Kinsmen and Kinswomen

At some point, in the near future, I’m going to do a post on the amazing Capt. Richard Lawrence, M.D. (1912-2000), or Richard Lawrence, Jr., as he was sometimes known, or simply, Cousin Dick. The man deserves as much.

In the meantime, there is this, almost as an aside: one small piece of the larger puzzle of his life, with the curious property that the closer one looks, the more the “piece” becomes a puzzle in its own right.

Roughly two years ago, I happened to be emailing with Robert Cutler, who, suffice to say, understands the (not-quite-lost) art of letter writing. He had embarked on a long and delightful tangent concerning Cousin Dick, whom at that point I had barely heard of, when, in the course of his excursion, he mentioned almost as an afterthought that before attending medical school, Richard Lawrence had spent a period of time in China, and while there, had met a Russian woman whom he married in Shanghai and brought back to America.

(Frankly, he said a good deal more than that, but this medium – which is obviously public –  has its limits.)

He went on to describe some of Dick’s better known activities in WWII, which as I said, I’ll get to someday, but, long after I’d finished reading, my mind kept going back to this Russian woman; China in the late ’30s; the circumstances of their meeting, and their exit; and what had really been going on?

Suffice to say, Robert had hooked me. I had to learn more, but, the more I learned, well, the more I realized I didn’t know, and– you get the idea.

Puzzles within puzzles.

This is part of what I found…

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In the 1930 Census, Richard Lawrence is seventeen years old and living with his parents in Groton, Massachusetts.

It seems ridiculous to add, but mark that this is far from Harbin, Manchuria, which actually will be relevant.

Name	Richard Lawrence
Age in 1930	17
Birth Year	abt 1913
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birthplace	New York
Marital Status	Single
Relation to Head of House	Son
Home in 1930	Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Map of Home	Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Street Address	Farmers Row
Dwelling Number	168
Family Number	189
Attended School	Yes
Able to Read and Write	Yes
Father’s Birthplace	Massachusetts
Mother’s Birthplace	New York
Able to Speak English	Yes
Household Members	Name Age Richard Lawrence 51 Marjorie P Lawrence 39 Richard Lawrence 17 Marion Lawrence 11

Fast forward eight years…

Honolulu port arrival 3 Jan 1938, one Richard R. Lawrence from Guam.

Is this him? The age is off, but still close. Interesting.

Name	Richard R Lawrence
Age	22
Gender	Male
Birth Year	abt 1916
Port of Departure	Guam
Ship	North Wind
Port of Arrival	Honolulu, Hawaii
Arrival Date	3 Jan 1938
Race	American

7 months later…

29 Jul 1938, following a ceremony in the Russian Orthodox Church of Beijing, a marriage certificate is issued from the US Consul in China for Richard Lawrence and Susanna Anisimoff Baeff.

A closer look…

Name	Richard Lawrence Jr
Age	25
Birth Year	abt 1913
Birth Place	New York City, New York
Spouse’s Name	Susanna Anisimoff Baeff
Spouse’s Age	25
Spouse’s Birth Year	abt 1913
Spouse’s Birth Place	Echo, Manchuria
Marriage Date	29 Jul 1938
Marriage Place	The Russian Orthodox Church
Consular Location	Tientsin, China
File Number	133
Certificate in File	Yes

A word on places. The city Tientsin is the old spelling for Tianjin. Peiping is the old spelling for Beijing. And Echo, Manchuria is… something of a riddle.

The closest hit I can find for Echo, Manchuria is an agricultural facility named Experimental Station Echo 547. It is mentioned in numerous agricultural texts and photos dating from the early 20th century, and was run by the Chinese Eastern Railway.

from History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Austria and Switzerland (1781-2015). William Shurtleff; Akiko Aoyagi. Soyinfo Center. 2015

There is also this tantalizing photo:

According to the above history of soy, Echo Station was at Tiehlingho in the Kirin Province of Manchuria. Unfortunately, googling Tiehlingho, Manchuria only produces more articles on soybeans. No kidding.

