of the Knights of Columbus". McAleer evidently supported Wagner and Carrigan, the Catholic players in the dispute. These back-to-back incidents involving individuals associated with the Red Sox team "reinforced Johnson's belief that the club president was the source of all the trouble", Dewey and Acocella wrote. In his recent book, The Irish in Baseball, David Fleitz observed that McAleer's abrupt dismissal was typical of Johnson, "who had a history of ending relationships when they no longer benefited him personally". Personal life Relatively little is known about McAleer's private life. Research suggests that he was married three times, with his first marriage (to Hannah McAleer) taking place in the early 20th century. At some point, he married the former Anna Durbin, a native of Trenton, New Jersey. The couple had no children. According to her obituary, Anna McAleer was her husband's "constant companion" during his "active career as a baseball magnate". When the couple settled in Youngstown in 1913, she participated in charity work and joined the Altar and Rosary Society at St. Columba's Church, where she attended religious services. In 1930, Anna McAleer died suddenly at an apartment the couple shared on the north side of Youngstown. James McAleer, who discovered his wife's body after returning from a walk, was "overcome". McAleer had recently been released from a local hospital following an appendicectomy; he was quickly readmitted following his wife's death. A few months later, McAleer married a Youngstown woman, Georgianna Rudge, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music who was almost 23 years her husband's junior. Ultimately, Georgianna McAleer survived her husband by more than five decades. By the time of James McAleer's second marriage, his health was in decline. He was hospitalized within a few months of the wedding. Final years McAleer returned to Youngstown, where he spent his last years. Active in the community, McAleer served on the city's original draft board, which had been authorized under Ohio Governor James M. Cox during World War I. In retirement, the former baseball manager maintained friendships with celebrities including George M. Cohan and King Alfonso XIII of Spain. McAleer became acquainted with the Spanish monarch during a European tour with the Red Sox in the winter of 1912–13. His final years were marked by poor health. Several weeks before his death, McAleer was admitted to a local hospital, where his health reportedly improved. This account, however, differs from