WOMAN ENDS LIFE AS SON, 8, SLEEPS - Florence Hill Cuneo Von Puttkamer

This blog has been around since September of 2011.  To date I have published 271 stories about people I considered to be interesting.  One of the first stories I ever wrote for this blog was published September 27, 2011:

https://undereverytombstone.blogspot.com/2011/09/woman-ends-life-as-son-8-sleeps.html

It told the story of Florence Hill who committed suicide while her young son slept in the next room.  This is the only story I have published to date that received a negative comment.  In July of 2012 I received the following comment from someone who purported to be a member of the family:

Going through graveyards and finding the tragic stories and pulling the corresponding newspaper articles-I have them all...can hardly describe the story or tragedy of all of this. I am in the process of writing a book about the real story, and one no family would want to have been part of.

It is now almost ten years later, and to the best of my knowledge the book has not been published.  Therefore I have decided to take another look at the story that I titled "Woman Ends Life as Son, 8, Sleeps" 

Florence B. Hill was born in 1886 in Chicago, Illinois - the only child of George Melvin Hill (1862-1917) and Georgiana Beattie Hill (1862-1932).  George M. Hill was president of the Hill Binding Company, and for years prominent in the book business.

Fourteen year old Florence shows up in the 1900 US Census, living with her parents at 107 Florence Avenue in Chicago (now 2738 N. Dayton Street).  Modern townhouses occupy that spot today.  Her parents were thirty-seven year old George, and thirty-five year old Georgie.  They has been married for sixteen years and had one child.  George was a "Book Publisher," no occupation was listed for Georgiana, and Florence was "At School."

You have all heard the old saying that a "lady" only has her name in the newspapers three times in her life:  when she is born, when she marries, and when she passes away.  This could not be said about Florence Hill when her name was splashed all over the newspapers in January of 1905.  What was her "crime?"  She ran away and got married - to Mr. John Cuneo (1884-1977), son of "fruit dealer" Frank Cuneo (1861-1942) and his wife Amelia (1864-1891).

Here's what the Chicago Tribune had to say about it on January 13, 1905:

'ELOPE? NO,' CRIES GROOM.

John F. Cuneo Returns with Bride and Her Father.

 Young Son of Fruit Dealer Comes Back Under Partial Duress and Declares He is 22 Years Old - Couple will Live at Hotel for a Time - Parent of the Runaway Asserts That Youth Must Shift for Himself Hereafter - May Go To See Him.

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Elopement-(D. Ontloopen, to run away; to leap); a running away; an escape; private or unlicensed departure from a place or station; specifically applied to the running away of a man or woman. married or unmarried, with a lover, in defiance of duty or social restraints.

"Love and ELOPE, as modern ladies do." - Cawthorn. - Century Dictionary.

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"This was not an elopement." declared John F. Cuneo, as he alighted from a train from Pittsburg in the Union depot late yesterday afternoon.  "The newspapers have been exploiting our - our little affair as an elopement, and I tell you it's nothing of the kind.

"We were married Tuesday afternoon by Father O'Meara at the parish residence of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and then we took a train for the east."  Then he added, after a pause: "And now we are back.  It wasn't an elopement."

"But the dictionary-----"

"Hang the dictionary! I tell you we didn't elope."

Bride's Father Is His Escort.

"Just married," the young son of Frank Cuneo, the fruit dealer, came back to Chicago under partial duress, accompanied by his bride, Florence Hill Cuneo, 19 years old, and her father, George M. Hill, president of the Hill Publishing company.  They went at once to the Hill residence, 107 Florence avenue.

After he had disposed of the application of the word "elopement" to his case, young Cuneo went on:

"Then the papers have been making me out to be but 20 years old.  I tell you I'm 22, and old enough to marry if I want to."

The bride had nothing to say, but Mr. Hill interposed:

"No, it wasn't an elopement.  The young people just took it into their heads to get married, so they were married.  That's all.  Mr. Cuneo will not have to worry about his future.  I am in business myself, you know.  They will live at the Auditorium Annex until they begin housekeeping."

Says Son Must "Pay the Piper."

"John is 20 years old." said his father last night.  "If he wasn't, how could I have caused him to be detained by the Pittsburg police?  Detective Bock carried a copy of a birth certificate with him when he went east.

"If they want to live at the annex, they are at liberty to do so, if they can pay the piper.  As far as I am concerned, my son will have to work out his own salvation.  I have been trying to give him a good education at Yale and I had high hopes for him.  Perhaps this will be a good thing for him."

"Now that they are married, I don't like to kick. but I blame Father O'Meara, who married them.  Father O'Meara told me himself this afternoon that my son admitted that I was opposed to the marriage, but he said 'I thought it was a shame to prevent them from marrying; they were such a nice-looking couple.'

Does Not Know Bride.

"I don't know whether I'll see John tonight or not, but if I do we will have a heart to heart talk that perhaps will teach him something.  I have no objection to his wife, because I do not know her."

The couple had not appeared at the Auditorium Annex late last night.

The tale was not over yet.  This is from the Chicago Tribune the next day, January 14, 1905:

CUNEO ELOPEMENT TO GO BEFORE THE ARCHBISHOP

Father of Young Groom Threatens to Have Priest Punished for Performing the Marriage Ceremony.

Although he has forgiven his son, Frank Cuneo, the wealthy wholesale fruit dealer is still vexed with the action of the Rev. J. J. O'Meara of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, who last Tuesday married young Cuneo and Miss Florence Hill.  Mr. Cuneo said yesterday he would take the matter before Archbishop Quigley in an effore to have Father O'Meara reprimanded.

