The Higgins' Family History Newsletter - Pitcairnfield

July 2008issue no. oneThe Higgins' family historynewsletterBERTRAND BLANCHARD ACOSTA (1895-1954)W ho is Bert A costa anyw ay?by John Higgins Van HornEver since I was a little kid, I remember mymother telling me that I was related to BertAcosta. I always thought that was really cool, butI never knew who he was. I looked forinformation about him at the library, I asked myteachers if they had heard of him, but I was neversuccessful in finding anything about thiswonderful aviator. Its kind of funny, I think that Ifelt like I was telling people a lie when I would tellthem about the great Bert Acosta. I can’t evenremember exactly what I told them, other than heflew across the Atlantic shortly after CharlesLindbergh did. I guess I thought it was this madeup story that my family passed onto me. Timepassed and I guess I forgot about him. Years later,about two years ago, I think I was talking to oneof my cousins, either Christy or Robin, and theytold me that this guy, who I understand is Bert(Norberto) Cisneros, who had made contact withthem to let them know that they had a long lostaunt and he wanted to “introduce” her to them.Both Christy and Robin are granddaughters ofBert Acosta. Their father, Bert Acosta Jr. marriedmy aunt, Anita Lillian Higgins, and Christy andRobin are their children.I think I decided to google Bert Acostaafter hearing their story and WOW there was aton of information about him. I found an articleon him on Wikipedia, that reported the following:“Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 –September 1, 1954) was an aviator who flew in theSpanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron.[1] He wasknown as the Bad Boy of the Air, and was a heavydrinker. He was divorced twice and receivednumerous fines and suspensions for flying stuntssuch as flying under bridges or flying too close tobuildings.” I found the article by NorbertoCisneros, printed on the next fewpages; there was a museum in theUnited States, the Aviation Hall ofFame & Museum of New Jersey and amuseum in France, Musée AmericaGold Beach. They both hadinformation about Bert Acosta and histransatlantic flight in 1927. I evenfound articles written about him in theNew York Times and TimeMagazine. After all these years Ifinally found out who this guy was,yes he did exist. A little time passedand it was the spring 2007. As Imentioned earlier, I found the MuséeAmerica Gold Beach had informationabout Bert Acosta and it turned outthat they were selling specialcommemorative envelopes in honorof the 80th anniversary of the flight ofContinued on page 4 UNCLE BERT

BERT ACOSTA: GENIUS OF EARLYAVIATION byNorberto Cisneros cisnart@inreach.comBertrand (Bert) Blanchard Acosta wasborn in San Diego, CA, on January 1,1895.In his resume to the Navy he wrote he hadbeen "learning to fly in 1910 - Personalresearch constructing experimental andresearch work in heavier-than-air aircraft".In other words, he built his own plane andat the age of 15 years flew it. From thattime on, flying was in his blood. He becameAviation's most gifted natural pilot ever tocome down the road. Elinor Smith, therecord setting Aviatrix, who knew Bert said,"Bert didn't fly an airplane, he wore it."Such was his reputation as a pilot.He was a multi-task aviator; flew all of thelight planes in the 1910's and 1920's - upto the first heavy Transport Planes; laid thefirst Air Mail routes while carrying Air Mail;was considered to be the first true lightaircraft Test Pilot as well as the first heavyAir Transport Test Pilot (as acknowledgedby his peers); an aircraft mechanic; a recordsetter; a barnstormer; an AeronauticalEngineer; a Flight Trainer; an inventor; nued on page 3 GENIUSTRI-MOTOR FOKKERTime Magazine published FOURMEN IN A FOG on July 11, 1927,which is an article aboutCommander Richard Evelyn Byrdalong with Lieutenant Noville,Lieutenant Balchen and pilotBert Acosta who flew acrossthe Atlantic a few weeks afterCharles Lindbergh made hisfamous trip.The flight crew on the Americaflew over France for “fivehours” and eventually decidedto “drop into the sea than tocrash into unyielding, unknown, fog-blanketed land,”Commander Byrd reported. BertAcosta was described as “moreof a daredevil than a pilot”in this article.Vu le who what?In June 2007, I made several phonecalls to France, trying to get copies ofthe 80th anniversary commemorativeenvelopes printed by the MuséeAmerica Gold Beach. Between theirEnglish and my poor French, I wasunsuccessful and finally had tocontact the sister museum in NewJersey to get the curators e-mailaddress so that I could put the requestin writing.2

GENIUS continued from page 2He was also the Chief Pilot on Cmdr.Byrd’s 1927 “America’s” TransatlanticFlight. It was a weight record of a firsttime lift off and was what set Bert apart.Only his many years of experience flyingheavy Transport Aircraft, coupled with hisextraordinary ability, was he able to guidethe heavy tri-motor on that too short andtoo muddy runway until they were airborne. It was the heaviest load (7-1/2 tonsor 15,000 lbs) of plane, cargo and crewany pilot had ever lifted and part of thatload was a piece of Betsy Ross’ flag and150 pounds of mail; and was the firstTransatlantic Transport Flight to deliverAir Mail to Europe.Portal of the Folded WingsThe Portal of Folded Wings is a Museum andOther mail services:Shrine to Aviation, located at the Valhalla Memorial1918 – After the Armistice, he wasinstructed to survey and map the nation’sfirst Airmail routes. He flew in and out of60 American towns and villages. Hisroutes were implemented and Airmail wasinstituted in this country. The Air Corppilots took over and delivered the mailafter that. Acosta said, "EstablishingAirmail routes was my most outstandingaccomplishment (at the time)."Park in North Hollywood, Ca. For furtherinformation, please contact John Torres, Director, atjohn.torres@sci-us.com, phone, (818) 763-9121.10621 Victory Blvd. North Hollywood, CA, 91606The picture below is a memorial tabletdedicated to Bert Acosta at the Portal ofFolded Wings, near the Burbank InternationalAirport, in Southern California.1920 – 7/29 – With Captain EddieRickenbacker, he laid the first Airmailroutes fromNY to San Francisco. In September of thatyear regular mail flights began.1920 – 8/28 – With S.C. Eaton, Bert flewfrom New York to Oakland, CA. Theydelivered the first Transcontinental Airmail(100 letters delivered) in the record timeContinued on page 4 GENIUS3