There is this though. A notice from a stamp auction:

“Lot 942 – Michael Rogers Online Auction #14 of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Other Asia Stamps and Postal History

Russian Offices in China, 1928 (May 3), Chinese Eastern Railway cover front from Tiehlingho to Sweden, flanked by four Chinese Ki-Hei overprints tied by Tiehlingho c.d.s.’s. Sent by botanist L.W. Smirnoff, with the original contents plant samples. Cover was posted at St. Echo, which was between Mudangtiyang and Modaoshi, east of Harbin. [Emphasis added–LSL] A wonderful item from a small town. Very Fine.
Estimate HK$ 2,000 – 3,000.”

That last bit was enough to go on…

Mudangtiyang is written today as Mudanjiang, and is in Heilongjiang Province, China.

Modaoshi, occasionally seen as Mo-tao-shih, is also in Heilongjiang, China. (There is apparently another city of the same name located far to the south.) Google maps doesn’t list the smaller northern one in a meaningful way, but some Chinese sites do.

The Harbin mentioned above is today in Heilongjiang, as well. Remember Harbin.

Lastly note that the general area of these three towns is really quite close to Vladivostok, a fact I’ll return to at the very end.

Honolulu port arrival 1938, Richard 26, and wife Susanna Vasilievna Baeff Lawrence, age 25, from Shanghai, China

[Note, in defense of Robert Cutler’s telling of the tale,  that while the couple were married in Beijing, they sailed from Shanghai.–LSL]

 

Name	Richard Lawrence
Age	26
Gender	Male
Birth Year	abt 1912
Birth Place	New York, USA
Ship	Empress of Canada
Port of Arrival	Honolulu, Hawaii
Arrival Date	27 Oct 1938

Name	Susanna Lawrence
Age	25
Gender	Female
Birth Year	abt 1913
Birth Place	China
Port of Departure	Shanghai, China
Departure Date	17 Oct 1938
Port of Arrival	Honolulu, Hawaii
Arrival Date	27 Oct 1938
Race	Russian
Last Residence	China

The takeaway: her full name was Susanna Vasilievna Anisimoff Baeff.

In San Francisco, the arrival in Nov 1939 of two more people: a Vladimir Alexander Baeff, inferred DOB is 1929, in Harbin, Manchuria (I said it would be important), accompanied by a 29 year old Leo Anisimoff, also born in Echo Manchuria, c. 1910.

Name	Vladimir Alexander Baeff
Gender	Male
Birth Date	abt 1929
Birth Place	Harbin manchuria, China
Age	10
Arrival Date	10 Nov 1939
Port of Arrival	San Francisco, California
Ship Name	President Cleveland
Port of Departure	Shanghai, China
Last Residence	China
Accompanied by	S A
Friend’s Name	S A Lawrence

Name	Leo Anisimoff
Gender	Male
Birth Date	abt 1910
Birth Place	Echo manchuria, China
Age	29
Arrival Date	10 Nov 1939
Port of Arrival	San Francisco, California
Ship Name	President Cleveland
Port of Departure	Shanghai, China
Last Residence	China
Accompanied by	S A
Friend’s Name	S A Lawrence

After seeing the location  Harbin, Manchuria, again, this time as Vadimir’s place of birth, I did some further looking.

A general Wikipedia article  offers clues to the history and character of the city, and there is also a fascinating second piece, about the Harbin Russians, available here.

A brief excerpt:

“In the decade from 1913 to 1923, Russia went through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Civil War. In the 1920s Harbin was flooded with 100,000 to 200,000 Russian White émigrés fleeing from Russia. They were mostly officers and soldiers involved in the White movement, members of the White governments in Siberia and Russian Far East. There were both the intelligentsia and ordinary people. Harbin held the largest Russian population outside of the state of Russia.”

In the 1940 Census, Richard Lawrence is found living in NYC with his new wife and presumably her son Vladimir, aka, per the census taker, “Ladismere Lawrence.”

Note, it’s worth adding, Richard could not have been his biological father, as he was in Groton in 1929-1930, but he probably served for a time as Vladimir’s foster father, or step-father. Note, this is the only time Vladimir uses the surname Lawrence, and he soon resumes with Baeff.