"The boy is married and that's all there is to it." said Mr. Cuneo, "but I'm not through with Father O'Meara.  He has virtually abrogated the canons of the church in being a party to the affair and I an going to see that he is disciplined."

Following are the points upon which Mr. Cuneo bases his contention that the priest should not have performed the ceremony:

1.  The bride was a non-Catholic

2.  Young Cuneo admitted to the priest that his family was opposed to the marriage.

3.  Cuneo family is well known in north side Roman Catholic circles, and if the marriage   had been contemplated and sanctioned in the usual way the fact would have been known    to Father O'Meara.

4.  The hasty nature of the marriage, together with various unusual circumstances connected with it, gave it every aspect of an elopement, which is virtually condemned by the church.

"It is most exasperating," declared Mr. Cuneo.  It is a case of sentiment blinding duty, and I propose to make complaint to Archbishop Quigley."

The young bride and groom are planning a three week honeymoon.  After that, young Cuneo will enter the employ of the Hill Publishing Company.

Things seemed to calm down after the initial uproar.   The 1910 US Census finds the couple living with Florence's parents, George and Georgiana Hill at 4124 Sheridan Road.  Apartments occupy that spot today but in 1910 this portion of Sheridan Road was lined with magnificent mansions.  The household consisted of George Hill and his wife Georgiana, John Cuneo and his wife Florence Hill Cuneo and two servants.  George Hill said he was president of a "Binding Company" but John Cuneo was now "President of a Fruit Company."  Looks like his family was willing to forgive him for the manner in which he married.  Remember, Florence's father said John would "enter the employ of the Hill Publishing Company."

Instead, according to his obituary, in 1907 John Cuneo borrowed $10,000 to start Cuneo Press, which went on to become one of the giants in commercial printing. 

1917 was a tragic year for Florence Hill Cuneo.  First was the fact that her father George Hill died on June 27, 1917.  He was fifty-four-years-old.  Here is his obituary from the Chicago Tribune from June 28, 1917:

and his Death Notice from the same day:

I'm sure that George Hill and his wife had seen advertisements for the new community mausoleum at Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery that had opened in September of 1916.  Perhaps they had even attended a funeral there.  At any rate, Georgiana Hill decided that a private family room at the Rosehill Mausoleum would be an appropriate memorial for her husband and the rest of the family.  Georgiana Hill had her husband interred in the room with his name over the door.  

The other tragedy for Florence Hill was that her divorce from John F. Cuneo was finalized in 1917.  Although everyone had said that their marriage wouldn't last, it actually lasted for twelve years.

John F. Cuneo remarried on June 24, 1930 to Julia Josephine Shepherd (1902-1990). In 1965 his personal fortune was estimated at more than $120 million.  He died in 1977 and is entombed in the largest family mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston:

The 1920 US Census finds the Hill Family (without John Cuneo) living at 966 Edgecomb Place (now 966 W. Cuyler) in Chicago.   

966 W. Cuyler, Chicago

 

Even though he had died in 1917, George Hill was listed on the 1920 Census form.  He is listed as "Head" of Household, his age listed as 55 (he would have been 58) and his occupation as "Manager of a Binding Company."  Georgiana and Florence do not list an occupation.  In addition to the three (!) Hills, there was also a live-in Irish maid.

On November 4, 1925, thirty-nine year old Florence Hill Cuneo married thirty-one year old Curt Von Puttkamer, a wealthy insurance broker.  Their son, Curt Hill Von Puttkamer was born June 19, 1926 in Chicago.    

Unfortunately by 1928 the marriage had fallen apart.  On March 27, 1928 the Associated Press reported:

CHILD IS HELD FOR RANSOM, WIFE SAYS

CHICAGO, March 26 - Mrs. Florence Von Puttkamer, estranged wife od Curt Von Puttkamer, wealthy insurance broker, today charged before Superior Judge Sabath that he husband is holding their 18-month-old son for ransom.

She testified she filed suit for divorce a week ago and that March 18 her husband took the child, Curt Hill Von Puttkamer, from a nurse on the street.  Police and private detectives have sought father and child without success.

Richard Von Puttkamer, father of the missing man, was summoned before Judge Sabath today (and) charged with conspiring to keep the child from its mother.  The mother said that in a conference with him, he told her that if she signed a quit-claim deed to property valued at $200,000 she would be able to see the child in a few minutes.

  

Florence Hill Cuneo and Curt Von Puttkamer were divorced May 21, 1929.  However, they were back in the news on December 31, 1929:

DIVORCE ATTACKED

Curt Von Puttkamer, insurance broker, yesterday filed a petition before Superior Judge Sabath to set aside the divorce decree granted to his former wife, Mrs. Florence Hill Cuneo von Puttkamer, 939 Lake Shore Drive.  The petition charges that the divorce, granted by the judge last May 21, was obtained on perjured testimony.

Mrs. von Puttkamer, former wife of John Cuneo, testified that her husband was continually drunk.  This evidence was supported by Mrs. Georgianna Hill, her mother, and a maid, Cornelia Hughes.  She also declared that Puttkamer had demanded $200,000 for the return of their child, Curt Jr., 2 years old, after kidnaping him.

In his petition Puttkamer declares the charges are false.  He insists that he was never served with a summons in the case or a copy of her pleadings.  He in turn charges his former wife was intoxicated at least twice a week.  the petition characterizes her as being of an aggressive nature and avers that she left her child in the care of servants.  The Puttkamers were married Sept. 15, 1927.

Sometime after her divorce from Curt Von Puttkamer was final, Florence, her mother and son moved to New York.  Perhaps she felt that it would be best for all concerned if she put some distance between her family and her ex-husband. 

