Poulianos/Poulos Family: First Greeks in Setauket, Long Island, New York COMING TO AMERICA
By: George Moraitis Arriving in America:
Among the many Greek
families who left Greece, during the immigration
years, were three sons of Konstantinos Poulianos
of Icaria, (Ikaria) Greece: John (Ioannis),
Anthony (Antonios), and Louis (Elias). They came
to America between 1905 and 1920 choosing to
gamble everything on a chance for a better
life. Leaving behind their home that
offered few opportunities, they and other Greek
immigrants began their great adventure knowing
that they might fail but insisting on their right
to try for a better life. They sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean and after passing the Statue of
Liberty in New York Harbor, they began the
Poulianos/Poulos American history.
Family oral history states
that John Poulianos left his home on the Greek
island of Icaria at the age of eighteen for the
'new world' - somewhere about the year 1905. He
made his way through Ellis Island in New York and
went to Warren and Youngstown, Ohio, where he
worked as a commercial painter for over a
decade.
After about twelve years, he moved
to New York City, where he shared a rented two
room apartment (with cooking facilities) on
Madison Avenue with other Greek men. He found a
job working at Columbia University in the
kitchens. Jobs were not easy to come by, but John
- like many immigrants - found his job through his
fellow Greek villagers. These were tough times for
the Greek immigrants since they were targets of
anti-Immigrant hatred.
Before long, John left Columbia
University to work for the John Raptis Painting
Company. This job took him out of New York City to
Long Island and to the Port Jefferson - Setauket
area. By 1917, John had settled in Port Jefferson
taking a job with the Frank Stein Painting Company
and working as a cook in the Elk Hotel and
Restaurant.
1920 was a big year for John, he
and his brother bought a home and he married. John
and his younger brother, Anthony, purchased a farm
in South Setauket which would serve as the family
homestead until it, burned in 1975. John and his
new wife, Georgia, did not live on the farm, but
instead lived in a second floor apartment on top
of Terry's Barber Shop in Port Jefferson. In 1921,
the twins, Konstantinos (Gus) and Demetrios
(Jimmy) were born. In 1922, the family moved to a
house on Maple Place also in Port Jefferson where
a third son, Peter, was born. In 1923, They moved
again to William Street where a fourth son,
Alexander (Alex) was born. They would soon move to
their permanent residence on Sheep Pasture Road in
the 'Gildersleeve' house that was built by the
Loper Brother builders of Port Jefferson.
The four sons went to the Port
Jefferson High School. Peter and Gus remained in
the family home, neither of them married. James
and his wife, Polly did not have any children.
Alex and his wife, Helen had two children, Georgia
and John II.
John Poulos, (Ioannis Poulianos)
died in 1944 at the age of fifty-seven. His
wife, Georgia lived thirtyfour years longer until
her death in 1978. Three of the sons are deceased:
James in 1980, Peter in 1986 and Alex in 2003. Gus
still lives at the family home on Sheep Pasture
Road. John, Georgia, Peter, Alex and his wife,
Helen are buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port
Jefferson. Due, to his World War II Army service,
James is buried in the National Cemetery in
Calverton, Long Island, N.Y.
Antonios (Anthony) Poulianos,
younger brother to John, came to America around
1915, at about the age of eighteen. Uncle Tony, as
he was called, went into the United States Army,
serving his time in France during the First World
War. Upon returning to America, Tony took his
separation money of $600.00 and combined it with
his brother, John's limited savings and together
they purchase a farm on Pond Path in South
Setauket, New York from Frederick Smith, son of
Amos C. Smith, in 1920. Tony was the first to
establish a thriving a dairy and egg business in
Port Jefferson.
In 1920, Konstantinos Poulianos,
father to John and Tony, wrote to his sons in
America from Greece to inform them that they were
to receive their brother, Louis
(Elias) , his wife and their daughter.
Louis was shortly to complete his tour of duty in
the Greek Army and was coming to America. In their
father's letter, Konstantinos recommended that
Tony wear his American Army uniform to Ellis
Island so that it would be easier to get Louis and
his family through the procedure of Ellis Island
quickly. Tony refused to wear the uniform but did
go to Ellis Island to meet Elias (Louis), his
wife, Mary (nee: Frangos) and their daughter,
Thespina. Louis and Mary relied on Tony for many
things during their first years in South Setauket,
including his ability to speak English.
Tony, when he had married his new
wife, Athena, built a house on Liberty Avenue,
near the gates to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port
Jefferson. He soon after sold the farm to his
brother, Louis. Tony continued to be hard working
holding several jobs at once. He worked as a baker
in the Jim Melluses Bakery in Port Jefferson and
was still selling vegetables wholesale. Later, he
went to work for the Veteran's Administration
Hospital in Northport, New York for many years
where he would finally retire. Tony and Athena
lived in Port Jefferson for many years. But,
because of failing health, he sold his home and
moved to a garden apartment in Port Jefferson
Station. Both Anthony and Athena died in 1981 and
are buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery, leaving no
children. Family stores include many memories of
the bungalow of which Tony bought at West Meadow
Beach in Stony Brook. Nieces and nephews of two
generations would often stay for many nights
during the summer months.
