Nicola Albascente, also known as Nick or Nicholas, was born in Manhattan, New York, to Maria (Bella) and Pietro Albascente. On official documents, he reported his birthdate as August 24, 1893, though his birth record stated he was born on August 26. He had at least two siblings: Catherine born in 1879, and John in 1881. His older siblings were born in Armento, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in 1885. Members of the family used differing spellings of their last name, including Albacento and Albascenti.
Not much is known about Nick’s childhood. He attended school through the first grade, according to the 1940 census. In 1911, a Nicolo Albascente sailed on the White Star Line’s S.S. Romanic, embarking at Naples, Italy, and arriving in Boston on November 22. By the early 1900s, Nick’s brother and sister were living in Boston’s South End. John lived at 29 Seneca Street; Catherine, her husband, Joseph Angerami, and their children lived nearby on Oswego Street. (Today the neighborhood is the location of the Ink Block development.) In 1912, Catherine died of valvular heart disease, which she had suffered from for four years.
In June 1917, Nick was living at 5 Oneida Street with Catherine’s daughter Antonetta, known as Nellie, and her husband Joseph Ierardi. Nick was a harness maker with James Forgie, 17 Merchants Row, Boston. When he was inducted into the Army a little over a year later, on September 6, 1918, Nick gave his address as 15-A Norwell Street, Dorchester, and named Joseph Ierardi as his next of kin.
Nick initially served as private in the 105th Company, 26th Battalion, at Camp Syracuse in New York. On October 21, he was transferred to the Salvage Company, Quartermaster Corps, at Camp Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts. He remained at Camp Devens for the remainder of his service. According to his entry in the Veterans Administration Master Index, Nick served as a cook in the 2nd Detachment Demobilization Group. He was discharged on July 12, 1919.
Nick returned to the South End and in 1920 was living with the Ierardis at 85 Seneca Street. He worked as a boot black at a street stand. By 1922, Nick and the Ierardis had moved a short distance to an apartment on the third floor of 17 Oswego Street, where Nick ran a variety store in the basement of the building. Two years later he had a new job, employed as a “chief engineer” in the Publicity Building at 44 Bromfield Street in Boston. He remained at this occupation for the next 15 years. On the 1930 census his profession was described as “janitor, apartment.” Nick moved a few blocks to 11 Waltham Street in 1925. He relocated to Dorchester in 1927, residing at 257 Washington Street, where he lived with another branch of the Ierardi family. He moved to 267 Washington Street in 1933.
In the early 1940s, Nick ran a grocery at 251 Washington Street and lived at number 255 with his relatives, the Morottos. In 1942, he was working at the Watertown Arsenal where he was employed through 1945. In the 1950s, he was listed in the Boston directory as a laborer with the U.S. Public Building Service and General Services Administration. He had retired by the mid-1960s. In the 1970s, he moved to Dedham, Massachusetts.
Nick died on April 29, 1977. His funeral was held at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Dedham and he was buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury.
Sources
“New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909,” database, citing Manhattan, New York Municipal Archives, New York; Family Search.org
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 14 February 1967: 32; Newspapers.com
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com
Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940. Microfilm, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Veterans Administration Master Index, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 – 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, MI; Ancestry.com
1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Street Gas Perils Score in Apartment,” Boston Globe, 25 December 1922: 4
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
United States Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 30 April 1977: 25; Ancestry.com
During the First World War, brothers Harry Joseph and Charles Jeremiah Akins both served overseas as part of the 26th Division. They were born in Waterbury, Connecticut, to John and Mary (Sullivan) Akins; Harry on April 26, 1895, and Charles on September 26, 1896. Their siblings included Francis Xavier born in 1900, Helen in 1910, Benedict Gregory in 1914, and Margaret Mary in 1919, as well as four siblings who died before 1910.
The Akins were living in Jersey City, New Jersey, by 1910. John, a New Jersey native, worked as a japaner at a button works. Harry, while still attending school, was an errand boy at a grocery store. Around 1913, the family moved to Dorchester, where they lived at 80 Wrentham Street in the Ashmont neighborhood. The 1916 Boston directory listed John as a button maker and Harry as a steamfitter.
During the Mexican Expedition of 1916, Harry and Charles enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard. Harry joined up at the guard’s summer training ground in Framingham, Massachusetts, on June 27. He served with Troop D, 1st Separate Squad Cavalry, also known as the Roxbury Horse Guards. Charles had some difficulty initially being accepted for service. An article in the Boston Globe reported, “since the Militia was first mobilized at the Framingham camp two weeks ago the boy has persistently sought to have his name set down on the rolls of the regiment. He accompanied the [Massachusetts] 9th [Regiment] to its camp and stayed there patiently, petitioning the authorities daily to be taken in.” On July4, he visited “the recruiting station in the 9th Regiment Armory on East Newton st,” where he put “forth his need for a pair of shoes and his desire to shoot Mexicans as his reasons for desiring to enlist. Akins … bore prima facie evidence that he was sadly in need of a new outfit. In the blank on the enrollment petition reserved for ‘occupation’ Akins wrote ‘unemployed.’ The bellicose enthusiasm and physical strength of the lad counted much in his favor, however, and if he passes the doctor’s requirements he will be sent to Framingham Wednesday morning.” According to his service record, Charles entered the Massachusetts National Guard on July 8. It seems he added a year to his age in order to enlist, as his military records use a birth year of 1895. Both Troop D and the 9th Massachusetts served along the Mexican border.
Guardsmen were called for service again on March 20, 1917, shortly before President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Charles reported for duty on March 25, 1917, and mustered as a private in Company C of the 9th Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard on April 4, 1917. War was declared two days later. Harry reported for duty on July 25, 1917, and on July 31 mustered as a private in Troop D, 1st Squad Cavalry, Massachusetts National Guard. According to an article in the Boston Globe, “When the call came to go to France, Harry told his mother he was going, saying if he did not get into action at once he would never wear the uniform again.” In August 1917, the Massachusetts National Guard units were reorganized; the 9th Massachusetts became the 101st Infantry, and Troop D of the 1st Squad Cavalry became Company D of the 102nd Machine Gun Battalion. Both units were part of the 51st Infantry Brigade of the 26th Division, or Yankee Division.
On September 7, 1917, Charles sailed for France with Company C on the USAT Tenadores, leaving from Hoboken, New Jersey. Harry sailed from Hoboken on the USACT Antilles on September 22. After further training at Neufchateau, France, the 26th Division went to the front in early February 1918, in the Chemin des Dames defensive sector. In early April, they moved to the Toul-Boucq defensive sector.
On April 20, Harry was at Seicheprey, on the Saint Mihiel salient, when the Germans attacked. According to The History of the Yankee Division, they were “German ‘Sturntruppen,’ or Hindenberg’s Traveling Circus … These were a body of picked shock troops, who traveled from place to place, along the German line and delivered raids at regular intervals. After a heavy bombardment they came over, about 400 in number, with about 2,500 Germans following.” General Clarence Ransom Edwards described the attack, “The Germans swept down into the middle of the town. They overran our machine guns … Three of our machine-gun crews were found sitting on their machines with their heads down. Only one man got away alive.” Harry was killed in action that day.
