Bela "Albert" Kapotsy

Birth: He was born in 1883 in Varos-Lo-d, Hungary. He came to the U.S. in 1904 and was naturalized on January 1, 1913 in New Haven, Connecticut.  

Family Information: After the death of his first wife, Florence (probably around 1919 -- between the birth of Charles in that year and the census in 1920), he returned to Hungary to find a new bride and married Marguerite Kapotsy at Budapest in March 1926.

Father of Emma, Albert, Jr., Margaret, Florence, Charles and Richard Kapotsy.

Description: His WWI Draft Registration card dated September 12, 1918 described him as having medium height and build with brown eyes and hair. In April 1942 he registered for WWII service and was described as being 5'6", weight 155 pounds with brown eyes and hair and a ruddy complexion.  

Pre-Colony History: In 1910 he was living with his first wife, Florence (and their first child, Emma) in Connecticut and working as a farm laborer.

In 1920 he and the children were still living in Connecticut and he was working as a plumber in a shop.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony:  

Other Info: He was one of 42 colonists who signed a petition, dated January 10, 1928 and sent to the governor of Louisiana, which objected to the securing of a new charter being issued to the colony. Among other things, this petition claimed that affairs of the colony had been grossly and intentionally mismanaged and conduct of the management so flagrantly opposed to good morals that a receiver assigned by the District Court was necessary to handle affairs. It alleged that management had: 1. Used misleading propaganda which caused hundreds of people to invest their money in the colony, only to be disillusioned and have to leave with nothing to show for their investment. 2. Reduced the colony to a peon camp - these "peons" being poorly fed, clothed and housed. 3. Advocated "free-love", including promiscuous relations of the sexes and other practices contrary to good morals. 4. Expressed contempt for courts and authorities by taking it upon themselves to punish two boys for stealing from the colony store. 5. Prostituted colony schools by employing nondescript persons as teachers, while issuing fraudulent reports and drawing hundreds of dollars from the Parish School funds in the names of certified teachers and by exploiting child labor. The case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court but eventually was annulled and the plaintiff's demands rejected.

In 1930 the family was listed twice on the US census -- once in the colony and once in Leesville, Louisiana, so possibly around this time they were making the move to Leesville and somehow were counted twice. In both cases he was listed as a plumber, but the page in Leesville had additional family members that were not present on the colony listing -- his oldest daughter, Emma, and his sister, Mary Kapotsy (who was a nurse in DeRidder).

Presumably they made the move to Leesville after the failed court case which was the result of the petition mentioned above. He and his family never lived in the colony again, but he did participate in some of their activities.

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he and Marguerite were living in Leesville with their son, Richard, while Albert worked as a plumber, doing job plumbing.

Death: He died in January 1975 and was buried in the O'Banion Cemetery at New Llano, Louisiana.  

Sources: US Census: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; US Draft Registration: WWI and WWII; "Llano Colonist": February 25, 1928; Photo Archives; Preliminary Naturalization Form of Margaret Kapotsy; US Social Security Applications and Claims Index; US SSDI; FindAGrave.com