By 1924, Louis and Mary were
established well enough to purchase the farm from
his brother, Tony. It served as the focal point
for the family for the next fifty years. The
family made a living by farming and extra cash
Louis earned working as a laborer. Louis and Mary
quickly took over Tony's dairy business that was
operating from the farm.
Mary Poulianos, (Poulos and
sometimes, Poulinos, as she was sometime known in
the area), ran the farm and had the dairy and
egg routes in Port Jefferson. Her clients included
private homes and such establishments as the Elk
Hotel and Restaurant on Main Street. She also took
care of her children. Louis and Mary had five more
children after they had arrived from Greece.
Thespina (Daisy) was born on the Greek island of
Icaria in 1916. Visiliki (Bessie) was born in
1921. By 1922, Athena (Ethel) was born
on the farm with Dr. McCrea as the attending
doctor. Stelios (Steve) was born at Mather
Hospital in Port Jefferson. Elpiniki (Alice), my
mother, was born in 1927. Nicholas was born
in 1933, the last to be born on the farm, the
doctor being paid by chickens and eggs. The
children's names, for the most part, were changed
by the Setauket School principal and the
Americanized versions were written on their school
records.
Louis supplemented the family's
farm income by working in construction. He worked
on building the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital
where some of his children were born. Often, these
supplemental construction jobs took him far from
the farm and Long Island. It was on one of these
construction jobs in Indian Creek, (near
Pittsburgh)Pennsylvania, while he was painting a
bridge, where he died in 1943 from a heart
attack. He was fifty-two. Mary
died in 1970. Both Louis and Mary are buried at
Cedar Hill Cemetery in the family
plot.
Family Folklore: Life on
the farm:
Family life on the farm differed
very little from farm life in Greece. Farm life
was harsh, especially during the Depression years
and during the winter seasons. Even so, America
promised a better life and fulfillment of grander
dreams that were no longer possible in
Greece. The Poulianos family learned what other
immigrants had to learn: save as much as possible
to survive. America was all things to all
people.
Farm life meant hard work. The
cows had to be milked by hand, fields had to be
cleared for planting of crops and livestock had to
be tended. The farm had also sheep, goats,
chickens, pigs and the family dog. Work included
making goat's milk cheese (Feta) and shearing wool
from the sheep. There were plenty of eggs and
bacon. There were also apples and other fruit
trees on the property. There was a produce stand
out on Pond Path.
Cows had to be led to pasture
early in the morning after the first milking,
brought back to the barn for the afternoon water
and oats. They were led back to the pasture and
later returned to the barn for the late evening
milking. The farm did not have a bull. So the
family paid a 'stud' fee. This was done in order
for the cows to continue to produce milk after a
calf was born. Cows often had such names as Bessie
and Susie. Calving was not always easy. One family
story recounts how the vet, with a long glove on,
had to reach for the calf. Louis would take apples
from his large orchard to the cider mill at the
end of Hub Road. This mill was patented and began
operation in 1863 by George W. Hawkins. It was
still milling in the early twentieth century. It
is the mill portrayed by genre painters, William
Sidney Mount of Stony Brook and William M. Davis
of Port Jefferson twenty years later.
According to family tradition,
Louis would ferment apple cider into 'hard cider'
as well as brewing beer and making wine and Greek
Ouzo (Anisette). Family stories indicate that
there were many parties with plentiful drink
during the life on the farm, especially during the
Prohibition era. Louis was known to share with his
friends and relatives as well as neighbors. The
police turned a blind eye Louis' beverages since
he was very good to his neighbors, especially
during the Depression. He helped them by giving
them food and dairy products. And so, the police
would tip Louis off before an inspection of the
farm for 'moon-shine'. But, he did not always get
clear. One day, Mary, who did not approve of his
enterprise, took an axe to the beer still that was
in the cellar.
Toil in the field was a hard task
indeed. Firewood had to cut from the woods up the
hill. Big logs had to be carried down, cut and
split to size and stacked. The older daughter,
Daisy, mainly did this. Rats and foxes often
raided the chicken coops, which housed over three
thousand chickens. It was a chore to control
vermin that pestered crops and other
livestock as well. However, cleanliness was of the
utmost concern of any dairy and egg business.
Cleaning of old hay and manure in the barns was a
daily chore that was shared by all the Poulos
children. Hide and seek in the hay piles became a
favorite game while working in the barns. Cleaning
the barn, feeding the animals and chasing down the
cows were just a few of the chores done by all the
children and later by the grandchildren.
The Setauket farmhouse and the
homes which John and Anthony had in Port Jefferson
would soon let rooms to other Greeks, who would
come to Long Island from New York City for a
weekend or summer vacation. Soon, the American
public from other parts of the city would rent
rooms at the Poulos' homes and vacation on Long
Island. Later in time, the Poulos farmhouse grew.
