Alexander Alexander [Michael] (Alexander) Agelasto, Jr.

Notes:

Occupation: 1900, cotton merchant and broker, Norfolk, VA; from 1915, employee, United States Department of Agriculture (DOA). 1917, specialist in charge, Office of Markets and Rural Organization, DOA, 225 Carondelet, New Orleans, LA; 1918-22: specialist in cotton classing dept, DOA, Washington, DC; 1920, government cotton specialist.

Employment history: 1888-1891, agency clerk, McCullough Building, Water St. cr. Fayette, Norfolk, VA; 1906, cotton broker; Dec 1907 - Jan 1908, indicted, tried and acquitted for fraud; appointed assistant in cotton business methods, Office of Markets and Rural Organization, US Dept. of Agriculture(Washington Post, 4 Jul 1915); from 1920: staff member, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, US Dept. of Agriculture, Washington DC.; 1921, lead author of "The Cotton Situation," 1921 USDA Agriculture Yearbook, pp 323-406; 1943, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Distribution, Administration, Cotton and Fiber Branch, 12th and C St SW, Washington DC.

Residence: Norfolk, Va.: 1882-1886, 24 Botetourt; 1886-1897, 18 York; 1894, student [Alex M jr.], 913 N Calvert, Baltimore, MD; 1898, 54 (18) York; 1898-1912, 54 York; 1906, apparently living in Liverpool, England, and returned to US shortly before father’s death; 1913-1914, 426 W York; 1915, 518 Colonial Av; 1917, 1737 Jackson Av, New Orleans, LA; 1918-1920, Aurora Apartments n 2, 1846 Vernon NW, Washington, DC; 1921, Apt 401, 2426 19th St NW, Washington DC; 1930-1933, 2922 18th St. NW, Washington, DC.; 1937, 1943: 2019 Allen Place NW, Washington DC.

Travel: 10 May 1899, Liverpool on the Germanic from New York; A.A. Agelasto, 22, male, departed Liverpool 13 Jun 1891 for New York aboard the Alaska; 29 June 1906, Liverpool to New York, Lucania.

Appears in a photo with his brothers, taken in Memphis, where his father was a founding member of the Memphis Cotton Exchange. The boys are, from left to right: Alexander Michael, Peter and Michael.

According to Peter A. Agelasto III, his grandfather, Peter A Agelasto, had to work hard to pay the debts that his younger brother Alexander ran up in trying to run the cotton business after their father (Alexander Michael) died. The Grandy family that controlled Seaboard Bank, on which great grandfather had been a board member, let them stay in their house for a few years although it was mortgaged and taken over by the bank.

1933, apparently ran a dog breeding operation. From a classified ad in the 8 Jan 1933 Washington Post: "Puppies--Boston Terriers, pedigreed. Adams 5902. Call at 2022 18th St. NW ...and seven cute little pups are sold...Mr. Agelasto, 2922 18th street northwest, was offered music lessons, jewelry and other articles in exchange for his puppies, but Post readers paid cash for all seven. Mr. Agelasto was highly pleased with the number and character of calls."

Education: 1892-93, student in Arts, St Johns College [Johns Hopkins University], Annapolis MD, USA. Sports: He participated in the Johns Hopkins University Athletic Association (Baltimore Sun, 22 Feb 1889, p 4); on rooster of 10-man Johns Hopkins University's 'Ninety-one's' football team (Baltimore Sun, 22 Oct 1890, p 6).

He is listed in the Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, 1 Feb 1910, as cotton broker.

The following 2008 note is from George Scrini, the great-grandson of Virginia Mavrogordato Scrini, who was Alexander's aunt and god-mother[perhaps secretive as it is unclear whether Alexander's parents knew that she had had their son baptized].

"Earlier in the year, we were in Chios and did an interview for the local paper about my connections with Chios. They did their own research and came up with a mention of Virginia and Alexander in a book by the authoress Penelope Delta. Her maiden name was Benaki (Benaki Museum in Athens) and her family had met the Scrinis while on holiday in Llandudno in North Wales. Alexander was about 13 at the time. He was 'a spoilt little boy who refused to speak any Greek!'"


He donated objects to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington, DC, with correspondence dating 11 May 1937 and 10 Aug 1943. The several items were lent to the Smithsonian in 1937 and later given as a gift in 1938. Their records show that the items were acquired in India by his father, A.M. Sr., on a trip in 1875.

A. M. Agelasto, Jr. was a member of the New York Cotton Exchange in 1907. He is on a list of 34 cotton traders on the Exchange who lived in the U.S. South. The newspaper article concerns a congressional investigation over the Exchange's 'gambling methods.' ("The Cotton Exchange Side of It," Atlanta Constitution, 1 Mar 1907, p 6)

He was one of the three Department of Agriculture agents conducting a public investigation of cotton exchanges in Southern cities, including Norfolk, Va., 26 Aug 1918 ("Probing the Disparity in Prices of Cotton," The Atlanta Constitution, 27 Aug 1918).