Florence's mother, Georgiana Beattie Hill died in New York on September 27, 1932.  She was sixty-seven-years-old.  She was interred in the crypt above her husband in the Hill Family Room of the Rosehill Mausoleum:

Sadly, Florence Hill's story came to an end on September 12, 1935:

WOMAN ENDS LIFE AS SON, 8, SLEEPS

Mrs. Florence Hill, 50, Leaps From Her 5th Av. Apartment After Leaving Note to Boy.

She Had Large Fortune.

Ill, She Writes of ‘Agony’ in Messages – 

Divorced Husband to Fight for Custody of Lad.

Mrs. Florence B. Hill, 50 years old, reputed possessor of a fortune of $1,000,00 and daughter of the late George M. Hill, Chicago publisher, committed suicide early yesterday, the police said, by leaping from her ninth-floor apartment at 1212 Fifth Avenue, near 102nd Street, into a rear court-yard. 

1212 Fifth Avenue, New York City

Notes addressed to Curtis, her 8-year-old son, and to friends indicated that Mr. Hill had been despondent over illness.  The body was found at 5:30 A.M. by Fred Kearns, the building fireman.  An ambulance physician, summoned immediately said the woman had been dead several hours.

The boy, who was to return soon to his class at the Peekskill Military Academy was asleep in the three-room apartment when detectives of the East 104th Street station arrived.  Bewildered at the intrusion, he protested against being awakened.  He was told that his mother had become ill and had been taken to a hospital.

The police found the following note addressed to the boy:  “Oh, Curtis!  I am in such agony I can’t go on.  Please strive on always to be a fine young man, and the only way is to follow your Bible and seek your God.  I know this may seem strange to you, but mother is unable to write and tell you how much I am suffering.  So love and blessing, Mother.”

Another note was addressed to “Dear Anne Murch,” a friend living on the floor below in the same building.  It said:

“Will you take care of Curtis until my cousin, William Himmel, arrives?  There is a bag of jewelry in the silver pitcher in the dining room which is for my Aunt Nellie.  I am in such mental torture I can’t go on.  Much love to you.  Florence.”

Mr. Himmel, notified of his cousin’s death, arrived by plane from Chicago last night and immediately took charge of the funeral arrangements.  He said that burial would be in Rosehill Cemetery, in Chicago.

In other notes Mrs. Hill asked the police to communicate with Mrs. Harold Conover at the Hotel; Croydon and with Mrs. George H. Payne at 145 West Fifty-fifth Street, both friends.

Mrs. Murch was not reached and Mrs. Conover, who had known Mrs. Hill for twenty years, took the boy to her apartment.  She said her friend had passed August with relatives in Chicago and had returned last week.  A few days ago she visited a physician concerning her illness, from which she had been suffering for several months.  Mrs. Conover said Mrs. Hill might have been alarmed by the physician’s diagnosis of her condition.

The silver and boxes yielded more than 200 pieces of jewelry and twenty shares of stock.  Mrs. Conover said she believed the jewelry was worth about $25,000 and that Mrs. Hill had even more valuable jewelry in a safe deposit box.  The jewelry included watches, brooches, eighteen bracelets, fifty-five pairs of earrings, lockets, fifty-eight strings of beads, thirty-one rings and many other articles.

A legal fight over custody of the boy was indicated last night.  Mrs. Conover said she understood that Mr. Himmel was his guardian, but Chicago dispatched reported that Mrs. Hill’s second husband, Curt von Puttkamer, whom she divorced, intended to start legal proceedings to gain custody.

Asked about the likelihood of a suit for guardianship, Mr. Himmel said he knew nothing of Mr. von Puttkamer’s plans.  He would not comment on what action, if any, he contemplated to carry out the guardianship.

Mrs. Conover said her friend had inherited most of her fortune from her mother, who died about two years ago, when mother and daughter were living in Forest Hills.  Mrs. Hill came to this city five years ago.

Mrs. Hill sued Mr. Puttkamer for separate maintenance in 1928, charging he had abducted their son and had attempted to get $25,000 for his return.  Later Mrs. Hill won a divorce on the ground her husband was habitually drunk and she received custody of the boy.

Mr. Puttkamer announced through his attorney in Chicago yesterday that court action would be begun if Mr. Himmel insisted on keeping the boy.  Benjamin Ehrlich, the attorney, said that in addition to a $750,000 trust fund Mrs. Hill had real estate holdings that brought her fortune up to $1,000,000.

The Hill fortune was built up by George M. Hill, who conducted a publishing and advertising concern.  Mr. Himmel, who is the son of the aunt mentioned in the note to Mrs. Murch, is an officer of the White Book House, a Chicago publishing concern.

Mrs. Hill’s first marriage was with John Cuneo, millionaire head of the Cuneo Press.  When she divorced him in 1926 it was reported she received a substantial settlement, according to Chicago dispatches.

New York Times –Sep. 12, 1935

Florence Hill is interred above her parents in the Hill Family Room in the Rosehill Mausoleum.

 

Curt Von Puttkamer gave up trying to gain custody of his son in October of 1935.  He died in 1970 and is buried in the Von Puttkamer family plot in Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois:

Curt Hill Von Puttkamer, Florence Hill's son was adopted and his name changed.  He passed away in 1972.

Florence Hill Cuneo Von Puttkamer, a troubled soul.  May she rest in peace.

