Joseph “Joe Piney” Armone (1917 - 1992)

Organized Crime Figure. A long time Captain in the Gambino Organized Crime Family, he was made Underboss of the Family by John Gotti after the murder of Frank DeCicco in 1986. He was then sent to federal prison late in 1987, after which Sammy (The Bull) Gravano took over as Underboss. Joseph Armone died in […]

Joseph A. Faurot (1872 - 1942)

New York City Police detective who introduced the use of finger-printing in the United States. He was the first to use fingerprints to identify a criminal, and the first to obtain a conviction with fingerprint evidence. Faurot rose to become a deputy police commissioner before his retirement in 1926.  (bio by: Anonymous)

Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719)

Playwright, Stateman. He is best remembered for his fictional play “Cato, a Tragedy,” based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (or Cato the Younger), the renowned Roman statesman and politician. He was born in Milston, Wiltshire, England, the oldest son of a minister and received his education at Charterhouse School at Godalming, […]

Joseph Aiuppa (1907 - 1997)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a long time power in the Chicago, Illinois Mafia syndicate known as “The Outfit”. He began his criminal career as a muscleman and hired gun for Al Capone in 1935; by 1970 he had risen high in the Chicago mob. Though he controlled the mob’s operations in Cicero and the […]

Joseph Albert Albertson (1906 - 1993)

Businessman.  Born in Yukon, Oklahoma Territory. He was one of four sons born to Rhoda and Earl Albertson. Before he was three, the family moved to Caldwell, Idaho, in 1909, where Joe grew up. After graduating from Caldwell High School in 1925, Albertson studied business for two years at the College of Idaho in Caldwell. […]

Joseph Albert Walker (1970 - 1966)

Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, Walker graduated from Trinity High School in 1938. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Washington and Jefferson College in 1942, before entering the United States Army Air Forces. He was married and had four children.  During World War II, Walker flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter and […]

Joseph Alexander Altsheler (1862 - 1919)

Author. He wrote novels of adventure and mystery, predecessors of the popular “Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew” series. He was voted Most Popular Writer of Boy’s Stories in 1918.  Family links:  Parents:  Joseph Altsheler (1826 – 1881)  Lucy C Snoddy Altsheler (1830 – 1902)  Spouse:  Sarah Boles Altsheler (1862 – 1964)*  Children:  Sydney B Altsheler […]

Joseph Alexis Bailly (1825 - 1883)

Sculptor. The son of a Parisian cabinetmaker, Joseph attended the École des Beaux-Arts before being drafted into the Army during the Revolution of 1848. He assaulted an officer, deserted, and fled to England where he studied briefly under the sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. After traveling to the United States and Argentina, he settled in Philadelphia […]

Joseph Alston (1779 - 1816)

Born in All Saints Parish near Georgetown, South Carolina, Joseph Alston attended the College of New Jersey; but he left in 1796 without graduating. He then went to study law at the office of Edward Rutledge and was admitted to the bar. Alston decided against practicing law and instead engaged in planting, becoming one of […]

Joseph Amberg (1892 - 1935)

Organized Crime Figure. He along with his brothers Louis “Pretty” and Hyman Amberg were the most feared gangsters in the Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York City, New York during the 1920s and 1930s On September 30,1935, Joseph Amberg and Morris Kessler (one of his henchmen) were lined-up against the wall of an auto repair […]

Joseph Armone (1917 - 1992)

Joseph Armone Armone followed his brother into the Mangano family. By the time Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia took over the family, he had become one of the family’s major earners. In 1957, underboss Joseph Biondo allegedly picked Armone and two other family mobsters to kill Anastasia. However, before the attack could take place, Armone was […]

Joseph B. Cawthorn (1868 - 1949)

Actor. Appeared on stage and in motion pictures from the 1920s to the 1940s. Married to actress Queenie Vassar. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Inscription:CAWTHORNJOSEPH B.1869 — 1949QUEENIE V.1870 — 1960

Joseph Badger (1707 - 1765)

Artist. He began his working life as a house painter and glazier. He became a famous portrait artist whose works hang in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Brooklyn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Harvard University Art Museum, the Worcester Art […]

Joseph Barbara (1905 - 1959)

Joseph Barbara Organized Crime Figure. Immigrated to the United States in 1921 at age 16. He was soon working as a hitman for the Buffalo crime family in their Northern Pennsylvania territory. During the 1930s, Joseph was arrested for several murders, including the 1933 murder of rival bootlegger Sam Wichner. Wichner had gone to Barbara’s […]

Joseph Baron Lister (1827 - 1912)

Medical Pioneer, “Father of Antiseptics.” He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine degree from London University, and went on to training at the Royal College of Physicians. As surgeon in Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he was concerned with the number of deaths from surgeries. Many operations resulted in inflammation and gangrene. Studying the germ theory of […]

Joseph Barondess (1863 - 1928)

Joseph Barondess (July 3, 1867–June 19, 1928) was a labor leader and political figure in New York City’s Lower East Side Jewish community in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Known as the “King of the Cloakmakers”, whose union he led, he carried himself like an actor, a career he had tried but […]

Joseph Beam (1954 - 1988)

