M. 17 Jun 1918 in St. Paul, Minnesota2
Wife: Minnie Louise LaBrie
D. 11 Jul 1941 in Minneapolis, Minnesota3
James John Bolheres arrived in America from Greece during the peak of immigration into Ellis Island. His story was typical of many people like him: he sought to have a better life than what he faced in Europe. And through his own hard work and assimilation into his adopted country, he succeeded.
James Bolheres didn't know his exact birthdate, and he stated it differently on several documents, but his birth year is firmly established as 1886.1 The name he was born with was Dimitrios Bouloucheris and is written in Greek as Μπουλουχερης Δημητριος.4 He Americanized it to James John Bolheres somewhere along the way, and became known by the nickname “Jim.” According to Greek naming tradition, his middle name “John” indicates his father’s first name, which translates as Ioannis. His mother’s name was Eleni,3 but very little else is known about his parents.
The family lived in the small village of Apidia,1 located in a region near Sparta on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It's likely that Jim was the youngest child of his parents. He had a brother Georgios and sisters Athanasia, Stamata and Eleni (there may have also been an older brother named Konstantinos who died young).5,6 Oldest sister Athanasia had a son born in 1885,7 and figuring that she was at least 18-years-old that year, Jim’s parents were likely in their 40s when he was born.
James Bolheres didn't know his exact birthdate, and he stated it differently on several documents, but his birth year is firmly established as 1886.1 The name he was born with was Dimitrios Bouloucheris and is written in Greek as Μπουλουχερης Δημητριος.4 He Americanized it to James John Bolheres somewhere along the way, and became known by the nickname “Jim.” According to Greek naming tradition, his middle name “John” indicates his father’s first name, which translates as Ioannis. His mother’s name was Eleni,3 but very little else is known about his parents.
The family lived in the small village of Apidia,1 located in a region near Sparta on the Peloponnesian peninsula. It's likely that Jim was the youngest child of his parents. He had a brother Georgios and sisters Athanasia, Stamata and Eleni (there may have also been an older brother named Konstantinos who died young).5,6 Oldest sister Athanasia had a son born in 1885,7 and figuring that she was at least 18-years-old that year, Jim’s parents were likely in their 40s when he was born.
Apidia, Lakonia, Greece
Jim was 21-years-old when he left his family and his home country. It isn’t known if either of his parents were still living, or when his brother Georgios may have also left, but all three of his sisters remained in Greece. While most Greek immigrants departed from the ports of Piraeus and Patras, Jim used the more unusual route of taking a boat out of Le Havre, France. He likely travelled there with a group of 11 other people from Apidia, who were listed on the same ship’s register.8
The ship Jim boarded was the La Gascogne, which had an interesting history. Built in 1886, it was one of four sister ships designed for speed. The original capacity of the La Gascogne was 390 first class passengers and 665 second and third class passengers. On the ship’s maiden voyage in September 1886 one of the passengers was Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the artist who created the Statue of Liberty. The ship was reconstructed in 1894 which expanded its capacity to 1,500 third class passengers, and through 1911, it was used to bring loads of immigrants to America.9
The La Gascogne circa 1900
Accommodations on the La Gascogne weren’t great, but Jim’s voyage didn’t take long. It left Le Havre on February 9, 1907, and arrived just ten days later on February 19th. The passengers were from a wide variety of places besides Greece: Turkey, Romania, Italy, Armenia, Spain, Macedonia, Austria, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and France — it’s easy to imagine that Jim was introduced to the melting pot of America by being among such a diverse group. This experience continued as he disembarked at Ellis Island. He left there with $60 in his pocket, said to be headed for a “friend” named Gust Sideris living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It’s likely that Mr. Sideris was also from Apidia and related somehow to Jim’s brother-in-law, Spiros Sideris, who was married to his sister Stamata.6 (Spiros’ brother was the grandfather of David and Amy Sedaris.10)
It’s likely that Jim didn’t stay long in New York, and for the next decade, he travelled around the country. Unfortunately, his listing in the 1910 census has yet to be found, and he may have been missed. The earliest record of Jim anywhere in the United States was on a passenger list for his sister Eleni, who arrived at Ellis Island on June 6, 1914.11 This time, Jim was the person given as a contact for an arriving immigrant, and he was said to be living in St. Paul, Minnesota. Eleni was still single at age 37, but soon married another Greek immigrant named Andrew Hiotis.5
Besides Minnesota, Jim lived in many other places in the U.S. during his twenties. He was said to have spent some time in the Imperial Valley — in Calexico, California and Mexicali, Mexico.12 He was also in another town on the Mexican border, Douglas, Arizona, where he filed first papers to become a U.S. citizen on May 8, 1916.13 A year later, Jim was listed in an El Paso, Texas phone directory,14 and on June 5, 1917, he registered for the draft in Chicago.15 In all of these places, Jim worked as a waiter, a common occupation for a Greek immigrant.