Mary Akins shared some of her feelings about her son’s death when, in the spring of 1919, a parade was held in Boston to honor the 26th Division. There was discussion of including caskets in the parade, and in March 1919 Mary wrote to voice her objection. “Every man and woman, boy or girl, that has loved ones sleeping in France will miss them from the parade and our hearts are broken going out to see this parade and we don’t want to see those coffins. When the coffins come over with the dead heroes, we then will watch and march to their last burying place in the United States … I have my dearly beloved boy over there, but his spirit will be with us on the day of the big parade. I watched him march away from Framingham that beautiful evening, Sept 21, 1917, never to return again, and I think my heart went with him as he told me, ‘Mother, don’t cry now.’ I told him I wouldn’t and didn’t, for his sake. I have one real boy with Co C, 101st Infantry— God bless him! and send him and all our boys safe home to their own home town. A proud mother but with a heart wound that will never heal.”
On March 30, 1922, Harry’s body was returned to the United States on the USAT Cambrai. His remains were initially delivered to his parents, who then lived at 18 Shepard Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On April 15, his body was moved to the Council Chamber in Cambridge City Hall where, along with the bodies of two other Cambridge soldiers, it lay in state with an honor guard provided by the Cambridge Post of the American Legion. The next day, Harry’s body was carried to Saint Peter’s Catholic Church in Cambridge, where a service was held in his honor. The caskets of the three soldiers were then “borne on gun caissons” and escorted by a cavalry troop and men from the Cambridge and Old Dorchester posts of the American Legion to the soldier’s lot in the Cambridge Cemetery for burial. As his parents had moved to Cambridge since his death, Harry was honored in that city, but Dorchester also considered him a local hero, and it was noted Harry “is the first ‘gold star’ man of St Mark’s Parish.” A service was held for him at Saint Mark’s on April 16, as well.
Charles remained with the 101st Infantry through the end of the war. On July 10, 1918, the 101st entered the Pas Fini defensive sector at Chateau Thierry. They were part of the Champagne Marne defensive July 15 through 18, then the Aisne-Marne offensive July 18 through 25. September 12 through 16, the 101st fought in the Saint Mihiel offensive. During that time, Charles was made a mechanic. They were stationed in the Troyon defensive sector September 17 through October 8, and participated in the Meuse Argonne offensive October 18 until the Armistice on November 11. On December 1, 1918, Charles was again made a private.
Charles did not participate in the spring 1919 parade in Boston for the 26th Division. Though he appeared on the transport list of USS America along with the rest of Company C, 101st Infantry, he did not sail with them on March 28, 1919. His name was scratched out on the passenger list; he had been “transferred to Belgian Camp, Le Mans.” On May 24, 1919, Charles was transferred to Company M, 321st Infantry. He returned to the United States in June 1919, sailing from Saint Nazaire, France, on the USS Manchuria. He was demobilized at Camp Devens and discharged on June 27, 1919.
On August 31, 1919, at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Cambridge, Charles married Marie Elizabeth Schindler, a waitress from Roslindale. Charles and Marie moved in with his family at 18 Shepard Street in Cambridge and he worked as a pipefitter. In the mid-1920s, he lived at 65 Hammond Street in Cambridge. He may have been the Charles J. Akins, sprinkler fitter, living at 140 Grove Street in West Roxbury in 1929. By 1940, he had moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued to work as a pipefitter. For a time in 1942, his brother Francis lived with him at 307 East Hamburg Street in Baltimore, where Charles was a boarder. That year, Charles reported on his World War II draft registration that he worked at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in the Curtis Bay area of Baltimore. He later married Gertrude Mae (Moore) Johnson of Baltimore, who had two children from previous marriages. At the end of his life he lived in Arbutus, Maryland, outside of Baltimore. Charles died on October 25, 1978. He was buried in Meadowridge Memorial Park Cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland. He had been a member of Steamfitters Local Union Number 430 and the Morrell Park Post 137, American Legion.
Sources
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Putnam, Eben, ed. The Gold Star Record of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1929: 454; Archive.org
“Cambridge,” Boston Globe 1 April 1922: 4; Newspaper.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
1910, 1920, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Six New England Men Give Up Lives,” Boston Globe, 27 April 1918:2; Newspapers.com
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
“Persistence Wins Chance,” Boston Globe, 4 July 1916: 8; Newspapers.com
Lists of Outgoing & Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, The National Archives at College Park, MD; Ancestry.com
Benwell, Harry A. History of the Yankee Division. Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1919; Archive.org
“26th Division to March 5 1/2 Miles,” Boston Globe, 28 March 1919: 10; Newspapers.com
“Bay State Heroes Back to Homeland,” Boston Globe, 30 March 1922: 13; Newspapers.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 14 April 1922: 26; Newspapers.com
“Honors for Three Cambridge Vets,” Boston Globe, 17 April 1922: 9; Newspapers.com
“Two Heroes to be Buried at Cambridge,” Boston Globe, 14 April 1922: 2; Newspapers.com
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 17 April 1922: 4; Newspapers.com
“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database, citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org
“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers; FamilySearch.org
“Death Notices,” Baltimore Sun, 28 October 1978:23; Newspapers.com
William Frederick Akerman, sometimes known as Fred, was born on May 26, 1888, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Isabella (Watkins) and Joseph W. Akerman. Joseph and Isabella had married in Portsmouth in 1868. They had four additional children: Joseph born in 1872, Grace in 1875, Clara in 1880, and Lucy in 1884. The Akermans owned a property along Spinney Road between Middle Road and Islington Street, on the outskirts of Portsmouth.
Joseph, a farmer, was 34 years older than Isabella and was 75 when William was born. Joseph died of heart failure in 1890. In 1892, Isabella remarried; her second husband, William Mitchell, was a Canadian, originally from Bridgeton, Nova Scotia. Isabella and William had a son, George, born in 1892. William attended school through the eighth grade, according to the 1940 census. In 1907, he was employed as a clerk. He was also a member of Portsmouth’s Franklin Pierce Veteran Firemen’s Association, a fire brigade and social organization.
On May 25, 1907, William married Vivian J. Grover in Portsmouth. Vivian was the daughter of a paperhanger. On their wedding day, they were celebrated by the fireman’s association. According to the Portsmouth Herald, 50 of the organization’s members, “headed by the Eagle drum corps and plenty of red fire” arrived at William’s home, where they engaged in “songs, recitations, and different varieties of amusement.” In 1908, William and Vivian lived at 22 Maplewood Avenue in Portsmouth; by 1910, they had moved to 140 Maplewood Avenue.
William and Vivian were divorced on December 20, 1911. Vivian sought the divorce on the grounds of “extreme cruelty.” Vivian married again in April 1912; her second marriage ended in divorce in 1928, again due to “extreme cruelty,” though she and her second husband appear to have later reconciled and were living together in 1940.
In 1912, William moved to Milton, Massachusetts, where he lived at 40 Maple Street and worked as a clerk at 1157 Washington Street in Dorchester. From July 6, 1912, until January 5, 1915, William served as a fireman 1st class in the U. S. Navy. By 1917, he had returned to 40 Maple Street in Milton. He was a packer at the Mason Regulator Company, which made balanced valves, steam traps, and speed and pressure regulators. William worked for the company for the rest of his career. On his First World War draft registration, in June 1917, he claimed he was “doing government work;” a Navy photograph from this era shows “testing apparatus and material for Navy Department” in the assembly room at the Mason Regulator Company. By early 1918, William had moved to 5 Taylor Terrace in Mattapan.
