Prior to the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), foreign nationals from a select few European countries were the only ones who really had a realistic chance at immigrating to the United States. However, with the passage of this new law, these types of discriminatory immigration practices were removed, and it drastically improved immigration opportunities for everyone else in the world. As National Public Radio correspondent and author Tom Gjelten reveals in A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (2015), this new act made it possible for nine Bolivian immigrants in particular to come to the US and have a chance at success.[i]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Aida, Marilu, and Rhina lived with their mother, Eduviges Veizaga, in La Paz, Bolivia. In 1980, a friend convinced Aida and Marilu to go with her to Washington, DC, so that they could go to college in the area. Neither Marilu nor Aida had ever been to the US before, which was fairly common for the majority of Bolivians at the time. According to Gjelten, “[o]nly about sixty Bolivians visited the United States on an average day that year, and almost all of them were businessmen, government officials, or wealthy Bolivian tourists traveling for pleasure. Just three countries in South America—Guyana, Paraguay, and Uruguay—sent fewer visitors to the United States.”[ii] Unfortunately, Marilu and Aida’s first trip to the US was a bust; they did not speak English very well and did not know their way around the area.  Even worse, their travel liaison failed to register them for college and swindled them out of their money. Consequently, Marilu and Aida took on jobs as nannies in lieu of attending college.  Both were miserable and eventually returned to Bolivia; however, Marilu and Aida would come back to the US a couple of years later.[iii]

Marilu’s second trip to the US was much more successful than her first. She was better prepared and took English classes upon her arrival. Through family and friends, she found her future husband, Raúl Plata. Raúl was a fellow Bolivian immigrant and dentist in northern Virginia who had already become a naturalized US citizen. On her marriage to Raúl on December 22, 1984, Marilu was granted legal residency.[iv] According to their marriage license, Raúl was born in Bolivia, and his parents were Placido Plata and Genoveva DePlata. He was 39 years old at the time, white, had gone to college and probably dental school, and lived in Vienna, Virginia. Meanwhile, Marilu was listed as having been born in Boliva to Luis Luna and Eduviges Veizaga. She was 21 years old at the time, white, had finished high school, and lived in Falls Church, Virginia. They had a religious ceremony in Fairfax County that was officiated by Pastor John Goodwin. It was both Marilu and Raúl’s first marriage.

By the time of Marilu’s marriage to Raúl, her oldest sister, Rhina, had married Victor Alarcón and had two kids, Victor Jr. and Alvaro.[v] Victor came to the US first on a tourist visa and lived with Marilu in Fairfax County until he could afford his own apartment. Victor’s transition to the US was not easy; he worked several jobs, had been the victim of a shooting, and his home was burglarized. Yet, notwithstanding these hardships, his drive and determination led to his perseverance and success. He ultimately saved enough money for Rhina to join him in the US and she worked just as hard as him. However, despite his hard work ethic and optimistic attitude, like Marilu, Victor realized that English literacy was required if he was going to truly succeed. Therefore, Victor utilized the public library and translated words via language dictionaries in order to teach himself how to repair cars and household electronics.[vi] Meanwhile, the Alarcóns two boys and daughter eventually joined the Platas and Alarcóns in the US.[vii]

It has been over thirty years since these nine Bolivian immigrants came to the US, and it is apparent through Facebook and other online sources that they are the personification of the American dream.

Raúl and Marilu
   
(Photographs Courtesy of Facebook)

Raúl’s business website states that he attended dental school at Virginia Commonwealth University and earned a doctor of dental surgery. His dental clinic is located in Fairfax, Virginia.[viii] Records indicate that his business was previously located in Falls Church.[ix] As for his home residence, he lived in the City of Fairfax.[x]

      
(Photographs Courtesy of Zocdoc, Inc.)

