A brief history of Rosemary and her family - 'parentage' and early life

This blog will explore the early life and extended genealogy of Rosemary Labianca, her birth family and her adopted family. I will provided numerous sources and documentation. I will debunk the following false claims:

A. Rosemary Labianca was born in Mexico. (She was born in Arizona)

B. Rosemary Labianca was adopted from an orphanage in Mexico. (She was adopted in Arizona)

C. Rosemary Labianca was Hispanic. (She was half Irish, half German - Her adopted father was half Hispanic))

D. She was born in 1929 or 1930. (She was born in 1925)

E. She was adopted at age 12. (age 7 - in 1933)

F. Her parents abandoned her or died young. (The courts took her from her mother's home - her mother was arrested, sent to prison and lost her children prior to that, after the courts found them neglected. Her father left the family and moved to Missouri, and later took in the two older siblings but left Rosemary in an orphanage to be adopted)

Note: I have updated on June 12th to reflect what I recently found on the "1st Rosemary" whom Rosemary La Bianca was named after.

Rosemary Harmon LaBianca - born Ruth Kathryn Elliott:

In her High School Days

Ruth's parents were William Oyston Elliott and Emily Belle "Emmabelle" Rolfe/Rolfs who were married March 17th or 18th, 1918 in Tucson, AZ... sometimes "Rolfe" is spelled with an s.. it's very inconsistent.

An image of  Emmabelle in 1917 - Bisbee AZ

Ruth Kathryn Elliott - born Dec 15, 1925 in Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona

Ruth was the 3rd of 5 children born to W. O. and Emmabelle - the others being Emmabelle Elizabeth "Betty" ,  Dorothy Ann,  and William Oyston, Jr. and Francis Eugene.

Here are Betty's,  Dorothy's and Francis' birth records, I cannot find William Jrs

Before 1928 the family moved to Phoenix, AZ. They are still in Bisbee directories in 1926.

Here is the family in 1928 Phoenix directories

while living here at the Fillmore address, their son William Jr was born on June 27 1928

In Aug 1928 W. O. And Emmabelle purchased a house at 1605 West Willetta. 

1930 census, Maricopa County, city of Phoenix. 

1930 voter registration for Emmabelle

Also, in July 1930, Emmabelle petitioned for a divorce from William. As it turns out he began travelling more and more for work. The divorce was not granted.  According to court records, Emmabelle stated that by or before Jan 1, 1932 William had relocated to Denver and had the children in his custody. She traveled there around Jan 1, 1932, and stayed for some months in Denver and took her children back with her to Arizona. This account does not square with another official account which states that by the Spring of 1932 the eldest daughter had already been in a childrens' home for a year.

Here is Emma in 1932, voter registration. She is listed as being 5-3 120 lbs (that part is cropped out so I mention it here)

(Per the voter records and draft cards, William is described as 5 foot 8, Red hair, Grey/Blue eyes and Ruddy.)

This is when Francis Eugene was born (Aug 1932) in Tucson.

By Sept 1932 the house was back on the Market and in the meantime Emmabelle had been renting out rooms and selling off furniture to help pay bills. Later it was learned that Emmabelle was robbing her renters by looking for money or checks in their mail.

As early as 1931 Emmabelle was somehow stealing from the post offices in Phoenix and other towns like Tucson, looking for money and checks that she could forge and cash. Some of these checks that she stole and cashed were Veteran's pension checks.

Here is an example of one of the checks, via court records.

In Feb 1933 she was arrested and things spiraled from there. Before this date, the court took her children away, including 7 year old Ruth. They were place in orphanages initially. Later, the father would take in the oldest 2 daughters: Betty and Dorothy. I know nothing more about the 5th child, Francis Eugene (One source that I am in contact with claims he was adopted after birth and died in 2015).

These articles begin in Feb 21 1933 and move through June 21, 1933, covering Emily's arrest(s) and trial.

I should place one caveat here: The above article dated June 20, 1933 mentions only 4 children that the courts have taken away. Suggesting that she had already adopted out the 5th child.

Emmabelle/Emily was sent to Alderson WV and began her prison sentence on July 25, 1933.

Shortly after Emmabelle was sent to prison her aunt Louisa Kreis Trost (of Detroit) wrote to the parole board pleading for the courts to show lenience toward her niece, that she be given an early parole and that her children be returned. 