On February 15, 1918, William enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Boston Navy Yard as an engineman 2nd class. Before he was called to service, on May 31, 1918, he wed for a second time, marrying Ruth Wilhelmina Gustafson at the Salem Lutheran Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. Ruth was born in Boston and was living in Milton at the time of her marriage. On June 4, William was sent to the Naval Training Camp in Hingham, Massachusetts. He was transferred to the Navy’s training Camp on Bumpkin Island in Boston Harbor on June 25, and then to the Rifle Range at Wakefield, Massachusetts, on July 8. While William was in the Navy, in September 1918, his mother died of influenza. That month, William was assigned to the “Machine Shop Boston Section Base Boston,” where he remained until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. William was placed on inactive duty on January 25, 1919, at the Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. He was honorably discharged due to lack of funds on September 30, 1921.
After being placed on inactive duty, William returned to 5 Taylor Terrace, and the Mason Regulator Company, where he was employed as a machinist. William’s wife Ruth was living with her parents at 9 Linden Street. She died there on January 15, 1924.
On May 29, 1925, William married Marjorie (Hawes) Hutchinson. Marjorie had been married before and had a five-year-old daughter, Lydia. William and Marjorie were married at Marjorie’s home, 9 Taylor Terrace, by Warner P. Lander, a clergyman from Milton. William, Marjorie, and Lydia lived at 5 Taylor Terrace; their rent in 1930 was $30 a month. They moved to 52 Old Morton Street in 1931, then to 32 Sanford Street in 1933. By 1940, they were living at 178 Eliot Street in Milton. Lydia, 20, was working as a clerk in the chocolate factory, making $780 a year. William earned $1,500 annually at the Mason Regulator Company. In 1942, William and Marjorie lived at 27 Huntoon Street. By 1951, they had moved to North Easton, Massachusetts, where they lived at 210 Washington Street. Marjorie died on March 25, 1961. William moved to Brockton, Massachusetts where he lived until his death on May 20, 1979.
Sources
New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, “Index to births, early to 1900.” New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
Beers, F.W. Map of the City of Portsmouth New Hampshire, 1876; LeventhalMap.org
“New Hampshire, Death and Disinterment Records, 1754–1947.” New England Historical Genealogical Society, citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com
New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, “Death Records, 1654–1947. Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com
New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, “Marriage Records.” New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; Ancestry.com
1880, 1900, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Censuses; Ancestry.com
“New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” New England Historical Genealogical Society, citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com
“Forgot to Bring the Handtub,” Portsmouth Herald, 25 May 1907: 9; Newspapers.com
Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Curtiss Photographers, “NH 115112 Mason Regulator Company,” photograph, c1910-1919, Naval History and Heritage Command,
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database citing Marriage, Quincy, Norfolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org
Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths/Burials (Swedish Churches), Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 16 January 1924: 9; Newspapers.com
Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917 – 9/16/1940. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 – 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; FamilySearch.org
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Miss Grace M. Akerman,” Portsmouth Herald, 19 March 1951: 3; Newspapers.com
“Morning Death Notice,” Boston Globe, 27 March 1961: 29; Newspapers.com
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 10 April 1969: 28; Newspapers.com
State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003. Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health Services, 2005; Ancestry.com
Siblings James Augustus and Beatrice Marie Aicardi were born at 285 Broadway in South Boston. Beatrice was born on July 2, 1893, and James on October 10, 1896. Their parents, Giacomo, known as James, and Angelina (Guinasso) Aicardi, were both born in Italy. Angelina immigrated to Boston when she was about a year old. Originally from Porto Maurizio in Liguria, James, Sr. came to the United States in the early 1880s, when he was about 15 years old. He initially settled in Brockton, Massachusetts. James, Sr. and Angelina were married in Boston in 1886. They had four other children: Frank born in 1887, Catherine in 1892, Leonard in 1898, and a second Catherine in 1901. Leonard died at 7 months of pneumonia; the first Catherine also died of pneumonia at age 2.
In the 1890s, the family lived at 285 Broadway in South Boston, where James, Sr. had a fruit store. By 1902, the Aicardis resided around the corner at 164 ½ Silver Street, though James, Sr.’s store remained at 285 Broadway. That year, older brother Frank ran away because his parents were upset with his “smoking cigarettes and reading cheap novels every spare moment.” He made it as far as Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he was spotted by a police officer. He eventually returned home, because in 1905 Frank was fined $10 for “playing dice on the Lord’s day.” James and Beatrice attended school in South Boston, James graduating from the Lincoln School in 1904 and Beatrice from the Norcross School in 1907.
In 1913, James, Sr. and Angelina founded the Aicardi Food Products Company. I-Car-De Mayonnaise, their signature product, was advertised as “positively different!” Their factory was located at 93 Stoughton Street in Dorchester. In 1915, the Aicardis moved to Dorchester, and lived at 124 Adams Street.
During the First World War, both Beatrice and James served in the military. Beatrice was a female Yeoman in the US Naval Reserve Force. Called “Yeomanettes,” female Yeomen were officially enrolled in the Navy and received the same rate of pay as men. The Naval Act of 1916 included a line permitting the enlistment of “all persons who may be capable of performing special useful service for coastal defense.” The non-gendered language was interpreted to include women, and they were recruited beginning in March 1917. By the end of the war there were over 11,000 female Yeomen. They most often served in clerical roles, though some held specialized positions. Beatrice enrolled in the Navy at the Boston Enrolling Office on June 4, 1918. She served in the Boston Navy Yard (today known as the Charlestown Navy Yard) from August 28, 1918, until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. She probably lived at home during her service, as the Navy did not have female barracks and women had to make their own living arrangements. Generally, they were assigned work in their home communities. Beatrice was included in a group photograph, “Panorama of Yeowomen before Drill,” taken at the Boston Navy Yard on December 16, 1918. The women wore long dark skirts, dark single-breasted jackets, and brimmed hats, the attire specified by the Navy for Yeowomen. There was no officially-issued female uniform, and the women were responsible for acquiring the required items themselves. Beatrice was placed on inactive duty on June 26, 1919, and discharged on June 4, 1920.
At the time of the second draft in June 1918, James was working for the United States Quartermaster Department, at Warehouse G, on Commonwealth Pier in Boston. He was inducted into the Army on August 17, 1918, and initially served in Company 13, 4th Training Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade. In October 1918, he was transferred to the Cantonment Headquarters Detachment. He was made a Corporal on December 5. James was discharged from Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, on March 14, 1919.
On October 10, 1920, James married Bertha V. Batts, a brush factory worker. They were married by Father William B. Whalen of St. Monica’s Church on Dorchester Street in South Boston. The couple had three children: Bertha born in 1921, James in 1926, and Donald in 1928. Initially, James and Bertha lived with his parents, who, by 1920, were living at 66 Romsey Street. In 1923, James and Bertha moved to 3 Pearl Street, then the next year to 15 Sumner Street. James worked for the family business.
