Phillip Joseph Gomer (1883 - 1938)

Born 3 Oct 1883 in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, United States

Husband of Eula (Irving) Gomer — married 3 Sep 1919 in Hardin County, Iowa, United States

Died 30 Mar 1938 at age 54 in Iowa Falls, Hardin County, Iowa, United States

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Biography

Philip Gomer is a part of US Black heritage.

Phillip Joseph Gomer was a child of Charles S. Gomer and Winifred (Phillips) Gomer, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on 3 October 1883.^[1]

Phillip Joseph Gomer married Alice Greeley, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on 10 March 1912. Phillip Joseph was reported to be 29 years old at his next birthday, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the son of Chas Gomer and Winifred Phillip. Alice was reported to be 42 years old at her next birthday, a native of East Haverhill, Massachusetts, and the daughter of Joseph Greeley and Alace (Alice?) Greeley. It was his second marriage and her third. Both were characterized by race as Negro; he was characterized by color as black and she as mulatto. The marriage officiant was Rev. R. H. Hackley, pastor of A.M.E. Church. Witnesses were Mrs. Mary Joyce and Wm. McCullers.^[2]

The 1912 Cedar Rapids city directory listed Philip J. Gomer, occupation porter, at 423 8th Ave. with his wife Lillian. His mother, Winnifred Gomer, widow of Charles, was recorded at the same address. Winnifred and Philip both were described as colored.^[3]

Some time after 1912, he moved to Iowa Falls, Hardin County, Iowa, where he ran his own janitorial business and was one of only a few African-American residents. His granddaughter Phyllis Douglas said there were only two African-American families in Iowa Falls when her father was growing up there.^[4] The U.S. census of 1920, the year of her father's birth, counted just 72 "blacks" in Hardin County.^[5] Philip Joseph Gomer registered for the World War I draft in Hardin County on 12 September 1918, listing his address as 515 River in Iowa Falls. He said he was born on 5 October 1883 and was 35 years old. He worked as a custodian for several banks, and was his own boss. He named Alice Lillian Gomer of his home address as his nearest relative. The registration card describes him as Negro, with short height, medium build, brown eyes, and black hair.^[6]

On 3 September 1919, Philip Joseph Gomer married Eula Irving as his second or third wife in Hardin County, Iowa (this marriage record identifies this as his second marriage, but the record of his marriage to Alice had a similar notation). The marriage record indicates that he was 35 years old and identifies his parents as Charles Gower, birthplace not given, and Winifred Philips, born in Peoria, Illinois. Eula was 38 years old and a native of Nashville, Tennessee; her parents are not named in the record. According to the record, it was the second marriage for both Philip and Eula.^{[7] [8]} Their son Joseph Philip Gomer was born in Iowa Falls (in Hardin County, Iowa) in June of the following year. Their second son, Charles Irving Gomer, was born in Iowa Falls in March 1922.^[9]

The 1920 U.S. Census recorded Phlip J. Gomer, 36, and Eula Gomer, 39, at 515 River Street in Iowa Falls, Iowa. They owned their home. Philip was born in Iowa to a father born in New Jersey and a mother born in Iowa. Eula was born in Tennessee to parents born in the United States. Philip was a janitor for the banks business. Both Philip and Eula were characterized as mulatto.^[10] In 1925 the Iowa Census recorded Philip J. Gomer, age 41, living on River (presumably Street) in Iowa Falls, with wife Eula Gomer, 44, and sons Joseph Gomer, 4, and Charles Gomer, 3. All were characterized as black. Philip and Eula both were recorded as having an 8th-grade education. They owned their home, valued at $2000, with a mortgage balance of $700. Philip and his sons had lived their whole lives in Iowa and Eula had lived in Iowa for 24 years.^[11]

He died at the age of 54 in Iowa Falls, Iowa, on 30 March 1938. The death certificate indicates his occupation as janitor work, which he had done for 34 years. His death was attributed to a streptococcus infection, puncture wound of left elbow, and probably embolism. His wife Eula (Irving) Gomer survived him and provided information for his death certificate.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Death Records; Reference Number: 101821071. Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61442/101821071_04255
2. ↑ "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D1L3-J1V?cc=1805551&wc=M6TH-638%3A148934601 : 8 March 2016), 004321320 > image 602 of 1575; county courthouses, Iowa.
3. ↑ The Gazette's Cedar Rapids City Directory, 1912, page 151, accessed on Ancestry.com in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/14563288
4. ↑ Douglass, Phyllis G. OBITUARY – for Joseph Philip Gomer. Appearing in the Duluth News & Tribune Newspaper on Monday, October 14, 2013.
5. ↑ Hill, James L. "Migration of Blacks to Iowa 1820-1960." The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Winter, 1981-1982), pp. 289-303. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2717237. Accessed 22 June 2020.
6. ↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-91HW-C2K?cc=1968530&wc=9FC2-K68%3A928311701%2C928626201 : 25 August 2019), Iowa > Hardin County; A-Z > image 1556 of 4949; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
7. ↑ Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1951. Return of Marriages in the County of Hardin, For the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1920. Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8823/42563_fp030872_0190-00038
8. ↑ "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJ7M-YNC : 17 October 2017), Philip Joseph Gomer and Eula Irving, 03 Sep 1919, Hardin, Iowa, United States; citing reference , county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 1,547,701.
9. ↑ "Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPJG-SP18 : 28 October 2019), Eula Irving in entry for Charles Irving Gomer, 31 Mar 1922; citing Birth, Iowa Falls, Hardin, Iowa, United States, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRXK-9S2D?cc=1488411&wc=QZJR-8K5%3A1036470601%2C1037925001%2C1037942301%2C1589333177 : 10 September 2019), Iowa > Hardin > Iowa Falls > ED 189 > image 15 of 42; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
11. ↑ "Iowa State Census, 1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XG-12M5?cc=2224537&wc=9QXG-DPD%3A1067274601%2C1067277202 : 24 August 2016), Hardin > Eldora-Iowa Falls > image 662 of 865; Iowa State Historical Department, Des Moines.