BORN AT ROSEHILL CEMETERY - Nick Mayer

I was recently in the Research Room at the Evanston Historical Society (EHS) looking up some information for one of the stories I was writing for this blog.  I easily found what I was looking for and was in no hurry to leave, so I went to the EHS's Subject files and pulled the folder for Rosehill Cemetery.  True, Rosehill Cemetery is not in Evanston, but so many Evanstonians are buried there that the EHS started keeping a file on Rosehill.  There was a lot of interesting information in the folder, but one clipping caught my attention:

The article was from the Reader in 1987 and looked like a perfect story for this blog.  After all I had written many stories about Rosehill, and they were some of the most frequently read stories in this blog.  Many Chicagoans were familiar with the story of the late Helen Sclair, the "Cemetery Lady" who lived at Bohemian National Cemetery but this story seemed to be even better - a man who was born at Rosehill Cemetery and planned to die there.  So, sit back and let's see what we can "dig up" about Nick Mayer, starting with whether or not he was actually born at Rosehill.

Nickolaus Majer, Junior was born October 29, 1915 at 2152 Peterson Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Nickolaus Majer, Senior (1887-1961) and Justine Oklestek (1884-1977).  

Nick's father was born in Bararc, Hungary.  I was unable to verify exactly when he came to the US.  Nick's mother was born in Vienna, Austria and immigrated to the US on August 18, 1911.

Nickolaus Mayer and Justine Oklestek were married in Chicago on November 19, 1912.

Was Nick Mayer, Jr. actually born in Rosehill Cemetery?  Kind of.  In 1910 Nick's father took a job with Rosehill Cemetery and as part of his job he was given a simple frame house that sat next to the Park Addition Section of the cemetery.  That's the part of Rosehill that's along the north side of Peterson Avenue and contains nothing but flush grave markers that are set into the ground.  Nick Mayer was born in this house:

(Note:  While doing the research for this story I found many different spellings of the names.  Nick and his father were originally named "Nickolaus" and the last name was spelled "Majer," "Meier," "Meyer," and "Mayer."  To keep my sanity I will use the American spellings of first names and "Mayer" for the last name unless the source document shows something different.)

Nick Mayer had four siblings:  William (1914-mmmm), Robert O. (1919-1919), Margaret (1921-2012), and Julius Jack (1925-1986).  In the article for the Reader, Nick Mayer talked about the loss of his brother Robert who was born March 8, 1919 and died July 5, 1919.

He related to the interviewer that "Over by the Peterson Avenue fence," his brother lies in a mass grave that was dug with a bulldozer to accommodate victims of an influenza epidemic around 1920.

The 1920 US Census finds the Mayer family still living at 2152 W. Peterson Avenue.  The Head of Household "Nick Mayo" was twenty-four years old, and had been born in Hungary.  He immigrated in 1913 (sic); was a Resident Alien and could both read and write.  His Native Tongue was Hungarian.  He was a "Laborer in a Greenhouse," and his house was rented.  

His wife, "Christina Mayo" was twenty- three years old, and was born in Austria.  She too had immigrated in 1913 (sic) and her Native Tongue was German.  She was also a Resident Alien  and could read and write.  Both Nick and Christina could speak English.

They told the census taker that they had two sons:  Seven year old "William Mayo" and five year old "Nick Mayo."

In the late 1920s, Rosehill decided to tear down the house at 2152 W. Peterson.  Mayer's mother never cared too much for living in Rosehill or for the funerary business. Every time Mayer's mother told somebody what her husband did for a living, they wanted to know if he gave discounts on funerals.

But Mayer told the Reader that he took to life in the graveyard from the start. There were fish to catch, ducks to chase, and plenty of places to hide when he got in trouble, which was often. He romped among the gravestones of Civil War heroes and snuck into the central mausoleum for games of hide-and-seek. He was teased at school, but even that wasn't so bad. 

The 1930 US Census finds the "Nick Meier" family living at 6052 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago.  Not adjacent to the Rosehill grounds, but not too far away either.  Senior citizen housing sits on that spot today.  The family consisted of forty-three year old Nick, forty-four year old Justine, sixteen year old William, fifteen year old Nick, nine year old Margaret, and four year old Julius. 

They rented their apartment for $40.00 per month.  The family had a radio, and now said their native language was "German."  Nick Sr. and Justine both said they were naturalized US citizens (they weren't - she was naturalized in 1944, he was naturalized in 1945). 

Nick Mayer attended Senn High School during the school year.  In the summers he worked at Rosehill.  The first summer he mowed the grass.  In 1934 after graduation from Senn, he went to work for Rosehill full time.  

But it was not just work and the departed that took young Nick Mayer's time.  On September 30, 1936 Nick Mayer married Florence H. Austerlade (1917-1967) of Chicago.  The groom was twenty years old; the bride was nineteen.  After their marriage, they rented an apartment at 5610 N. Western Avenue in Chicago - which is right across the street from the Western Avenue gate of Rosehill.    

5610 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

What was it like at Rosehill during the Great Depression?  Nick reported that sometimes there were as many as 15 funerals a day at Rosehill.  Caskets, mourners and picnickers alike were brought to the cemetery by the train that stopped at Rosehill's entrance.  On Sundays, there were so many visitors that Mayer and his coworkers had to direct traffic.  

Once at the cemetery, visitors could ride a bus along the 25 miles of roads that crisscross Rosehill.  The bus driver sold dandelion wine and cherry liquor on the side.  In the winter visitors could warm themselves by an outside fireplace, and in the summer they could cook on the cemetery barbecue.  A conservatory was filled with mums and gladiolas and a clock made out of flowers rang out the hour.  Chinese pheasants and swans adorned the four ponds.

Working at Rosehill in those days was not an easy job.  Mayer remembered, "All the graves had to be dug by hand back then.  For a 10 AM funeral as many as ten men would start at 4AM to dig the grave."  There were also acres to mow and miles of hallways in the mausoleum to scrub.  During the winter months, most of the workers would spend their days in the mausoleum polishing the marble floors and halls by hand.  Nick Mayer also manned the pump house that used to supply the cemetery with water.  At the height of the Depression, 300 men at thirty-five cents per hour kept Rosehill spic and span.

