10Bub in an undated photograph.1 I've colorized and enhanced the image; use the slider to see the image in its more original appearance, or see a high-resolution version. I have one other photograph of him; it appears later in this profile.

10Curtis ("Bub")
Geiger

10Bub in an undated photograph.1 I've colorized and enhanced the image; use the slider to see the image in its more original appearance, or see a high-resolution version. I have one other photograph of him; it appears later in this profile.

10Bub in an undated photograph.1 See a high-resolution version. I have one other photograph of him; it appears later in this profile.

10Curtis "Bub" Geiger was born on or about 1 July 19152,3 (Two other records give slightly different dates: His tombstone reads 3 July,4 and a draft registration card shows 2 July.5) in Montgomery County, Georgia5 to his parents 20Joseph Preston ("Buck") Geiger and 21Mattie Copeland.2,6

In July 1917 10Bub's family seems to have been living in Soperton7 but by 1920 they had moved to Laurens County's militia district 1720 (map).8

1920: 10Bub's family in militia district 1720 (map), Laurens County, Georgia. Full pages: 9A, 9B.8

By 1930 10Bub's family had moved again, this time to Treutlen County's militia district 1221 (map).9

1930: 10Bub's family in militia district 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Full page.9

10Bub married 11Mary Clyde Black in Treutlen County on 18 August 1934.10

1934: 10Bub's and 11Clyde's marriage certificate10

By 1940 they were living in a rental house in Treutlen County (just as they had been in 1935) and had two daughters. The census notes that 10Bub had completed the fourth grade in school, and that he earned $160 working in 1939.11

1940: 10Bub's family in Treutlen County. Full page.11

His World War II draft registration card includes his original signature:5

10Bub's draft card for WWII.5

By 1950 they had five daughters.12

1950: 10Bub's family still in Treutlen County. Full page.12

In 1952 10Bub was charged with incest but was found not guilty. The Treutlen County Superior Court clerk told me on 14 July 2015 that any court records pertaining to this case are no longer on file; their fate is unknown. The left- and right-side pages of the index record are copied below.13 Note that 10Bub's father was charged with enticing a woman to prostitution; the relationship between these two criminal charges, if any, is unknown.

10Bub and 11Clyde divorced in 1954 in Polk County, Florida,14 although I don't know why they divorced there rather than in Georgia. Below is their entry from an index list of Florida divorces; I have not ordered a copy of the original decree itself.

10Bub's and 11Clyde's divorce listed in an index.14

On 11 September 1955, 10Bub married a "Mrs. Ruby L. Moye." 15 Strangely, they married again less than two years later on 23 March 1957.16 He also later married a "Mrs. Eugenia Steptoe Purvis" and remained married to her until his death in 1976,6 although other details of the marriage are unknown.

Obituaries of some of 10Bub's relatives suggest that he was still residing in the Soperton area in 1966 and 1967.17,18

There is an oft-repeated family legend that 10Bub murdered someone. According to the legend, he murdered a man in Soperton, but the local sheriff was too afraid of 10Bub to arrest him and formally charge him, so instead the sheriff informally locked him inside a railroad car for a few days then released him. 10Bub's granddaughter Patricia "Pat" Justice described this legend during an interview in 2014, and she cited 10Bub's eldest daughter Virginia as her source.19 So far I have made little effort to seek evidence to prove the legend, so I don't know if it's true.

In addition to 10Bub's photograph at the top of this page, I have one other photograph of him. In the photo below, 10Bub is the on the right. The larger man on the left is unidentified.20

10Bub died at Laurens Memorial Hospital on 4 January 1976 due to "cardiogenic shock" secondary to an "extensive acute[?] myocardial infarct." His death certificate is copied below.2

His obituary was published in The Soperton News a few days later. Among other facts, the obituary states that 10Bub was a member of the United Pentecostal Church.6

10Bub is buried in the Red Bluff Missionary Baptist Church cemetery in Treutlen County, Georgia, approximately at coordinates N32.3924 W82.6872. Below is a picture of his tombstone.4

The Social Security Death Index includes 10Bub. It states that his Social Security Number is 260-16-4450 and that his last residence was in ZIP code 30457, Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia.3

Sources Cited:

1: Photograph of 10Bub, from a scrapbook labeled "Mary Clyde Geiger" discovered in a cabinet in the home (222 Fox Road, Macon, Georgia) formerly owned by 10Bub's daughter Maxine Sargent until her death in 2007. "Curtis Geiger" is written on the back of the photograph, but there is no date, age, etc.

