Posts Tagged "Romeo Amaducci"

Villa Am Meer, Chapter 12

Posted by joy.the.curious on Aug 18, 2010 in Villa Am Meer | 4 comments

To Elena, a tribute

New here? Start with Chapter 1…

This story about my vintage beach house on Longboat Key has taken all kinds of twists and turns since I began writing it back in March. I certainly have enjoyed the journey, and it came at a time when I really needed to start writing again. For that I am truly grateful.

I’ve learned a lot about an era I knew very little about, and I’ve begun to piece together the story of a family both blessed and cursed with wealth. At the center of it all, I’ve come to know and respect a woman by the name of Elena Duke Benedict. I never knew her, and I don’t even know what she looks like, but her life story has captivated me these past several months, and I wanted a chance to share what little I’ve been able to piece together from research and emails.

Her friends and family called her Nell. She was born in Harrison, New York on September 11, 1917. If you didn’t catch that, she was born on September 11th. I had to pause a moment when I first discovered this and wonder where she had been on her birthday in 2001, when the New York City she had known since childhood became a different New York City… a different city in a different world.

Elena was the daughter of Italian immigrants, Romeo and Maria Stella Amaducci. Romeo was the first to arrive in 1909. He was 22 years old at the time. Maria came later, in 1913, at age 21. They were married one year later, when Romeo was 27 and Maria was 22.

They raised their family in East White Plains, New York, a neighborhood heavily populated by Italian families. In 1930, Romeo and Maria owned their own home at 92 Gainsborg Avenue. They had three children by then: Anna, age 15, Nellie (Elena), age 13, and Louis, age 12. They also had two other families living with them at the time. The first family, the Braschis, paid $50/month to live with the Amaduccis. The second family, the Abrantes, paid $25/month. In all, there were 17 people living in the house.

View a photo and street map of the house on Google Maps

So, perhaps it comes as no surprise that soon after, Elena went to live with the childless and wealthy German Kohls. Romeo was already working for them as a gardener, and the story goes that the Kohls fell in love with Elena and asked to take her in as their legal ward. I venture a guess that they could see Elena was brilliant, but knew that without their intervention, she would never be given the opportunity to attend college. In return, the Kohls promised the Amaduccis their family would always be taken care of, including a college education for all the children.

Keep in mind, this is the era of the Great Depression. It began with the stock market crash of 1929 and continued all through the 1930s. One might wonder why Romeo and Maria Amaducci would have willingly turned over their daughter to live with a foreign German couple, but given the circumstances, it seems understandable. They were being given an incredible opportunity to give their daughter an education and a life they would never be able to afford. I just wonder what Elena thought of the arrangement. Was she scared? Excited? Probably both.

Because Hermann Kohl was standing trial on national bootlegging charges in Chicago in 1931, I assume Elena went to live with them sometime around 1932-1933. She would have been 16-17 at the time. I’m still not sure if Kohl was ever convicted/imprisoned, but if he was, it wasn’t for long. By April of 1933, Hermann Kohl was sailing aboard the S.S. Europa, bound for NYC after visiting Bremen, Germany. By July of the same year, he had purchased a tract of thirteen acres fronting the Bronx River Parkway extension near Peekskill. And by December 5, 1933, Prohibition was repealed forever, and any wrongdoing on Kohl’s part was probably just water under the bridge.

Elena went on to college at Columbia University in New York City, then graduated valedictorian of her class at the Swedish Institute of Physiotherapy in Manhattan. Clearly, she was one smart cookie. Her younger brother, Louis, also attended Columbia University, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in Mining Engineering. He would go on to work for Hermann Kohl at Norda, Inc., eventually becoming President of the company. Their oldest sister, Ann, also worked as Elena’s personal assistant for many years.

Living with the Kohls meant high society and haute couture. In 1937, the New York Times published a report from the U.S. Ways and Means Committee which released for publication the incomes of every person who made more than $15,000 in 1935. To be clear, that means everyone in the entire country, not just New York City. William Randolph Hearst topped the list at $500,000. Mae West was next at $480,833. Other movie stars and film executives followed close behind.