The Great Depression finally ended but then World War II came on the scene.  Like all good American men, Nick registered for the draft on October 16, 1940:

On May 1, 1941 Nick and his wife left Western Avenue and were living at 5220 N. Damen in Chicago:

5220 N. Damen, Chicago

On June 1, 1942 Nick Mayer enlisted in the US military with the rank of Private.  He was 5' 9" tall and weighed 149 lbs.  After reporting his civilian profession the Army said he was a "semiskilled mechanic and repairmen."  As with all the others who enlisted in World War II, Nick enlisted for the "Duration of the War plus six months."   He reported his time in the military as uneventful and returned to Rosehill after the war was over.

Nick and his wife Florence were blessed with two children:  Leonard N. (b. 1956) and Arlene (b. 1957).  Neither had any interest in following their father into the cemetery business.

Things at Rosehill began to change in the 1950s, not long after Nick Mayer was promoted to Foreman.  The grave diggers had unionized and the resulting high labor costs made it to expensive to have all the extras at Rosehill.  Besides, by the 1950s the number of funerals had dropped off because people were living longer.  Mourners were not coming as often or quit coming at all.  Picnickers abandoned Rosehill for the parks.  "Death," said Nick Mayer, "had become a less congenial business."

Nick Meyer was asked by the Reader reporter which were his favorites among the thousands of monuments at Rosehill.  His answer will not surprise you:

Frances Pearce Stone and her daughter Frances

  and

Lulu E. Fellows

Nick Mayer's father Nick died in 1961; his mother Justine in 1977.  They are both buried in Section 29 in the Park Section of Rosehill Cemetery in an area that is "where the family garden used to be, near the site of their old home":

Nick Mayer experienced tragedy on his own life when his wife Florence died from leukemia in October of 1967 leaving him with two young children to raise.  For a final resting place he bought four plots in Section 16: for Florence, for himself, and for their two children.  Here is her Death Notice from the Chicago Tribune of October 24, 1967:

Nick was too broken up to even attend the funeral.  "The cemetery workers did a nice job because it was for me."  Even though he spent his days nearby, Mayer stayed away from his wife's grave for a long time.

In the 1970s Nick and his two children moved to 8316 Springfield Avenue in Skokie, Illinois so Leonard and Arlene could attend Niles East High School.  

Leonard

Arlene

8316 Springfield Avenue, Skokie, Illinois

Nick Mayer retired from Rosehill Cemetery in 1989 after fifty-five years of faithful service.  His children were grown by this time and he could finally take it easy after so many years of hard work.  Among the retirement activities Nick enjoyed most were his several trips to Hawaii.  

In 1992 Nick moved for the last time - to 6951 W. Dobson Street in Niles, Illinois:

6951 W. Dobson Street, Niles, Illinois

Nick Mayer died May 20, 1993.  He was seventy-seven years old.  Here is his Death Notice from the Chicago Tribune of May 24, 1993:

He was, of course, buried next to his beloved wife in the plot they picked for themselves in Section 16 of Rosehill Cemetery:

The other two graves in the plot were not used by Nick's children - they were instead used for Nick's sister Margaret Wills and her husband Claude.

When asked about the plot Nick and Florence picked for themselves at Rosehill, Nick said, "I picked the spot with my wife.  She is already here."  "They chose the spot," he said. "because it had some height, which they liked."

"I was born here, I might as well die here." says Mayer.

Nick Mayer - born at Rosehill, spent his life at Rosehill, resting at Rosehill.  May he rest in peace.

THE VILLA VENICE - Albert "Papa" Bouche' - Revisited

In May of 2015 I told the story of Albert "Papa" Bouche', the owner and founder of the Villa Venice restaurant and nightclub in Wheeling, Illinois. At that time I was able to find only two side-view photos of Papa Bouche', and included them with my story.  This was very frustrating to me.  I thought that with someone as well-known as Papa Bouche' was to Chicagoans, I should have been able to find lots of photos of him.  Recently I found a dealer of old photographs who had seven different photos of Papa Bouche' and I was so excited I bought them all.  In addition to the photos I have found other items of interest about Papa Bouche' or the Villa Venice itself.  So for this month's submission I have decided to rewrite the 2015 story and add the photos and other materials I have found since then.  But before we start that, let me begin with a very nice full face photo of Albert "Papa" Bouche':

Albert "Papa" Bouche' (1881-1964)

The public television station in Chicago sometimes runs a program called "Chicago Time Machine."  It's sort of like this blog on TV.  The host stands before a spot in Chicagoland today, and the tells you what happened there years ago - along with photos of the way it used to look.  One rainy Sunday afternoon I stumbled on an episode of Chicago Time Machine and I thought, "Now that's my kind of TV show," so I sat down to watch.

After several stories the host stood in front of a chain hotel in Wheeling, Illinois and started to tell the story of the Villa Venice restaurant and nightclub which stood on that spot from its opening in 1924 until it burned to the ground in 1967.  The host said, "The Villa Venice was owned and operated by a character called "Papa" Bouche."  He then went on to talk about the time the "Rat Pack" appeared at the Villa Venice, and  of it's mob connections, all of which happened after Papa Bouche sold the Villa Venice in 1956.   

The Villa Venice was before my time, but my parents used to fondly reminisce about evenings at the Villa Venice - and saved their most effusive praise for Papa Bouche himself, and what a wonderful host he was.  After hearing the Chicago Time Machine refer sneeringly to "a character called Papa Bouche" I decided to see what I could dig up about him and tell his story in this blog.  So sit back and I'll tell you the story of magical nights in Wheeling, Illinois and gondola rides on the Des Plaines River.