Raúl’s Facebook profile shows that he has embraced some “American” cultural traits. For example, he is a fan of the National Football League and cheers for the Dallas Cowboys. Though he listens to bands that are popular in many other countries, such as the Beatles, the Who, and the Rolling Stones, he also likes uniquely American bands, like Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is in the southern rock genre.[xi] As for Marilu, her Facebook privacy settings restrict those who are not her friends from viewing anything other than her profile picture.[xii]

 

Victor and Rhina
  
(Photographs Courtesy of Facebook)

On their Facebook accounts, Victor and Rhina have posted numerous pictures of themselves as a couple throughout the years, so it is likely that they are still married.[xiii] Many of their pictures have La Paz, Bolivia, listed as the location, indicating that they have visited their home country.

(Photograph Courtesy of Facebook)

Like Raúl, Victor has adapted to life in Virginia; however, between the two, Victor was the only one to choose the correct NFL team to support (e.g. Washington Redskins)! Victor also listens to American bands, like the Eagles, and even country music; most surprisingly, he is a fan of the heavy metal band, Hatebreed. Additionally, on Victor’s page, he posted the following about A Nation of Nations (translated from Spanish to English using Facebook translation):[xiv]

   
(Images Courtesy of Facebook)

Gloria

(Photograph Courtesy of Facebook)

According to Gloria’s Facebook page, she is a small business owner at Luna’s Cakes, account liaison at Heartland Home Health Hospice and IV Care, and a Zumba fitness instructor. Additionally, on September 13, 2015, Gloria posted the following Facebook post:[xv]

(Image Courtesy of Facebook)

Aida
   
(Photographs Courtesy of Facebook)

Aida also has a Facebook account and it appears that she permanently resides in Bolivia. However, there are many pictures that show her with Rhina and Raúl, so it is clear that they are still a close-knit family.[xvi]

   
(Photographs Courtesy of Facebook)

[i] Tom Gjelten, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015). According to the National Public Radio’s (NPR) website, Gjelten has been with NPR since 1982 and he is the recipient of two Overseas Press Club Awards, a George Polk Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. For more, see National Public Radio, “Tom Gjelten,”accessed November 16, 2016, http://www.npr.org/people/2100536/tom-gjelten.
[ii] Gjelten, 23.
[iii] Gjelten, 23-24.
[iv] Gjelten, 24; Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014, accessed November 10, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.
[v] Gjelten, 22, 25. Victor was born in Argentina but grew up in Bolivia.
[vi] Gjelten, 26, 50-51, 218-20, 233-34.
[vii] Gjelten, 27.
[viii] Zocdoc, “Dr. Raúl E. Plata, DDS,” accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.zocdoc.com/dentist/Raúl-e-plata-dds-164765.
[ix] U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, accessed November 10, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.
[x] U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, accessed November 10, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.
[xi] Raúl’s Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008295788890.
[xii] Marilu’s Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/marilu.plata.35/friends?source_ref=pb_friends_tl.
[xiii] Victor’s Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/victor.alarcon.399?fref=ts; Rhina Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/rhinaalarcon.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Gloria’s Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/gloria.luna.944?pnref=friends.search.
[xvi] Aida’s Facebook page, accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/aida.lunaveizaga/friends?source_ref=pb_friends_tl.

Mass Ethiopian immigration to the United States is a rather new phenomenon. With the US enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), it was not uncommon for an Ethiopian to travel to the US to pursue higher education. However, from 1974 to 1991, the Ethiopian Civil War prompted several key changes in American immigration law, including the Refugee Act (1980), Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986), and Immigration Act (1990). These new laws were responsible for allowing hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian refugees to flee the war zone and come to the US in the late twentieth-century, and many settled permanently in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

(Image Courtesy of Google Maps)

Ethiopian refugees quickly established a distinct community within the region, and their large footprint is apparent in Bill Broadway’s Washington Post article from May 2, 1998, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home: Orthodox Christian Community Keeps Tradition Alive in D.C. Area.”[i]

The article begins by describing a church service led by Reverend Abba Melaku Getaneh at Debre Mehret St. Michael’s Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Northeast Washington, DC. According to St. Michael’s website, “[t]he Debre Mehret St. Michael’s Church was founded on May 30, 1993. Initialy [sic], the Church was established in a small room by about 30 parishioners on the initiative of Komos Abba Melaku Getaneh (Abune Fanuel) in the Woodner Building located on 16th Street in Washington, D.C.”[ii] The article explains that there were four other Ethiopian Churches within the DC area at the time: Medhane Alem in Capitol Heights, Maryland; Debre Selam Kidest Mariam (also known as St. Mary’s); Debre Haile Kedus Gebriel (also known as St. Gabriel’s) in Washington, DC; and Kidane Mihret in Alexandria, Virginia.

