Helen Foster Bagnall - update

Thanks to Patricia and Jeff we now have more information on the life of Helen Foster Bagnall. Helen was born in Illinois in October 1891 and worked for some time as a secretary. In 1916 she married Otto Drensky but was widowed just two years later during the ‘flu pandemic of 1918. Deaths from Spanish ‘flu peaked in October 1918 the month in which Otto died.

Mortality Rates during 'Flu Pandemic of 1918-19

Reeve 003143 Chart: Sanitation. Influenza pandemic. Mortality in America

and Europe 1918 and 1919. 08/20/1919. [Diseases.] World War 1

Ten years after Otto’s death Helen married John (Jack) Henry Weisner.  Jack worked as a Machinist despite having a ‘Crippled Arm’ (his description of his disability on his WW1 Draft Card).  Sadly Jack died the week before Christmas in 1933 due to complications arising from an acute appendicitis. Just a few months earlier, in February 1933, Jack along with another more prolific inventor had filed a design with the US Patent Office for a Track Rail for Monorail systems. 

Detail of submitted Patent application

The patent was granted on 1 May 1934 five and a half months after Jack Weisner’s untimely death. Jack’s co-inventor was to be Helen’s third husband; Earl T Bennington.