Joseph Tamosaitis

Spent most of my night working on my maternal genealogy.   But was poking around on a couple of Skerstonas records before shutting down and I found the 1922 passport application for Joseph Tamosaitis.  Then, I also found his WWI Draft Registration card from 1918 and his WWII Draft Registration Card from 1942

Joseph would be my second cousin once removed as my great grand-father, Peter Skerstonas, was also his grand-father. He was born in Feb 1897 in Waterbury, CT and died in Nov 1968 in Brooklyn, NY.

His WWI Draft Registration card from 1918 shows that he was a student at La Salette College in Hartford, CT.  La Salette was a seminary.  According to their website:

       "The first La Salette Seminary High School was established in Hartford, CT, the founding city of the La Salette’s North American Mission. The property was purchased in 1894 the La Salettes purchased 10 acres on New Park Avenue where it built a seminary.
         The La Salette Missionary College, as it was called, was first occupied in 1895. The La Salette Missionaries accepted their first students on Sept. 16, 1896. Due to the increasing numbers of prospective students, two additional wings were constructed during 1906-1907. The building originally provided all levels of study, from entry to ordination.
         In 1917 the Novitiate was moved to Bloomfield, CT.
         In March of 1957, due to the increasing number of students in the Hartford Seminary, the Province purchased land in Cheshire, CT, for the construction of a new larger seminary. Construction on the new seminary building was begun in the summer of 1959.
        The last graduating class from the Hartford Seminary was in June of 1961. The new seminary in Cheshire was dedicated in September of 1961.
         The Hartford building is now used as one of the retirement houses for La Salettes. About 40 people live there."

His 1922 passport application shows that Joseph was then in Switzerland for his theological studies and was requesting to stay until his studies were completed.   The description on the second page is interesting - the usual height, hair color and eye color but also includes description of mouth, chin and face....   And, a great find, his passport photo!! 

There's also a handwritten note on the second page noting "held for Lithuanian travel."

 

Other findings - in 1928 he married Veronica Kankaustkarte in New York.   I can also find a 1933 city directory for NYC which reports that he is a music teacher. 

 

Here is the WWII Draft Registration Card from 1942.  I cannot save the 2nd page, but it notes that he is 5'7", brown hair and blue eyes.   Seems he is now a couple of inches shorter than back in his youth when he was traveling through Europe.