The larger the house grew, the more boarders
they were able to take and collect rent from. The
house grew to have fifteen bedrooms, four
bathrooms (plus one in the barn) and three
kitchens. The main kitchen was to prepare the milk
and of making cheese. The cooking of main holiday
meals were cooked in this kitchen. They were
able to rent out large parts of the
house for the boarder's use. Sick people
would come to the farm for the fresh foods and
fresh air in order to get well. It is told that
the city's newspaper ads would read: "If you want
to get well - Go to Mrs. Poulos". The twenty-plus
acres of land were rented out to the United States
Department of Agriculture and private farmers.
Mary continued to rent rooms until her death in
1970, at the age of 79. From 1920, until the house
was destroyed by fire in 1975, Poulos family
members with their children lived and worked on
the farm. Today, what was called, 'The Poulos
Farm' is now 'Pond Estates' development on Pond
Path, South Setauket.
There were the usual farm vehicles
and equipment in order to run the farm, both horse
drawn and motorized.
'Cousin Gus' Poulianos would tell
of a story of when his father John and his family
would walk to the farm from Port Jefferson. He
would say, "Sheep Pasture Road and Pond Path were
a dirt roads back then." So the family would spend
the whole day on the farm. Upon arriving on the
farm there was plenty of food, dancing and, of
course, wine. The story continues, as it was time
to go back to Port Jefferson, everybody would pile
into Louis' Model-T Ford. On the way back to Port,
the headlights went out and Gus and some of the
other brothers would climb on the hood of the car
and light up the road with flashlights. However,
because of dimmed lights and drink, Louis would
many times drive off the road into roadside wooded
areas. Of course, Louis' older brother, John would
be cursing, in Greek, about the car and his
brother's driving. For I am told that he
hated automobiles and especially that one.
Nicholas would tell of a story of how, at a very
young age, he would drive vacationers to West
Meadow Beach. One time, while driving on Pond Path
on their way to the beach and the tire on the car
caught a rut in the road and the car flipped over,
people and all. He flipped the car upright and
continued on their way.
Greeks were so proud of their
adopted land that on the Fourth of July, Alice's
godfather, Stavos Raptis, would purchase hundreds
of dollars worth of fireworks and shoot them off
on the farm for all to enjoy. Neighbors would come
around and watch the beautiful display. Army
soldiers, from Camp Upton in Brookhaven, would be
marching across the farm's property and Mary
Poulos would invited them into the house for a
home-cooked meal. Louis would pack up surplus
canned goods and drive up to 'Chicken Hill' and
distribute these goods to the poor that live
there.
Yet, one of the most critical
moments in the family's Americanization
process came when the 'Poulianos' surname was
legally changed to 'Poulos'. The Poulos name
remained as such for many years to come. However,
in later years, the families of John Poulos and
Anthony Poulos had the name legally changed back
to Poulianos so they would not lose their roots of
their name. The family of Louis Poulos retained
the name of Poulos.
Times were not always rosy. Family
members found a letter from the local Ku Klux Klan
threatening harm to the family because of their
thriving dairy business in Port Jefferson. The
K.K.K. objected to foreigners running local
businesses. Ethel remembered her mother asking, in
Greek, "What is this K.K.K.?" She could not
understand how such hatred could be possible. One
day, Louis found both his milk wagon horses maimed
during his route, possibly done by some local
members.
The Poulianos family had proven
themselves as good neighbors by helping others in
time of need with shelter and fresh foods. The
older daughters worked as volunteers at the local
Red Cross, American Legion Halls, and Veteran's
Hospitals and at the National Guard Units on Long
Island during the Second World War. All
Poulianos/Poulos males served in the American
armed forces. There are Poulianos/Poulos family
members belonging to many Greek and American
philanthropic organizations. Many family members
belong to the AHEPA, the Pan-Icarian,
Philoptochos and other organizations. They belong
to the local Greek Orthodox Churches. Community
members and local school officials came out for
Louis' funeral in 1943 and some had traveled many
miles from out-of-state for Mary's in
1970.
AUTHOR'S POSTSCRIPT:
This is a small story of my
grandparents: Elias and Mary Poulos of Icaria,
Greece and South Setauket, Long Island, New
York. My wife, Barbara and I, along with our
baby son, George were the last family members to
live on the farm when my grandmother had past in
the month of August of 1970. I also had the
opportunity to visit the little home they left
behind on the Greek island, to which they never
returned. I stood there on the very same ground
they once stood before making the choice to leave
and I thank them for all the sacrifices they made
for my generation to have a better life here in
America.
As of all of us, we have the
opportunity to learn much of our European roots
and our past family history here in America. We
can learn either from the oral histories of our
relatives, written history found in family bibles
or general ethnic histories learned in
school. Through these histories we can learn of
the life-styles of the 'Old World' and of the
life-style lived by our older generations who came
to America. They can bring up memories that were
suppressed for years and to see their joy or
sorrow to re-tell of them and to re-live that
memory. It is a thrill for the younger generation
to seek and research their history. We have
inherited many traits from them. Their blood runs
in our veins. We have learned to work very hard,
to save and make America the best life that we can
make it. We imitate our immigrant ancestry in
doing so. We make their history our history. These
newly arrived immigrants were part of American
history. They were creating history. They lived
through the high immigration period, the
Depression and the war years. They were creating
history - history in the making!
|