Archive for April, 2012

Many have heard of the legendary Director J. Edgar Hoover who led the FBI from1924 to 1972, but few have heard of the name Alexander Bruce Bielaski who served as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1912 to 1919. FBI was established in 1908, and Bielaski was its second Director.

Even fewer know that Bielaski was of Lithuanian origin. Although his family name was Polonized over time, his family roots can be traced directly back to Lithuania. His grandfather, Captain Alexander Bielaski (Beleskis) had been born on August 1, 1811, in Lithuania. Being raised under Czarist Russian occupation, Bielaski as a young man was educated in a Czarist Russian military school. After graduation, he had been commissioned as a Topographical Engineer Lieutenant and assigned to duty in the Russian Army.

Captain Alexander Bielaski (Beleskis) from Lithuania

With the start of the 1830-1831 Polish-Lithuanian Insurrection, Captain Bielaski resigned from the Russian Army and became severed on the Staff of General Dembinski. Dembinski’s Corps consisting of 3,500 Polish regulars and severalhundred Lithuanian guerrillasfought heroically to defendLithuania from the advancing Czarist Russian forces. Still thegallantry they displayed couldnot stop the superior numbers of the Russians and they wereforced to withdraw. In an epicmarch, General Dembinski led his small force back to Warsaw. During the retreat, Bielaski took command of a small 300 man rear guard whose mission was to hold the vital river crossing at all cost while the others fled tosafety. Fighting heroically, Bielaski forces successfully held the forge until the other rebels had reached safety. They did not withdraw until their numbers had been reduced to about 30 men which Bielaski then led into nearby woods. Through his skill the survivors successfully withdrew to Warsaw while constantly skirmishing with the pursuing Russians. By the time Bielaski reached Warsaw he only had one man still under his command. Bielaski then fought with distinction at the Battle of Grochowo until he was seriously wounded. A bullet ripped open one side of his face and pulled out his teeth before it came out of his neck. Although knocked to the ground, Bielaski continued to fight until he was stabbed in his shoulder by an advancing Russian. Being left on the battle field as dead, Bielaski recovered from his wounds only to learn that the insurrection which he had fought so valiantly for had been crushed.

Refusing to continue living under Russian occupation, Bielaski left Poland for France and eventually arrived in the United States. In 1835 he served as a civilian surveyor with the U.S. Army in Florida during the Seminole War and later settled in Illinois. He eventually obtained employment and gained fame as an engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. Bielaski became an American citizen in 1841. After having lived in various parts of the country, Bielaski married Mary Ann Carey, an Illinois resident, in July 1842 and would eventually father three boys and four girls. While residing in Illinois, Bielski became an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln who would later become the President of the United States. In 1844, Bielaski was appointed Chief Draftsman for the U.S. Bureau of Patents and moved with his family to Washington, D.C.

With the start of the Civil War, Bielski offered his services to the Union and returned to Illinois to serve as a Lieutenant with Company F of the 30th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On September 1, 1861, Bielaski accompanied his regiment to Cairo, Illinois, where it was assigned to General John A. McClernand’s 1stBrigade of the District of Cairo under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant. Due to his prior military service, Bielaski was subsequently appointed an aide-de-camp to General McClernaud with the appointment being recommended by President Abraham Lincoln. In this position, Captain Bielaski took part in the Battle of Belmonton November 7, 1861, where the Union forces commanded by General Grant engaged the Confederate forces under the command of General Leonidas Polk. As the federal forces were moving against a Confederate entrenched artillery supported position, Captain Bielaski rode forward encouraging the advancing troops.

When his horse was shot out from under him, Captain Bielaski chose to continue the attack on foot. Seeing the national colors falling, Captain Bielaski quickly grabbed the fallen flag and continued its advance through withering enemy shot and shell. While carrying the Stars and Stripes of his new homeland, Captain Bielaski was killed by a cannon explosion and his body never recovered. Although the advancing column succeeded in driving the Confederates from their position, they were later forced to withdraw. General McClernaud is quoted as having stated that “A braver man never fell on the field of battle. His bravery was only equaled by his fidelity as a soldier and patriot. He died making the Stars and Stripes his winding sheet.” Although many men had fought with great distinction, like some battles in the Civil War, the Battle of Belmont held no strategic importance. Its only importance to the war was it showcased the talents of previously unknown General Ulysses S. Grant who eventually led the Union forces to total victory.