James Bolheres in 1918
After his honorable discharge in December of 1918, Jim settled with Minnie in Minneapolis.19 Between 1920 and 1925, they had three daughters — Helen, Margaret and Lillian. In 1925, he moved his family to Jacksonville, Florida,12 but returned to Minneapolis after only one year.
Throughout his marriage, Jim owned and operated a series of small restaurants, most of which were located in storefronts in downtown Minneapolis. He gave them names like “Quality Lunch,” and “Try Me Lunch.” A typical restaurant had a long counter in the front, and four or five booths in the back. Jim worked six days a week and very long hours. He did all of the cooking, and hired help to wait on the tables and wash the dishes. Minnie sometimes ran the cash register, and his daughters often came by after school to pitch in. The food was American, such items as a complete steak dinner that sold for 25¢, and a “Coney Island Sandwich,” which was a hot dog with chili and everything on it.12
During the late 1920s, Jim had a restaurant on Marquette Avenue in Minneapolis, and for a short time, he also ran a small billiards place next door.19 Owning a restaurant involved many dangers. One time Jim was robbed at gunpoint as he was locking up at night.12 Another time, while the restaurant was closed, a fire started and the place burned to the ground.12 The safe containing all of his money dropped through the floor to the basement and was saved from serious damage.
Jim's long hours meant he spent very little of his time at home. Sometimes he would wake up his daughters in the middle of the night just because he had gotten takeout fried chicken on his way home from work. The girls would gleefully gather at the kitchen table to eat with him. At other times, Jim liked to show them a curious object he owned—possibly acquired during his days in the Southwest. It was a small bottle with a miniature saw inside. He would hold it up and say, “How did that get in there?”12
It was said that Jim loved his adopted country. He used to cry at hearing Kate Smith sing “God Bless America.” He loved listening to “Amos ‘n’ Andy” and “Fibber McGee and Molly” on the radio. Jim was not a religious man, although he had his girls baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. It was also said that he liked to drink, and during Prohibition, Jim made his own wine in the cellar of his home.12
James (at right) with his brother-in-law Andrew Hiotis
Jim was remembered as an outgoing and cheerful person, but sometimes he exploded in anger at his wife Minnie. At one point, she found out that he was having an affair with a waitress, and she confronted him over it. Jim and Minnie's arguments sometimes became very heated, and he once pushed her down the cellar stairs at the restaurant. But the two seemed to patch things up and remained married.
Although Jim was sometimes abusive to Minnie, he treated his daughters with love.12 Sadly, Helen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1930.12 For two years, Jim and Minnie watched the girl waste away, and he held her in his arms as she passed away a couple weeks shy of her 12th birthday.21 Some of the strain in his marriage with Minnie happened after Helen's death, and perhaps that was an emotional factor in their relationship.
During the 1930s, along with Eleni and Andrew, Jim had one other member of his Greek family in America, his nephew Christ. Jim’s daughters later told of family gatherings, and these were the only exposure they really had to the Greek culture.12 Eleni and Andrew returned to Greece in the late 1930s, but when the war started there, they stopped writing and it was believed that they died during the German occupation of Greece.12
During the 1930s, along with Eleni and Andrew, Jim had one other member of his Greek family in America, his nephew Christ. Jim’s daughters later told of family gatherings, and these were the only exposure they really had to the Greek culture.12 Eleni and Andrew returned to Greece in the late 1930s, but when the war started there, they stopped writing and it was believed that they died during the German occupation of Greece.12
In 1941, Jim went into the hospital for hernia surgery. As he recovered, Minnie visited him every day. On July 11th, she observed a nurse giving him some medication. Minnie saw that he began to tremble from the injection, but thought it was nothing and said goodbye to him. As she arrived home a half hour later, she got a call that Jim had suddenly died. She received no explanation as to what had happened.12 The death certificate simply wrote the cause as “pulmonary” failure, followed by a question mark.3 Minnie was convinced that they had given him the wrong medication.12 Jim was buried three days later in Fort Snelling Cemetery.3
About James Bolheres' 1907 passenger list record
In trying to find Jim's passenger list record, I could only find one that came close to matching his profile, but the physical description wasn’t right. The entry showed a Dimitrios Boulcheris, age 21 from Apidia, with blue eyes and a height of 5’ 1”. Since Jim was taller and had brown eyes, I dismissed it as being him.
