[joe-frank-list] Roger Caplinger

[rbell at alumni.caltech.edu]

	Grace Zabriskie tells stories from her youth, mostly about her
father, Roger Thomas 'Tom' Caplinger, in 'Home'.
	He was born 1905 August 1 to William J Caplinger (1877-1951)
and Therese Caplinger (Strother) (1878-1964) in English, Kentucky.  He
was living in La Grange, Kentucky in the 1910 census, Maysville,
Kentucky in the 1920 census.  He had a brother, Harold Strother
Caplinger (1900-1987), and a sister, Dorothy Lane Caplinger
(1907-2003).
	He was admitted to the Naval Academy 1922 July 3.  (28 days
shy of his 17th birthday.)  In the registry of officers in 1924 he is
identified as a 'midshipman third class', the same as a sophomore.  Ms
Zabriskie said he left the Naval Academy in his senior year with an
older man for Europe.
	He married Maude Houston Kitchen on 1925 March 11 in Lawrence
county, Ohio.  They were both living just across the river in Ashland,
Kentucky.  He claimed he was born 1900 August 1, 5 years earlier than
his actual birth.  He's identified as a laborer, she a teacher.  The
names of his parents and his birthplace are correct.  Naval cadets
can't be married, now or then.  In his later marriage to Marion
Zabriskie he is identified as single instead of divorced.  Perhaps
this marriage was annulled.  Ms Kitchen is identified as divorced in
the 1930 and 1950 censuses, single in the 1940 census; she seems to
have had no children.  Ms Kitchen had a brother named James Strother
Kitchen; Mr Caplinger's mother's maiden name was Strother; Ms
Zabriskie's brother had the middle name Strother.  (I found no
evidence of a relation in the Strother line; cousin-marriage was legal
in Kentucky.)
	He arrived on the Majestic from Cherbourg, France, 1927
October 26.  This is the first record of his return.  (Arrivals are
recorded, not departures.)
	He arrived on the Homeric from Cherbourg, France, 1928
November 1.
	He arrived on the Bremen from Cherbourg, France, 1937 January
27.
	He arrived on the Iroquois from the Virgin Islands and San
Juan, Puerto Rico on 1939 September 9.
	He married Marion Grace Zabriskie (1914-1987) on 1940 March 26
in Warrenton, Virginia.
	He registered to vote in New Orleans in 1941 and 1949.
	He registered for the draft sometime during WW2, resided at
941 Bourbon Street, the address of the original Cafe Lafitte.
	After 12 years the building was sold and he moved to 901
Bourbon Street, called it Cafe Lafitte in Exile.  It's still there.

In the 1950 census his family was:
Marion G Caplinger 	Wife 		F 	35 years 	New Jersey
Grace Z Caplinger 	Daughter 	F 	8 years 	Louisiana
Dorothy L Caplinger	Daughter 	F 	7 years 	Louisiana
William J Caplinger	Son 		M 	5 years 	Louisiana
John Z Caplinger	Son 		M 	3 years 	Louisiana

	Odd that his wife was living in New Jersey.  Ms Zabriskie
calls her sister 'Laney', possibly to distinguish her from his sister,
also named Dorothy Lane.
	He died 1956 March 26.  You can read his obituary at
https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Obituary_of_Roger_Caplinger .  He's
buried at Garden Of Memories Cemetery in Metairie.  You can see his
grave at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/247606287/roger-thomas-caplinger .
His wife is buried with him.
	941 Bourbon Street is now the New Orleans Jazz Museum.  The
current Lafitte, his bar, is at 901 Bourbon Street, a block away.

	https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Roger_Caplinger

russell bell