(Created by Dino Reschke Using GoogleMaps)

Much can be learned about late twentieth-century Ethiopian immigration to the United States from just this one Washington Post article. First, Broadway describes St. Michael’s church service being held “in a converted electrical warehouse ….”[iii]

According to Elizabeth Chacko, who is a geographer and one of the most prominent Ethiopian immigration researchers, the conversion and use of warehouse for church service is a prime example of heterolocalism and ethnic place-making.[iv] Like other late-twentieth century immigrants, Ethiopians resettled in a very densely populated area, so space for new construction and funding for a new establishment was not available. Therefore, Ethiopians took what they could get and re-purposed a warehouse into St. Michael’s Church with the idea that it would be a temporary facility until assets became available. As a result of converting an old warehouse into a church, Ethiopians had an ethnic institution that they could use to freely practice their religion and language, and it also created a place to network with other immigrants like them.

It is evident that due to the Washington, DC metropolitan area’s dense population at the time of their arrival, Ethiopian immigrants could not all live in one ethnic neighborhood like the Italians, Irish, or Chinese did in the early twentieth-century US metropolitan cities. Ethiopian refugees were forced to find homes wherever there were vacancies in the area.

As demonstrated in the image to the right, this resulted in immigrants becoming highly scattered throughout the DC region, which is a classic example of residential dispersion.[v] This data also coincides with Elizabeth Chacko’s later survey of Ethiopian establishments in this region, which is provided on the right.

Two examples of Ethiopian culture are also presented in this article. Broadway states that “[m]ost of the women and girls, including babies wore a yabesha lebse, an Ethiopian dress and shawl made of a gauzy white cotton fabric with colorful hems.”[vi] Broadway also explains through an observation that while the people were singing and dancing, they were “frequently bursting out with a trilled ‘Yi-yi-yi.”’[vii] While these may seem like trivial points, these two examples of Ethiopians freely practicing their traditions while living in the US, maintaining connections to their heritage through the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Though it has been nearly twenty years since the publishing of Broadway’s article, Ethiopian immigrants and their children have continued to make the Washington, DC metropolitan area their home. With modern-day technology and the limited number of available public records, it is possible to learn more about the immigrants who are mentioned in this article, and to also visualize the distance that they had to travel in order to attend service at St. Michael’s.[ix]

(Created by Dino Reschke Using Google Maps)

Bizuayehu Ayalew was described as 27 years old and a “choir member” at St. Michael’s.[x] In 1993, Ayalew lived at 1355 Peadbody Street NW, Washington, DC.[xi] Then, in 1994 and 1995, Ayalew’s address was 8715 1st Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland.[xii] Assuming that Ayalew did not move at the time that the newspaper article was written, Ayalew would have lived approximately 7.5 miles from the church via automobile or 40 minutes by walking and taking Metrorail.[xiii]

Dagne Gizaw was the “secretary of the board at St. Mary’s.”[xiv] Gizaw lived at 8008 Eastern Drive in Silver Spring, Maryland from 1994 through 2002.[xv] At the time of Broadway’s article, Gizaw lived approximately 6.5 miles from the church via automobile or 40 minutes by walking and taking Metrorail.[xvi] Additionally, the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 listed Gizaw as having a spouse, Zewiditu Nekenek, and a child, Abesha D. Gizaw.[xvii] An article featured in the Washington Post in 2006 included a statement from Gizaw, which identified him as now being a deacon.[xviii]