In trying to find Jim's passenger list record, I could only find one that came close to matching his profile, but the physical description wasn’t right. The entry showed a Dimitrios Boulcheris, age 21 from Apidia, with blue eyes and a height of 5’ 1”. Since Jim was taller and had brown eyes, I dismissed it as being him.
Passenger list showing Dimitrios Boulcheris on line 15.
But years later, I re-examined the record, and noticed something I missed: the information with the physical description appeared to have been on a second sheet of paper. In comparing the list of the last place each individual lived with the list of birth places, it looks like the person who was second to last on the main sheet was moved up on the list for the other sheet.
The two highlighted columns show last residence and birth place. One person shifted up on second column.
This displaced Dimitrios Boulcheris, making his physical description one line down. It showed something accurate enough for me to accept that this indeed was the record of Jim's arrival at Ellis Island.
When the shifted person is accounted for, Dimitrios Boulcheris' physical description seems right.
Children:
1. Helen Hazel Bolheres – B. 7 Jul 1920, Minneapolis, Minnesota;21 D. 24 Jun 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota21
2. Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres – B. 12 Apr 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota;22 D. 4 Aug 2016, West Hills, California;22 M. Thomas Milton Mitchell (1922-2007), 2 Jul 1949, Pasadena, California23
3. Lillian Bolheres – B. 13 Oct 1925, Jacksonville, Florida;22 D. 14 Feb 2006, Inglewood, California;22 M. Hubert Rudolph Hueler (1916-2009), 20 May 195024
Sources:
1 Register of Male Births, Apidia, Greece, 1886
2 Death record of James John Bolheres, Minnesota Death Records and Certificates, 1900-1955, FamilySearch.org
3 Marriage certificate of James John Bolheres and Minnie Labrie
4 Greek Orthodox Baptismal Certificate of Margaret Bolheres, 6 Aug 1922
5 Family chart written by Katharine (Parthenios) Boosalis, 1978
6 Marriage record of Sprios Sideris and Stamata Bouloucheris, Greece, Sparta Marriages, 1835-1935, MyHeritage.com
7 Death record of Christ Parthenios, Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002, FamilySearch.org
8 Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival, La Gascogne, 9 Feb 1907
9 History – French Line – Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (blog)
10 Family tree of David Sedaris prepared for Finding Your Roots
11 Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival, Ivernia, 6 Jun 1914
12 Interviews of Margaret Mitchell and Lillian Hueler, Los Angeles, California, 1996-1999
13 Declaration of Intention of James John Bolheres, Douglas, Arizona, 8 May 1916
14 1917 El Paso, Texas city directory
15 Draft Registration of James John Bolheres, United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, FamilySearch.org
16 St. Paul, Minnesota city directories, 1917-1919
17 Discharge from the U.S. Army of James John Bolheres, Camp Dodge, Iowa, 31 Dec 1918
18 Naturalization Certificate of James John Bolheres, Camp Grant, Illinois, 15 Aug 1918
19 Minneapolis, Minnesota city directories, 1920-1941
20 “Suicide Victim Found in Birmingham Hotel Believed Minneapolitan,” The Minneapolis Star, 11 Jan 1927, p. 2
21 Death certificate of Helen Hazel Bolheres
22 Social Security Death Index
23 Marriage record of Thomas Milton Mitchell and Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres, California County Marriages, 1850-1953, FamilySearch.org
24 Marriage record of Hubert Rudolph Hueler and Lillian Bolheres, C.C.M.