Attended a social event at the Norfolk Country Club (Baltimore Sun, 12 Feb 1911).

He gave a two-spotted gourami to the National Zoo, Washington, DC. (New York Times, 3 Nov 1935, p N1).

He and his brother Mickey played the amateur tennis circuit.

"A.M. Agelasto, of the office of markets and rural organization, is taking a week's vacation at Norfolk" ("In Uncle Sam's Government Departments," Washington Post, 2 Jul 1916, p A5).

Stayed at the Navarre Hotel, New York City ("Glimpses of Washingtonians Visiting the Metropolis," Washington Post, 5 May 1919).

Business address, Norfolk, Va.: com mer (1882-1884); mngr Ralli Bros agcy (1885-1886); agt Ralli Bro’s Agency, 40 Main St. (1888); agt , McCullough 1 Water cor Fayette (1889-1892); clk/agt Ralli Bros 27 (29) Plume St. cor Randolph (1893-1897); agt Ralli Bros’ Agency, Front cor 3d, Atlantic City (1898-1900); cotton dir Ralli Bros 42 Front (1900-1903); A.M.A. & Son, 42 Front (1904-1906); A. M. Agelasto & Son (Alex M. Agelasto Jr.) cotton exporters Front cor 3d, Atlantic City (1907); A. M. Agelasto & Son (Inc), cotton brokers Front, A. Am. Agelasto Jr. v-pres (1908-1909); pres Atlantic Mnfg Co. (1910-1914); cotton broker (1915).

1900 US Federal Census for 54 York Street, Norfolk City, Virginia, headed by Alex M Agelasto, 67, b. Feb 1833, Greece; naturalized, parents b. Greece, Cotton Buyer, own home, Married 1866 (34 years); wife Polyrene M Agelasto, 53, b. Jan 1847, Greece; parents b. Greece, both immigrated 1859, 41 years in US; sons Peter A Agelasto, 31, b. Mar 1869, India, lawyer; Michael A Agelasto, 29, b. Apr 1871, Greece, electrical engineer, both immigrated 1877, naturalized, 23 years in the US; Alex M Agelasto Jr, 26, b. Dec 1873, Louisiana, all single, cotton buyer; and one servant.

1910 US Federal Census for 54 York Street, Norfolk City, Virginia, headed by Mrs. P. Agelasto, 62, b. 1848, Greece, widowed, parents b. Greece, naturalized, own home, married 40 years, 3/3 children living; son P Agelasto, 40, b. 1870, India, immigrated 1900, Married, parents b. Greece; lawyer, naturalized; Daughter-in-law Catherine Agelasto, 29, b. 1881, Virginia, parents b. Virginia, 5 years married; grandson Alex Agelasto Jr., 5, b. 1905, Virginia; father b. India; mother b. Virginia; sons Mickey Agelasto, 38, b. 1872 Greece; immigrated 1890, naturalized, single, parents b. Greece, Cotton Mill manager, Alex Agelasto Sr., 37, b. 1873 Louisiana, Married, parents b. Greece, clerk cotton mill, married 7 years; Daughter-in-law Mary W. Agelasto, 26, b. 1884, Virginia, parents b. Virginia, all native English speakers, can read/write.

1930 US federal census: 2922 18th St., Washington, DC household headed by Alexander Angelasto [sic], owner, house valued at $13,000, 56, 27 y.o. at marriage; b. Louisiana, parents b. Greece, cotton specialist, US Government; wife Dorothy, 48, 21 y.o. at marriage; b. Virginia, parents b. Virginia.

Name:
Recorded as Alexandre Alexandre Agelasto on his birth certificate and Alexander Michael on his gravestone. While his father A.M. Agelasto lived, he referred to himself as A.M. Agelasto Jr. He apparently also anglicized his spelling from Alexandre to Alexander and from Michel to Michael. The 1900 census calls him Alex M. Jr.

Birth:
14 Nov 1873, according to death certificate.

Christened:
He was baptised by Archimandrite Constantine Stratoulis. The church register exceptionally does not include the father's given name, although it gives his occupation as merchant and the address as Southport [Merseyside, Lancashire]. It states that the 4-year-old child came from America. The God-parent is Ms. Scrini [Virginia Scrini, his maternal aunt]. [Speculation: In Orthodox tradition a son can have the same given name as his father, only if the father is deceased by the time of the son's baptism, which was clearly not the case in this situation. Thus, the father's name is omitted.]

Buried:
Elmwood Cemetery record: AGELASTO, ALEX M I28110 Section ELM, Block 7TH A E, Lot 15, Space 8 0 05/22/1947

Alexander married Mary Higgins (Joseph) Walton on 18 Jun 1902 in Norfolk, Virginia USA. Mary (daughter of Joseph Alfred (David) Walton and Mary Caroline (Ignatius) Higgins) was born on 23 Apr 1880 in Norfolk, Virginia USA; died on 15 Apr 1970 in Manassas Manor Nursing Home, 625 Maple St., Manassas, Prince William, Virginia USA; was buried on 27 Apr 1970 in Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]