When digging into someone's background you usually discover interesting facts about them and this is certainly the case with Papa Bouche.  So many interesting tales surround the life and times of Papa Bouche (many of them pure fiction) that it is difficult to separate the fiction from the true facts, but I will try.  

Albert Bouche was born Abram Laurin on January 13, 1881 (some sources say 1882 - he used both dates) in Celano, Arbuzzo, Italy.  When he applied for a tourist visa to Rio de Janiero, Brazil in 1940 he first said his parents were "Antonio Bouche and Benedetta Leonardi."  This could not be verified so he "revised" his application to say his parents' names were "Antonio and Benedetta Laurini."  We don't know much about any siblings he may have had.  Different sources mention brothers named Hugo, Augusto and Guido Laurini and one (possibly two) sisters. 

Abram Laurin came to the United States from Italy for the first time on August 29, 1901 a the age of twenty.   We don't know how long he stayed in the US on this trip, but we do know that he came back to the US on July 30, 1906.  At that time he reported his name as "Abramo Laurini" and his occupation as "Cook."  He was coming to live with his brother Augusto who lived at 1091 East 182nd Street in New York City.  Abramo said that he had been in the US once before - for a "Job" in 1901.

Interestingly his obituary in the Fort Lauderdale News said:

Bouche was born in Nice, France.  His father was French and his mother was Italian.  He came to the United States in 1920, working as an interpreter in five languages." 

Sometime after his arrival in the US in 1906, Abram Laurin changed his name to Albert Bouche'. History does not record why Abram changed his name, but he may have thought that the more exotic name of Albert Bouche' sounded better for a restaurateur.  After all, "bouche" is the French word for "mouth," so what better name for a restauranteur?  The newly named Albert Bouche settled in Rochester, New York, and the story is that he became not a restaurateur, but a policeman for the City of Rochester. (Note: Through the years Albert spelled his last name sometimes as "Bouche' " with the accent over the last "e", and sometimes as just "Bouche" without the accent.  For ease of typing, for the remainder of this story I will not use the accent unless the primary source uses it.)  Newspapers said his last name was pronounced "boo-shay." 

Papa Bouche was interviewed many times over the years and his reminiscences often varied from telling to telling.  In a 1959 interview he said that "I opened my first nightclub in Rochester, N.Y. in 1907."  I was not able to find any evidence of this.

There is no record of either Abram Laurin or Albert Bouche on the 1910 US Census but it was about that time that Albert made two life-altering decisions:  he got married, and he moved to Chicago.

For his bride he chose Flora Marseilles - a divorcee with a young daughter.  We'll let the new Mrs. Bouche tell the story in her own words:

"My maiden name was Flora Marseilles," she said.  "I met my first husband (Joseph) DeRepentigny, while I was attending the Notre Dame Convent in Montreal.  He forced my to elope with him to Rochester, New York, where the child (Marguerite Carmen DeRepentigny) was born. Subsequently Albert Bouche, who was then a policeman in Rochester came into my life.  I married him, and we moved to Chicago."

In fact, the first two times the name "Albert Bouche" was in the Chicago newspapers it had to do with his wife and step-daughter.  On September 3, 1912 the Chicago Tribune reported that a man named Joseph Milora tried to commit suicide because Flora would not leave Albert and marry him.

One year later on September 13, 1913 their names were in the Tribune again.  This time, Joseph DeRepentigny tried to kidnap ten year old Marguerite as she left Holy Name Cathedral Academy in Chicago. Luckily there were witnesses around, and within a short time DeRepentigny and his accomplice were captured and the girl (whom the Tribune called Marguerite Bouche) was reunited with her mother and step-father, who the Tribune called "a good French cook."

The Tribune did report that Albert Bouche was the proprietor of the Cafe Belvidere at 868 N. Clark at Chestnut Streets.  A parking lot occupies that space today.

In 1915 it was reported that Albert Bouche had donated $27.50 to the fund established for survivors of the Eastland tragedy.

The next time Albert Bouche's name was in the Chicago Tribune was on January 15, 1917, when the newspaper was reporting Bouche's arrest for refusing to observe Chicago's "Sunday Closing Rule" where restaurants could not serve liquor on Sundays.  There was a new police chief in town named Herman Schuettler and he was determined to enforce the "no liquor sold on Sunday" law.  On January 14, 1917, using eight teams of one policeman and one policewoman, Schuettler managed to close twenty-two "saloons, cafes and restaurants" and arrest their owners, bartenders, and sometimes even their waiters. Albert Bouche was among this unlucky group.  There was no further publicity about his arrest, so Bouche probably paid the fine and that was it.

On April 19, 1917 Abram Laurin, aka Albert Bouche applied for US citizenship - and was rejected - probably due to his police record.  In fact, Albert Bouche did not become a naturalized US citizen until 1926.  

On May 27, 1917 the Chicago Tribune announced that Albert Bouche was opening a new "summer restaurant" at Clark and Lawrence in Chicago at the site of the old Rainbo Gardens.  He called it the Moulin Rouge Gardens in remembrance of the time he worked as a chef (he said) at the Moulin Rouge in Paris.  Albert Bouche sold the Moulin Rouge Gardens in 1921 in preparation for bigger ventures.

First off, he bought a parcel of land on the Des Plaines River in Wheeling and built a roadhouse he named "The House That Jack Built."  It was on Milwaukee Avenue where it crosses the river.