In 1923, James, Sr. and Angelina moved to 91 Stoughton Street, where they remained until 1927, when they returned to South Boston, purchasing 1726 Columbia Road. In 1927, Beatrice married Thomas F. Keating. Thomas, who had also grown up in South Boston, was a salesman at a wholesale leather company and a World War I veteran. Later, Thomas was active in Boston politics. In July 1927, James, Sr. died. In 1930, Beatrice and Thomas were living at 1726 Columbia Road. Angelina, the owner of the building, lived in another unit. James and his family were next door at number 1724.
James died on December 19, 1936. According to an article in the BostonGlobe, an employee found him on the floor of his office. The family physician pronounced him dead, telling reporters that James suffered from heart attacks and had probably died of one. A solemn high mass of requiem was celebrated for him at South Boston’s Gate of Heaven Church and he was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Roslindale. He was given full military honors at his funeral.
In 1940, Beatrice, Thomas, and Angelia still lived at 1726 Columbia Road. It appears the I-Car-De mayonnaise factory closed in 1944. By 1954, Beatrice and Thomas were listed in the Boston Directory living at 1728 Columbia Road. Angelina died in 1956. In the early 1960s, Beatrice and Thomas moved to an apartment at 1800 Columbia Road. Thomas died in 1981.
Beatrice died on January 18, 1984. Her funeral mass was held at St. Brigid Church in South Boston.
Sources
Birth, marriage, death records: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society; Ancestry.com.
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Boston directory, various years; Ancestry.com
Family trees; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1930, 1940 United States Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Frank Aicardi Missing,” Boston Post, 6 May 1902:2; Newspapers.com
“Frank Aicardi Missing,” Boston Globe, 20 May 1902: 14; Newspapers.com.
“South Boston,” Boston Globe, 9 Nov 1905: 20; Newspapers.com
Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of Boston 1904, Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1904: 210; Archive.org
Documents of the School Committee of the City of Boston for the Year 1907. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1907: 71; Archive.org
Taylor, Earl. “Dorchester Illustration 2263 I-CAR-DE Mayonnaise,” Dorchester Historical Society blog, 21 August 2016; DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“World War I era Yeomen (F),” Naval History and Heritage Command,
Patch, Nathaniel. “The Story of the Female Yeomen during the First World War,” Prologue Magazine, Fall 2006, Vol. 38, No. 3, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
“World War I Yeowomen at the Charlestown Navy Yard,” National Park Service Boston, US Department of the Interior, last updated 12 June 2017; NPS.gov
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Marriage Record, “Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” Massachusetts State Archives; FamilySearch.org
Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages [1916–1970]. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
“James A. Aicardi Sr of South Boston Dead,” Boston Globe, 22 July 1927: 3; Newspapers.com
“James Aicardi Dies Suddenly,” Boston Globe, 19 December 1936: 2; Newspapers.com
“Military Funeral For James Aicardi,” Boston Globe, 22 Dec 1936: 7; Newspapers.com
“Mrs. Angelina Aicardi,” Boston Globe, 8 March 1956: 13; Newspapers.com
“Thomas Keating, 83,” Boston Globe, 1 December 1981: 24; Newspapers.com
Death notices, Boston Globe, 21 Jan 1984: 31; Newspapers.com
Samuel Adler was born at the Boston Lying-In Hospital at 24 McLean Street, Boston, on June 13, 1901. His parents, Joseph and Natalie (Nollman) Adler were from Russia. According to family sources, Nellie was from Kamnetz-Podolsk (today’s Ukraine). Their eldest son, Morris, was born in 1899, in Austria. Joseph, Nellie, and Morris immigrated to the United States around 1900. Samuel had four younger siblings: Harry born in 1902; Wolf, who also went by William, in 1905; Goodman, also known as George, in 1907; and Edith in 1909. At the time of Samuel’s birth, the Adlers lived at 22 Hale Street in the West End. By 1908, they had moved a few blocks to 5 Parkman Street.
Joseph was a carpenter and a member of the Carpenters’ Union 954. He died on the job in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1908, while working on 175-183 Winnisimmet Street. The building had been largely destroyed in the recent Great Chelsea Fire, with only one wall remaining. When openings were cut in the bottom of the wall for new floor girders, the wall collapsed, killing Joseph along with seven others. In one of the Boston Globe articles about the accident it was noted, “The families of the unfortunate men are left in very straitened circumstances, and it is the intention of the unions of which the men were members to formulate plans for their relief and aid at once.”
After Joseph’s death, the Adler family was separated. By 1910, Samuel and Morris were living with a foster family, the Tannenbans, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their foster father was a baker and one of their three foster siblings, 16-year-old Clara, was a spinner at the silk mill. Samuel’s younger brothers, Harry and Goodman, were sent to live with a family in Westford, Massachusetts. Youngest sibling Edith, who was born after her father’s death, was also taken in by a family in Westford.
Samuel attended school through the seventh grade. In 1916, his mother Nellie died of pulmonary tuberculosis. That year, Samuel appeared in the Boston directory residing at 45 McLean Street. He enrolled in the Navy the next year, on March 24, 1917. At that time, he reported his address as 23 Lorne Street in Dorchester, the home of his uncle David Nollman, a junk peddler, with a wife, Ida, and their four children.
Samuel joined the Navy before the United States declared war on Germany on April 16, 1917. He possibly lied about his age, as his military records give his birth date as June 13, 1898. He enrolled at the Boston Navy Yard (now known as the Charlestown Navy Yard) and was initially stationed on the USS Virginia. On May 29, 1917, he was sent to a receiving ship in Boston to await transfer. On August 9, he was assigned to the USS Michigan for one day, then transferred to the USS Illinois where he remained until September 21, 1917. According to his service record, he was next stationed on the USS Antigone on September 21, 1918, though the year is possibly a typo. He remained on the Antigone until the Armistice, November 11, 1918. He was placed on inactive duty on September 8, 1919, and discharged on March 23, 1921, having attained a rank of Fireman 2nd Class.
In 1920, Samuel and his brother Harry were living in the household of their uncle David Nollman at 23 Lorne Street. Wolf lived with another Nollman uncle, Hyman, at 38 Floyd Street, while Goodman was a ward of the Home for Destitute Jewish Children on Harvard Street in Dorchester. Morris appears to have been an inmate in the Suffolk County Jail.
On December 25, 1921, Samuel wed Matilda Bennett in Chelsea. They were married by Rabbi Meyer Rabinowitz. Matilda, known as Tillie, was a bookkeeper. Samuel and Matilda had two sons, Edward and Norman.
Initially, Samuel and Matilda lived with her parents, Simon, a real estate broker, and Henrietta, at 16 Murray Street in Chelsea. In 1932, they moved to Malden, where they made their home first at 155 Linden Avenue, and then, by 1935, at 42 Starbird Street. Around 1960, they moved to 39 Glenrock Avenue, Malden. At the time of his marriage, Samuel was a butcher. He later had his own grocery business, the Oak Grove Market of 5A Grove Street, Malden.
Samuel died on February 19, 1966. Services were held for him at Malden’s Temple Tifereth Israel and a memorial week was observed at his late residence. Samuel was buried in the Lebanon Tiferth Israel Cemetery in Peabody. He was a member of the Everett C. Benton Masonic Lodge in Chelsea.
