Joe Watts information ???

[TSNYC]

He’s of Welsh descent I believe.

If I remember right, another big loan shark he had under him in Staten Island was Eddie fisher.

[PolackTony]

Does anyone know Joe Watts’s ethnic background? His nickname is “The German”, but Anthony Ruggiano said on a recent podcast that he is English. Watts is an English name, not German. But that could be an Anglicisation. Wikipedia says he is Italian on his mother’s side, and German and Welsh on his father’s side (I think Watts is also a plausible name for a Welshman), but Wikipedia makes a lot of mistakes on this sort of thing. Any info appreciated - cheers!

I don't believe that he was German, at least not in terms of any recent ancestry. Joe Watts grew up in the Dongan Hills section of Staten Island, on Alter Ave. His mother was Caterina "Catherine" Billero, who was of Sicilian-Arbereshe ancestry, born in 1907 in Manhattan to parents from Piana dei Greci; the Billeros lived on the Eastside of Manhattan and then later moved to Bathgate Ave in the Bronx. Joe's father was John Francis Watts, born in 1901 in Manhattan to John Joseph Watts and Ida Culhane. John Watts Sr was born in the 1860s in NYC -- I believe that his father was English and his mother, surname Slater, was born in Ireland. If they were part Welsh or German at some point, I at least don't have any evidence for that. Ida Culhane was born in NYC to parents from Ireland.

John Francis Watts grew up on Madison St in Lower Manhattan but later worked as a truck driver for the piers in SI -- by 1950 he was working as a cab driver, and the Watts family lived at 306 Alter.

[Don Mosseria]

Does anyone know Joe Watts’s ethnic background? His nickname is “The German”, but Anthony Ruggiano said on a recent podcast that he is English. Watts is an English name, not German. But that could be an Anglicisation. Wikipedia says he is Italian on his mother’s side, and German and Welsh on his father’s side (I think Watts is also a plausible name for a Welshman), but Wikipedia makes a lot of mistakes on this sort of thing. Any info appreciated - cheers!

I don't believe that he was German, at least not in terms of any recent ancestry. Joe Watts grew up in the Dongan Hills section of Staten Island, on Alter Ave. His mother was Caterina "Catherine" Billero, who was of Sicilian-Arbereshe ancestry, born in 1907 in Manhattan to parents from Piana dei Greci; the Billeros lived on the Eastside of Manhattan and then later moved to Bathgate Ave in the Bronx. Joe's father was John Francis Watts, born in 1901 in Manhattan to John Joseph Watts and Ida Culhane. John Watts Sr was born in the 1860s in NYC -- I believe that his father was English and his mother, surname Slater, was born in Ireland. If they were part Welsh or German at some point, I at least don't have any evidence for that. Ida Culhane was born in NYC to parents from Ireland.

John Francis Watts grew up on Madison St in Lower Manhattan but later worked as a truck driver for the piers in SI -- by 1950 he was working as a cab driver, and the Watts family lived at 306 Alter.

Thanks Tony. You are always bang on it super fast with the genealogy man - much appreciated! I guess that makes him half-Italian, quarter-Irish, quarter-English by descent then. Weird he was nicknamed The German. Must be some story behind that… Cheers

[TSNYC]

Does anyone know Joe Watts’s ethnic background? His nickname is “The German”, but Anthony Ruggiano said on a recent podcast that he is English. Watts is an English name, not German. But that could be an Anglicisation. Wikipedia says he is Italian on his mother’s side, and German and Welsh on his father’s side (I think Watts is also a plausible name for a Welshman), but Wikipedia makes a lot of mistakes on this sort of thing. Any info appreciated - cheers!

I don't believe that he was German, at least not in terms of any recent ancestry. Joe Watts grew up in the Dongan Hills section of Staten Island, on Alter Ave. His mother was Caterina "Catherine" Billero, who was of Sicilian-Arbereshe ancestry, born in 1907 in Manhattan to parents from Piana dei Greci; the Billeros lived on the Eastside of Manhattan and then later moved to Bathgate Ave in the Bronx. Joe's father was John Francis Watts, born in 1901 in Manhattan to John Joseph Watts and Ida Culhane. John Watts Sr was born in the 1860s in NYC -- I believe that his father was English and his mother, surname Slater, was born in Ireland. If they were part Welsh or German at some point, I at least don't have any evidence for that. Ida Culhane was born in NYC to parents from Ireland.

John Francis Watts grew up on Madison St in Lower Manhattan but later worked as a truck driver for the piers in SI -- by 1950 he was working as a cab driver, and the Watts family lived at 306 Alter.

Awesome info, thanks for sharing!

[Tonyd621]

He got his nickname "watts" because he was as smart as a lightbulb as a kid.

[Tonyd621]

I totally made that sh*t up.

[Don Mosseria]

Thanks Tony. You are always bang on it super fast with the genealogy man - much appreciated! I guess that makes him half-Italian, quarter-Irish, quarter-English by descent then. Weird he was nicknamed The German. Must be some story behind that… Cheers

I realised I didn’t quite think my fractions through here properly. Given that not only was Joe’s paternal grandmother, Ida Culhane, Irish, but his paternal grandfather’s mother, surname Slater, was born in Ireland, Joe could actually be 1/2 Italian, 3/8 Irish, 1/8 English. That said, generally, the name Slater would be English not Irish, which could lead to all kinds of speculation about British rule in Ireland at that time, etc. I am probably getting too bogged down in the weeds here . Half-Italian, half-Irish/English, with an English surname. That will do.