Fikre A. Gelaye was an “assistant pastor at St. Michael’s and secretary of a cooperative association for Washington area Ethiopian Orthodox churches.”[xix] Gelaye lived at 3010 Earl Place NE in Washington, DC in 1993 and again in 2000-2002.[xx] This address is very close to St. Michael’s Church, so being that Gelaye was an assistant pastor, it is likely that this property may have belonged to the church (such as a rectory). Additionally, it is plausible that Gelaye served in another church from 1994 to 1999 and came back to St. Michael’s in 2000, which would explain the gap in years reported for this address.[xxi]

Menen Yifru was described as being 32 years old, a refugee, and “a Marriott employee who left Ethiopia 12 years ago and has attended St. Michael’s since its inception.”[xxii] Yirfu was born on September 17, 1964, and lived at 5510 N. Morgan Street Apt 203 in Alexandria, Virginia in 1991, and in an apartment at 621 Hamlin Street NE, Washington, DC in 1996. Assuming that Yifru did not move at the time that the newspaper article was written, she would have lived approximately 2.5 miles or roughly 10 minutes away from the church via automobile (Metrorail is unavailable from this address).[xxiii] Additionally, records indicate that Yifru married at least twice while living in the United States. Yifru’s marriage license from October 1, 1987, reflects that she first married Michael Van Colbert while living on 617 Hamlin Street NE #2 in Washington, DC. The marriage license lists that it was her first marriage, that she was born in Ethiopia, that she had one year of college education as opposed to her husband who had three years, and that her parents were Yifru Gebeyehu and Abebaye Mengesha.[xxiv] Though there is not a divorce record available online from her marriage with Colbert, records indicate that she later remarried Teawodros Gebeyehu on November 5, 1994, and subsequently divorced him on August 25, 2000.[xvv]

[i] Bill Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home: Orthodox Christian Community Keeps Tradition Alive in D.C. Area,” Washington Post, May 2, 1998, D8.

[ii] Debre Mihret Kidus Michael Church, “About,” accessed October 27, 2016, http://stmichael.welela.com/?q=node/30.

[iii] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8.

[iv] Elizabeth Chacko, “Ethiopian Ethos and the Making of Ethnic Places in the Washington Metropolitan Area,” Journal of Cultural Geography 20, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 2003): 24, 28.

[v] Ibid., 11-12.

[vi] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8.

[vii] Ibid.

[ix] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8. Three other members of the church were identified in a picture in this article; however, there are not any public records available online for these individuals (Frehwoi Lema and her child, Elshadye, and Deacon Netsere Taye).

[x] Ibid.

[xi] U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xii] U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xiii] Google, “Google Maps,” accessed October 27, 2016, https://www.google.com/maps. While 7.5 miles may not seem like a long way to travel via automobile, the Washington, DC metropolitan area is known for its high amounts of congestion. It could take over an hour to travel a few miles during rush-hour traffic.

[xiv] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8.

[xv] U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xvi] Google, “Google Maps,” accessed October 27, 2016, https://www.google.com/maps.

[xvii] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xviii] Debbi Wilgoren, “Ethiopians in D.C. Region Mourn Archbishop’s Death,” Washington Post, January 13, 2006.

[xix] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8.

[xx] U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com; U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2, accessed October 26, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com. There are not any available public records online that list Gelaye’s residence between 1994 and 1999.

[xxi] Google, “Google Maps,” accessed October 27, 2016, https://www.google.com/maps.

[xxii] Broadway, “For Ethiopians, Church a Home Far from Home,” D8.

[xxiii] Google, “Google Maps,” accessed October 27, 2016, https://www.google.com/maps.

[xxiv] Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014, accessed October 25, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxv] Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014, accessed October 25, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com; Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-2014, accessed October 25, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

According to Donna R. Gabaccia in Italy’s Many Diasporas (2000), “millions of laborers migrat[ed] in an out of Italy between 1870 and 1940.”[i] The vast majority of these Italian migrants were men who sought employment in the myriad of unskilled labor positions that became available as foreign nations industrialized. Many Italians specifically came to the U.S. in the late-nineteenth century in order to fill the jobs that had been recently abandoned by emancipated slaves, and other labor positions within factories, mines, and railroads.[ii]

