Kenneth Rodney Bourn, Jr. was born on June 1, 1931 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Kenneth Rodney Bourn, Sr. and Frances Phillipa Bourn (née Gipson). He had an older brother, Robert Carlos Bourn, who had been born October 8, 1929 in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Ken Bourn Sr. had trained as an engineer at Harvard University. In Carlisle he served as manager at the Federal Equipment Company, which had federal contracts to build post offices. In spite of the dire job market during the Depression, Ken Bourn, Sr. quit when he felt that his supervisors required him to make unreasonable demands of his employees. The Bourn family left Carlisle within a year of Ken Bourn Jr.’s birth and returned to a family farm in Templeton, Massachusetts. The farm, located at 57 Dudley Road, had been in the family since the federal government awarded the land to Ken Bourn Sr.’s grandfather, Joel Doane Cummings, in payment for Joel’s service in the 21st Massachusetts Volunteers during the US Civil War. Ken Bourn Sr. had also been prompted to return to Templeton by the pleas of his father, Robert Turnbull Bourn, to provide some direction to Ken Bourn Sr.’s brother, Jerry, who was at risk of dropping out of high school. Under Ken Bourn Sr.’s guidance, Jerry graduated and enlisted in the Navy while Ken Bourn Sr. took over the running of the farm from his father.

Joel Doane Cummings (1837-1910). Date unknown.

Robert Turnbull Bourn at the family farm in Templeton, Massachusetts. Date unknown.

The Bourn family weathered the Great Depression in Templeton. In his 1934 alumni report to Harvard University, Ken Bourn Sr. wrote the following:

“I find the world on the back of my neck with the probability of dislodgement excruciatingly remote. To be sure I still have the same job and the same wife but my  family has increased in direct proportion to the decrease in my salary so that stretching even the rubber dollar requires almost supernatural powers. Educationally my progress has been confined to courses in the School of Bitter Experience, from which I have received the degree of S.O.L. in finance for three consecutive years. My course in finance was definitely terminated with the bank holiday, due to an unfortunate experience with bank stocks, and my devalued income precludes any further losses to the wolves of Wall Street, in accordance with the precedent of Blood vs. Turnip… My travels in the past four years have been confined to visits to those relatives most abundantly supplied with groceries, and when dependent on my own resources, my family and I usually travel to the Gettysburg National Cemetery, first because it costs nothing and secondly because of the spiritual uplift that comes from gazing on the lugubrious bronze mugs of the boys of ‘61. Surely I am happier than they were.”

Frances Bourn by the fireplace in the backyard of 57 Dudley Rd in Templeton. Date unknown.

Christmas card showing the living room at 57 Dudley Rd in Templeton. Date unknown.

While eking out an existence for his family in Templeton, Ken Bourn Sr. still managed to pursue his intellectual interests, as evidenced in his writing and in his overseeing of the local historical society.

Here is a short video of Ken Bourn Jr. talking about his childhood in Templeton, using the Images of America: Templeton book (online version here):

The advent of WWII brought new employment opportunities for US workers. Ken Bourn Sr. was offered a position in Maryland with the Glenn L. Martin aviation company, which had won federal contracts to build planes for the war. Accordingly, in 1940, the Bourn family moved from Templeton, Massachusetts to Essex, Maryland.