Robert Albert 'Bert' Eesley

His given name in Dale Eesley’s FamilySearch tree (ID LT2P-8TG) is Robert Albert “Bert” Eesley — the reverse order of his father’s name. The newspaper convention that called him “A. R. Eesley Jr.” in the William Eesley obituary and “R. Albert Eesley” in the George E. Eesley obituary suggested he carried his father’s name unchanged, but the structured record settles it differently: his actual given name was Robert Albert, distinct from his father’s Albert Robert by the order of the two names. Everyday family practice called him “Bert.”

He was the fifth of his parents’ ten children and the second-eldest son (after John Franklin). Born 4 May 1871 in Michigan during the family’s Michigan-mills period; died 9 March 1948 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia — the only Eesley of his generation in this archive to receive that distinction. The Arlington burial suggests either his own military service or one of his descendants’.

He appears in two documented sources in this archive:

• William Eesley’s c. 1916 obituary, which names him as “A. R. Eesley Jr.” — one of the six Eesley brothers, all millers.
• His son George E. Eesley’s 1942 Fremont News-Messenger obituary, which identifies him as “R. Albert Eesley” living at 1310 Hayes Avenue, Fremont, Ohio.

He and his wife had at least four children:

• George Edburn “Bus” Eesley (1903–1942) — Ohio Wesleyan graduate; worked in an airplane factory near Buffalo; died at 39 during a major operation; father of Daniel Edburn “Dan” Eesley.
• Bess Eesley — of Fremont, Ohio; named in George’s 1942 obituary as accompanying their parents to Kenmore for the funeral. Not the same person as Bert’s sister Bessie Easley Sinclair of Toronto.
• Mrs. Jack Cassel — of Toronto, Canada (her given name not in the 1942 clipping).
• Albert — of Youngstown, Ohio.

The Fremont, Ohio → Buffalo → Toronto → Youngstown geographic spread of his children is consistent with a Lake Erie corridor extended family from the Albert Robert Sr generation’s milling-and-emigration patterns.

The grandfather of the San Francisco branch (Dan Eesley, his grandson, and great-grandfather to Dan’s daughters Kate Grey and Beth MacLean).

Sources: Dale Eesley / FamilySearch — Robert Albert “Bert” Eesley (LT2P-8TG); William Eesley obituary, c. 1916; George E. Eesley obituary, Fremont News-Messenger, 5 June 1942.