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Alice Josephine Siegert Kendrick of Queens, New York
Updated March 30, 2004
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My research revolves around my great-grandmother(by adoption). Alice Josephine Siegert was born in Manhatten to Edward and Jessie (Ennis) Siegert on January 18, 1890. In 1900 she was admitted into Sheltering Arms and discharged in 1904. Her sister Josephine and brother William were also placed at Sheltering Arms. It is not clear where she went from here, although family stories tell of a life of prostitution on Washington Street in Jamaica, Long Island. In 1914 she traveled to France with a much older married man named Walter Dannenberg of Dannenberg's Department Store, Macon, Georgia. On the 1920 U.S. census she is shown living on Fife Steet in Forest Hills, NY. On this census it shows Walter and Addy Siegert (falsified info) as the occupants. Family stories say that Mr. Dannenberg purchased this home for Alice. In 1923, Alice answered a newspaper ad about a baby girl whose parents were unable to care for her. Alice picked the baby up from the Babies Hospital and claimed that her parents abandoned her and she and her attorney, Louis Felix, were unable to locate parents. This child was not legally adopted until 1930. In August 1928, Alice married a chauffeur named James Christian Kendrick. They resided at 82-37 235th Street, Queens Village, NY. In 1929 they aquired a baby boy they called James Christian Kendrick jr. His birthdate was always written as July 28, 1929. Not much else is know about this child except that he had a heart shaped birthmark on his left forearm and had light eyes and hair. When this child was 14 years old, Alice shot and killed him. Around 1931 Alice and Jim moved to rural Georgia to live near his family. They still owned the home at 235th Street for many more years and made frequent visits to NY. Alice was a buyer for Bloomingdales and for Dannenbergs Department Store. She spent much time with Walter Dannenberg in New York and in Macon, Georgia. In 1934 Alice went to New York and came back to Georgia with a red headed baby girl. This childs birth parents were Jack and Helen (Mcguire)Hines. The childs birth name was Bernice Ruby Hines, born at Bellevue Hospital on July 24, 1934. On the relinquishment papers Alice falsified her name and address. Instead of Kendrick she used Hendricks. She put 238th Street instead of 235th Street. This child was never legally adopted. On December 5, 1943 Alice shot and killed her son James(nickname "Nooky").No one knows for sure what happened that day. Alice was drinking and a witness who could hear her yelling at the child said she was angry and telling him to leave and to never come back. My grandmother once told me she thought that her brother may have walked in on thier mother and another man and Alice was trying to stop him from telling his father. She was tried in Greenville, Georgia and found guilty of voluntary manslaughter . She spent only a year in jail. During this time her husband Jim divorced her and obtained custody of the youngest child. Around 1946 Walter Dannenberg's wife died and he and Alice were married sometime around 1950. They lived in Macon, and owned some apartments in Sunnyside, NY. In August 1952, Alice died of a heart attack while spending the summer with her husband in NY. She is buried in Macon, Georgia at Rose Hill Cemetary. Alice was a very wealthy woman. No one seems to know where her money came from. During the murder trial there were many rumours. One being that she may have owned a brothel in NY or Chicago. She was even said to have been connected to some of the gangster activity in NY. Some believe that she moved to rural Georgia to escape some trouble she got into with them. I believe she went to Georgia to prevent anyone from finding the children she had aquired. I would love to find out about the youngest two children. I have already located the birth family of the the oldest daughter(my grandmother).
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Family Photos
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- James Christian Kendrick Jr (Nookie) (47 KB)
This is James Christian Kendrick Jr. His nickname was "Nookie". He appears to be about 2 years old in the photo. He was not the biological child of Alice & Jim Kendrick. They lived in Queens Village, NY when they adopted him. No one knows anything about where he came from or what his parents names were. On December 5, 1943 his adoptive mother killed him at thier home in Meriwether County, Georgia. She shot him in the back with a rifle as he ran from her. I hope someday to locate records that could tell me more about who he was and where he came from.
- Bernice Ruby Hines (60 KB)
This is Bernice Ruby Hines (name given at birth).She was never legally adopted by Alice & Jim Kendrick. There are some papers drawn up by an attorney (Paul T. Love). In these papers the birth mother, Helen (Mcguire) Hines, gives up her rights to the child and promises to never attempt to try to get her back. She also states that the birth father, Jack Hines, is deceased. In 1943 the adoptive mother, Alice Kendrick shot her son "Nookie" and tried to blame the shooting on this child. She was 9 years old at the time.
- Alice Josephine Siegert - Kendrick (52 KB)
Alice Josephine Siegert - Kendrick holding her first grandchild. The man standing next to her is her son-in-law. He married her oldest adopted daughter, Edna. This photo was taken just six months prior to killing her son "Nookie".
- Edna Paula Kendrick (58 KB)
Edna Paula Kendrick (birth name Maass) is on the right. This is the oldest of the three children adopted by Alice & Jim Kendrick. The girl on the left is a friend named "Thelma Lazarus".
- 235th Street, Queens Village, NY (293 KB)
This is the home Alice and Jim lived in when they aquired the two youngest children. They moved to rural Georgia between 1931 and 1932 but still maintained ownership of this home .
- "Nookie" (17 KB)
He was about 14 years old here. He worked with his father in the sugar cane fields. This was taken shortly before his death.
- "Nookie's" grave (65 KB)
James Christian Kendrick Jr is buried in Woodland Cemetary in Woodland, Georgia.
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