DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Carrie Brown : Murder In The East River Hotel
HTML https://carriebrown.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: General Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 7218--------------------------------------------------
Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 25, 2026, 6:10 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I just received this message from our mutual friend and
researcher, Abdelouahab Aisssaoui, regarding
his efforts to track down Amer Ben Ali over in Algeria...
Over the past period, I have been trying to find any trace of
Amer Ben Ali in his hometown, Beni Aïcha. I contacted some of
the older residents of the town, but unfortunately, no one knew
the family. This may be because the French authorities changed
family names at the beginning of the century, and because of the
repeated migrations of families, all traces of Amer Ben Ali’s
family seem to have disappeared. In addition, many people
adopted new surnames and no longer knew their family origins.
On the other hand, I searched the civil registry records, but
unfortunately, I could not find him, either in the birth records
or in the death records.
I strongly suspect that he never returned to Algeria and instead
settled in France with his family. Unfortunately, I have no way
of conducting research in France.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I lean toward the French making sure he wound up back on
Algerian soil, only because it was a condition of his
release....but on the other hand, after being in prison for a
decade and with money in his pocket, courtesy of his supporters,
anything was possible.
If he knew his wife was dead...would she have even wanted to see
his face after over 14 years?...he left Brazil in mid-1889 for
the States and was probably in Brazil during 1888....his
children, if alive, were grown up now and may have moved...
What did he have to go home to? A 50-something man now looking
forward to a life of farm work?
Ali might have left Algeria in 1888...or earlier... with no
intention of returning. The sob story he told about wanting to
save up money to
bring them all over to America with him was bullshit.
Maybe Abdulouahab is right.
Some other threads related to Abdelouahab's efforts:
HTML https://carriebrown.createaforum.com/index.php?action=search2
#Post#: 7226--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: Kattrup
Date: August 25, 2026, 4:45 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Well, tell him thanks for trying.
I think the best way to track Ali in Algeria, with the meagre
info we have, would be to look for the death of his wife. We
know a westernised version of her name (Tiamena) and we know (or
believe we know) where she lived (Beni Aicha) and the decade in
which she died (around 1892-1901). Reportedly she lived in Ali´s
brother's household.
I believe deaths were registered quite faithfully by the French
authorities, although I've not been able to find anything
through the present online sources listing deaths in Algeria in
the period.
Tracking him in French records, I am confident the French
Foreign Ministry would have a file on the case, as the
ambassador and French representatives would have reported back
to Paris and we know information was supplied to NY about his
military service during the trial. So incoming correspondence
from the NY representatives would be worth checking out.
Years later, it was mentioned that someone in Algeria was asking
about him, that could have gone through official channels but
probably not.
Pre-murder, best chance to find Ali would be French military
records (we know more or less which unit he served in, and he
was in the army for eight years), possibly hospital records in
Algiers from Ali's months-long reconvalescence there (I do
however believe as the hospital was military at the time, the
records would have been transferred to France).
I believe the French would have made sure Ali returned to
Algeria, but possibly he simply left and disappeared once they
got ashore in France, and lived out the remainder of his life on
the docks of Marseille or similar.
Personally I think he would have wanted to go to Algeria,
though, if he got a free ticket anyway. He still had family
there, brothers, and coming from America he would have been the
center of attention with his story of unjust imprisonment.
#Post#: 7227--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 25, 2026, 6:05 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Pete:
Thanks for your thoughts.
I'll send them to Abdelouahab tomorrow.
#Post#: 7358--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: Kattrup
Date: September 8, 2026, 4:09 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Brooklyn Citizen 02.07.1891 has the brother's residence as being
in "Nimeyslah"
No idea what could be meant - possibly M'Sila
[attachimg=1]
#Post#: 7359--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: September 8, 2026, 6:31 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Pete:
I sent Abdelouahab a message concerning the reference to M'sila.
Good eye, buddy! ;D
#Post#: 7378--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: September 9, 2026, 7:21 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Pete:
This is the latest from Abdelouahab, September 9th:
I have added two files for our perusal.....
On a side note....the difficulty of finding him, although the
French apparently had no problem back in 1891...is sort of
strange.
The thought of him going by someone else's name (as he did with
George Frank ) comes to mind.
Even the case file of the trial is under the name George Frank
Just a thought.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friend,
Greetings.
I am well, and I hope you are well too.
•
and I have tried every possible spelling of his name — whether
Amer, Omar, Amour, Amir, or other possibilities — but I have not
yet found any record that could convincingly correspond to the
person we are looking for. In fact, this has led me to suspect
that the information provided by the French consul may have been
intended simply to support a particular account presented to the
Americans, especially when Amer was presented as a soldier who
served in the army between 1870 and 1878.
•
connected to this story. The first was the Franco-Prussian War
(1870–1871), in which Officer Gustave-Joseph Monnier took part —
the officer under whom the consul’s letter stated that Amer had
served. Monnier was defeated at the Battle of Sedan in 1870, and
most of the men under his command were lost. However, we do not
know precisely what became of the soldiers who survived that
battle, nor whether some of them later returned to Algeria and
took part in the military operations carried out to suppress the
uprising that broke out in Algeria, known as the Kabyle Revolt
or the Mokrani Revolt.
•
Blida, where he became part of the forces that participated in
suppressing this uprising, which lasted from March 1871 to
January 1872.
This raises an important question: could Amer Ben Ali have taken
part in suppressing the Mokrani Revolt?
•
Mokrani Revolt includes the region of Amer Ben Ali, Beni Aïcha.
