Researcher: Elizabeth Sham, Stuyvesant '20

Joseph Martin Sinnott was born in New York City on August 12th, 1892. He lived at No. 1 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. He worked as a mining engineer in New York City. During 1922, he lived abroad in Spain and France, which, in addition to his identity as a person of Jewish descent, might have served as his motivation to volunteer in Spain. He traveled to many places before he went to volunteer for the Spanish Civil War. His travel records indicated he traveled from Antwerp, Belgium to New York with his wife, Alice Sinnott, on the SS Zeeland in August, 1925. He also traveled from Cherbourg, France to New York on the SS Lapland in October-November 1928. Another travel record indicates that he traveled from San Jose, Puerto Rico to New York in September 1931. On March 12, 1937, he was issued a passport, #374461, which he used to travel to Spain to volunteer. During the Spanish Civil War, he served as an aide to Major Allan Johnson at the Estado Mayor (Headquarters) in Albacete. Johnson served as an operations officer and liaison officer, before being wounded at Jarama and assigned to training new volunteers at the Estado Mayor in Tarazona, Albacete. Sinnott likely served non-combatant roles in war and stayed at Estado Mayor to support the Brigades. After spending a year volunteering in the war, he returned on the Champlain from Le Havre, France and landed in New York on July 20th, 1938. There are little to no records about his life after the Spanish Civil War, but some information shows he didn’t stop his travel activities, as another travel record indicates Sinnott returning from Reykjavik, Iceland to New York in October, 1955. He is currently buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Upstate New York.

Sources

Carroll, Peter N.. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. United States, Stanford University Press, 1994.

"Joseph Martin Sinnot.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, alba-valb.org/volunteers/joseph-martin-sinnot/.

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KX9Q-7W9 : 12 March 2018), Joseph Martin Sinnott, 1925; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95NQ-9F9C?cc=1923888&wc=MFK7-WWL%3A1030074501 : 2 October 2015), 6184 - vol 13311-13312, Jul 18, 1938 > image 608 of 777; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G547-W2R?cc=1923888&wc=MFV1-FNG%3A1029894801 : 2 October 2015), 4377 - vol 9690-9691, Nov 2, 1929 > image 370 of 1074; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L945-85M8?cc=1923888&wc=MFKX-768%3A1030345301 : 3 October 2015), 5040 - vol 10892-10894, Sep 15, 1931 > image 22 of 1222; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G941-Y23Z?cc=1923888&wc=MFKX-W29%3A1030322001 : 3 October 2015), 8653 - Oct 29, 1955, CARROLL VICTORY-Oct 31, 1955, A.F. SPECIAL > image 8 of 1324; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Rosenstone, Robert. Crusade of the Left: The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War. United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2018.

Scope of Soviet Activity in the United States: Hearing Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-fourth Congress, Second Session[-Eighty-fifth Congress, First Session] .... United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1956.

Stradling, R. A.. The Irish and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 : crusades in conflict. United Kingdom, Mandolin, 1999.

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-5F8T : 16 March 2018), Joseph Martin Sinnott, 1922; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #230379, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2130, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-W743 : 16 March 2018), Joseph Martin Sinnott, 1924; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #431895, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2549, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).