Antonio Pulzone was one of the four-million Italians that Gabaccia estimates to have migrated from Italy between 1896 and 1905.[iii] Pulzone was born to Angelo Pulzone and Rose Walla on April 25, 1887, in Montepagano, Italy.[iv] According to the S.S. Balilla’s passenger manifest, Pulzone last resided in Bellini, Italy, before he arrived in New York City on May 8, 1901.[v] The manifest also reflects that Pulzone was a laborer, paid for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean himself, possessed just five dollars, could read and write, had not previously been to the U.S, had never been in prison, was in good physical health, and that he came to the U.S. to join his brother-in-law in an unnamed city in New Jersey.[vi] Based on this information, Pulzone matched Gabaccia’s profile of a typical Italian immigrant who went to a foreign country for employment purposes and lived with already-established relatives or friends.

Records indicate that as early as 1914, Pulzone had become a resident of Alexandria, Virginia. According to an article in the Alexandria Gazette on September 2, 1914, “William A. McGreen et al ha[d] sold to Antone Pulzone a lot at the northeast corner of Madison and Columbus streets.”[vii] Two days later, a subsequent article appeared in the Washington Herald, and specified that the property purchased by Pulzone was part of John W. Green’s estate sale and included four building lots.[viii] Though the amount that Pulzone paid for the property was not disclosed in these articles, this information demonstrates that Pulzone was able to save up enough money while in the U.S. in order to obtain a mortgage, or purchase outright, the four lots in Alexandria. Additionally, after comparing the Sanborn Maps from 1912 and 1921, it is quite possible that these four building lots were vacant and without structures at the time of Pulzone’s purchase.[ix] Therefore, assuming that this inference is correct, it is equally impressive that Pulzone was able to afford the additional costs of new construction on top of the purchase price of the four lots.

The 1912 and 1921 maps are juxtaposed to show the differences in structures found within the lots that were purchased by Pulzone in 1914. Click on the middle cursor and drag from left to right to see these differences. (Maps courtesy of ProQuest, LLC. Juxtapose created by Dino Reschke using JuxtaposeJS, which is available through the Northwestern University Knight Lab).

Meanwhile, city directories over the next quarter-century disclosed that Pulzone was employed as a mechanic in the booming railroad industry.[x] Pulzone was listed as a car repairman for several different railroad companies, including Armour Car Lines, Fruit Growers Express, and the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad.[xi] According to a 2009 article by the Alexandria Times, Fruit Growers Express “constructed and repaired refrigerated railroad cars … [it] was formed as a separate company in 1920 after the federal government ordered Armour and Company to sell its fruit-shipping subsidiary following an anti-trust decision.”[xii] Based on these facts, it is likely that Pulzone continued to work in the same position and location even though his employer’s name changed as a result of government intervention and changes in company ownership.

Potomac Yards, 1916
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

An assortment of documents reveals that Pulzone made Alexandria his permanent home. Pulzone married Alexandria-native Effie Ellen Simms on April 6, 1916, in Elkton, Maryland.[xiii] The 1920 U.S. Census reported that Pulzone and Effie owned their residence at 807 North Columbus Street, located in Ward 3 of Alexandria.[xiv] The 1920 U.S. Census also recorded that Pulzone worked nearby as a mechanic at Potomac Yards, that his citizenship status was “unknown,” that Effie was unemployed, and that they had an infant daughter, Carlie.[xv] The 1920 U.S. Census was the only U.S. Census in which Pulzone’s name appeared; however, city directories confirmed that he stayed in the Alexandria area because his various home addresses were 211 West Peyton Avenue (Del Ray) in 1934, r827 North Columbus Street in 1938, and r807 North Columbus Street in 1940.[xvi] The 1930 U.S. Census did not list Pulzone as residing in the same home as Effie, but “Coralie” (11) and another daughter, Francis (7), appeared under Effie’s name.[xvii] Though Effie was still unemployed, she was recorded as having owned her home, which was valued at $2,500. Both Pulzone and Effie were absent from the 1940 U.S. Census.[xviii] Based on the abstract of divorce decree from November 11, 1947, which listed the cause of divorce as “desertion,” it is likely that Pulzone and Effie had an estranged marriage for quite some time and he had left the family.[xix]

