Leonard Keith Bennett (1887 - 1967)

Born 6 Mar 1887 in Handsworth, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Alice Warr — married 7 Nov 1911 (to about May 1916) in West Bromwich Register Office, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Ruth Anna (Westphal) Wilson — married 8 Dec 1928 (to 17 May 1935) in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States

Husband of Hazel Cross — married 3 Jul 1937 (to 27 Oct 1937) in Cocke, Tennessee, United States

Died 6 Jun 1967 at age 80 in Clearwater, Pinellas, Florida, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Shawnn Dixon [send private message]

Biography

Research into Leonard indicates that it is imperative to note the source of the original information in each record. He, himself, does not appear to have regarded Truth as something to which to cling, even (especially?) in official records. Where information conflicts between two records, there is usually some other detail to confirm the connection - and "an agenda" to explain the inconsistency.

Leonard was born at 14 Ashleigh Pl, Baker St, Handsworth, the son (and youngest child) of George BENNETT (1840-1898), a corporation labourer, and Hannah BENNETT née BOOTH (1846-1918). He was baptised, at only four days old, on 10 Mar 1887, at St James's Church, Handsworth, in a Private baptism (indicating that he was a sickly baby).

The census of 1891 found the the 4-year-old Leonard with his family at 96 Morville St, Ladywood. Sadly, before the next census, on 7 Jan 1898, Leonard's father died. By the 1901 census, the 14-year-old Leonard was at 38 Herbert Rd, Aston (Bordesley) with the occupation "shop asst, clothier & tailor". This is one of the kinds of occupation that he carried through into later life. Up until this point, the information about him wold have been supplied by one or other parent.

In 1911, Leonard was at 107 Muntz St, Small Heath, Birmingham, and was a conductor for Cor[poration] B[irming]ham Trams. By mistake or intent, his age was "27". When he married Alice WARR, at West Bromwich Register Office, towards the end of the year, his address was 145 Greenhill Rd, Handsworth, and his occupation was described as "motorman" – and his age had reverted to 24. They had two children, born in the autumns of 1912 (in Aston) and 1915 (n Handsworth); on each occasion, his occupation was given as tram driver. There is no mention in his records after this of that marriage or of the children.

According to his US immigration document, in March 1924, he must have deserted his family in May 1916, and travelled to Montreal, on the SS Metagama (of which he doesn't seem to appear in either the passenger or crew lists). It's worth mentioning that WW1 conscription was extended to married men in May 1916. His next two surviving elder brothers, Harry (b 1880) and Arthur (1873-1925), had both served in the army, previously.

Leonard appeared in Toronto city directories for the next few years, lodging with Mrs Kate BRIDGES (a cousin?). He appears to have been working in retail. He seems to have eluded that 1921 census, there.

On 19 Mar 1924, he moved to Detroit; his immigration documents give useful details. In Dec 1928, having adopted the middle name "Keith", he married divorcée, Ruth Anna WILSON née WESTPHAL (1897-1970), and they appear together (along with her son from her first marriage) in Detroit for the 1930 census, with Leonard working as a floor manager for the J L Hudson, department store (and Ruth as a store detective); later on he was working for Kline's. In that marriage record his parents' names are consistent with his UK history. The marriage did not survive and, in Jan 1935, Ruth filed for divorce on grounds of "Non-support, Embarrassment, & Mental Anguish Cruelty"; the divorce became absolute in the May.

Leonard applied for his SS5, in Dec 1935, claiming his DoB was 6 Mar 1893. The photocopy of that application document showed his signature, which was extremely similar to the signature on his 1911 marriage register entry (apart from being "Leo K" instead of "Leonard"). Like the USA marriage records, this named his parents, who matched his UK history.

In 1937, he embarked on a marriage spree. On 3 Jul, 1937, he married Hazel CROSS (b ca 1913), in Cocke County, TN, and he was claiming to be 34 (his home address was Detroit); Hazel was 23. Hazel filed for divorce on 28 Jul 1937 on grounds of cruelty and the divorce was absolute on 27 Oct 1937. He contracted another marriage on 25 Nov 1937, still in TN and still claiming to be 34, to a girl claiming to be 19 (but actually not quite 15). The advantage to him of this marriage was that (so long as officialdom didn't discover that her actual age made the marriage illegal under the local laws of the time) she was too young to be able to divorce him before he could apply for US naturalisation (for which he applied in Jun 1939, citing that marriage). The couple were together in Royal Oak, MI, for the 1940 census and he named her as his contact person for the Draft Card in 1942 (with its matching his SS5 number). His child bride deserted him on Christmas Day 1949 (for the same reasons as previous wives) but didn't follow through with her divorce petition and he eventually divorced her in Aug 1952. Throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, he was working for Rotary Electric Steel, mainly as a crane driver.

Around 1957/58, he retired to Florida and had linked up with May Gwendoline DAVIS née BOWEN (1893-1980), but no marriage record has yet [Feb 2024] been found. It was she who registered his death in 1967 - and she appears to have known his actual age, because his memorial stone in Largo Municipal Cemetery records his correct year of birth.

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The original data for this record was created by Shawnn Dixon through the import of warr.ged on Sep 24, 2016.

Sources

BMD certificates and images; baptism register image; divorce record images; UK, Canadian and USA censuses; city directories; passenger & crew lists for SS Metagama; USA immigration record images; SS5 and US-naturalisation application images; Draft card DSS Form1 (1942); newspaper obituary (1967).