The House That Jack Built - Wheeling, Illinois

Then he sold the Moulin Rouge summer restaurant and instead opened the Moulin Rouge all-year-round restaurant at 416 S. Wabash in Chicago.  416 S. Wabash is also a parking lot today.

Like everyone else, Papa Bouche caught "King Tut Fever" after the tomb of the famous boy-king was discovered.  This is from the Chicago Tribune of March 7, 1923:

Do we think there is anyone left (other than Steve Martin) who can perform the Tut Ankh Amen dance???

The Real Estate page of the Chicago Tribune of April 6, 1924 carried the following item:

The 1920s were good for people, and good for Albert Bouche.  People had a lot of money to spend and they liked to go out to dinner or even better, dinner and a show.  Albert Bouche already knew that "if you build it, they will come."  The Chicago Daily Tribune from June 12, 1924 announced the upcoming opening of the Villa Venice:

From the very beginning, Albert Bouche strove to make an evening at the Villa Venice an "event." He spared no expense on the exterior and interior of the restaurant and also on the shows he produced. 

He wanted the time spent at the Villa Venice to be "magical," and it was, but it was more than that. According to people I have talked to, Papa Bouche had the talent of making everyone feel that he was doing all this just for them.  He was a gracious host, greeting every guest by name if possible and went out of his way to make their evening one they would talk about for years to come. 

In the summer of 1925, Albert Bouche the showman had an idea - there were gondolas in Venice, why not gondolas at the Villa Venice? Here's the announcement from July 25, 1925:

Yes, you could actually take a gondola ride on the Des Plaines River - complete with singing gondoliers.  The gondolas Albert Bouche bought were original antique Venetian gondolas - he had to get permission from the Italian government to take them out of Italy.  Here's a view of the gondolas in the Des Plaines River and their launching point from the Villa Venice:

In 1927 Papa Bouche was looking for a combination emcee-comic for the Villa Venice.  A struggling young comic named Bob Hope auditioned for the job.  "Sorry, you won't do, but have a steak on me," Bouche recalled.      

But the Villa Venice was not the only one of Papa Bouche's ventures in the 1920s.  Sick of Prohibition, in May of 1920 he announced he was opening a new restaurant in Montreal, Canada in the Wilder Building called "The Blue Bird Cafe."

Here is a photo of the Wilder Building before its 2017 renovation:

The Wilder Building, Montreal

In 1929 Papa Bouche decided to try warmer climes for his next restaurant:  The Hotel Antilla Restaurant and Supper Club in Coral Gables, Florida:

(Note:  I live in Wheeling - I have never heard of it referred to as "Near Lake Forest, Ill."  I think I will start to give my address as "Near Lake Forest, Ill.")

PS - the Villa Venice was nowhere near Lake Forest, Illinois.

Bouche related years later that he was proud of the fact that his restaurant was the only place in the area where diners had to wear formal dress to be admitted.

Reviews for the food and entertainment at the Antilla Hotel were very good, so in the early 1930s, Albert Bouche decided to open another Florida venue.  This time he opened a second Villa Venice in Miami Beach, Florida, in the former Ocean Drive Casino.  Here's the announcement of the opening from January 12, 1930:

Here's a program from the Villa Venice in Illinois from 1933.  It will give you a good idea of what a night at Papa Bouche's meant:

Three shows each night - the first at nine, the second at midnight and the third at 2:45 a.m.!  And the midnight show was different from the other two and you were invited to stay!  Boy, those days are gone forever...

Here are color photos of two of the dining rooms at the Villa Venice:

Papa Bouche may have let Bob Hope slip through his fingers, but not so with noted fan dancer Sally Rand, who he hired in the early 1930s to perform her exotic dance at the Villa Venice.

Here is a full page ad for the Villa Venice from the Chicago Sunday Tribune of July 22, 1934:

You can't tell from the picture above, but this was the first full-page color ad ever run in the Chicago Tribune.  The color ad cost Bouche $4,000.00 ($77,891.00 in today's dollars).

Papa Bouche's restaurants may have been very successful, but his marriage was not.  He had married Flora back in about 1910 in Rochester, New York when he was a policeman.  Now he was a noted restaurateur and showman with nightclubs and restaurants around the US and into Canada.  During those days, Papa Bouche was either working or traveling.  He was constantly back and forth to Florida to New York to Chicago to keep an eye on things, and then off to Europe, Cuba or South America hunting for new talent and new ideas for his shows. Albert and Flora's marriage was essentially over by the late 1920s, although Flora was still calling herself "Mrs. Albert Bouche" as late as 1934.  I could not find any record of a divorce, but Flora seems to disappear after the mid-1930s.

Starting about 1930, Albert picked up an interesting travelling companion.  Her name was Edna Olts (1898-1984) and she accompanied Albert on all of his overseas trips.  By the 1940s she had even moved into the Villa Venice and was openly living with Albert.  In fact, as late as 1947, travel documents were referring to her as "Edna Olts known as Edna Bouche."  They must have finally married in 1948 because it was reported that the IRS audited Bouche's return for 1946 and 1947 and "the returns of Bouche and his wife Edna" for 1948, 1949 and 1950.

As I mentioned at the beginning, when I originally wrote this article  I thought that for someone in the limelight like Papa Bouche that there would be hundreds of photos of him in existence.  the truth was, in all my research I was only able to find two - and neither one is a head-on shot.  The first one is from June of 1948 where Papa Bouche is in New York looking for 25 girls to add to his show.  It seems he had gone through all the pretty girls in Chicago:

Here's one where he's a little more "formal", and the girls are a little less...a little less...well - a little less!:

Here are the additional photos of Papa Bouche I was able to obtain, with captions (if any)

Papa Bouche with Tamar Belamy, Connie Reed and Doris Africk

The Continental Artists now appearing in Bouche's European Music Hall Revue at the Villa Venice

Papa Bouche always took great interest in the acts appearing at his clubs.  After all, his name was over the door. 