2: Laurens County, Georgia death certificate 000630 for Curtis Geiger

3: Social Security Death Index entry for Curtis Geiger; SSN 260-16-4450; last residence Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia; born 1 July 1915; died January 1976. Ancestry.com, accessed 6 January 2009. FamilySearch also hosts a copy of the SSDI (10Bub's entry is at <https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J2FC-GZX>, although the Social Security numbers are not displayed.

4: Tombstone of Curtis (Bub) Geiger, Red Bluff Baptist Church Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia at approximate coordinates N32.3924 W82.6872. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight on 18 May 2009.

5: World War II Draft Registration Cards. Curtis Geiger, born 2 July 1915, Treutlen County, Georgia. NARA record group 147. Ancestry.com ("U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947" / Georgia / Gayton-Handspike / Gayton, Terry Ardell-Gentry, Clyde Lonnie / image 694 of 1055), <https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=YMDraftCardsWWII&h=128833409>, accessed 8 April 2020. Although the draft card shows that he was born in Treutlen County, Georgia, that county didn't exist in 1915; he surely meant Montgomery County, from which much of Treutlen County was created a few years later.

6: "Obituaries," The Soperton News (Soperton, Georgia), Wednesday 7 January 1976, page 6

7: World War One Draft Registration Cards. Joseph Preston Geiger, born 5 October 1892, Montgomery County, Georgia. NARA microfilm publication 1509. FamilySearch, <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25124-66339-70>, accessed 2 July 2015. 20Buck filled out this draft registration card in June 1917 and listed his home address as "Montgomery Co Soperton Ga," so his family may have been living in the same location when 10Bub was born less than two years prior.

8: 1920 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Rockledge, militia district 1720, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 89, sheets 9A and 9B, dwelling 113, family 113, Preston Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 266. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu266unit#page/n534/mode/1up> (sheet 9A) and <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu266unit#page/n535/mode/1up> (sheet 9B), accessed 2 July 2015.

9: 1930 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, militia district 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 142-1, sheet 10B, dwelling 171, family 171, Joseph P. Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 388. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/georgiacensus00reel388#page/n586/mode/1up>, accessed 2 July 2015.

10: Treutlen County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1919-1949 and 1960-1965, page 302, marriage of Curtis Geiger and Clyde Black. Copied on 28 April 2012 from microfilm 9688, Genealogical & Historical Room, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia.

11: 1940 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, militia district 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 142-1, sheet 3B, house 47, household 49, Curtis Geiger household. National Archives, <1940census.archives.gov>, accessed 6 April 2012. This image is also available on Familysearch.org: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27878-16083-86>, accessed 2 July 2015.

12: 1950 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 140-5, page 10, dwelling 221, Bryant Knight household. National Archives, <https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Treutlen&name=disne&page=1&state=GA>, accessed 11 November 2022.

13: Treutlen County, Georgia. Superior Court records office. Criminal Docket 1 (index book), page 109. Page 109 is actually two pages (a left- and right-side).

14: Florida Department of Health, Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001, 1954, G, entry for the divorce of Curtis and Clyde Geiger, who divorced in 1954 in Polk County, volume 657, certificate number 2299. Ancestry.com ("Florida, Divorce Index, 1927-2001" / 1954 / G / image 5 of 22), <https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=FLdivorce&h=253013>, accessed 8 April 2020. Although I used Ancestry.com, FamilySearch also indexes this same record: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKWR-BCQ>

15: Treutlen County, Georgia. "Marriages White 3" (book), page 40

16: ibid., page 60

17: "Mrs. Mattie C. Geiger," The Soperton News (Soperton, Georgia), 31 October 1966, page 5

18: "Earl Geiger," The Soperton News (Soperton, Georgia), 21 December 1967, page 5