Captain Alexander Bielaski (Beleskis), Grandfather of FBI
Director Bielaski, was born on August 1, 1811, in Lithuania

With Captain Bielaski’s death, his older children immediately sought employment to support the family. His son, Oscar Bielaski, born on March 21,1847, in Washington, D.C. decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and joined the Union Army as a drummer-boy with a Union Cavalry Regiment. During lulls between battles, Oscar learned how to play baseball. After the war, he returned to Washington, where he secured a position as a government clerk and continued to play baseball. Oscar Bielaski went on to become one of the first professional baseball players. His professional career lasted five years during which time he played with the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Canaries, and Chicago White Stockings.

Another son, Alexander Bielaski, graduated from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and the Boston Theological Seminary and became a distinguished Methodist Episcopal Minister. The Reverend Doctor Bielaski and his wife, Roselle Bielaski, had three daughters and three sons.

Alexander Bruce Bielaski was born in Maryland in 1883

His son, Alexander Bruce Bielaski, who became the FBI Director, was born on April 2, 1883 in Montgomery County, Maryland. He attended George Washington University and after obtaining his law degree in 1904 received an appointment with the U.S. Department of Justice. His initial assignments included an appointment as a special examiner and reorganization of the Oklahoma court system following its admission as a state. Upon returning to Washington, Bielaski was assigned to the Bureau of Investigation and eventually became the Administrative Assistant to Director Stanley W. Finch who had been appointed as the first Director of the new organization. Upon Finch’s departure from the Bureau of Investigation, Bielaski was appointed to replace him. Bielaski remained as the Director of the Bureau of Investigation from April 30, 1912 to February10, 1919. During that time, Bielaski oversaw a steady increase in bureau resources and responsibilities.

After leaving the Bureau of Investigation, Bielaski entered into private law practice. While on a trip to Mexico in 1921, Bielaski was kidnapped by Mexican bandits and a ten thousand dollar ransom paid for his release. After being held for three days, Bielaski managed to escape and took the paid ransom money with him. During prohibition, Bielaski worke das an undercover decoy in a speak easy in New York which resulted in many arrests and convictions. He later went onto head the National Board of Fire Underwriters arson investigator team and serving as the President of the Society of Former Special Agents. Alexander Bruce Bielaski died on February 19, 1964.

Like his Lithuanian immigrant grandfather, Alexander Bielaski made an outstanding contribution to his nation and deserves an honoured place in Lithuanian-American history.

Source: Henry Gaidis, a contributor to the magazine Bridges. He is a member of the Board of Directors of JBANC and among his many interests is military history.

The FBI Director’s sister, Ruth Bielaski Shipley

Ruth Bielaski Shipley

Another rather unknown story among Lithuanian Americans, is that Ruth Bielaski Shipley (April 20, 1885 – November 3, 1966) was head of the Passport Division of the United States Department of State for 27 years from 1928 to 1955. In 1951 TIME MAGAZINE called her "The most invulnerable, most unfirable, most feared and most admired career woman in the U.S. Government."

Shipley was born Ruth Bielaski on April 20, 1885 in Montgomery County, Maryland. She attended high school in Washington, D.C., took the civil service examination and first worked for the Patent Office beginning in 1908. She was married to Frederick W. van Dorn Shipley in 1909. She left government service for several years while the couple lived in the Panama Canal Zone, where he worked in government administration until his poor health forced their return to the United States. They had a son born about 1911 who was given his father's name. She joined the State Department on August 25, 1914. Her husband died in 1919. In 1924 she became assistant chief of the Office of Coordination and Review.

She became head of the Passport Division in 1928, the first woman to hold the position, after twice declining the appointment. She succeeded foreign service officer Parker Wilson Buhrman and initially headed a staff of more than 70.

In 1930, she was a member of the United States delegation to the Hague conference on the codification of international law. In 1933, she led a successful campaign over the objections of some at the State Department, to prevent a magazine's advertising campaign from using the word "passport" to identify its promotional literature. She believed it "cheapened...the high plane to which a passport had been raised."