Name	Richard Lawrence
Respondent	Yes
Age	27
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1913
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birthplace	New York
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Head
Map of Home in 1940	New York, New York, New York
Street	East 54th Street
Farm	No
Inferred Residence in 1935	Rural, China
Residence in 1935	Rural China
Resident on farm in 1935	No
Sheet Number	3A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation	82
House Owned or Rented	Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented	125
Attended School or College	No
Highest Grade Completed	College, 2nd year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census	0
Weeks Worked in 1939	0
Income	0
Income Other Sources	Yes
Household Members	Name Age Richard Lawrence 27 Susan Lawrence 27 Ladismere Lawrence 10

23 FEB 1943, Leo Anisimoff, the likely brother, dies in the Bronx.

Name	Leo Anisimoff
Age	35
Birth Year	abt 1908
Death Date	23 Feb 1943
Death Place	Bronx, New York, USA
Certificate Number	2361
Wills and Probates	Leo Anisimoff – 1943

In the spring of 1945, a V. Baeff is recorded in the yearbook of Sonoma Valley High School, in Sonoma California.  He is in the 4th row of boys, 5th from left. We know this because H. Wise and Angelo Sangiacomo are hand labelled.

Somewhere between 1940 and 1947, Richard and Susanna divorce. I couldn’t find a record.

24 May 1947, Richard marries Helen Kathleen Mahoney.

She goes by “Kathleen.” The ceremony is in San Diego. She’s a divorcee, previously married to Calvin Charles Waldroop, with whom she had three children: Kay Lorraine Waldroop (1931-2011), Calvin Charles “Kevin” or “Bud” Waldroop (surname later changed to Lawrence, 1932-2013), and Robert Donald Waldroop (surname later changed to Lawrence, 1934-2013).

9 Aug 1949, Susanna Lawrence dies.

The coroner’s report lists the cause of death as suicide by drug overdose.

She walked into a San Fancisco bar at 6pm, sat down in a booth, put her head on her folded arms, and was found that way at closing time.

The subsequent autopsy recorded a nine inch scar over her left hip, and a scar the size of a quarter below her left shoulder.

Of course, these wounds could have been caused by anything, but given her history, I have to wonder what sort of violence she had been through. And what other wounds will we never know about?

I really have no words to describe the sadness I feel at the way she left the world.

This woman was a tried and tested survivor, who at some point found she was simply unable to continue surviving.

___

Returning to some of the more mundane matters to consider… Her death certificate states her father was indeed Anisimoff, or as the clerk spelled it, Anicinoff, confirming that Mr. Baeff, whoever he was, first name unknown, was her husband, and Vladimir was likely her son.

And, what was her relationship at that point with her ex husband, Richard? Were they on good terms? Bad terms? Had they ever actually been in love? Or was Richard simply helping her get out from a terrible situation? I won’t guess.

(no document image)

Name	Susanna Vasilieona Lawrence
Gender	Female
Birth Date	1 Jan 1913
Birth Place	China
Death Date	9 Aug 1949
Death Place	San Francisco
Father’s Surname	Anicinoff

From the late 1940s, forward, Richard goes on to a long and storied career in military medicine…all told, serving as combat medic and trauma surgeon in three wars: WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

On 11 Dec 1954, Vladimir, aka Walter, Baeff marries Lenore K. O’Donnell.

(no document image)

Name	Walter A Baeff
Gender	Male
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1929
Age	25
Marriage Date	11 Dec 1954
Marriage Place	San Francisco, California, USA
Spouse	Lenore K ODonnell
Spouse Age	19

On 15 Dec 1959, in a San Francisco court, Vladimir Alexander Baeff petitions for US citizenship, and uses the Americanized first name, “Walter.” Names of their two children withheld out of respect for their privacy.

Name	Vladimir Alexander Baeff
Record Type	Petition
Petition Date	1959
Petition Place	California, USA
Petition Number	8122842
Household Members	Name Age Vladimir Alexander Baeff

The name change from Vladimir to Walter is made official.

What happened to Richard’s step-son? Is Walter still living? I can’t find any more information…

___

Now for the penultimate entry before I sum up:

If you unpack Susanna’s full name, using the Russian system, Baeff, which attaches to her son, is clearly her married name, from a husband previous to Richard Lawrence.

Anisimoff, which is shared with brother Leo, is her maiden name, and Vasilievna implies she is the daughter of a man named Vasily.

Putting it together, if we were to go looking for her father, we would do well to search for someone bearing the name Vasily Anisimoff.