 

Betty spent over a year in the House of the Good Shepherd orphanage before her father was able to get her. Dorothy and Ruth had been in the Maricopa county Children's home. Brother William was taken in by the White's in 1932. Dorothy would also go to live with her father in Kansas City or Independence, MO. Ruth was adopted by the Harmon family before July 1933.

I do not know if Emabelle and William ever divorced. William was remarried in 1935(?) but Emma may have died in prison making him a widower and making a divorce irrelevant.

Court records mentioning the status of the children as of May 1932

The Harmons:

There would appear to be some relationship between the Harmon family and possibly the Rolfes but I am unsure just how they knew each other. The Harmons most likely had a common link with the birth family and it seems no coincidence that the Harmons went to AZ to adopt a child.

But, in 1933 the Harmon family did adopt an 7 year old Ruth Elliott from an Arizona orphanage (note: in a 1977 article, Rosemary's brother Russell said that she adopted at age 8 which would mean, no earlier than Dec 15, 1933). Young William would also be adopted, by the White family. 

Ruth was moved to the Harmon house in Orange county, CA, her name was changed to Rosemary - partly named after the Harmon's young daughter Mary who had died in 1923 when they briefly lived in Lake Elsinore. Mary lived just 2 days.

 Her new parents were Ernest Frank Harmon and Clara Vaughn Harmon of Orangethorpe Avenue, Fullerton, CA. And she had a new brother: Russ. 

The Harmons had once lived in Arizona in Washington Camp and Nogales. Ernest was once involved in the mining operations in AZ and had become more involved in the oil industry, working for Standard Oil. Clara Vaughn Harmon was a grade school teacher.

Here is a mention of Rosemary from July 29, 1933.

2 mentions of Rosemary (and adopted brother Russell Harmon) from the Anaheim Bulletin - 1934

And her is a another mention of Rosemary, Feb 1937

Rosemary with her new family in 1940 - Ernest, Clara and Russ:

Here is her birth father William O Elliott, his second Edna Limroth Elliott, and Ruth's sister Dorothy in 1940.

Here is Ernest' WWII draft card 

Here are a number of Ruth/Rosemary's HS year book photos - from 1941 to 1943 at Fullerton Union High School. (These are not all of her HS photos, just the better ones.)

After this time, Rosemary had a relationship with Chuck La Berge which produced one daughter. Later, Rosemary wed? Henry Martin (they lived as husband and wife the lower apt shown here, but I can find no marriage record). Here is Rosemary and family on Cumberland St. in Los Angeles - 1950 census:

Supposedly, shortly after this census was enumerated, Rosemary left the apt and Henry, moving into a place on Franklin Ave and began working at a near by drive on Los Feliz Blvd as a car hop. This is where she met Frank Struthers. She is possibly the Rosemary Martin who was living at 5515 Franklin Ave, per the 1950 voter registration records. This address is close to the Los Feliz location of the Brown Derby restaurant. 

This covers Rosemary's early life or her 1st 25 years.

After High School Rosemary's brother Russell enlisted and before basic training he took out to dinner his best friend, his sister Rosemary. After he returned from WWII he lost all contact with his sister and it was not until 1974 that he realized his sister Rosemary was Rosemary LaBianca. These article are from 1977.

I will add a bit more about her birth parents, what I know. 

Her mother was born Oct 1 1894 in Detroit Michigan to Edward H Rolfe and Emma Kreis Rolfe, both of German ancestry.

The Rolfe family was still in Detroit in 1903 per city directories but moved to Bisbee, AZ by 1906.

In 1906 Emma contracted Typhoid

Emma's father ran a poultry yard

 

May 1909 Bisbee JH graduation ceremony and rare photo of Emma with her JH class after receiving diplomas.

Here is the Rolf(s) family in 1910 

The family would often take trips:

Emmabelle was quite active in the arts, theatre and even debate and attended Bisbee High School from the later half of 1909 thru 1914 and did not graduate until age 19. Emma was active in Glee, Debate and Piano.

A rare photo of Emmabelle - age 14, graduating Junior High, May 1909

Here is a school census for Bisbee High School, dated June 30, 1910

E H Rolf is the guardian, Emma Bell Rolf is the student

In 1910 she was in the Bisbee Glee Club

After High School Emmabelle began working at the Fair Store in Bisbee, AZ. It still stands today and is now a museum of local history. She also began seeing the WWI veteran and new arrival to the area, a mechanic named William Elliott.