In 1937, she altered the Passport Division's policies and began issuing passports in a married woman's maiden name alone if she requested it, no longer followed by the phrase "wife of". She noted that the passports of married men never carried "husband of" as further identification.

Government policy with respect to passport issuance changed radically with the course of international relations during her tenure. The Neutrality Act of 1939 restricted travel by American citizens to certain areas and forbade transport on the ships of nations involved in hostilities. Shipley reviewed every application personally and the number of passports issued fell from 75,000 monthly in 1930 to 2,000. She also oversaw the issuance of new passports to all citizens abroad and the incorporation of new anti-counterfeiting measures into their design.

TIME 1951: "The most invulnerable, most unfirable, most feared and most admired career woman in Government."

According to a 1939 newspaper profile of Shipley, she had the authority "to comply with or to deny applicants, and in the main tends to grant as many as possible under the legal restrictions. When a complex case arises, however, she admits it to a board of advisers who constitute a supreme court of arbitration on the matter." In 1945 Fortune called her "redoubtable" and in 1951 Time described her as "the most invulnerable, most unfirable, most feared and most admired career woman in Government." That same year Reader's Digest wrote that: "No American can go abroad without her authorization. She decides whether the applicant is entitled to a passport and also whether he would be a hazard to Uncle Sam's security or create prejudice against the United States by unbecoming conduct."

Her authority was widely acknowledged and rarely challenged with success. Decisions of the Passport Division were not subject to judicial review during her years of service and her authority was described as "limitless discretion." Bill Donovan of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) first tried to win favor with Shipley by hiring her brother. When she nevertheless insisted on identifying OSS agents by noting "on Official Business" on their passports, Donovan had to get President Roosevelt to reverse her. Her efforts to deny travel privileges to the children of U.S. diplomats were similarly overridden in the years following World War II.

In 1942, she was criticized for issuing a passport to a Polish-American Catholic priest who visited Joseph Stalin to plead for a democratic post-war Poland. President Roosevelt defended her. By the end of World War II her staff numbered more than 200.

Because of her personal role in issuing passports, many important figures corresponded with and met with her to document their reasons for travel abroad, including W. E. B. Du Bois, playwright Lillian Hellman,[20] and Manhattan project physicist Martin David Kamen.

In the 1950s she became the object of controversy when critics accused her of denying passports without due process on the basis of politics, while critics defended her actions as attempts to support the fight against Communism. Senator Wayne Morse called her decisions "tyrannical and capricious" for failure to disclose the reasons for the denial of passport applications. Her supporters included Secretary of State Dean Acheson and Senator Pat McCarran.

In September 1952, Secretary of State Dean Acheson called his relations with Shipley's "Queendom of Passports" "a hard struggle" and said that passport, travel and visa issues were "the most distasteful part of this job." In 1953, she refused Linus Pauling a passport for travel to travel to accept the Nobel Prize in Chemistry because, using the standard language of her office, it "would not be in the best interests of the United States," but was overruled.

Upon her retirement, an editorial in the New York Times attributed her reputation for "arbitrary" decision to the fact that she had to enforced newly restrictive government policies. Despite the conflict between individual freedom and government policies, it said, "there was never any doubt that Mrs. Shipley did her duty as she saw it."

She retired on April 30, 1955, when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. She said that she chose her successor, Frances G. Knight, herself. The State Department awarded her its Distinguished Service Medal upon retirement.

The American Jewish League Against Communism, one of whose officers was Roy Cohn, gave her an award for "a lifetime of service to the American people."

She died in Washington, D.C., on November 3, 1966. She is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Letter from Linus Pauling to Ruth B. Shipley. April 12, 1952

Pauling writes to request that Mrs. Shipley reconsider her decision not to issue him a passport. He sends a copy of his letter from Mr. Hassett, Secretary to the President, requesting a passport for Pauling. He describes, in detail, his revised itinerary so that it might help him obtain permission to travel overseas. Pauling recounts the pleasant meeting that he had with Mrs. Shipley last time they met over his passport, and requests to have another meeting with her. View Transcript