John Lewis Underwood (1911 - 2002)

Born 17 Feb 1911 in Bee Creek, Ellis County, Texas

Ancestors

Husband of Helen Etta (Huntamer) Underwood — married 12 Mar 1932 in Lacey, Thurston County, Washington

Descendants

Died 9 May 2002 at age 91 in Fort Worth, Texas

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Biography

Lewis Underwood was a Texan.

Lewis and his twin brother Lester were born to Theodore Underwood and Lucy Duke (both of whom were from Mississippi^[1]) outside of Bee Creek, Ellis County, Texas. He was born on a remote 100 acre cotton farm, and was delivered by a country doctor at home, on February 17th, 1911,^[2] but owing to the winter weather, the doctor was unable to return to town for several days to report the birth, so the official birth certificate reflects February 22nd.

Due to hard times, Lewis moved at 15 or 16 to Washington on a train, and there got a job with the railroad. By the time he was 19 in 1930, he was living with his parents in Tumwater, Washington.^[3]

He met his wife, Helen Huntamer at a dance, and the two were married on on March 12, 1932, at the Huntamer home in Lacey, Washington,^[4] and together they had three children:

• Jeannette Underwood
• Carol Underwood
• Charles Underwood (1946^[5] - 1965^[6])

During the late 1930s, Lewis invented a small tool that made it possible to easily mend women's silk stockings, and so got into the hosiery mending business ("Invisible Mending"). He and Helen moved back to Texas,^[7] where he opened a number of counters in different department stores. He manufactured the special needles that made this method of mending possible. His business success brought him mention in at least two Fort Worth-area newspaper articles. Following WWII, the popularity of nylon stockings made expensive silk stockings (and the need to mend them) obsolete. In later years, he owned a house-painting business.

Lewis passed away at the age of 91 and after 70 years of marriage to Helen on May 9, 2002. He is interred at Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHTZ-PQG : 3 February 2021), Louis Underwood in entry for T H Underwood, 1920.
2. ↑ Entry in Family Bible
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCQX-G9N : accessed 25 September 2017), Linus Underwood in household of Theo Underwood, Tumwater, Thurston, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 48, sheet 2B, line 93, family 58, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2521; FHL microfilm 2,342,255.
4. ↑ "Washington, County Marriages, 1855-2008," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLNQ-GJT : 4 December 2014), Lewis Underwood and Helen Huntamer, 12 Mar 1932; State Archives, Olympia; FHL microfilm 4,138,819.
5. ↑ "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V67N-GH7 : 1 January 2015), John Lewis Underwood in entry for Charles Lewis Underwood, 17 Jul 1946; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
6. ↑ "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K78B-1H7 : 5 December 2014), Lewis Underwood in entry for Charles Lewis Underwood, 22 Dec 1965; citing certificate number 81462, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,117,870.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K47J-CGR : accessed 31 December 2017), Lewis Underwood, Ward 20, Fort Worth, Justice Precinct 1, Tarrant, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 257-132, sheet 61B, line 49, family 97, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4188.
8. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6443724/john-lewis-underwood : accessed 15 May 2022), memorial page for John Lewis Underwood (17 Feb 1911–9 May 2002), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6443724, citing Greenwood Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Screech (contributor 46377851) .

• Personal interview with Lewis prior to his death
• Personal journal of Helen (Huntamer) Underwood