(by Student #28 AMH 2010 1115)
In this casefile, the convicted no.
7959 is imprisoned for giving liquor to a minor. Donald Clarke was received in
Santa Fe, New Mexico on June 1st, 1934. His sentence would be one to
five years since his plea at trail was found guilty. I started looking for
interesting faces in the casefile files. His file caught my eye because it did
not look like he would commit a crime that would involve a lot of physical
actions, such as manslaughter. Especially because he was described as heavy
build and was a 38-year-old single male. His occupation was a teacher, which
could mean that he is good with children and seem kind, or he looked for a way
of power over someone. Since he is single and has no children he might became a
teacher to avoid having to use childcare or starting a family. His background
might be dull and common, but since he was born in Rome, Italy I am curious to
find out how his life ended up in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Finding an interesting casefile was
the first step I took before starting the research. Once I found the file of
Donald Clarke I tried to search files on ancestory.com to place this person
into a family and background context. I did get stuck on finding relatives
since the only states relative was Dr. Robert O. Brown. This relative could be
a connection on why Donald Clarke was living in Italy, but does not explain on
why he was born there. Furthermore, I tried to look up context of illegal
liquor use in New Mexico and reasons on why someone would leave Italy to come
to the United States in that period of time.
To start with his background, he was
born in Rome, Italy in Europe. On his description of convict, it shows that
Clarke has been in the United States for twenty years. This means that he
arrived in the United States around 1914. Since it is shown that he was thirty-eight
while being convicted in 1934, he would be born in the year of 1896 and would
have been around the age of eighteen when arriving in the United States. Though
he was born in Italy, his conviction said that his nationality was American.
His mother was born in New Jersey while his father was born in New York, but on
his statement of convict states that his parents were not alive. It states that
his relative Dr. Robert O. Brown lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, though the New
York State Census of 1915 shows a likewise relative that was born in Italy.
This could lead to a connection of Donald Clarke living in Italy with this
relative.
The reason for Donald Clarke to move
to the United States is unknown, though the idea of immigrating during this
period of time was attractive since the wages in America were higher. Another
reason might have been to go back to his family and start a new family in the
United States since his parents were born in there. His nationality was still American,
even though he was born in Italy and has been there for about eighteen years of
his life. Since he had spent his younger years in Italy, I wonder if he spoke
fluent Italian and English. Also, I am curious what his focus of education was
as a teacher.
For his crime, giving liquor to a
minor, the state of New Mexico has its own law and reputation on alcohol
consumption. The state of New Mexico suffers from a reputation of severe
alcohol abuse, according to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. Article
7B of Chapter 60 goes into detail about the regulation of sales and service to
a minor. A minor in this case means a person under the age of twenty-one.
Giving liquor to a minor is a violation of the Liquor Control Act. Though it
does not show on how the minor ended up like, for instance, he might have died
of alcohol poisoning or other accidents, his sentence was one to five years.
Donald Clarke did drink and smoke according to his statement of convict, this
would explain why he served liquor to a minor. Though, Donald Clarke has no
other previous conviction nor has been in other prisons.
Teacher Donald Clarke, born in Rome,
Italy, was received in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1934 for giving liquor to a
minor. Though he is born in Italy, his conviction said that his nationality is
American and shows that Clarke has been in the United States for twenty years. The
New York State Census of 1915 displays that his relative Dr. Robert O. Brown
that lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico was born in Italy. This might have been a
reason of Donald Clarke living with his relative Dr. Robert O. Brown in Italy,
but does not provide evidence on why he lived in Italy while being an American
as his stated nationality.
