Graves in Philadelphia PA USA area

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teri - You are right the Red Cross in 1912 was a vastly different organization than it is today.
The Titanic American Relief Fund along with the British Titanic Mansion House Relief Fund were
very well run organizations and I have never heard any complaints about the way they distributed the Funds at their disposal.
Several booklets on the Funds Titanic activities have been published where each case is referred to by a number - you have to 'crack' the code to see which case applies to which person etc.
As an example I give you:
Third Class passenger Mr.Cribs case:
(From The Emergency and Relief booklet by the American Red Cross, 1913).
No. 93. (English). The father, a butler, earning good wages was drowned. He was accompanied by his daughter who was saved. His wife had lived here for twelve years but during the last eight years has resided in England with her children, aged 17, 14, 11 and 6 years. The father was returning from a visit and his eldest daughter was expecting to take a place at service here. After remaining a few weeks in this country with her father's brother, she returned to her mother in England. She needed only emergent help. The widow, from English funds has been granted £210. From other American relief funds. the daughter received $165. ($50).

All the funds are long distributed. But one lady in the Southampton UK area still draws a weekly pension (annunity) from the Mansion House Fund.
I hope that helps? Cheers Brian

 

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teri - Hi - Reference My Memorials booklet.
It was first published in 1996 and like Topsy has grown and grown.
In the 25th Reprint to be published later this year I now list over 1085 Titanic related memorials and name 1006 people. The memorials cover 34 countries.
344 people have so far contributed information and news of any more will be much appreciated and the name of the person added to the list of contributors.
Yes, all the Philadelphia ones are listed plus one that was not mentioned earlier.
Very best regards

Brian

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Hello Brian,

It is nice to hear from you. Thank you for your post. It answered the questions I had in my mind.

All of the information is quite nice, quite interesting. I enjoyed reading the facts about 3rd Class Passenger Mr. Crib. I also enjoyed reading about the donation that continues to draw a weekly pension. Very Remarkable!

Thank you also, for confirming my thoughts about the Red Cross in 1912. A pity that ethics in today’s world turned ghastly.

This project has captured my interest, and I'd like to see if I can help a little. The first thing I need to do is purchase your booklet so that I do not duplicate efforts. Can you please post your link so I can get this done? You mentioned other booklets. Do I need to purchase these as well, so that I have ALL of the research collected to date? And may I ask, do you operate your research squarely from a running list of named donations from the British Titanic Mansion House Relief Fund, and/or from a bank account statement of the British Fund (it would be a godsend if it survived that long!)? I will be happy to have as much information as you have, to get me started.

Topsy - do you mean the Topsy Foundation?

Sincerely,

--Teri

 

[Henry Loscher]

> For your information. To grow like Topsy comes from the book UNCLE TOM"S > CABIN. It means to grow rapidly. The expression "To grow like Topsy" is > in very common usage in Great Britain. Henry

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

The British will get me every time!

Thanks for that Henry. Strange that the term is not in my "British Dictionary."

http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

 

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teri Hi again.
Sorry about Topsy - but Henry has explained it well.
Sorry but my ''Titanic Memorials Worldwide - Where They Are Located' is now out of print - there has recently been an upsurge of orders and they have all flown off the shelf. I will post on here when the Reprint is ready it will be the 26th one.
If you can I would purchase a copy of the booklet below it is full of fascinating cases such as the one illustrated below I wont tell you the name of the man involved see if you can work it out but start in the Third Class.

(From The Emergency and Relief booklet by the American Red Cross, 1913).
No. 139. (Italian). A saloon keeper, 39 years old, claimed to have lost $800 in cash and jewels, but this story could not be substantiated. It is known that he conducted himself very badly at the time of the wreck, displaying brutality and cowardice. He was given necessary clothing and temporary shelter from another relief fund. This committee refused further assistance.

Best regards - Brian

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Hello Brian,

I was able to purchase your booklet through Amazon UK. I do not know how long it will take to get here, but at least I know it will arrive some day.

Did not find a copy of the Red Cross booklet during my brief search but will continue that tomorrow. Since I do not have the booklet I cannot solve the puzzle of No. 139, unless you wanted me to take a stab at it without the booklet?