“Eight Dead, 13 Injured,” Boston Globe, 26 August 1908: 1; Newspapers.com
“Three Victims Buried,” Boston Globe, 26 August 1908: 7; Newspapers.com
“Search Abandoned,” Boston Globe, 27 August 1908: 4; Newspapers.com
1910, 1920, 1930 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
US Veterans Administration Master Index, Military Service, NARA microfilm publication, Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985; FamilySearch.org
Marriage Record, Chelsea, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston, MA; FamilySearch.org
Boston, Chelsea, Malden directories, various years; Ancestry.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Deaths, Boston Globe, 20 Feb 1966: 66; Newspapers.com
Samuel Adler, FindAGrave.com
Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards 1733–1990. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Julius David Adler was born in Sudylkiv, Russia (today’s Ukraine). He used different birth dates over his lifetime, sometimes giving December 13, 1891; others December 13, 1893; or December 18, 1893. His parents were Samuel and Bertha (Shefert) Adler.
Julius sailed from Bremen, Germany, on the Prince Frederick Wilhelm in June 1910, arriving in New York City on June 21, and travelling to Massachusetts the next day. Julius began the naturalization process in September 1912, when he declared his intention to become an American citizen. His 1915 petition for citizenship was witnessed by his cousin Harry D. Goldstein, a tailor, of East Boston and Julius Sawyer, a salesman living in Dorchester. On the petition, Julius renounced any allegiance to Nicholas, Emperor of all the Russias. On that document, his birthplace was given as Wolyn, Russia, (today’s Poland). The petition was dismissed in December 1919 due to “Lack of Knowledge of Government,” perhaps referring to the still uncertain Russian political situation following the 1917 revolution.
In 1912, Julius resided at 228 Havre Street in East Boston. He had moved to 622 Massachusetts Avenue in the South End by 1915. In 1917, Julius lived in Dorchester at 214 Norwell Street. He ran a grocery and provisions store in Dorchester Center, located at 105 Harvard Street.
On August 2, 1918, Julius was inducted into the Army at Local Board #19. He was sent to Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and assigned to Company 13, 4th Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade for training. On October 9, he was transferred to the Medical Department, 36th Infantry. Julius filed a second petition for citizenship while at Camp Devens, witnessed by Lieutenant Frank E. Smith and Corporal Joseph N. Mongeon of the 4th Battalion, Depot Brigade, National Army, Camp Devens. This time Julius renounced allegiance to “The Present Government of Russia.” On October 29, 1918, Julius was naturalized as an American citizen. He was discharged from the Army in January 1919.
On August 10, 1919, Julius married Sarah Leona Shechet at 6 Smidt Avenue in Peabody, Massachusetts. Sarah, a saleswoman, had also been born in Russia. They were married by Rabbi Judah Walters of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Julius and Sarah had one child, a daughter, Blanche.
In 1920, the Adlers lived at 82 Nightingale Street in Dorchester. Julius then had a grocery at 108 Harvard Street. In 1925, they appeared in the Boston directory both living and working at 108 Harvard Street. The next year, Julius and Sarah moved to Beverly, Massachusetts, where Julius was a meat cutter at 14 Cabot Street; they resided at 19 Bennett Street. In 1929, he was a manager at 105 North Street in Salem, Massachusetts. The Adlers appeared in the 1930 census living at 8 Jacobs Street in Peabody, which they rented for $40 a month. Julius was a clerk at a grocery company. In 1931, they moved to 95 Main Street, Peabody.
Julius appears to have died by 1932, when Sarah begins to appear in the Peabody directory as his widow. It is possible he was the Julius D. Adler who died on April 13, 1931, and buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Peabody. Sarah died in 1979 and was buried in the Independent Workmen’s Circle Cemetery in Peabody.
Sources
Immigration records, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C and National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” Military Service, NARA microfilm publication (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985); FamilySearch.org
“Marriage Intentions,” Boston Globe, 5 August 1919:2; Newspapers.com
Marriage Record, Peabody, Essex, Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston, MA; FamilySearch.org
1930 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com
Boston, Peabody directories, various years; Ancestry.com
George Walter Adlard was born on April 16, 1894, in Brooklyn, New York, to Charlotte M. (Geezer), known as Lotte, and Walter Adlard. Lotte and Walter were born in Brooklyn and were married in 1886 in New York. Walter worked in the insurance industry, eventually serving as the vice president and secretary of the Massachusetts Fire and Marine Insurance Company. They had five other children: Florence born in 1887, Leroy in 1890, Edward Livingstone in 1899, Frederick in 1904, and Adele in 1907.
By 1899, the Adlards had moved to Dorchester, where they lived at 14 Bird Street. By 1909, they had moved a short distance to 490 Columbia Road. That year, Florence married; her wedding was held in the family home and George served as an usher. The family employed a live-in servant at both 14 Bird Street and 409 Columbia Road, according to the 1900 and 1910 censuses. In 1910, the household also included a lodger, Richard Luscombe, a drugstore clerk. George graduated from Dorchester’s Edward Everett School in 1910. He then attended Dorchester High School, where he served in Company D of the Dorchester High School Regiment. By 1917, the Adlards had moved to 29 Virginia Street. At that time, George was an insurance clerk.
George enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Boston Navy Yard on June 1, 1917, a couple of days before he registered for the First World War draft. On June 9, he was sent to the Receiving Ship in Boston. From December 8, 1917, until February 25, 1918, he was at the Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He then returned to the Boston Receiving Ship, where he remained until March 12. He was stationed at the Naval Detention Training Camp on Deer Island in Boston Harbor until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. George served as an Oiler for 304 days before being promoted to a Machinist Mate 2nd class, his rank for 224 days. On January 11, 1919, he was placed on inactive duty at the Detention Training Camp on Deer Island as a Machinist Mate 1st class. George was honorably discharged on May 31, 1921.
In 1920, George was again living with his family at 29 Virginia Street, employed as a clerk in a cigar store. LeRoy and Edward were working in insurance; Frederick was a helper in a plumber shop; Adele was still attending school. The lodger who had been living with the family in 1910 at 490 Columbia Road, Richard Luscombe, had moved with them to 29 Virginia Street and was still part of the household. By 1923, George, too, was working in the insurance industry. He remained in insurance for the rest of his career. As a young man, George frequently participated in amateur theatricals. He performed in a number of Masonic Minstrel shows, was a featured performer in the Dorchester Women’s Club’s production “Fifi of the Toy Shop,” and also performed with the Insurance Society of Massachusetts.
On September 5, 1925, George married Edna Felecia Ferguson in Roxbury. Edna, a clerk, was a Roxbury resident. They were married by Reverend G.S. Macaulay of the Presbyterian Church of Roxbury. By 1927, the couple was living at 38 Orkney Road in Brighton. In the early 1930s, George and Edna lived in homes in Newton, Massachusetts, residing at 32 Taft Avenue in 1930, 140 Carleton Street in 1932, and 105 Morton Street in 1934. In 1937, they purchased 6 Vane Street in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a home which was valued at $7,800 in 1940. In 1942, George reported on his World War II draft registration that he was self-employed, working at 120 Milk Street in Boston. By 1955, George and Edna had a home in Sarasota, Florida, and Edna worked as a saleswoman and instructor at Sarasota’s Spinning Wheel yarn shop.