It was during this period that Papa Bouche earned the title 

"The Ziegfeld of Floor Shows"

As time went on, Albert Bouche put more time (and money) into his Florida operations.  Here is the announcement from February 2, 1933 that he had just purchased the DeSoto Hotel in Miami Beach:

The Tudor Hotel, formerly the Hotel De Soto, Miami Beach

Albert Bouche ran his Villa Venice night clubs on a seasonal basis during the 1930s.  December-April he would be in Miami Beach, and then June-September he would be in Chicago.  The seasons usually started right on schedule but the endings could change depending on how business was going.  During the down periods he would travel extensively searching for and auditioning new acts for his nightclubs.  Bouche traveled all over the world, but his favorite touring spot in the 1930s was to Havana, Cuba.  Many of his acts originated there when Havana was the sun and fun capital of the Caribbean. 

When Papa Bouche was on one of his scouting tours, as soon as he arrived in a city he started running ads in the local newspapers:

and then his phone would ring off the hook as girls from all over made appointments to audition for Papa Bouche.

In the 1940s, Albert Bouche started referring to himself in his advertisements as:

ALBERT BOUCHE

"PAPA" of all nite clubs 

In 1942 the government took over Papa Bouche's Villa Venice in Miami Beach for an Air Force school, so he went northward, buying the Club Boehme in Hallandale, Florida:

We can find out a little more about Papa Bouche's family by looking at this obituary from the Rochester (NY) Register and Chronicle from December 6, 1943:

SUAREZ - Violet of 302 Smith St., after a short illness.  She leaves to mourn her loss, two children, Mrs. Joseph Castelano and Azio Suarez; also three grandchildren; three brothers, Albert Bouche, Ugo Laurini of Chicago, Ill., and Guido Laurini of Rochester; one sister Mrs. Orienda Pauline of Italy.

Friends may call at DiPonzio Bros. Funeral Home, 527 State St., where funeral will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1943, at 8 a.m. and 9 o'clock at St. Anthony of Padua.  Interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

Papa Bouche's name appears in newspapers throughout the 1940s and 1950s, usually in connection with the spectacular shows he offered each year.  Reviews continued to be very good year-in and year-out.  No matter what was going on in the world, there were still people who wanted good food and good entertainment.  During this period, Bouche began referring to himself as an "impresario."  The definition of impresario is:

A person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. The term originated in the social and economic world of Italian opera, in which from the mid-18th century to the 1830s, the impresario was the key figure in the organization of a lyric season.

In 1948 Bouche opened the Latin Quarter nightclub on Miami Beach which he renamed "Bouche's Parisienne."  He remembered, "I had my public.  They came when they saw the name Bouche.  I gave them the shows they wanted.  After my shows my people called for Papa Bouche to dance.  I introduced the rhumba in the United States and demonstrated it.  The people loved it."

Like many before and after him, Albert Bouche ran afoul of the Internal Revenue Service who came after him in 1955.  He was accused of under-paying his taxes in the amount of $101,539.81.  After some back-and-forth with the tax men, Bouche agreed to pay $24,288 to settle all claims against him. 

The end of an era was announced in the Tower Ticker column of the Chicago Daily Tribune on October 12, 1956:

"Aging Papa Bouche sold his Villa Venice (in Wheeling) and poof goes Chi.'s most fantastic showplace."

Yes, the Villa Venice would continue under new ownership as the "New" Villa Venice, but it just wouldn't be the same.  The dream that was the Villa Venice finally ended when it burned to the ground on March 4, 1967.

Albert Bouche had maintained a separate residence in Miami Beach, Florida for years and he lived there full time after he sold his Chicago operations.  As he was winding down his businesses, Bouche and his wife bought a small house at 107 Third Street in Hallandale, Florida.  An industrial building sits on that site today.

In 1959 he sold his one remaining restaurant, the Villa Venice in Hallandale, Florida as age and poor health began to catch up with him.

Even in retirement Papa Bouche was in demand by showmen and restaurateurs.  In the 1960s Bouche discussed possibly putting on a "Villa Venice type revue" at the Deauville in Miami or the Flamingo in Las Vegas, but ultimately nothing came of it.  

Albert Bouche died August 5, 1964 in Miami Beach.  He was 83 years old.  He was buried in Fred Hunter's Hollywood Memorial Gardens East in Hollywood, Florida:

Photo Courtesy Find a Grave Volunteer JoeyC

Out of sight - out of mind.  There were big writeups in the Miami newspapers reporting the death of Albert Bouche.  But even after all his years as a restaurateur and showman in Chicago, the only note of the death of Papa Bouche was this mention buried in Herb Lyon's "Tower Ticker" column of  August 21, 1964:

"Albert (Papa) Bouche who ran the spectacular shows at the Villa Venice during its voom days, died in Hallandale, Fla., at 83."

His obituary in the Miami newspapers reported that he was survived by his wife Edna, a son in Argentina, a daughter in Italy, a brother in Chicago and a sister in Italy.

After the Villa Venice burned in 1967 it was not rebuilt.  Instead, a Hilton Hotel and Allgauer's restaurant (which they have the audacity to call "Allgauer's on the Riverfront") now stand on the site.

Since I moved to Wheeling several years ago I often pass by the site of the Villa Venice.  And if I concentrate really hard I can hear the sound of music and laughter and the singing of the gondoliers on the Des Plaines River. Oh, the Villa Venice - how magical it must have been.

Papa Bouche' - there will never be another like him.  May he rest in peace.