Baptised as a Catholic, the young Joseph Beam studied mainly in parochial schools, including the Malvern Preparatory School, St. Thomas More High School and Franklin College, a small liberal arts college founded by American Baptists in Franklin, Indiana (20 miles south of Indianapolis). An only child, his boyhood was difficult and solitary; he was often […]

Joseph Beaumont (1616 - 1699)

Poet, Chaplain to King Charles II, and Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge. A Royalist and High-Church Anglican, Beaumont was among the group of scholars ejected from their positions at Cambridge in 1644 for refusing to accept the “Solemn League and Covenant” demanded by Parliament. Returning to his native village of Hadleigh, he composed Psyche, or […]

Joseph Behar (1933 - 2003)

Television Director. Behar directed many television series’ including, “From These Roots” from 1958 to 1961, “General Hospital” beginning in 1963, “People Will Talk” in 1963, “Let’s Make A Deal” from 1963 to 1976, “Days Of Our Lives” beginning in 1965, “The Young & The Restless” in 1973, “It’s Anybody’s Guess” in 1977, “Let’s Make A […]

Joseph Bernard Bloomingdale (1842 - 1904)

Businessman. He founded the Bloomingdale’s Department Store chain.  Family links:  Parents:  Benjamin Bloomingdale (1813 – 1896)  Hannah Weil Bloomingdale (1813 – 1876)  Spouse:  Clara Koffman Bloomingdale (1852 – 1943)  Children:  Rosalie Bloomindale Sperry (1876 – 1957)*  Siblings:  Fannie Bloomingdale Myers (1838 – 1897)*  Lyman Gustave Bloomingdale (1841 – 1905)*  Joseph Bernard Bloomingdale (1842 – 1904) […]

Joseph Bodner (1925 - 1982)

Artist. Compared to the “Great Masters”, his oils have been collected by numerous celebrities and dignitaries. He graduated Art Center and was selected most likely to succeed by Norman Rockwell. His work was best known for Monochromatic Westerns, Majestic Horses and Dramatic Skies. He was in Who’s Who in France. His paintings are still collected […]

Joseph Bologna (1934 - 2017)

Joseph Bologna was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Brown University, where he majored in art history. Bologna served a tour of duty with United States Marine Corps. Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials. Bologna enjoyed a long run in film and television. His breakthrough film, Lovers and Other Strangers, written […]

Joseph Bonanno (1905 - 2002)

Crime Figure. He immigrated to the United States in his 20s and began to work as a muscleman for the large New York gangs of era, most under Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano. When both were murdered in 1931, Bonanno was appointed as boss of the Brooklyn-based Bonnano Family, which he exerted […]

Joseph Bonanno (1905 - 2002)

Joseph Bonanno Crime Figure. He immigrated to the United States in his 20s and began to work as a muscleman for the large New York gangs of era, most under Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano. When both were murdered in 1931, Bonanno was appointed as boss of the Brooklyn-based Bonnano Family, which […]

Joseph Bonomi (1796 - 1878)

Draftsman, Egyptologist. Born Joseph Bonomi the Younger, in London, son of architect, Joseph Bonomi the Elder. He studied in Rome before accepting a position with an expedition to Egypt in 1824. For the following two years he served as draftsman for the Hay’s Expedition at Abu Simbel, Kalabsha, and Thebes, producing accurate sketches and plaster […]

Joseph Bova (1924 - 2006)

Actor. He was born in Cleveland (Ohio) and died in Englewood (New Jersey). His first stage appearance in New York was in “Once Upon a Mattress,” the 1959 Broadway take-off on “The Princess and the Pea,” which also featured Carol Burnett’s debut.He acted with Lynn Redgrave in a 1977 production of Shaw’s “St. Joan,” appeared […]

Joseph Brooks (1938 - 2011)

In the 1960s, Joseph Brooks composed advertising jingles for clients including Pepsi (“You’ve Got a Lot to Live”) and Maxwell House (“Good to the Last Drop Feeling”). He received numerous Clio Awards for his work, as well as a People’s Choice Award. Credited as “Joey Brooks”, he also wrote the song “My Ship Is Comin’ […]

Joseph Buloff (1899 - 1985)

Actor, Theatrical Director. Born Józef Bulow in the former Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania), at an early age he became a leading actor with Poland’s famed Vilnia Troupe. During this time he met and married the Troupe founder’s daughter, Luba, also a leading actress. They emigrated to the U.S. in 1926, when Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish […]

Joseph Bulova (1970 - 1935)

Businessman, Manufacturer. He founded the J. Bulova Watchmaking Company, which is today the highly successful Bulova Watch Company.  Family links:  Spouse:  Bertha Bulova (1862 – 1943)*  Children:  Hannah Bulova (1887 – 1971)*  Arde Bulova (1889 – 1958)*  Emily B Bulova Henshel (1892 – 1989)*  Stella Bulova (1894 – 1912)* *Calculated relationship

Joseph C. Carroll (1970 - 1970)

Clergyman, Historian. He was the author of “Slave Insurrections in the U.S.” At the time of his death, he was affiliated with Wilberforce University, and was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)