Seeking Madame Mary     

                        Above: Madame Mary Merino

(Author's note: Sometimes we hold the best family history stories in the palm of our hands.)

As always, unapologetically unedited.

Fifty years ago, I went to get my fortune told. I was sixteen years old, and yes, generally more clueless than I am today. Nevertheless, on the behest of my father, I went looking for what the future might hold. At the time, my father had a man in his employ whom everyone called (in a friendly manner) by the name of "Gypsy." Gypsy was married to a woman they called "Madame Mary," and Dad, being a man who believed in using all his resources, whatever their source, sent me out one very dark night to listen and or follow the prognostications of the said Madame Mary.

This was many years ago, and save for Dad, I had nearly forgotten all of this. 

Last week, though by chance, I made my way to that same town (Martinez, California) where Madame Mary once lived. Believe me, I had some major deja vu as I wound my way into the small coastal town on the straights leading away from San Francisco Bay. And though I did not learn a great deal from the dear Madame that night fifty years ago, I resolved in my own genealogical way to find out what I could about dear Mary, though it be now fifty years later. It seemed the only fair and reasonable thing to do for a lady who'd somehow (?) once guided my future.

   

The truth about Madame Mary would not be easily divined.

You see, I did not know if Mary was her real name, and had only the vaguest clues of what her husband "Gypsy's" name was. I knew that Gypsy was called "Ned" sometimes, and that his surname was "Merino." However, in my genealogical hubris, I figured they'd be easy to find, and, well, in some ways, they were.

But in other ways, they most definitely were not.

The first piece of evidence I found about them was here, in the advertisements for a psychic in the city of Martinez, California. It was a typical advertisement, but it gave me the confidence to think that maybe I was onto something.

Above: Contra Costa Times, Tuesday, August 11, 1970, page 15

Hey, I figured at this point I had to be cooking with gas. I figured a few more Google searches and I would be In like Flint. But honestly, what came up next only confused me further.

Below: The Independent, Richmond, California, Thursday, September 1, 1966, page 8

          

Below: Contra Costa Times, Friday, Sept. 2, 1966, page 1

Okay, so I believed I had surely found Madame Mary - I mean, this was certainly "A Madame Mary Merino" practicing palm reading and fortune telling in Martinez, California, and the time frame was correct. 

What bothered me here in my 'investigation' was that it referred to her husband as "George Merino" and as a "Private Detective." 

Logically, what that meant was that Madame Mary Merino's husband's real name was George Merino, so although I could understand why they called him "Gypsy" I was having trouble understanding why Dad and his cohorts at the car lot also called him "Ned?"

The article did refer to Mary's husband as "dapper." Interestingly enough, that is just what I recalled about "The Gypsy." He was well-dressed and cool as a cucumber.

However, my questions became: 

Were Gypsy, Ned, and George all names for the same man? 

Were there two different Madame Mary Merinos prognosticating the future in Martinez, California, between 1966-1971?

So armed with only the combination of "George," "Ned," and "Mary" and "Merino," I began to look in submitted family trees to see what, if anything, might turn up. To this end, I had some good luck when I spotted a "Ned Merino" who seemed to fit the bill. The name of the family tree was:

Below: Romany Gypsies from Coast to Coast

This appeared to be correct. But was it? I certainly had in this submitted record a "Ned Merino," which corresponded with the name of the man I had known, and whom Dad had always called "Gypsy," or "Ned" and I had the place of "Martinez, California," where I'd gone to meet with "Madame Mary" his wife and get my fortune told over fifty years ago. But just who was this "Yeusta Mary "Lola" Adams?" Was she indeed "Madame Mary?" But then, who the heck was "George Merino," a "private detective" in all of this?

The first place in needed to look was where all genealogists go to look. Heck, it's where a lot of fortune tellers like Madame Mary get their information from. 

The Cemetery.

And this is what I found:       

So I was in pretty good shape here, right? I mean, all these pieces seem to fit. Heck, Ned (and presumably Madame Mary) are even buried right here down the road from me in Sacramento. I could visit them on Dia de Los Muertos if I needed to. 

Still, who the feck was George? Still, who was this "Private Detective? 

And it all seemed a bit sad too, in that Madame Mary appears to have died years ago now, in 1982.

So I took a look back again through the old newspapers, and I saw this:

Above: The Record, Stockton, California, Monday, May 14, 1962, page 27.

Now it all made a little more sense - at least in terms of George Merino's occupation, if not his use of the name "George." This 1962 article belies the fact that "The Repo Man" was at least in practice also a "private detective" for the Bank of America, looking for cars to repossess. This occupation was in keeping with what I knew about "Ned" or "Gyspsy" who'd been a car salesman working for my father. A "private detective" was just fancy dressing for "The Repo Man."

Still, were "George and Ned, and Gypsy" all one and the same man? While they appeared to be, I wanted to be certain I had the right people. For this, I went modern-day. I began looking for obits for both Madame Mary and for either a "Ned" or a George Merino. What I found helped to clarify the situation:

     All the pieces seem to fit, California, and previous wife Mary. And yes, his face, though much older than what my sixteen-year-old self could remember, was the same man. I still haven't reconciled why he was called "George," but then I saw a clipping of his notice of  (2nd) marriage license and could see why "Ned" went by George or even by "Gyspy":

Below: The Daily American, Somerset, Pennsylvania, Wed, August 21, 1991, page 2

 

I mean, with birth names like "Yeusta Mary" and "Nido Nedino," I can see why you might like a couple of nicknames and prefer to go by a simple "George and Mary" or "Ned and Lola." 

It just pays Hell tracking them genealogically, ya know.

Below: Martinez News-Gazette, Martinez, California, Friday, Sept. 8, 1978, page 18, property tax records

                   

So I guess I had it figured out, all the "Mary, Yeusta, Lola, Gypsy, George, Ned, Nadino" business of who was who. I didn't bother going back into family trees much. The submitted trees were full of branches that led to Old Romany, and I was too easily lost. I was just happy to have found Madame Mary and Gypsy and to have all those fifty-year-old memories, well, for them to all make sense.

Indeed, it appeared that I had answered all my questions about Madame Mary:

 

Above: Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, California, Friday, March 26, 1976, page 42

However, there was one last thing that troubled me - and it was this:

 

Above: 3234 Alhambra Ave. Martinez, California, The House of Madame Mary

If Madame Mary died in 1982, how was it that she was still running ads in 1984? 

Had someone absconded with Madame Mary? Was she truly dead? 

Yeah, well, I had to wonder, right?

The answer came to me in true gypsy fashion:

                   

Above: Martinez News-Gazette, August 3, 1991, page 1

You see, once a gypsy, always a gypsy. The next generation.

So happy to have met you, Madame Mary.

⚜