Passport Land - May
Bourne Strassburger (1881-1975)
Biography
May
Bourne Strassburger (7 Apr 1881, New York, NY - Jan 1975, Gwynedd Valley, Montgomery Co, PA), was
born May Miller Bourne, the daughter of Frederick Gilbert Bourne
(1851-1919), who was President of the Singer Manufacturing Company from
1889-1905, and turned it into the first major multinational. He left an
estate valued at about $50 million. You can
read more about Frederick Gilbert Bourne on Wikipedia.
May Miller Bourne married Ralph Beaver Strassburger (1883-1959) on 11
May 1911 in West
Wickham, Kent, England. Ralph B Strassburger was a
newspaper publisher, businessman and a leading racehorse owner and
breeder. You can read more about Ralph Beaver Strassburger on Wikipedia,
and much more about him here.
They had one child:
- Johann Andreas Peter
Strassburger (3 Jan 1916, Pennsylvania - Apr 1993, Holiday Inn, King of
Prussia, PA, where his home had been two adjoining rooms for the last
five years of his life. You can read more about him here.
Peter Strassburger was, like his father, owner and publisher of the
Norristown Herald, and was variously described as an eccentric
reclusive billionaire. He never married and died childless. The
Strassburger estate was inherited by distant cousins.
Ancestry
Her father was Frederick Gilbert Bourne (20 December
1851, Boston, MA – 9 March 1919, Oakdale, LI, NY). He lived at The
Dakota, 72nd St and Central Park West, New York, NY and Indian Neck Hall, Oakdale,
Long Island, NY.
Her
mother was Emma Sparks Keeler (10 April 1855, New York, NY - 31 August
1916, Oakdale, LI, NY).
They
married 9 February 1875, New York, NY, and had 12 children.
- Frederick Gilbert Bourne Jr (1876, NY - dead by 1898).
- Arthur Keeler Bourne (7 October 1877 - 1967), married Edith
Hollins.
- Louisa D Bourne - (1879, NY - dead by 1898).
- May Miller Bourne (7 April 1881, New York, NY -1975).
- Marion Bourne (1882 - 1969), married Robert George Elbert.
- Alfred Severin Bourne (1883 - 1956), married Hattie Louise Barnes.
- Helen Bourne (1884/85 - 22 Jan 1887, New York, NY). Died aged 2.
- Florence Bourne (6 Jan 1886 - 1969), married Anson Wales Hard
(1884-1935),
divorced 1932, 7 children.
- George Gault Bourne (9 Feb 1888 - 1964), married Nancy Atterbury
Potter.
- Marjorie Bourne (1890 - 5 May 1962), married Alexander Dallas
Thayer (1888-1968).
- Kenneth Bourne (1891 - 1898).
- Howard Davidson Bourne (1893 - 1918), died aged 25.
Her grandparents were:
- Rev George Washington Bourne (1813, Maine - 27 Apr 1872,
Brooklyn, NY).
Son of Benjamin Bourne and Mary Hatch. Married 9 Feb 1843, Portland,
Maine. In 1830, Kennebunk, Maine. In 1850, Boston, MA. In 1870,
Brooklyn, NY.
- Harriet Gilbert (1817, Maine - 20 Apr 1907, New York, NY).
Daughter of ___ Gilbert (1775, Brookfield, MA-), iron and steel
importer.
- James Rufus Keeler (25 Feb 1818, CT - 1878). Son of William
Keeler and Deborah Lounsbury.
- Mary Louise Davidson (1825, CT - 1884)
There is a long article about the Strassburger ancestry here.
Passport
May Strassburger's American passport was issued on 14 January 1929. You
can also view May
Strassburger's 1932 passport.