George died on November 14, 1973, in Sarasota, Florida. He was buried in the Sarasota Memorial Park. When Edna died in 1979, she was buried beside him.
Sources
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Many Brides Led to Altar,” Boston Globe, 3 June 1909: 13; Newspapers.com
“7911 Diplomas in Boston Schools,” Boston Globe, 23 June 1910: 5; Newspapers.com
“Field Day of Their Own,” Boston Globe, 15 November 1913: 3; Newspapers.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“Roxbury District,” Boston Globe, 18 Sept 1924: 14; Newspapers.com
“Dorchester Masonic Lodge Minstrels and Dancing Party,” Boston Globe, 11 April 1916: 6; Newspapers.com
Paula Patterson, “Social Events of the Week,” Boston Post, 17 Oct 1920: 101; Newspapers.com
“Insurance Men Present ‘The High Spots of 1921,’” Boston Globe, 2 April 1921: 12; Newspapers.com
“Insurance Society of Mass to Give ‘The Centennial Revue,’” Boston Globe, 29 April 1922: 8; Newspapers.com
Directories: Boston, Newton, and Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Sarasota, Florida, various years; Ancestry.com
“Deeds,” Boston Globe, 30 October 1937: 19; Newspapers.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998; Ancestry.com
Samuel Maurice Adesska a/k/a Samuel Allen upper left
Samuel Maurice Adesska
World War I Veteran
By Camille Arbogst
Samuel Maurice Adesska, known as Sam or Sammy, was the child of Maurice and Fanny (Shore) Adesska. He was probably born in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russia (today Chisinau, Moldova), though he sometimes reported that his birthplace was Odessa. He used a number of birthdates, most often March 1, 1894 or 1897. Maurice and Fanny had four older children: Philip born in 1883, Jacob, known as Jack, in 1886; Florence in 1888; and Israel in 1892.
The Adesskas immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. According to Sam’s citizenship record, they sailed from Liverpool, England, on a White Star Line ship, arriving in Boston on August 15, 1904. In 1909, Sam graduated from the Wendell Phillips School on the north slope of Beacon Hill. The next year, the census recorded the Adesskas living not far from the school, at 78 Phillips Street; Maurice had died by this time. In 1912, Sam, his mother, and Florence appeared in the Beverly, Massachusetts directory, residing at 128 Water Street. Florence, a candy dipper, was active with the labor movement. She studied at the Women’s Trade Union League’s Training School for Women Organizers in Chicago, was a Boston Union Workers’ Credit Union board member, and frequently spoke at labor rallies. The Adesskas returned to Beacon Hill in 1913, living at 14 Irving Street. A year later, they moved to the other side of Cambridge Street, to 39 Chambers Street. By 1916, the Adesskas had relocated to 243 Woodrow Avenue in Dorchester.
Sam was employed in 1910, working as a shoe factory office boy. By 1917, he was a self-employed traveling salesman, working out of Cleveland, Ohio. On May 26, 1917, he married a Cleveland woman, Estelle Wallenstein.
Sam enlisted in the Regular Army at Fort Slocum, New York, on December 14, 1917, giving his address as 46 Harwood Street, Dorchester, his brother Jacob’s home. He was initially sent to the United States Aviation School at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.On March 12, 1918, he was assigned to the 401st Aero Construction Squadron, Air Service, Signal Corps; later he was transferred to the 409th Aero Construction Squadron. Both units were stationed at Vancouver Barracks, Washington. On June 11, he was transferred again, this time to the 24th Spruce Squadron, 2nd Provisional Regiment, Spruce Production Department, Bureau of Aircraft Production Cut-up Plant at Vancouver, Washington. According to a history written for the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, “The Spruce Production Division (SPD) was a hybrid military/industrial organization that provided special lumber for manufacturing military aircraft … Soldiers attached to the SPD were stationed in lumber mills and logging camps throughout western Oregon and Washington.”On August 18, 1918, Sam was naturalized as an American citizen. Five days later, he was transferred to the 105th Spruce Squadron, based in Portland, Oregon. On September 9, he was promoted to corporal; a month later he was made a sergeant. He was discharged on December 19, 1918.
Sam appeared on the 1920 census as a dealer of dental supplies living with his mother and sister at 337 Charles Street, Boston. Estelle and Sam appear to have divorced in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1920s. During the decade Sam began using the last name Allen; he legally changed his surname on January 14, 1929, in Los Angeles, California.
On February 3, 1927, Sam boarded the S.S. Maui in San Francisco, California, and sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii. In Honolulu he was frequently in the public eye as a promoter, first hyping a carnival for the local Order of Foresters, then a circus for the Elks. He regularly traveled back to San Francisco, ostensibly to book acts for the events. After one trip to the mainland, he returned to the east coast, marrying Dorothy Adams in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 17, 1927. She returned with him to Hawaii in October.
In February 1928, Sam was involved in a headline-grabbing crime: a wealthy tourist was swindled out of $140,000. After the theft, Sam had served as a middle man, negotiating the return of half the money if the victim agreed to not press charges. An agreement was reached, but Sam was unable to deliver the cash due to police surveillance, and the deal fell apart. Sam was charged with first degree conspiracy to obstruct justice, one of a handful indicted in the case. At the same time, he faced a separate charge, accused of committing “larceny, embezzlement and gross cheat” at the Elks’ carnival, newspapers reporting “the lodge is out about $20,000 as the result of the venture.”
The conspiracy trial was held in May. Sam was described as “the most dapper of the three male defendants. … he arrived in court dressed in light colored trousers, grey sports coat, striped shirt, black and white shoes and a ‘polka dot’ tie. … ‘My home is where I hang my hat but my address is Boston,’ he informed the court.” Sam, along with the other defendants, was acquitted. He left Honolulu the day after the verdict was returned.
In 1930, while on a trans-Atlantic voyage, Sam met Frank Behrle, a New Jersey interior designer. The two became friendly enough to travel together after reaching Europe, visiting Hamburg and Berlin. Later, “seemingly by accident” they found themselves at the same Munich hotel, where they shared a suite. While together, Sam found a wallet containing $100 and information about a stock transaction. The pair returned the wallet to its owner, Mr. Thompson; grateful, he offered them $100, which Sam declined. In April, the trio met again in London at the Charing Cross Hotel, where Thompson told them about an upcoming stock deal. Sam and Behrle decided to buy in and Sam went to the exchange to purchase the shares. When he returned, he told Thompson and Frank that they had earned £50,000, but good faith money was required to cash in. Behrle gave them £15,000 towards the necessary funds, according to news reports.It was all a ruse: the wallet had been planted; Thompson was Sam’s associate; the stock tips were fantasy; Behrle’s good faith money was the objective of the crime. Sam returned to the United States in May 1930, a first-class passenger on the Holland America Line’s S.S. Statendam.
In 1933, he turned up in Denver, Colorado, promoting a circus and “winning the confidence of Denver business and fraternal leaders who claimed he took from them a considerable sum of cash.” Sam also romanced Iva Lillian Watkins of Paducah, Kentucky. On January 17, she took poison, ending her life. In her suicide note she urged Sam to “Try to be good.” Sam was arrested on February 27. According to the arresting officer, Sam “admitted he had three wives.”