And next on the list? Industrialists, of which, Hermann Kohl was among the richest. According to the article, Herman J. Kohl, president and salesman of the Norda Essential Oil and Chemical Company, was making a whopping $77,840 in 1935. His wife, Hertha, was also listed, bringing in an additional $15,988. For comparison, this is more than George Burns and Gracie Allen were making at the time (they came in at $92,000).

So, where were they living at this time? According to a NYC city directory, the Kohls were living at 43 East 19th Street in 1925. By 1930, they had moved to 121 East 24th Street, and by 1931, had moved again to 317 East 25th Street.

From 1933 to 1948, whenever they travelled abroad by ship, the Kohls repeatedly listed their address as 601 West 26th Street. After a little research, I found this to be the address for the historic Starrett-Lehigh Building, down by Chelsea Piers, along the Hudson River. I did a little bit of backround research on the building and found out it was completed in 1932 and used as a freight distribution warehouse. A railroad company took up the entire first floor, and train tracks ran right through the ground floor of the building. However, I never found anything about the building having any residential space, so it’s hard to believe Elena or the Kohls ever lived in this building. Not sure though. Today, the building houses a variety of digital media companies, including Martha Stewart OmniMedia.

Read more about the Starrett-Lehigh Building and view photos here…

I found another address of 186 Riverside Drive on a few different genealogy records. This luxury apartment building is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and was built in in 1928 by famed architect Emory Roth. The 15-story building has 91 apartments, and overlooks Riverside Park and the Hudson River.

Kohl never trusted the stock market, and therefore felt very little effect from the great stock market crash of 1929. Instead, throughout the 30s, he invested in land, and lots of it. He owned rental properties, farm land, orange groves, and even a few private islands off the coast of Florida. One of these, Buck Key (located off Captiva Island just north of Sanibel) was donated to the people of Florida as a nature conservancy in 1979, as a gift from Elena and the Benedict family.

View Buck Key on Google Maps…

In 1935, the Kohls completed the construction of their beach home, Villa Am Meer, on Longboat Key. Word has it they were contemporaries of the Ringlings, and even purchased the chunk of land directly from them. The house is rumored to have been designed by John H. Phillips, the same architect who built the famous Ringling Museum in Sarasota.

Then, sometime during the 1940s, Herman Kohl was said to have invested $7,500 for a 49 percent share in Anthony Rossi’s fruit packing business, which would eventually grow to become Tropicana Products.

Sometime between 1937 and 1943 Elena married Emilio DeBenedictis, a former captain of the N.Y.U. football team. Around this time, Elena also shortened her married name to Elena Duke (short for Amaducci) Benedict, and Emilio DeBenedictis was shortened/Americanized to become Edward Benedict (although those who knew him just called him Ben). He also worked for Hermann Kohl at Norda, Inc, spending his entire career with the company.

In 1943, Edward Benedict took up an interest in farming and purchased the Tilly Foster Farm in Putnam County, New York. The dairy farm had 75 head of cattle, producing 8 to 10 cans of milk daily. Eventually, the dairy cattle gave way to race horses, and the Tilly Foster Farm became one of the leading thoroughbred farms in New York State. It produced such champion horses as 1969′s Silent Scream and 1997 DelMar Derby Winner, Anet.

Read more about the Tilly Foster Farm…

The Benedicts also owned a second horse farm in Putnam County, where Centennial Golf Club stands today. A residential housing development just to the north of the golf course was built with streets named after the Benedict family, including Duke Drive, Benedict Place, and Elena Court.

View the development on Google Maps…

Elena and Edward Benedict raised six daughters at their home located at 4400 Purchase Street in Purchase, New York. All six daughters attended the private and prestigious Rye Country Day School, and were presented at the Westchester Country Club Debutante Cotillion. It was a glamorous life, indeed.

So, what caused the downward spiral that led Villa Am Meer and the family’s Purchase County estate to be foreclosed upon? I don’t have all the answers, but it seems to start with a Sarasota development project gone bad.

