Bert and Essie were in Terre-Haute during the 1940 Census. In 1949, Bert died in a fiery truck accident while driving a truck near Elwood, Indiana. He lived and worked in Detroit, Michigan, at the time. Looking at his time in Detroit between 1940 and 1949, I learned.

Previous posts regarding Bert Allen Roberts (1903-1949)

• Ancestor Sketch – Bert Allen Roberts (Sr.)
• Bert Allen Roberts – Research Plan 
• Bert Allen Roberts – Date of Birth Conflict
• Bert Allen Roberts & Franklin County, Illinois Births 1900-1904.
• Where were Bert & Essie Roberts in 1931 & 1932?

New Research

To ensure I have the right Bert Roberts in any record, I find it helpful to review all of the people with the same name in the same location at the same time.

Searches for Bert Roberts in Detroit from 1940 to 1950 resulted in the following:

Family Search

1940 Census – A 35-year-old Bert Roberts lived in Green Oak Township, Livingston County, Michigan, about 15 miles west of Detroit. He was a doctor of dentistry and lived with his wife, Venus. They lived in Detroit in 1935.  

1940 Census – There was a Bert Roberts, the six-month-old son of Gerald & Julia Roberts of 3810 Cabot in Detroit. He also appears in the 1950 Census as the 10-year-old son of Gerald & Julia Roberts of 4152 Lawndale in Detroit.

Ancestry

1940 & 1950 Census records – Same as Family Search.

Michigan Marriage Records – On 13 November 1946, 52-year-old Bert Roberts married Irene Armstrong in Detroit. Bert was from Detroit, and Irene was from Port Huron.

U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-Current, includes Bert’s Obituary. No new data but another source, the Elwood Call-Leader, 2 May 1949, under a front page banner headline: TWO MEN BURN IN TRUCK WRECK FIRE.

U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1948 includes cards for both my Bert Roberts’.

• Bert A Roberts was born on 7 July 1924 in Terre Haute, Indiana. His next of kin is Mrs. Essie Roberts at 5756 Winslow, Detroit. This is the Draft Card for Bert Junior.
• Bert Allen Roberts: Born 7 September 1903 in Sesser, Illinois. Essie is his next of kin, also.

Harold Bert Roberts of 5980 Maryland. He was born on 18 May 1915 in Hartford, Conn.

Bert Holmes Roberts of South Lyon was born in Detroit on 23 March 1906.

U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 includes a Bert Roberts in the 1958 Chadsey High School Yearbook. He would have been born about 1942. My Bert Junior would have been about 34.

Bert Roberts’ in Detroit, Michigan 1940-1942.

Besides my Bert Allen Roberts (Sr.) and his son, Bert Allen Roberts, Jr., I know of six other Bert Roberts recorded in Detroit between 1940 and 1950. They are:

• 1.     Bert Roberts. Born c. 1894 and married Irene Armstrong.
• 2.     Bert Roberts, born c. 1905, Lived in Detroit in 1935 and Green Oak Township in 1940. Wife Venus.
• 3.     Bert Holmes Roberts was born on 23 May 1906 in Detroit.
• 4.     Harold Bert Roberts was born on 18 May 1915 in Connecticut.
• 5.     Bert Roberts was born in September 1939 and was the son of Gerald & Julia Roberts.
• 6.     Bert Roberts was born c. 1942.

Newspapers

Genealogy Bank yielded several articles.

• A 5 March 1943 article in the Detroit Evening Times indicated Bert Junior was inducted into the service.
• A 27 April 1945 article in the Detroit News indicated Bert Junior was wounded a second time. He was first wounded on 29 November by a land mine and wounded a second time on 6 April in Germany.
• On 29 and 30 June 1945, Bert (Sr.) was mentioned in the obituary for his mother, Clara Adams.
• On 1 May 1950, Bert was mentioned in Memoriam as having died one year before.

Newspapers.Com yielded a photo of Bert Jr. under a page 22 headline, “Fighting Spirit Boils Up in 18-Year-Olds as They Register for the Draft,” on 12 December 1942.