Newspaper coverage reported that Sam belonged to an “organized gang of international swindlers” led by Richard Elbert Golden, the mastermind behind the Hawaii fraud, known as the “Butter Kid.” The gang paid Sam $15,000 to find a victim for the con, the proceeds of which were to be shared amongst its members. But Sam double-crossed his colleagues, keeping $40,000 for himself. Discovering this, the gang tipped off the police as to Sam’s whereabouts, leading to his arrest.
Frank traveled to Denver to identify Sam. “Hello, Behrle,” Sam said upon seeing his one-time mark. “I’m sorry it had to be you. It’s all in a lifetime.” After extradition to England, Sam was sentenced to three years penal servitude with a recommendation for deportation. He served 27 months. Returning to the United States in August 1935, his last permanent residence was recorded as the Isle of Wight, suggesting he may have been jailed at one of the prisons on the island.
In 1936, Frank sought damages in civil court. Taken into custody on the civil arrest order, Sam was held on $30,000 bail. He “sought his release citing Section 846 of the Civil Practice Act, which … states that a defendant should be released at the court’s discretion if it can be shown that a plaintiff delays enforcement of his civil remedies for the purpose of effecting ‘extended imprisonment.’” A judge denied Sam’s request, ruling that “a criminal must not only satisfy the obligations of society but also those of the individual particularly aggrieved.” Frank was awarded $108,000 in damages. In 1937, in a Federal Court in Newark, New Jersey, Sam was sentenced to two years for “violating the National Stolen Property Act.”
He was possibly the Samuel Maurice Allen who divorced Rosella Allen in Miami, Florida, in 1940. Sam was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1941, where he fleeced a retired chicken farmer, once more using the “lost pocketbook racket.” This time he was sentenced to up to three years in the Lackawanna County Jail and paroled on July 24, 1943. Less than a year later, he was picked up again for swindling, this time in New York. He had posed as a manager of a tire company, collecting $1,700 from an unsuspecting would-be tire purchaser. He was arrested once more on June 30, 1945, the leader of a gang “charged with criminally receiving army woolens valued at $52,000.” When the police raided Sam’s hotel room, they found “1,500,000 red ration points and $25,204 in cash.” They alleged Sam was “responsible for hijacking $500,000 worth of woolens, mostly government owned.” It was Sam’s nineteenth arrest. He pled guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail.
On July 8, 1964, Sam was found in Room 243 of the Riverside Hotel in Reno, Nevada, dead of an accidental barbiturate overdose. According to his death certificate, he was a salesman with the Michael Lawrence Corporation, an Inglewood, California, paint company, living at 512 North La Brea in Los Angeles. The informant on the death certificate, Henriette Allen, may have been another wife. His remains were cremated on July 14 at Reno’s Mountain View Crematory.
Sources:
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts.
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), FamilySearch.org
Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Petitions for Naturalization, 1932–1991. Records of the District Courts of the United States. The National Archives at Seattle, Seattle, Washington; Ancestry.com
“The Girls Outnumber the Boys, 3221 to 2807,” Boston Globe, 24 June 1909:5; Newspapers.com
1910, 1920 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
Boston and Beverly, Massachusetts, directories, various years; Ancestry.com
Jacoby, Robin Miller. “The Women’s Trade Union League Training School for Women Organizers,” Sisterhood and Solidarity: Workers’ Education for Women, 1914-1984. Philadelphia: Temple University: 33; Archive.org
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Banking and Insurance. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Banks for the Year Ending December 31,1934, Part IV Relating to Credit Unions: 41; Archive.org
“Tells of Unsanitary Shops,” Boston Globe, 7 February 1917: 10; Newspapers.com
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1810–1973. Microfilm publication, OH; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Tonsfeld, Ward, principal investigator. The U.S. Army Spruce Production Division at Vancouver Barracks, Washington, 1917-1919. Prepared by East Slope Cultural Services, Inc. for Ft. Vancouver National Historic Site, 1 March 2013.
Maryland State Archives. Baltimore City Circuit Court No 2 (Equity Docket, Index) 1888-1929: 13; MSA.Maryland.gov
Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving or Departing at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1900–1954. NARA Microfilm Publication, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
“Elks Plan for 3-Ring Circus,” Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, HI) 12 Oct 1927: 13; Newspapers.com
Church Registers. Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Ancestry.com
“Kellett Denies Giving $500 Bribe to McIntosh; Proposal to Return $70,000 Bared in Needham Letter,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6 March 1928: 1; Newspapers.com
“Bunco Defendants to Appear for Plea March 13 at 2 P.M.,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6 March 1928: 1; Newspapers.com
“Circus Fraud Charged by Grand Jury,” Honolulu Advertiser, 8 May 1928: 1; Newspapers.com
“Whitey Welsh Seriously Ill at Hospital,” Honolulu Advertiser, 11 March 1928: 1; Newspapers.com
“Davis Called as Witness in Needham Case,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, 14 May 1928: 7; Newspapers.com
“Confiding Mr. Behrle Loses $75,000,” San Francisco Examiner, 13 August 1933: 86; Newspapers.com
Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
“Confidence Trick Charge,” The Times (London, England), 12 May 1933; Gale.com
“Victim Lands Alleged ‘Con’ Man in Chase,” Bradford Evening Star and Daily Record (Bradford, PA), 18 August 1933; Newspapers.com
“Paducah Girl Wrote Suicide Note to Notorious Swindler,” Paducah Sun-Democrat (Paducah, KY), 19 June 1933: 1; Newspapers.com
“£15,000 Obtained by False Pretenses,” The Times (London, England), 24 May 1933; Gale.com
Maloy, Ted H. (U.P.), “Forty Million Yearly is Toll of Bunco Men,” St. Joseph News-Press (St Joseph, MO), 6 October 1935: 12; Newspapers.com
“Presses Civil Charge After Jailing Culprit,” Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan 1937: 3; Newspapers.com
“Jailing for Crime Doesn’t Bar Civil Suits, Court Rules,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 3 January 1937: 19; Newspapers.com
Luigi Anthony Adduci, known as Louis, was born on September 10, 1891, in Amendolara, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, to Guiseppe and Clementina (Mazziottia). His siblings included Vincenzo James (who often went by James) born in 1882, and Emilio Attilio (known as Arthur) in 1899, as well as Carmella (Adduci) Montillo, who immigrated to Argentina.
Louis attended school through the fourth grade, according to the 1940 census. On November 14, 1907, he sailed from Naples, Italy, on the White Star Line’s SS Romanic arriving in Boston on November 27. He joined his brother James, who had already settled in Boston. In 1910, Louis lived with James, James’s wife Theresa, and their son at 258 Harrison Avenue in Boston. Louis and James were grocers. In 1912, Louis started the citizenship process. By 1917, the Adducis had moved to 26 Barry Street in Dorchester. The house was a two-family, and additional Adducis, possibly cousins, lived in the other unit. In June 1917, on his First World War draft registration, Louis reported that he was supporting his mother and father in Italy and claimed exemption from the draft on those grounds.