NEXT TIME: Unicom Nursing Care and the beginning of the end…

Read Chapter 13…

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Villa Am Meer, Chapter 4

Posted by joy.the.curious on Apr 3, 2010 in Villa Am Meer | 5 comments

Who’s Nellie Amaducci?

New here? Start with Chapter 1…

It’s 6am Mountain Standard Time, and I’m writing this post from Big Mountain Ski Resort in Whitefish, Montana. I’m here with my family this weekend, a few cousins, aunts, uncles, and a bajillion teenagers. We took the Amtrak from Minnesota to catch the last weekend of skiing at Big Mountain. (Ironically, I hear it was 76 degrees yesterday in Minneapolis.)

The snow is still pretty good, at least on the back side of the hill. Much better than I expected. We were hoping for some fresh powder this morning, but I don’t see too much outside my window. Hopefully there’s more at the summit.

Now, in answer to your question (because I know you’re thinking it), I’m writing this blog post today – while on vacation – because I’d like to share some important news with you that I just received from the Benedict family.

But first, you need to get caught up.

In the last chapter, you learned that Villa Am Meer was built by a “Dr. Kohl.” He had a daughter, Elena Kohl, who married into the Benedict family, and that’s how the property came to be known as “the Benedict estate.”

From the newspaper article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, I learned that “Dr. Kohl” was an investor in a citrus packing business that would eventually grow to become Tropicana. However, I didn’t have any more information about this “Dr. Kohl.” So, I moved him to the back burner for a bit.

Instead, I focused on Edward E. Benedict. I did another Google search and found his name mentioned in an article from a 1962 summary of proposals filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

NORDA ESSENTIAL OIL & CHEMICAL FILES FOR STOCK OFFERING
Norda Essential Oil & Chemical Company. Inc., 601 West 26th Street. New York, filed a registration statement (File 2-19989) with the SEC on March 20th seeking registration of 200,000 shares of Class A stock, to be offered for public sale through underwriters headed by S. D. Fuller & Co, 26 Broadway. New York. The public offering price (maximum $15 per share) and underwriting terms are to be supplied by amendment. The statement also includes 30.000 Class A shares underlying 5-year warrants to be sold to the principal underwriter at l¢ each, exercisable at a price to be supplied by amendment.

The company manufactures, processes and distributes natural and synthetic essential oils, flavors, extracts. essences and aromatic chemicals used principally in the cosmetic, toiletry, food, beverage, cigarette and drug industries. Of the net proceeds from the stock sale, $2,200,000 will be used to reduce outstanding short-term bank loans incurred for working capital, and the balance will be added to working capital and used for general corporate purposes. In addition to certain indebtedness, the company has outstanding 804,478 shares of Class B stock, of which Hermann J. Kohl, president, Hertha Kohl, his wife, Duke & Benedict. Inc. and Elena D. Benedict (wife of Edward E. Benedict. executive vice president) own 23.6%, 29%, l6.6% and 22.8%, respectively. The Benedicts, together with their children and family, own about 30.9% of the outstanding stock of the company, and they are also principal stockholders and management officials of Duke & Benedict. Inc.

Aha! There was our mysterious Dr. Kohl. His full name was Hermann J. Kohl, and his wife’s name was Hertha. I Googled them and found Hermann’s obituary in the New York Times:

April 25, 1971 – Dr. Hermann Joseph Kohl, founder and board chairman of Norda Essential Oil and Chemical Company, Inc., manufacturers of flavors and perfumery, died yesterday at his home, 186 Riverside Drive. His age was 81.

Dr. Kohl was born in Germany on Aug. 7, 1889, received a Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Heidelberg University, and came to the United States in 1911.

He held various positions in New York until he founded Norda in 1924. He served as president until 1970, when he became chairman of the board.

Surviving are his widow, Hertha; a daughter, Mrs. Edward E. Benedict, and six grandchildren.

In memory of Dr. Kohl, the Benedict family announced the establishment of the Hermann J. Kohl Foundation for aid to students.