Here is the 1917 Bisbee directory for Emmabell Rolfs, clerk at the Fair Store:

In 1917 while working at the Fair Store, she and a number of other Arizonian girls were participants in a subscription contest.

The winner would win a new car!!

This competition resulted in all the girls getting photographed by Dix Studio, the source of this image.

Ultimately Emma came in 4th place I believe. 

The Fair Store where Emmabelle was employed in 1917

1914 directory, mentioning Emma, Emma's mother Emma and E H Rolfs

After her marriage to William, she and he lived at her parents' home

On June 5, 1920 Emma's mother died at their home in Wood Canyon.

Emma and her father Edward wer made admins for the estate which was in probate in to 1921.

This brings us to what happened to Emma, her father, any of Rosemary's siblings. 

Emmabelle seems to disappear after 1938. This is currently the last mention of her that I can find. Searching the SS death index by her b-day, SS number, 1st name variant renders no matching results so I don't know when or where Emma died. (She could have died in prison as well, I simply don't know at the moment)

Emmabelle's daughter Dorothy (red X)

Dorothy's obit:

Emma's daughter Betty (red X):

Betty's date of birth/death 

More on Betty:

After HS Betty was married to Peter Ivanovich and moved back to Bisbee, briefly.

She, her husband and daughter lived near Betty's maternal grandfather in the Upper Tombstone Canyon area. Did she want to move back to be near the Rolfs and/or to find her mom? According to Suzan La Berge this was around the time that Betty may have begun acting out and got into some trouble in much the same way as her mom. Either there in Bisbee and / or in Kansas City around 1940 Betty began stealing stuff and did some prison time. She was pregnant with her second child at the time and delivered her baby while in jail. Per multiple sources, that daughter was born in Wisconsin not AZ or MO. Her children were taken to live with the Ivanovich family back in Bisbee. 

Emmabelle's father:

Rosemary's brother William Jr was adopted by Lester White and Margaret Faulkner White who were also residents of Phoenix. His name was changed to William McDonald White. He was born June 27 1928 in Phoenix, AZ. Adopted before 1940. He later resided in Los Angeles, Phoenix, elsewhere. And he died July 24, 1961 in Reno, NV. He was a card dealer in the casinos. He's buried in the Veterans cemetery in Los Angeles.

I could not locate a birth certificate, only this birth announcement from 1928.

He also got into a small bit of trouble in 1960. - from the Reno Gazette

William's D.C.

William's grave in Los Angeles

Now, Rosemary's birth father William:

He was born Aug 31, 1892 in NY, to William Elliott and Elizabeth Oyston Elliott, of an Irish background.

1900 census

1910 census:

After this time, he came to Bisbee and enlisted in the military. Here is a draft card and some mention of his service. 

Dec 31, 1918 ...

As mentioned before, he supposed abandoned his family and began living in Missouri (though he did come by from time to time, at least, hence their fifth child who was conceived in late 1931), eventually he remarried to Edna Limroth (about 1933). 

**UPDATE: June 15, 2023. Per recently acquired documents it would seem that the household was quite disfunctional and that Emily was more at fault for the break up than I 1st thought. And that Emmabelle was engaging in thefts not as much out of desperation, but habitually stealing all over the country, possibly to support expensive taste or some addiction. And had lost her children due to her stealing being so out of control***

Here is William and new wife Edna in 1934

William died in 1968. 

Here is Edna's obit, mentioning that she is survived by husband William, dated Dec 7, 1959, from the "Tampa Bay Times"

Edna and William's graves in Florida

William's obit, dated April 9, 1968, from the The Tampa Tribune, mentioned is one of his daughter's Elizabeth Madison who was Rosemary's sister Betty. 

The Harmon /Vaugh family

Henry Russell Harmon 1950 census, next door to his parents

Russell's WWII draft card 

Nogales, AZ - Sept 1928 articles

Another Caveat: It is said that Rosemary was named after the Harmon's biological daughter by the same name. The only record I can find of the Harmon's having a daughter was a girl born to them on May 30, 1923 at a Riverside, CA hospital. This was shortly after they had moved from Washington Camp or Nogales, Santa Cruz County, AZ. The daughter died 2 days later. She was named Mary not Rosemary. 

While the mother's name is a bit confusing in this last article it would appear to refer to Clara Vaughn Harmon, especially when taken in the context of the previous to bits of evidence.

-Dan Hale