Sincerely,
Happy Anniversary,

--Teri

 

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teri - Hi again - Please let me know when the book arrives.
Ref the little puzzle I set try it without the Red Cross Book there is nothing more in there to help you anyway - you have report no 139 just as it is printed.
I was able to identify several hundred people through such reports - it was most interesting.
Cheers Brian

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Hello Brian,

I will be sure and let you know the minute my book arrives.

I sorely regret having to tell you this but I am not going to pass your exam here. I am not familiar with the passengers like yourself. You were able to identify several hundred people. I assure you I could not identify even one! Well go ahead and give me a flunk!

--Teri

 

[Brian J. Ticehurst]

Teri - Full marks for trying - here is my printout on the man. When you read about him trying to swindle the fund it makes you realise that things have not changed much in 94 years with the recent Katrina cases
Cheers Brian

FINOLI, (FINOLI) MR. LUIGI. Saved in Lifeboat number 14. Italian national. Bjor Kebergo, Ousby, Sweden. En route to 707 Catherine Street, Philadelphia PA, USA.
The story goes that he not only behaved very badly during the sinking but also tried to swindle the Relief Fund (see below).
(From The Emergency and Relief booklet by the American Red Cross, 1913).
No. 139. (Italian). A saloon keeper, 39 years old, claimed to have lost $800 in cash and jewels, but this story could not be substantiated. It is known that he conducted himself very badly at the time of the wreck, displaying brutality and cowardice. He was given necessary clothing and temporary shelter from another relief fund. This committee refused further assistance.
He was a steerage passenger on Titanic and had previously been living with his wife in Pennsylvania and New York and had returned to visit his relatives in Italy prior to his boarding Titanic. He was born in Atessa, Chieti, Italy on September 10, 1877, son of Vincenzo Finoli and Carolina Carnevale and married Rosa Ciccone. He first came to the United States on July 15, 1906 on the steamship Neopolitan Prince. He worked as a cigar-maker throughout his life and owned a small home in Philadelphia. He was a small man (5'3") and weighed 135 lbs, with "chestnut" eyes. He and his wife had four daughters, Eclantina, Alda, Roma, and Italia and has a number of descendants still living in the Philadelphia area and in Florida. There was an article dealing with the claim made by a man in New York that Finoli had stolen a watch from him before leaving for his trip to Italy in 1911.
When he died on December 11, 1958, there was no mention of his death in any Philadelphia papers. On the death certificate, the information on his birth and parentage is incorrect.

The above information was gleaned from various sources - Thanks Brian

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Mornin' Brian,

I see by your expert research skills why this man was refused service. Good on the part of the Red Cross. Distribute the money to the worthy, not the dishonest. Mr Luigi could have lost $800, but it was his track record that did him in, nothing else. Sad too, about his death not being reported in the papers, and the errors on his birth certificate. Appears the guy had a rough start from the very beginning of life. Nice work Brian, nice work.

As the British saying goes -- bless you, for giving me full marks for trying. How kind of you to give this poor sod credits for doing nothing. Ha ha. Hope your humor is in today. Thanks though, for the nice words.

I will agree now that people tried to swindle the Red Cross back in 1912, nothing changed as far as time goes. I had forgotten about the tables on the other side, thank you for the reminder.

Yours -

--Teri

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Mr Luigi could have lost $800, but it was his track record that did him in, nothing else.<<

Hi Teri, I would point out that by the above report, Mr. Finoli was hardly destitute. He had an identifiable home, a family and a job to go back to which was a way more then what a lot of surviving steerage passengers could say. When they landed in New York, most of them were lucky to have the clothes on their backs and their very lives.

If one of the passenger researchers has the information, I'd be interested in hearing the specifics on his brutality and cowardice.

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Hello Michael, no he was not destitute. The report states he was given shelter and clothing and it makes sense he was also given food.

The Red Cross stated they could not substantiate Mr. Finoli’s claim, and for some strange reason they also made mention of his behavior during the sinking. If I was on a sinking ship and was locked behind a gate I would be upset too.

 

[monica e. hall]

If he got off the ship, he probably wasn't behind a locked gate. Well, not for long, at any rate.

 

[Teri Lynn Milch]

Mr. Finoli could have been behind a gate for a length of time before finding an alternative route out.