Oops! Frank Cameriero Did it Again. (Tombstone Tuesday)

Macon Telegraph, Georgia, 13 July 1909

Frank Cameriero was a barber. It's what he did. And apparently, he was very good at it. Local newspapers called him a "tonsorial artist,"¹ and said he operated "the very best tonsorial institution in Macon."²

City directories further illustrate this. Macon, Georgia directories from 1904, 1906 - 1909, 1914, and 1917 - 1918 accessed via Ancestry.com show Frank as either a proprietor of a barber shop or at least an employee in one.³ What in the world then, was F. Cameriero doing on a September 1911 list of people alleged to have violated the prohibition statute?⁴

It seems that sometime around 1910, if not before, Frank Cameriero got into the "soft drinks" business. This is bore out by the 1910 U.S. Federal Census⁵ and 1911 Macon, Georgia City Directory,⁶ both listing such as Frank's occupation.

The next newspaper article I came across stated Frank Cameriero plead guilty on pending charges of violating the prohibition law:

PLEAS OF GUILTY MADE IN PROHIBITION CASES
Cameriero...Signs Affidavit That He Will Never Sell Whisky Again
Frank Cameriero now has a clean slat with the city court, a number of cases charging violation of the prohibition law which had been pending against him being disposed of yesterday, a plea of guilty being entered in three cases, while two others were not prossed.[sic]

Cameriero presented an ex culpe affidavit to Judge Hodges, in which he promised never to engage in business of that character again. [Macon Telegraph, Georgia, 31 August 1913]

But (oops!) Frank did it again.

POLICE FIND WHISKY WHILE MAKING RAIDS
Frank Cameriero Has Three Drums in His Place
...Yesterday morning the police swooped down on a bar run by Frank Cameriero at 225 Fifth street. They were armed with search warrants and succeeded in unearthing two and a half drums of whisky which they found in the place. Cameriero had only been in the near beer business at this location a few days. He was released under a bond of $200.

The police also claim to have evidence of a sale of whisky made at Cameriero's place... [Macon Telegraph, Georgia, 26 October 1914]

Frank again plead guilty:

Local News Bits
Cameriero Gets Off Light
Because his place of business had been open only three days when raided by the police and charges of violating the state prohibition law placed against him, Judge Hodges was unusually lenient on Frank Cameriero in the city court of Macon yesterday, when the defendant entered a plea of guilty. Judge Hodges only required him to pay the court costs... [Macon Telegraph, Georgia, 15 January 1916]

Photo © 2012 S. Lincecum

Frank Cameriero (1874-1935) and his wife Angelina (1885-1929) were both born in Italy. They rest in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery section of Rose Hill. A kind reader and descendant of Frank Cameriero told me Angelina was the daughter of Nicholas Cameriero's second wife. Nicholas and Frank were brothers.⁷


Footnotes:

1. "A Popular Barber Makes A Change," The Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, 21 June 1906; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 June 2012), Historical Newspapers Archive.
2. "Frank Cameriero Moves Shop Into New Quarters," The Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, 13 July 1909; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 June 2012), Historical Newspapers Archive.
3. "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta)," database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 June 2012), entries for Frank Cameriero.
4. "40 Prohibition Cases," The Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, 9 September 1911; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 June 2012), Historical Newspapers Archive.
5. 1910 U.S. census, Bibb County, Georgia, p. 7A, line 19, Frank Caneriero; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 June 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T624.
6. "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta)," database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 June 2012), entry for Frank Cameriero.
7. Nina Fort (e-address for private use), to Stephanie Lincecum, e-mail, 7 June 2012, "Re: Rose Hill Cemetery; Macon, Georgia," Rose Hill Cemetery Project & Family Tree Maker Files; privately held by Lincecum, e-address & street address for private use, Georgia.

John McBrearty Convicted of Violating the "Blind Tiger" Law

"Blind Tiger" (a term popular in the southern states) is a lower class version of a speakeasy, a place that illegally sold alcohol during Prohibition. Prohibition in Georgia, by the way, was from 1908 until 1935. This started well before and went on after the national prohibition of 1920 to 1933. In a mid-September 1914 week in Macon, seventy prohibition cases were on the docket for the city court. John McBrearty was one such case.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
10 February 1914, pg. 8

SECOND RAID MADE ON JOHN M'BREARTY'S STORE

Police Secure a Barrel of Whisky and Claim to Have Evidence of a Sale. McBrearty Denies Ownership.

For the second time since the first of the year, the police have raided John McBrearty's grocery store on Monroe street and gotten sufficient whisky to warrant charges of violation of the city blind tiger ordinance and the state prohibition law. The last raid was made last night by Chief Riley and Plain Clothes Officers Morris and Dave Riley.

Not only was a barrel of whisky taken from McBrearty's place, but a sale is also alleged to have been gotten on him, which the officers are confident will "stick" when the case comes to trial. McBrearty declared the whisky did not belong to him and that he knew nothing about it.

I conducted some research in an effort to make sure this article pertained to the John McBrearty (1882-1961) resting beside his wife Margaret Thomas (1882-1957) in the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery section of Rose Hill. The 9 April 1930 Federal census for Macon, Bibb County, Georgia lists John with his wife Margaret and son John F. (1913-2005, also buried in same plot as parents). John and Margaret were both born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900's. They were married about 1911.

In the 1920 census (same family, same locale), John is listed as a retail grocery store owner. And in the 1918 Macon City Directory, John is listed (with Margaret) as being a grocer at 336 Monroe.

In late June 1915, after John exhausted his appeals, the final ruling came down:

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
23 June 1915, pg. 11

"TIGER" CASE AFFIRMED

John McBrearty Must Pay Fine of $150 Imposed by the Recorder

Clerk R. A. Nisbet, of the superior court, yesterday received notice that the court of appeals had affirmed the judgement of the superior court in the case of John McBrearty, convicted at the February term, 1915, of violating the "blind tiger" law...McBrearty was sentenced to pay a fine of $150 or work sixty days on the county roads.

Another interesting find was John McBrearty in the 1910 Macon, Bibb County, Georgia Federal census. He was working for grocery merchant John Moss (born Ireland) as a Near-Beer clerk. Seems John McBrearty really was in the "thick of things" during Prohibition!