Interestingly, though Pulzone was not an American citizen, he participated in both U.S. World War drafts. Pulzone’s World War I draft card from June 5, 1917, reflected that his citizenship status was “alien” and that he was 30 years old, short with a medium build, had brown eyes and black hair, and was not bald.[xx] He lived at 832 North Washington Street in Alexandria, VA, was employed as a car repairman at Armour and Company, and married with only his wife to support.[xxi] On July 17, 1917, the Washington Herald featured the article “Alexandria’s Quota of 153 Names Drawn: Government Lotter Tells Men of Selection for National Army,” which identified Pulzone by his draft number of 1323.[xxii] Pulzone’s name and draft number is also contained in the Alexandria Library’s online transcription of the World War I draft registrations for northern Virginia.[xxiii] Additionally, records show that on April 27, 1942, Pulzone registered for the World War II draft.[xxiv] According to his draft card, he was 55 years old, white, 5 feet 2 inches tall, had brown eyes, no hair, his complexion was “ruddy,” and he had a scar on his forehead.[xxv] He provided his Alexandria address of 805 North Columbus Street and Effie’s name as a person who would always know his address.[xxvi] Notwithstanding these aforementioned sources, there is no readily available evidence that Pulzone ever actually served in the Army or in either World War.

Pulzone was the antithesis of an Italian immigrant from this time period. While the majority of Italians who immigrated to the U.S. either returned to Italy or permanently resided in the U.S. and applied for U.S. citizenship, records indicate that Pulzone stayed in Alexandria for the remainder of his life but never submitted an official petition to become a U.S. citizen.[xxvii] Indeed, according to their certificates of death, both Pulzone and Effie died in Alexandria.[xxviii] Effie died from breast cancer on March 27, 1952, and Pulzone died from pneumonia on June 12, 1969.[xxix] Both were buried in separate lots in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.[xxx]

 

(Created by Dino Reschke Using GoogleMaps)

 

[i] Donna R. Gabaccia, Italy’s Many Diasporas (London, UK: Routledge, 2000), 12.

[ii] Ibid., 59.

[iii] Ibid., 58.

[iv] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[v] New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[vi] Ibid. The name of Pulzone’s brother-in-law is listed on the manifest, but it is illegible, and the city in New Jersey was not provided.

[vii] “Local Brevities,” Alexandria Gazette, September 2, 1914, 1.

[viii] “Site Selected for Alexandria Hospital: Building to be Erected on Square Bounded by Columbus, Alfred, and Wythe Streets; Will Collect All Pledges,” Washington Herald, September 4, 1914, 8.

[ix] Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970, ProQuest, LLC, accessed October 15, 2016, University of Mary Washington Library.

[x] U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xi] Ibid.

[xii] Amy Bertsch and Lance Mallamo, “Out of the Attic: Fruit Growers Express,” Alexandria Times, April 16, 2009.

[xiii] Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-2014, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xiv] 1920 United States Federal Census, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xvii] 1930 United States Federal Census, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xviii] 1940 United States Federal Census, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xix] Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-2014, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xx] U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed October 14, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxi] Ibid.

[xxii] “Alexandria’s Quota of 153 Names Drawn: Government Lotter Tells Men of Selection for National Army,” Washington Herald, July 17, 1917, 7.

[xxiii] Alexandria Library, “World War I Draft Registrations – Northern Virginia,” accessed October 7, 2016, https://alexlibraryva.org/custom/web/lhsc/genealogyresources/ww1draft/n_r.html.

[xxiv] U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxv] Ibid.

[xxvi] Ibid.

[xxvii] Alexandria Library, “Index to Naturalization Petitions, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria, 1909-1929,” accessed October 7, 2016, https://alexlibraryva.org/client/en_US/home/?rm=NATURALIZATION0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7Ctrue&dt=list.

[xxviii] Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014, accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxix] Ibid.

[xxx] Find A Grave, “Effie E. Pulzone,” accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23439111&ref=acom; Find A Grave, “Antonio Pulzone,” accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27282017&ref=acom.

