Joseph Patrick Poole

Joseph Patrick Poole was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 10, 1904, the sixth child of William Poole and Mary Head.

He attended school at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school. The parish church was on Aberdeen Street between Bushwick and Broadway. It burned down in 1975. He was a good student, appearing on the Honor Roll published in The Tablet in third and fifth grades.

His father William died in 1918 and Joseph soon began to helping support the family. The 1920, 1925 and 1930 censuses show him working as a clerk for a steamship line. This could have been the same line for which his eldest sister, Minnie, worked.

On May 5, 1930, Joseph married Mary Fleming. Mary had come to the US from Ireland in 1919 at the age of 10, with her mother and three sisters. They joined her father John Fleming who was already in the country.

The couple's first child, named Joseph David, was born on February 11, 1931. A second son, John Anthony, was born on April 19, 1932.

At this point, the information is sparse, but it appears that the couple began having problems in 1933. According to a letter written by Joseph, Mary flew into a rage and began throwing objects. She threatened him with a knife. According to Joseph, she was subject to hallucinations, claiming that men were walking around her room at night. In 1935, she threatened Joseph's mother and made accusations against his brother, Father John Poole. The letter was written in 1937 as part of a dispute between Joseph and his wife being adjudicated in Family Court and of course it gives only his side of the story. According to Joseph, this marital issue had become a dispute between the two families and we know that Mary Fleming's family was fairly influential in local politics.

It appears likely that Mary had some kind of breakdown and that Joseph had no idea of how to deal with it. As a result, he simply left town, relocating to Philadelphia. The children were placed in care of the nuns at the Convent of St John Baptist Novitiate and Boarding School, on Staten Island. The 1940 census shows both of them living there and also indicates that they were not there in 1935, but living elsewhere in New York City.

It's not clear exactly when Joseph left New York for Philadelphia, but we do know that he was there in February, 1942, based on his draft card. He was inducted into the Army later that year and served until 1945, when he was honorably discharged at Fort Dix, New Jersey, having reached the rank of Sergeant. More research is needed to follow his life after the army.

He died on October 28, 1967 in Philadelphia of Cirrhosis of the Liver. He is buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.