The cause of this uprising was that the French, at that time,
confiscated agricultural lands belonging to Algerians, although
the French authorities exempted certain families who cooperated
with them. During my research, I found a French document
concerning biens du domaine, granting authorization to a person
bearing a name similar to that of Amer Ben Ali. I suspected that
he might have been either his father or his brother, but the
place is not in Beni Aïcha itself, but somewhere not far from
it. I sent the French document to a local-history researcher in
order to verify it with the residents of those villages.
This means that we may be dealing with two wars in which Officer
Monnier took part during the very period in which Amer Ben Ali
was said to have been a soldier in his unit — the unit belonging
to the 1st Regiment of Algerian Tirailleurs.
•
more than one person named Amer Ben Ali. The Latin spelling of
the name differs from one record to another, but they generally
correspond to the same Arabic name. However, the problem is that
none of these names matched the person we are looking for; in
almost every case, there was a discrepancy either in the period
of military service or in the place of origin.
•
Archives d'outre-mer in Marseille, which contains état civil
records for Algeria before 1925, and the same thing happened:
whenever the name matched, the date or the city did not. The
same was true on the Mémoire des hommes website.
•
that he lived in the city of Algiers with his parents, which
added further confusion.
•
since it is not written as “Tiamena” — because, as far as I
know, that name does not exist in Algeria. Rather, the names
that exist are Yamina / Yamena / Yamna, which are widely used in
that region. I should point out that the region of Beni Aïcha is
an Amazigh (Berber) region, and Amazigh is more widely spoken
than Arabic in everyday communication, so this name may have
been distorted in pronunciation. Based on these conclusions, I
did search, but I was unable to find any information about his
wife either.
•
does indeed exist, and it is about 200 km from Beni Aïcha. It is
inhabited by Arabs (of Bedouin origin), but, frankly, I do not
know how to make use of this information, except perhaps by
searching the death records for the city for the period you
indicated.
•
found nothing. So, 20 days ago, I wrote to the following
institutions, which should have all the relevant information:
1.
the Ministry of Defense) – Vincennes
2.
Military Personnel Archives) – Pau
3.
Archives) – Aix-en-Provence
4.
Diplomatic Archives Center)
5.
6.
Military Medical Archives)
7.
(ONaCVG) (National Office for War Veterans and Victims)
I sent them a detailed message including all the dates, places,
and information through which they might be able to identify the
person we are looking for, and I am awaiting a reply from them.
•
to ship voyages and found that the Touraine voyage is indeed
listed. Unfortunately, however, the names of the passengers who
were on board have not yet been uploaded.
•
In File No. 1, entitled “Pensions of Colonial and Indigenous
Troops, 1850–1950,” there is a list of all the men who enlisted
and served the French state during the period from 1850 to 1950.
I searched for the name Amer Ben Ali, but I could not find it. I
would therefore be grateful if you could search the file again,
as I may have overlooked the name, or it may have appeared under
a different spelling that I did not notice.
As for File No. 2, I found a list of soldiers who served in the
Algerian Tirailleurs regiments, linked to military pay records
covering the period from 1889 to 1911. Among them, I found more
than one person named Amer Ben Ali; one was a sergeant, while
another was an ordinary soldier, with the corresponding file
number given for each of them.
When I searched for the soldier’s file using the serial number
provided in the table, through the French Ministry of Defense
archives, I found that the file is held by a separate archival
institution and can only be consulted in person, as it has not
yet been digitized.
But the question here is: is this really the Amer Ben Ali we are
looking for? And could his administrative status have been
regularized after his return to Algeria, so that he could
receive the allowance? This is indeed possible.
In any case, the search for Amer Ben Ali is still ongoing!
#Post#: 7379--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: Jose Oranto
Date: September 9, 2026, 8:53 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Impressive display of documentary research. Thank you very much,
Abdelouahab; this extraordinary effort is deeply appreciated.
I am tempted to change the name Tiamina to Yamena in my book.
#Post#: 7380--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: September 10, 2026, 5:40 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Jose;
Speaking of name changes...when he was arrested in September
1890 for biting Mary Ann Lopez,
his name on the charge sheet was recorded as 'Frank Sherlicka'.
HTML https://carriebrown.createaforum.com/general-discussion/officer-meyer's-inquest-testimony-the-september-25-1890-arrest-of-'frank-sherlic/msg2931/#msg2931
#Post#: 7382--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: Michael Banks
Date: September 10, 2026, 6:08 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I’ll certainly second José’ in thanking Abdelouahab for his
admirable and exhaustive efforts and to How for reaching out to
him in the first place. I couldn’t even apply the phrase “needle
in a haystack” as it’s more appropriate to use “a needle
disguised as a piece of hay in several haystacks.”
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for one additional piece of
information which provides the beginning of a trail.[emoji106]
#Post#: 7384--------------------------------------------------
Re: Our Man In Algeria: Abdelouahab Aissaoui 2026 Update
DIR By: Jose Oranto
Date: September 10, 2026, 9:16 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Howard Brown link ---
>
> Jose;
>
> Speaking of name changes...when he was arrested in September
1890 for biting Mary Ann Lopez,
> his name on the charge sheet was recorded as 'Frank
Sherlicka'.
>
>
HTML https://carriebrown.createaforum.com/general-discussion/officer-meyer's-inquest-testimony-the-september-25-1890-arrest-of-'frank-sherlic/msg2931/#msg2931
>
--- End Quote ---
Thanks, How; I wasn't aware that he had given a different name
when he was arrested over the Lopez matter.
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 2
DIR Next Page