 

In Invisible Immigrants: The Adaptation of English and Scottish Immigrants in 19th-Century America (1990), Charlotte Erickson extracts excerpts from letters written by English immigrants who entered the U.S. throughout the nineteenth century.[i] Through these letters, Erickson explains that many English immigrants left comfortable hometowns in hopes of increasing their standard of living in the U.S., like owning a home or farm instead of leasing one, or simply just boosting their family’s social status and wealth. After reviewing the data contained in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census records for Alexandria, Virginia, one English immigrant in particular stood out from the rest, and further inquiry into his background tends to support Erickson’s argument.

William Gregory III was either an English-speaking Scotsman or a recent English arrival to southern Scotland who likely came to the U.S. to expand his family’s business and affluence. Gregory was born on January 3, 1789, in Kilmarnock, Scotland.[ii] Nearly ten months later, on November 17, 1789, Gregory was baptized in the St. James Anglican Church in Westminster, England.[iii] His father, William Gregory II, owned a woolen factory in Kilmarnock.[iv] When Gregory was eighteen, he immigrated to Alexandria, Virginia, and worked as a clerk in Scotsman Robert McCrea’s dry goods store that was located on King Street.[v] He actively participated in the War of 1812 by serving with the Alexandria Blues, and his unit fought in the Battle of the White House in 1814. [vi] After the war, Gregory prospered as a dry goods merchant and achieved considerable wealth. Though he retired from the merchant business in 1847, he eventually became “the president of the Alexandria branch of the Farmers’ Bank of Virginia, a position he retained until the bank closed in 1866.”[vii] As president, Gregory’s name appeared in the Merchant’s and Banker’s Almanac for 1853.[viii]

Records indicate that Gregory lived in the City of Alexandria from the time he arrived at the age of eighteen until his death in 1875. He also seemed to have integrated into the American society quite well. For example, in addition to his service during the War of 1812, Gregory signed an Oath of Allegiance that swore allegiance to the Union during the time of the U.S. Civil War.[ix]

(Data Courtesy of the Alexandria Library)

Analysis of the available marriage and U.S. Census records reflect that Gregory was married twice, had ten children, and that he was a wealthy slave owner. Gregory married his first wife, Margaret Douglas Bartleman, on December 2, 1822, and they had five children together.[x] According to her headstone, Margaret died in Barbados on June 19, 1833.[xi] Gregory appeared in the U.S. Census records as a resident of Alexandria three times, and each of these documents provides additional interesting facts about his life. According to the 1850 Census, Gregory’s real estate was valued at $21,000 and he had nine people in his family that were living in his home, one of which is his second wife, Mary.[xii] Like Margaret, she and Gregory had five children together.[xiii] An additional available document, the 1850 Census Slave Schedule, reported that Gregory owned two female slaves who were aged sixteen and eighteen.[xiv] By the 1860 Census, Gregory had six family members and three slaves living under his roof [xv], and the combined value of his property was $110,000.[xvi]  Finally, in the 1870 Census, Gregory only had five family members living with him but his combined property value increased to $130,000.[xvii] Based on this data, it is reasonable to infer that the U.S. Civil War and subsequent emancipation of slaves did not negatively impact Gregory’s wealth.

 

(Documents Courtesy of Ancestry.com)

A variety of passenger manifests reveal that Gregory and his children were quite the ocean travelers, and they suggest that he did not sever ties with his family in Scotland. Two passenger lists depict that the Gregorys traveled from both Barbados and Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Alexandria via the Schooner Velocity in September of 1833.[xviii] These documents substantiate the death date and burial location of Gregory’s first wife, Margaret. Over the course of the next three years, other passenger manifests indicate that the Gregorys traveled to New York from Liverpool, England, on several different ships, including the Oxford on June 8, 1840, the Independence on November 2, 1841, and the Talbot on May 18, 1842.[xix]

 

(Documents Courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Over the span of his long life, Gregory owned multiple expensive properties in Alexandria. Later known as the “William Gregory Building,” Gregory owned a structure on 400-02 King Street, but it was demolished in 1968 under the Gadsby Urban Renewal Project.[xx] The second “William Gregory Building” was located on 404-06 King Street. Gregory also owned another property called the “Old Leadbeater House,”[xxi] which was located at 329 North Washington Street.[xxii]