Louis was inducted into the Army on May 9, 1918. The next day, he was sent to Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. From there, on May 15, he travelled to Fort Ethan Allen, near Burlington, Vermont, where he served in I Troop, 310th Cavalry. In June, Louis became an American citizen. He was promoted to private first class on July 2. On October 15, Louis was transferred to Battery C, 59th Field Artillery. Louis was demobilized at Camp Devens and discharged on January 17, 1919.
After his First World War service, Louis returned to Dorchester, living at 26 Barry Street with James, Theresa, and their five children. The 1920 Boston directory listed Louis at both 26 Barry Street and 52 Elmo Street (today’s Ellington Street). Louis and James were running the Adduci Brothers groceries at 864 Blue Hill Avenue and 260 Broadway. The next year, the directory listed their shop at 254 Broadway. Arthur arrived in Massachusetts in 1921 and joined the household at 26 Barry Street. In 1922, all three brothers opened the Adduci Brothers Market at 226 Bowdoin Street in the Meeting House Hill section of Dorchester. Arthur quickly transitioned to working in the insurance industry; he attended Boston University and had a long career with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
On October 2, 1922, Louis married Rachelina Trocini, in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Rachelina was a recent immigrant, originally from Cassano, all’Ionio, Cosanza, Calabria, Italy. They had three children: Mary Josephine, Clementina Vera, and Louisa.
In 1923, Louis and Rachelina lived at 42 Whitten Street Dorchester. The next year they moved to 56 Stockton Street. In 1926, Louis, Maria, and Clementina visited Italy.
By the end of the decade, James and Louis appear to have split their business interests: James remained at the Bowdoin Street market, while Louis was running a grocery at 710 Broadway in Somerville, Massachusetts. Louis and his family moved to Medford, Massachusetts, where, in 1930, they lived at 97 Bristol Road. Three years later, they were living in Somerville, at 33 Appleton Street, next to the grocery Louis was running at 31 Appleton. By 1940, they had purchased 119 Oakland Avenue in Arlington, Massachusetts. The 1940 census recorded that Louis was unable to work at that time. On his Second World War draft registration in 1942, Louis stated that he was employed at the Arlington Food Market on Park Avenue in Arlington. In the early 1950s, the Boston directory listed him at Arlington’s Summer Street Market.
By 1960, Louis and Rachelina had moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where Louis ran the Mayflower Market near White Horse Beach. Rachelina died on October 19, 1960. In July 1966, Louis’s daughter Mary “received a certificate signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson which honored the memory of Louis A. Adduci for his ‘devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country [sic].’” Adduci served in both World War I and World War II— but was very much alive and well and busy … Adduci was quoted as saying, ‘This winter, when the store is closed, I’m going to Washington and see LBJ at the White House and ask him what’s the big idea.’” At the end of his life, Louis lived at 276 Pearl Street in the Manomet section of Plymouth.
Louis died in Plymouth on March 1, 1975. A funeral mass was held for him at Saint Bonaventure’s Church in Manomet. Louis was buried in Arlington’s Pleasant Cemetery beside Rachelina.
Sources
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com
1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Dorchester Sends 60 Men to Camp Devens,” Boston Globe, 10 May 1918: 2; Newspapers.com
Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts, directories; Ancestry.com
“Arthur Adduci,” Boston Globe, 20 August 1975: 19; Newspapers.com
“New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940,” database, citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, NY, New York City Municipal Archives, NY; FamilySearch.org
“J.V. Adduci, 85,” Boston Globe, 3 May 1968: 26; Newspapers.com
“New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957,” database, citing Immigration, New York, NY, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; FamilySearch.org
United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 19 October 1960: 54; Newspapers.com
“Plymouth— a look back: July 9.” Old Colony Memorial (Plymouth MA) 10 July 2016; WickedLocal.com
Death Notices, Boston Globe, 3 March 1975: 23; Newspapers.com
Guiseppe Louis Adduci, known as Joseph, was born in Cassano all’lonio, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, on April 8, 1888, to Louis and Fortunata or Fortuna (Paterno) Adduci. He had at least two siblings, Frank born in 1882 and Lucia (known as Lucy) in 1886.
Joseph attended school through eighth grade, according to the 1940 census. In June 1900, he sailed from Naples on the Anchor Line’s SS Bolivia, arriving in New York City on July 1 and immediately continuing on to Boston. In 1905, Frank and Lucy joined him in the United States. In 1910, they lived at 346 Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, along with Frank’s wife, Mary. Joseph’s life-long profession was tailor; in 1910 he was working as an operator at a tailor’s shop. Lucy, a tailoress, married in 1913. By 1917, the Adduci siblings had moved to 26 Barry Street in Dorchester. The household had grown to include Lucy’s husband, Guiseppe, as well as Frank’s two young children, Louis and Vincent. The house was a two-family, and additional Adducis, possibly cousins, lived in the other unit. When he registered for the draft in June 1917, Joseph reported that he was a tailor with John Scalpenti of 20 Devonshire Street in Boston and that he supported his mother and disabled sister back in Italy. The next month, he declared his intention to become an American citizen.
On August 29, 1918, Joseph was inducted into the Army. He served as a private in the 22nd Company, 6th Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade. In October 1918, he became an American citizen. Joseph was demobilized at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and discharged on December 4, 1918.
On November 9, 1919, Joseph married Vita Mary Angeramiof 245 Washington Street in Dorchester. Vita had been born in Boston. Joseph and Vita were married by Reverend Pasquale Di Milla at the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii on Florence Street in the New York Streets neighborhood of the South End (today the location of the Ink Block development). Their son, Melvin Joseph Adduci, was born on November 16, 1920.
In 1920, Joseph and Vita were living in Dorchester at 54 Elmo Street (today’s Ellington Street). Joseph was working as a tailor at a clothing manufacturing company. Three years later, they had relocated to 243 Washington Street. In 1928, they moved to 27 Kenberma Road, which they rented for $40 a month. The 1930 census recorded that Joseph was a department store tailor. In 1932, the Adducis lived at 117 Gallivan Boulevard, which they owned and which was valued at $3,700. Joseph was out of work for 12 weeks in 1939, but in 1940 was again employed as a tailor in retail clothing, earning $600 a year. The Aduccis moved a short distance to 1999 Dorchester Avenue in 1941. That February, Joseph reported on his Second World War draft registration that he worked for the Tailored Coat Company, Inc, of 650 Harrison Avenue in Boston. Melvin worked in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Later that year, Melvin joined the Navy, serving through April 1946. According to the Boston directory, in the early 1950s, Joseph was a stitcher at Morse’s, perhaps the Leopold Morse Company, which had stores in Boston and Cambridge and a factory at 217 Friend Street in Boston.
At the end of his life, Joseph lived at 18 Fitch Terrace in Randolph, Massachusetts. Joseph died in Randolph on March 11, 1969. A High Mass of Requiem was celebrated for him at Randolph’s Saint Mary Catholic Church. Joseph was buried in Saint Michael Cemetery on Canterbury Street in Boston. Joseph had been a member of the Thomas J. Roberts Post Number 78 of the American Legion. When Vita died in 1983 she was buried beside him.
Sources
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com
1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Melvin J. Adduci, National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator; Ancestry.com
“Leopold Morse Co. Founded in 1852 Observes 100th Anniversary This Week,” Boston Globe, 8 June 1952: 75; Newspapers.com
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 12 March 1969: 45; Newspapers.com
