Elijah Jefferson Bond (1847 - 1921)

Born 23 Jan 1847 in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Peters) Bond — married Dec 1874 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Died 14 Apr 1921 at age 74 in Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA

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Biography

Elijah Bond is Notable.

Elijah was born in 1847. A Maryland native, attorney, and the first person to patent the Ouija Board (No. 446,054; February 10, 1891), Elijah probably created his "talking board" as a harmless parlor game unrelated to the occult.^[1] However, it was later touted by others as a divining tool during the spiritual revival of the early 20th century. Elijah chose to sell his patent in 1892^[2] and said goodbye to this world in 1921. He was apparently interred in an unmarked grave at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. In 2007, the Talking Boards Historical Society (TBHS) erected a headstone for Elijah with his Ouija board inscribed on one side.^[3] According to Robert Murch with the TBHS:

"The fourth child of Judge William Bond and Charlotte Howard Richardson. His brother General Frank A. Bond would father Harriet Virginia Bond, who would later marry Elijah's friend, William H. A. Maupin. William H. A. Maupin was one of the original founders of the Kennard Novelty Company, the first company to produce the Ouija board^[4]… Elijah Bond revisited the mysterious world of talking boards when he moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Charleston, West Virginia in the early 1900's. There he applied for and was granted a trademark on his Nirvana talking board on June 18th 1907. The mark is shaped in the sign of a swastika with the word Nirvana in the center. On June 20th 1907 Bond assigned this trademark to The Swastika Novelty Company who manufactured and sold the Nirvana talking boards. While living in Charleston he worked as both an attorney and an insurance agent."^[5]

Timeline

• 1847: Born in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, the son of Major William B. Bar.
• 1860-65: Find A Grave biography says he fought for the Confederacy, but he was only 13 when the war started and 18 when it ended (and is not listed as a Civil War soldier by the NPS).
• 1872: Graduated from the law school of the University of Maryland and admitted to the Baltimore City bar.^[6][7]
• 1874: Elected second lieutenant of Company A. Sixth Regiment, Maryland National Guard. ^[8]
• 1891: Patented the Ouija Board.
• 1892: Sold Ouija Board patent.
• 1907: Granted a trademark on the Nirvana talking board.
• 1921: Died a few years after suffering from a stroke.

Sources

1. ↑ Jan Harold Brunvand, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. Routledge (2006).
2. ↑ Brown University, Online Courseware (Accessed on 17 Jan 2019).
3. ↑ Atlas Obscura, "Elijah Bond's Ouija Board Grave" (Accessed on 17 Jan 2019).
4. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "The Ouija" (3 Dec 1890).
5. ↑ Robert Murch, "Elijah J. Bond" (Accessed on 17 Jan 2019).
6. ↑ Carol L. Deibel and Kathi Santora, Legendary Locals of Bel Air, Arcadia Publishing, 2016,
7. ↑ The Aegis & Intelligencer (Bel Air, Maryland), "Admitted to the Bar" (28 Jun 1872, Page 2).
8. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Military Election" (30 Sep 1874, Page 4).

See also:

• Wikipedia: Elijah Bond.

• The Baltimore Sun, "Elijah Jefferson Bond" (15 Apr 1921, Page 12).

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD4J-WNL : 12 April 2016), Elijah J Bond in household of William B Bond, Bel Air, Harford, Maryland, United States; citing family 12, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M69Q-PNP : 12 December 2017), Elijah Bond in entry for Wm Bond, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNS5-ZQQ : 16 July 2019), Elijah Bond in entry for Wm B Bond, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MNQ6-F72 : accessed 09 Sep 2014), Elijah J Bond in household of Jos T Hall, Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States; citing sheet 275A, NARA microfilm publication T9.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6QS-VX3 : accessed 6 October 2019), Elijah J Bond in household of William B Bond, Baltimore Ward 15, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland, United States; citing ED 255, sheet 2B, line 58, family 40, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 664; FHL microfilm 1,820,664.

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 October 2019), memorial page for Elijah Jefferson Bond (23 Jan 1847–14 Apr 1921), Find A Grave Memorial no. Find A Grave: Memorial #28154385, citing Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA ; Maintained by Ouija (contributor 47025780) .