Hello Joe

Joe Cenatiempo is listed as owning/managing 2 businesses

Joe's Place ~ 9800 St. Charles Rock Rd., St. Louis Missouri
&
Hi-Pointe Auto Supply Co. ~ 1008 McCausland Ave., St. Louis Missouri

Both addresses still exist today, however I doubt they are the same buildings as back then, but I don't know. You can look them up online.

I am not sure what happened to either of these businesses once he got out of jail. But there is record of him owning Hi-Pointe Auto Supply Co. from 1926-1928.

Being that he was in jail from January through March he received several letters. I am going to post them in order month by month. He must have gone to jail shortly after the article was written about the sentencing.

Here are January's letters

In the letters he gets, I noticed some interesting things:
 1. Cousin Margaret says 'much love from my mother and dad and all', which tells me she comes from a bigger family than just one brother as my Grandmother Margaret did so this Margaret is not my grandmother. Plus my grandmother Margaret would have only been 11-12 yrs old at this time. Leaving only 1 Cousin left.
The oldest child of Joseph and Louisa Cenatiempo, Margaret born in 1904 from a decent sized family making her 24 yrs old. YAY! a mystery of mine solved! And here is her letter, the oldest letter in the box.

2. The return address is 1020 Forest Ave., St. Louis Mo. ~ the same address most of these other letters come from. Bill Cenatiempo (which never heard of until these letters), and a "Little-Bit" that I think I know who she is now. Most of their letters were mailed together, however I don't believe they were "together". Little-Bit talks about her soldier boyfriend Richard. And at times they both talk about working at the shop, which seems to be the Automotive Shop. So this tells me that "Little-Bit" is a younger lady. One envelope has on the return address Miss R. Cenatiempo from 1020 Forest Ave. Margaret had a sister named Restituta she was born in 1908 making her at this time 20 years old. Which does seem appropriate and with a name like that I can see why she would be called "Little-Bit". See for yourself and correct me if I am wrong.

as always these doc.'s are in the photo album for closer views, but if you click on them in here they get pretty big. Also, I think of the language of the time, and the stories these letters tell are entertaining and somewhat humorous! I love to look at these and imagine who was writing and what they might be wearing, dressed in those days of old, and hear them speak these words. It's like taking a step back in time. I hope everyone loves to read these as much as I do. Enjoy!

You're In Violation, Sir!

The cigar box I received came from a farm out in Leslie Missouri which apparently was share cropped with the Cenatiempo's and the Nowak's, which I honestly have no other information about this farm. But this is what I do know.

Ok, so we have Joe Cenatiempo who lived with his parents as of the 1910 census, in St. Louis on Graham St. You can look back at my post called 'Welcome Home' to see the record. From what I can tell this home served as a boarding house and was also shared with other Italian immigrants during that time. One of the immigrants was named Bill. Joe's parents were Frank and Rosa Cenatiempo. Apparently he owned an entertainment establishment/saloon called Joe's Place at the age of 21. Joe's place was fined in 1928 and Joe was put in the St. Charles County Jail for 42 days for being in violation of the Volstead Act. The Volstead Act went into effect making it illegal for anyone to manufacture, sell, purchase, drink, or possess alcoholic beverages. Prohibition has a significant impact on East St. Louis as well as the nation as a whole. "Black Leg" mobsters saw opportunities for enormous profits and opened illegal "speakeasies."

This article lists 'John Santiempo' as the employer. Being that Joe is the one that spent time in jail for this, I am pretty certain that was a typo in the newspaper. You can click on the article for a closer look or check it out in the blog photo album to be able to zoom in even closer.

Joe was put into the St Charles County Jail to serve his 45 days as punishment. During that time he received letters from friends and family. Which is pretty much what was in the cigar box. A lot of letters to Joe. Most of the letters though, come from an address on Forest Ave in St. Louis, from Bill (Cenatiempo) and a female who seems to be a young lady by the nick name 'Little-Bit', and also from 'Cousin Margaret'. All the letters from these three names come from the same address on Forest Ave. If anyone has any additional information on who these people are, please tell!

The Barn

In April of this year a woman by the name of Sherry, left a comment on this blog. Saying that she had some interesting 'stuff' for me! By the kindness and consideration of this woman's heart I am able to share this information with our family. And here I am glad to bring it to you all! I hate to think about what might have happened to these things she gave me had I not had this blog as a communication link. This woman in rural Missouri (Leslie/St. Clair area), was able to get these things to my mother, whom then brought the package to me during a visit all the way here to Florida! 
Here is the beginning of this great find.

On this farm out in rural Missouri there was a barn. And for some reason, that doesn't matter, the owners decided to tear down the barn in April of this year. However before they did, Sherry decided to rummage through the barn and see what was in there. And thank goodness she did because she found what I feel is a Cenatiempo Treasure! Here is a few pictures of the barn before they tore it down.

Inside the barn she found an antique "Flick and Flock" Cigar Box. Which just alone is a great antique because most Flick and Flock Cigar Boxes were destroyed before WWII. Anyways...Here is the first time I saw this box, and it was through a picture she sent me and my mom.

Wow! I couldn't wait to look inside this treasure box! Once in hand, I started carefully opening envelopes and unfolding these old papers is when I found out some very interesting things that I never knew before. I am going to go through this stuff in the best chronological order that I can. However, I know there are more stories that go along with this stuff. And that other family members have more information other than just what I am sharing. Please share with us in the Comments section!

The purchase of a place they called at the time a "Roadhouse" more of a Speak Easy of its time.

And then the Grand Opening of 'Joe's Place'....

It's noted to be just down the street from St. Johns Station. Which during that time period was a Post Office location. Then housed train cars and now holds public transportation buses, I believe. Next, this story is about to get interesting. This Joe is the first son born to Frank and Rosa Cenatimepo. But before I share more, does anyone else have any neat stories about this place or about Joe himself? 

*Also note that I have placed these pictures into the blog photo album for a closer look.*

Picture Update

Today I just added more pictures to the blog photo album. So that hopefully now if anyone goes into the album you can see a bigger picture and even zoom in on details. I hope it works!

Also, I am waiting (patiently, haha) for some more information from a cousin. And I am very excited about the newest stuff I have been compiling. Doing more of my own homework in the mean time for future posts, when I can. Hopefully I can get this 'new stuff' published soon!

Enjoy.