Curiously, a Wikipedia search for this name, Vasily Anisimoff, produces a single article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Anisimoff

“Vasìly Onisimovich Afanàsiev (alias Vasìly Anisimovich Anìsimoff) [1878-1938] was a revolutionary and a propagandist of Marxism as well as a prominent activist and supporter of the Russian and international socialist movement. He was among the active members of the RSDLP and was a Menshevik. In 1925 Anisimoff became the deputy head of the economic department of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy of the RSFSR, managing the “Exportles” [sic] trust.

“Anisimoff was the younger brother of a famous Soviet pedagogue Pyotr Afanasiev, grandfather of the Soviet writer Vladimir Amlinsky, and the great-grandfather of the composer and physicist Vladimir Anisimoff[1]

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“Vasily Anisimovich Anisimoff (alias, né Vasily Onisimovich Afanasiev), the youngest child in the family of protopriest Father Onesimus (Onesimus Afanasiev), was born in 1878 in the remote village of Apanasovo-Tamashi of Kazan province (now Kazan region), to which his father, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Seminary, has been sent in the early 1870s to serve as the Dean of the local church.

Vasily Anisimoff entered the Kazan pedagogical Seminary and in 1898 successfully passed the examination for the title of magister. In 1905 Anisimoff graduated from the Kazan pedagogical Institute….

During the years of study at the Kazan pedagogical Institute, about mid-1902, he adopts a program and joins the social democratic movement which was spreading in the Saratov and Kazanprovinces. Whilst a teacher at Kuznetsky mining school, on 6th of February 1907 he becomes a member of the II State Duma from the Saratov province.

A second portrait of Vasily Anisimoff, c. 1907, when he was a member of the Duma

“Vasily Anisimoff was a big supporter of the democratic element in the Social democratic movement and as a result becoming a member of the Committee of the Social democratic faction and joining the Mensheviks. Vasily Anisimoff actively worked as a member of the food commission and commission for public education. In 1907 he is elected as the delegate of the 5th Congress of the RSDLP, which was held from April 30 to May 19, 1907 in London.

‘After the dissolution of the second State Duma by the decision of the special presence of the Senate on December 1, 1907 Vasily Anisimoff becomes one of 16 deputies from the Social Democrats, the issuance of which the government demanded on the eve of the dissolution of the Duma,^[2][3] and he was sentenced as a member of the Social democratic faction of the II State Duma to 5 years of Russian Penal colony.

[The article doesn’t say where the penal colony was, but this time includes 1913, when Susanna was born in Echo Station, the agricultural facilty in Manchuria, northwest of Vladisvostok.–LSL]

____

“From 1918 to 1924 he worked in Siberia [as] the employee of the newspaper “Our Business”… 

“In 1923-1924 Vasily Anisimoff was nominated for the post of Chairman of the State Trust “Far Eastern forest” in Vladivostok.

[In other words, after being freed from the penal colony, he was working, for much of the period of Susanna’s childhood, in a semi-agricultural capacity, in far eastern Russia, near Manchuria, and the cities I mapped above.–LSL]

___

“In the revelry of Stalinist repression in 1937, as was usual in those days, after a tip-off… Vasily Anisimoff was arrested and sent to the Stalinist camps. On April 25, 1938 by the decision of the notorious triple he was declared an “enemy of the people” and sentenced to execution by firing squad. The sentence was enforced immediately in Kommunarka village of Moscow region…”

***

So, was he her father?

There’s not enough information at present to say with any certainty. But the circumstantial evidence is compelling.

Regardless, approximately three months after the summary execution of Vasily Anisimoff, Susanna Vasilievna Anisimoff Baeff, identifying herself as “stateless,” marries Richard Lawrence in the Russian Orthodox Church in Beijing, and, from Shanghai, embarks with her new husband for Honolulu, and America…

If you know, or knew, any of the principals in this saga, and have information to pass on, please do not hesitate to contact me through this blog.

***

ADDENDUM: Late Summer, 2020

In a testament to the power of the internet, this post has allowed me to at long last connect with Susanna’s granddaughter, Jennifer. She and I are now collaborating on further research. At some point, when I think I have enough substantive new material to add, I’ll do a second post describing the main results of what we find. In the meantime, Jennifer has kindly sent this, along with her permission to post it: a scrapbook page with four photos of Susanna and Richard in happier days. (Likely China, c. 1938.) Yes, they’re only a few snapshots. And they’re not in great condition. But they’re visual proof of Susanna’s existence, and, however fleeting, two young people’s love.