LOUIS H. GERTSON 1887-1942

 

LOUIS H. GERTSON Collection of Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs, KS Courtesy of Joel Thornton, Archivist, 8-4-05

 

GERTSON FLIES AT FAIR, 1917 from an unidentified newclipping      "Crowds were smaller when the fair was held in August. Admission prices had been raised so it proved financially successful. Feature of the entertainment program was Louis Gertson, aviator. He had lights on his plane and flew it at night-"The lights indicated his routes most strikingly in loops and twists." Gertson was paid $350 for each flight. George Macnab was president of the association and W. G. Smith, secretary." Editor's Note: This item was found on the Lyon County, Iowa website. You can access the page by clicking on the title above. You may want to use the "FIND" function on Gertson to locate the item on the page.

 

FOURTEENTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES 1920 - POPULATION City of Chicago, January 2, 1920 Courtesy of Joel Thornton, Archivist, 8-4-05

I noticed there is no birth date on him. I looked him up in the census and have sent the page along. He was 33 in 1920 so he was probably born in 1887. He came to the US from Norway in 1905 and was naturalized in what looks to be 1913 or 15, the writing makes it hard to tell. It even shows his occupation as an aviator. Joel Thornton Editor's Note: By enlarging the pdf image which Joel had sent, I was able to find that his wife "Rose C.," was also listed. She was 23 years old at the time of the census, January 2, 1920 and both her father and mother had been born in Italy. It was noted that she could speak English.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Gian, 3-12-04 Hi Ralph, If it helps, Louis H. Gertson 9/15-11/29/1918 for the POD AMS (Post Office Department Aerial Mail Service) (source: Mac Murray at www.abebooks.com/home/aviationbookseller) kind regards, Gian.

 

Louis H. Gertson died in 1942 From The Early Birds of Aviation Roster of Members January 1, 1993   Editor's Note: If you have any information on this Early Bird, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back