GENIUS continued from page 3of 36 hours and 40 minutes.The first scheduledTranscontinental Airmail Flightdidn’t occur until the followingSeptember.The envelope above is a picture of an envelope that pilot, BertAcosta, signed. He and three others delivered the first piece ofairmail to the US Ambassador of France in 1927. This envelope wassold on e-bay in the last few years and I believe is currently owned byJean Pierre Dupont.UNCLE BERT continued from cover page.the America. At first, I thought that France was issuinga stamp, but it turns out that the museum that wasissuing a commemorative envelope. The picture on thebottom of page two is a one of the items I received fromJean Pierre DuPont of Ver-sur-mer, France.Earlier this year, I helped my sister Mimi movefrom Sunland, California to Bedford, Texas. I flew toBurbank where my sister picked me up. She hadrecently discovered the Portal of Folded Wings andasked me if I would like to see it. Of course, I wasexcited and off we went. It is located only minutes fromthe Burbank Airport in North Hollywood. Theremuseum happened to be being cleaned by a local boyscout troop that day, but Ron Dickson, who volunteersthere, allowed my sister and I to take a tour any way. Ithink this is one of the best-kept secrets in the LA area.Ron Dickson encouraged my sister and I to put someinformation together about Bert Acosta. He was one ofthe individuals memorialized there that they did nothave pamphlets to distribute to the public. So this is ashout out to anybody who wants to take up that job.Thanks for taking the time to read about my familyhistory. I am a new comer to genealogy and decided tostart publishing information that I have found. Eventhough Bert Acosta is not a Higgins, he is a member ofthe Higgins family and his transatlantic flight whichcame to a conclusion on July 1, 1927, seemed only1921 – 1-23 – FirstTranscontinental Air Mail Flight– Started San Francisco arrived Hazelhurst Field, NewYork – 2,629 miles – 33 hours20 minutes avg. 104 mph.Admiral Richard E. Byrd wrotein a letter to Cmdr. G. O.Noville, Radio Operator on the1927 Transatlantic flight: “I hadfor him much affection as afriend, and great admiration forhim as one of the great fliers ofall time. On the TransatlanticFlight of 1927 he demonstratedhis greatness in connectionwith the most remarkable takeoff in history, and at thecontrols of the plane as wefought through three stormsover the Atlantic.”Bert's life was full andinteresting, if not tragic, repletewith good times and bad times.After his best years of flyingwere over and his alcoholismcould not be controlled, in asanitarium in Spivak, CO, onSeptember the 1st, 1954, at1:15 p.m., cancer did what hisrestless heart never could, ittook him home to a well earnedand everlasting rest.Bert Cisneros may be reachedat cisnart@inreach.comContinued on Page 5 UNCLE BERT4

UNCLE BERT continued from page 4fitting to be shared in my first HigginsFamily History newsletter, which isfor the month of July. As far as Iunderstand, Bert’s daughter Gloria ishis only surviving child. He does havegrandchildren and great-grandchildrenscattered all over Southern California.It is interesting to note that my auntAnita, who married Bert Acosta’s son,Bert Jr. in Long Island, New York, isinterned right up the street from his“final resting spot.” She is buried atthe Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn,along with her mother, Helen OliviaHiggins (Sand), her sister DorotheaVan Horn (Higgins) and her brotherin-law Jan Garber Van Horn. Anita’smemorial tablet is pictured below. Ifyou would like further informationregarding either Bert Acosta, theHiggins family or have comments orcorrections to this newsletter, pleasefeel free to write me atjhvanhorn@gmail.com. Thanks againfor taking the time to read this article!John Higgins Van HornAnita Lillian Acosta is buried atForrest Lawn in Hollywood Hills.5

The picture above is the America , a tri-motor Fokker, where it landed in the sea at the village ofVer sur Mer, France on July 1, 1927. This picture is on display at the Musée America GoldBeach. For further information you may contact Jean Pierre Dupont at the following e-mailaddress:jean-pierre122@wanadoo.fr and the museum’s website is http://www.goldbeachmusee.org.uk/This newsletter was written for the Higgins Family, descendants ofOrrell Arcularius Higgins (1893-1954) of Brooklyn, New York. This is thefirst of hopefully many newsletters to come. If you have any ideas forfuture subjects or would like to contribute a story, please contactJohn Higgins Van Horn at jhvanhorn@gmail.com. This specific newsletterwas written in inspiration and is dedicated to my favorite cousin, TimWhelan, of Southern Calfiornia.6

Higgins (Sand), her sister Dorothea Van Horn (Higgins) and her brother-in-law Jan Garber Van Horn. Anita's memorial tablet is pictured below. If you would like further information regarding either Bert Acosta, the Higgins family or have comments or corrections to this newsletter, please feel free to write me at jhvanhorn@gmail.com. Thanks again