OK, so now I was starting to build a timeline. Hermann Kohl came to the U.S. from Germany in 1911. He founded Norda, Inc. in 1924, and he built Villa Am Meer on Longboat Key in 1935. I wondered when their daughter, Elena, had been born and when she had married Edward E. Benedict. I was hopeful that Elena might still be alive, so she could tell me about Villa Am Meer in its heyday.

I decided to log on to Ancestry.com to see if I could find the Kohls listed on the U.S. Census. That would help me determine Elena’s birth date.

I ran a search for “Hermann Kohl” in “New York” and found the actual ship manifest from the day Hermann and Hertha Kohl first arrived on Ellis Island on September 8, 1910 (view image).

I looked at that image and was lost in nostalgia for a bit. Here was a young German couple, lucky enough to have left Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War I, arriving in New York City with nothing but a chemistry degree from Heidelberg University and a dream of making it big in America. I wondered if they’d had any idea at the time that their little fragrance company in Boonton, New Jersey would eventually lead them to become shareholders in the world’s largest orange juice company.

I noticed another record for the Kohls, showing them listed on the 1920 U.S. Census. I opened up the original scanned document and found Hermann and Hertha, both age 30, living at their home at 336 Halsted Street, East Orange (ironic), New Jersey. Hertha’s 23 year old younger sister, Elli Trapp, was also living with them at the time.

But, where was Elena? Hermann and Hertha were 30 years old; I assumed they would have had their daughter by this time. But, who knows… maybe not.

I went back and ran a search for “Elena Duke Benedict” and found her listed on the U.S. Public Records Index, living at the property on Longboat Key, birthdate September 11, 1916.

Wait a minute… huh? If she’d been born in 1916, then she would have been 4 years old at the time of the 1920 U.S. Census.

So, where was Elena?

I went back to Google. I searched for “Elena Duke Benedict” and found her mentioned in an obituary for a man by the name of Louis J. Amaducci who died on March 3, 2005:

AMADUCCI, LOUIS J. – Louis J. Amaducci of Parsippany, NJ died suddenly at home on Tuesday, March 8, 2005. He was 87. Born in White Plains, NY to the late Romeo and Maria (Bilancioni) Amaducci on February 9, 1918, he was a resident of Parsippany for over 61 years. Mr. Amaducci was a 1941 graduate of Columbia University in New York City, earning a bachelor of science degree in Mining Engineering. Mr. Amaducci was the president of NORDA, Inc. of Boonton, NJ, a manufacturer of flavors and fragrances.

Hmm, so Louis Amaducci also worked at Norda, Inc. Interesting. But where was Elena Duke Benedict in this obituary? I scanned to the end and found her in the list of survivors: “…his sister, Elena Duke Benedict of White Plains, NY…”

Woah. Wait a minute. Huh?

If Elena was the daughter of Hermann and Hertha Kohl, how could she possibly be the sister of someone named Louis Amaducci?

So, once again, I went back to Ancestry.com. I Googled “Elena Amaducci” and found her listed on a 1937 ship manifest, travelling aboard the Europa with none other than Hermann’s wife, Hertha Kohl. They were returning home from a trip to Bremen, Germany. Elena was 20 years old.

Hmmm… curiouser and curiouser…

I ran another search for Elena Amaducci, this time with her birthdate entered.

I didn’t find an Elena Amaducci exactly, but I did find a “Nellie” Amaducci on the 1930 U.S. Census, 13 years old, living with her parents, Romeo and Mary Amaducci, in the town of Harrison, New York. Romeo’s occupation was listed as “Gardener.” Younger brother Louis was listed right after her.

Well now. Here was a mystery. How did Nellie Amaducci, born to Italian immigrants Romeo and Mary Amaducci, come to be known as the daughter of German immigrants, Hermann and Hertha Kohl?

Much more to come… and I promise I’ll blog again within the next day or two, so keep checking back, or sign up to receive update notifications by email.

Next time: A chat with Elena’s grandson leads to an interesting connection to the Ringling family (yes, *those* Ringlings), and some important news from Elena’s granddaughter.

Read Chapter 5…

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