Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
by Jason C. Mavrovitis
Tsavalas claimed that he had decided not to marry Lily, that when he told her this at her home she had become hysterical tearing at her clothing, and that he left her home at two in the morning leaving her letters and a picture behind. He went on saying that while he was waiting for a train at the elevated station on Sixty-fifth Street,(2) she appeared and threatened to throw herself on the tracks if he would not commit to marrying her.
In his testimony, Tsavalas asserted that he "quieted her and took her home again." He went on, "I promised, because of sympathy, and in order to avoid my being the cause of committing some wreckless dead [sic] to herself, to marry her." He asserted that Lily's behavior after he returned to Detroit caused "grave concern to her mother" and that her mother wanted an immediate religious ceremony, "because people are talking." Tsavalas stated that he told Eleni that he was not in a financial position to return to New York and marry. Eleni, he alleged, "told me, that she would tide me over, but to come [. . .]" He also alleged that Eleni sent him two hundred dollars.
According to Tsavalas, "the religious ceremony was held on June 25, 1922, at the St. Eleftherios Church at West 24th Street." He claimed that they left immediately for Detroit, together found a furnished, two room flat at Jean d'Arc Street and lived there from early July through September 9, 1922. He also stated that Lily had worked in his store and had been instrumental in the arrest of a thief. He stated:
My wife and I did not get on well together, because her conduct was not all to my liking. She was friendly with certain men, and was carrying on in this same manner which caused people to talk about her back in New York City.
Tsavalas stated that Eleni had indeed come to Detroit and left with Lily in September of 1922, and that he had remained in Detroit until November of 1924 when he returned to New York. He claimed to have entered into a confectionery store and ice cream parlor business with his brothers at 26 Avenue B that failed after several months. He asserted that his wife's uncle visited him at the store and told him that Lily wanted to see him. He claimed to have visited her and that she asked him for a divorce on the grounds of his adultery, which he refused to do. He stated that he subsequently went to Lynn, Massachusetts where he opened a business and lived through March of 1927.
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