at home. The farm is owned and mortgaged, on the Abilene–Potosi road. 🔑 18 children born, 15 living, in Iona's own answer. William's 52 supports 1858 over the death certificate's 1856. ⚠ Clara L. H., 18, born Arkansas, may be the L. Jean of 1940 [S185]; not assumed.
  2. S6151930 U.S. census — Amarillo, Potter County, Texas, ED 188-9, sheet 21B. Ancestry record 61430965. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Harry Julius, 48, head, cafe proprietor, a veteran, born Indiana; Jean, wife, 38, married at 34, born Texas, parents born Kentucky, cafe manager; Lilly Bowles, sister-in-law, 21, single, waitress in the cafe. Three lines up: Tom L. Bowles, 26, a cook in a cafe, and his wife Delphia, 19. The census gives Jean's birth as Texas about 1892; the tree's 4 May 1890, Arkansas, is kept.
  3. S697Texas death certificate, 1933, Amarillo, Potter County. Ancestry record 90184242. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Harald Dean Blackburn, died 8 December 1933 at St Anthony's Hospital, one day old, premature, a twin; father Elmo D. Blackburn, born Missouri; mother Lillie Bowles, born Texas. The surviving twin is not named here.
  4. S717World War II draft registration card, 1942, Amarillo, Texas, serial T-96. Ancestry record 19795984. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Elmo David Blackburn, 37, born 15 March 1904, birthplace given as Amarillo, Potter County, Texas; of 1601 ‘B’ Pierce Street, Amarillo; employed by Southwestern Public Service Company; contact V. E. Hancock, 912 Buchanan Street. Signed Elmo Blackburn. The birthplace is self-reported and is not settled; the date is used.
  5. S718Texas birth index, 1938 births, p. 167. Ancestry record 152891971. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Iona Beth Blackburn, female, born 26 April 1938, Potter County; mother Bowles, Lily Olene; father Blackburn, David St. Elmo. A state index, derived from the certificate.
  6. S7191950 U.S. census, Amarillo, Potter County, Texas, ED 225-96, sheet 71. Ancestry record 187484742. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed 2804 Taylor: Elmo Blackburn, head, 46, married, born Texas, working 40 hours in his own electric shop. No wife is listed with him on this sheet.
  7. S720Amarillo, Texas, city directory, 1940, pp. 108–109. Ancestry record 377858817. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed “Blackburn Elmo (Lily) servicemn S W Public Service Co h1601b Pierce”. Other Blackburns on the page (Blackburn Bros, Blackburn-Shaw) are not shown to be kin.
  8. S8731910 U.S. Federal Census — David J. Blackburn household, Salem Township, Lewis County, Missouri (ED 63, sheet 7A, dwelling/family 144, lines 33–37). Ancestry record 14549622 (image 31111_4330739-00527). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Confirmed David J. [Jr.?] Blackburn, head, 38, married 15 years, born Missouri, parents born Kentucky, farmer; Ruth E., wife, 32, mother of 3 children, 3 living; Bessie, daughter, 14; Clarence, son, 11; Elmo D., son, 6; all born Missouri. FamilySearch indexes the same household (1:1:M2YP-TDH). Elmo's 1942 draft card (S717) gives Amarillo as his birthplace.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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