According to Boyd’s Business Directory of the Cities of Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington (1875), Gregory lived at 87 North Washington Street in 1875, the most prestigious street address in the city.[xxiii] He died in Alexandria on July 13, 1875,[xxiv] and was buried in the Gregory family plot located within the Presbyterian Cemetery.[xxv]

(Created by Dino Reschke Using GoogleMaps)

[i] Charlotte Erickson, Invisible Immigrants: The Adaptation of English and Scottish Immigrants in 19th-Century America (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990).

[ii] Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[iii] England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530-1980, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[iv] “Historic American Buildings Survey: William Gregory Building,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0100/va0116/data/va0116data.pdf.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Ibid.; Amy Bertsch and Lance Mallamo, “Out of the Attic: A Dyed-in-the-Wool Alexandrian,” Alexandria Times, May 1, 2014.

[vii] “Historic American Buildings Survey: William Gregory Building,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0100/va0116/data/va0116data.pdf.

[viii]Merchant’s and Banker’s Almanac for 1853, accessed September 22, 2016, https://books.google.com/books?id=EmxQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP8&lpg=PP8&dq=Merchant%E2%80%99s+and+Banker%E2%80%99s+Almanac+for+1853&source=bl&ots=yssX292IuL&sig=T1U-UDEiSpSLv5HUV3M6CS6tJ28&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMq-j3vqXPAhWGXh4KHR_5CBIQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q&f=false.

[ix] Alexandria Library, “Oath of Allegiance in Virginia, 1862-1865,” accessed September 22, 2016, https://alexlibraryva.org/client/en_US/home/?rm=OATH+OF+ALLEGI0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7Ctrue.

[x] “Margaret Douglas Bartleman,” accessed September 22, 2016,  http://person.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/102088298/person/100026340210/facts; Amy Bertsch and Lance Mallamo, “Out of the Attic: A Dyed-in-the-Wool Alexandrian,” Alexandria Times, May 1, 2014.

[xi] Find A Grave, “Margaret Douglas Bartleman Gregory,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=116200071.

[xii] 1850 United States Federal Census, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xiii] “Historic American Buildings Survey: William Gregory Building,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0100/va0116/data/va0116data.pdf.

[xiv] 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xv] 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules, accessed September 29, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com; University of Virginia, “Voting Viva Voce: Unlocking the Social Logic of Past Politics,” Database Queries: Individuals in Alexandria; William Gregory, accessed September 29, 2016, http://sociallogic.iath.virginia.edu/node/14name=William%20Gregory&sex=&race=&bg=4&data_set=alex_people&contains=1.

[xvi] Population Schedule of the Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, Virginia, accessed September 22, 2016, https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu1331unix#page/n409/mode/2up.

[xvii] Population Schedules of the Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, Virginia, accessed September 22, 2016, https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu1632unit#page/n223/mode/2up.

[xviii] Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 1: 1820-1871, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com; U.S., Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xix] New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xx] “Historic American Buildings Survey: William Gregory Building,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0100/va0116/data/va0116data.pdf; Amy Bertsch and Lance Mallamo, “Out of the Attic: A Bland Building with Rich Commercial History,” Alexandria Times, July 17, 2014; Amy Bertsch and Lance Mallamo, “Out of the Attic: A Historic Property with A Bright Future,” Alexandria Times, January 8, 2015.

[xxi] “Gregory or ‘Old Leadbeater House,’” accessed September 22, 2016, http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0100/va0118/data/va0118data.pdf.

[xxii] University of Virginia, “Voting Via Voce: Unlocking the Social Logic of Past Politics,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://sociallogic.iath.virginia.edu/node/14name=William%20Gregory&sex=&race=&bg=&data_set=alex_people&contains=1.

[xxiii] U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxiv] Virginia, Deaths and Burials Index, 1853-1917, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.

[xxv] Find A Grave, “William Gregory,” accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=116250241&ref=acom.