Expanding on Julia’s Notes

The importance of finding primary sources.

My Mom, Julia K. Petorella Studlo, penned this brief Petorella family history:

Julia’s Notes circa 1992 [my notes in orange]

Petorella or Pedorella--Dominico Petorella’s Family [Domenico is the correct spelling per 27 Apr 1918, Declaration of Intention for U.S. Citizenship, Birth Certificate of son Innocenzo born 1910 and Social Security application dated 26 Jun 1930.]

Mother and Father’s first names are unknown. [according to Domenico’s Death Certificate, his mother’s name was Madeline and on his Social Security Account application, he listed his father as James and his mother as Madeline Fusco]

1) Son [Angelo] Charles [aka Charles A.] was born  [Ship manifest for the Victoria, arriving 10 Apr 1890 states Angelo’s (Charles A) birth year as 1868, the 1905 Rhode Island Census lists Angelo’s birth date as 16 Oct 1868, Angelo’s death record states Angelo was born in 1869, U. S. Naturalization Record Indexes 1791-1992 states Angelo’s birth date was 17 Oct 1872] in Caserta, Naples, Italy. Married Concetta [born 15 Aug 1872]. Died 2 Feb 1924, 55 yrs. old of heart disease. Had three children: 1 boy Americo [aka Amerigo, born 6 Dec 1896, according to 1905 Rhode Island Census] who was a doctor-married had daughter; another son Victor [Vittorio born 25 Mar 1900, according to the 1905 Rhode Island Census] played violin; and a daughter Julia [born 1 Apr 1903, according to the 1905 Rhode Island Census].

[The family resided at 59 Thames, New Port, Rhode Island, as listed on the 1900 U. S. Census; 84 Thames, on the 1905 Rhode Island Census and 86 Thames on the 1910 U. S. Census. Immigration year for Angelo is listed on the 1900, 1905 and 1910 census reports is 1888.]

[The 1925 Newport City directory lists the Charles Pedorello family as follows:

• Americo physician boards 84 Thames
• Concetta widow Charles A. provisions 86 Thames house 84
• Julia M boards 84 Thames
• Victor music teacher boards 84 Thames

In the 1924 directory Charles’ passing is noted.]

2) Dominico [Domenico]. Born in Caserta, Naples, Italy on 6 Aug 1884 [alternate date 6 July 1884 per Social Security Account application dated 26 Jun 1930]-died 17 Apr 1940 in Chicago, Illinois.  Married Pearl Giunta born 29 Apr 1892, Chicago, Illinois AKA Ganta-died 19 Oct 1956, Hinsdale, Illinois. 5 children: Mildred, James, Sylvia, Julia born 4 Nov 1914, Julia (the second one) born 1 Apr 1916.

3) He had a sister I don’t know her name. She married and had three children

4) [Giacomo] James Petorella born 8 Dec 1887 and died [11] July 1913 age 26 [25 y, 7 mos], Chicago, Illinois. Never married. Died of lockjaw after stepping on a nail. He played the guitar and liked to dance.

Charles was 16 years older than Dominico. I think the sister was born before Dominico, James was about 3 years younger than Dominico.

The Charles Pedorello family spelled the name correctly [? I believe the correct spelling is Petorella. The only Pedorella’s I have encountered are the Rhode Island Pedorella lines.  I did a “white page” search of Italy and did not come up with any Pedorellas but found Petorellas ]. Charles lived in New Port, Rhode Island, James with Dominico  [lived] at Charles house then the two brothers traveled around the country. [Ship manifest for the SS Roma lists 17 year old Domenico as a passenger.  His destination was the home of his brother Angelo in Newport, RI, however, the address listed for Angelo on the manifest does not match his actual address as shown on either the 1900 US Census and the 1905 Rhode Island Census. I cannot find any record of a Chaney Street in Newport where Domenico was to stay.  I have no reason to doubt that he was in Newport after he arrived, as I have found an address listing for him at 6 Duke (around the corner from Angelo and Concentta’s home on Thames), in the 1904 Newport City Directory. Sixteen year old Giacomo, on the other hand, arrived in April of 1903, on the SS Citti di Torino.  Giacomo’s relative and final destination is listed as brother Petorella, Domenico at 86 Thames (which is the address of (Charles) Angelo and Concetta’s grocery business).  It is my belief that Angelo and  Concetta owned adjacent buildings at 84 and 86 Thames.  In later Newport City Directories I have found the names of Angelo and Concetta’s children residing at 84 Thames.]    They worked at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans, La.  [Have evidence that the two Petorella boys were actually at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans, LA as we have in our possession some flatware labeled as such.] Then went to Montana and finally settled in Chicago, Illinois.

Dominico married Pearl Giunta and James lived with them until he died. Dominico worked in laundries, and then he went into business with three partners. They called the laundry The Universal Laundry. They had it for many years, then in 1936 or 1937 he retired and ran a gas station, until he died 17 Apr 1940 at age 56 of pneumonia. He had 5 children one died at 5 months old. When he died he had 2 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. Pearl died at age 64 of a stroke. She had 9 grandchildren 2 boys and & 7 girls.

Sicilians-Not Italians, Siblings and a Wedding

Letter to Bette Jane Cole from Uncle Frank Ganta (Pearl Ganta Petorella’s Brother) age 91.

I have made additions/corrections in orange.

July 1, 1993

Dear Niece Bette,

Received your letter of June 22 want to thank you for it. Since then I have been hunting through my papers locating things might be pertained to what you want to know. So I apolize [apologize] for being so slow in replying.

First off I want to give you my lineage. When I am referring to my mother and father that means your great-grand mother and your great-grand father, by the same token I am your great Uncle. Of course you understand that on my side we are all Sicilians not Italians, while Sicily is governed by Italy it is still a separate state and has been so for as back as 500 B. C.

Ma came from Termani Immerse and Pa came from Palermo. The marriage was consummated by both families, in other words an arranged wedding. Ma’s maiden name was Salvatora Scolaro and Pa’s was Vincenzo Giunta. They had fourteen children of which two died as infants and one at the age of 12. Therefore we are talking of the other 11 who survived. I’ll start with your grandmother who was the first-born.

1. Pearl born in 1892 and married to Dominick Peterela [sic]
2. Mary born in 1894 and married to David Marchese
3. Emily born in 1896 [1895] and married to Fred Cozzi
4. Jenny born in 1897, died Oct 1912
5. Mike born in 1998 and married to Lillian
6. Frank born in 1900, died 1901
7. Frank born in 1902 and married to Anna
8. Rose born in 1904 and married to John Kolodziej
9. James born in 1906 deceased, died Jul 1910
10. Phillip born in 1908 and married to Doris-Beatrice
11. Vincenzo born Oct 1910 and died Oct 1910
12. Josephine born in 1911 and married to Fred Cerceo
13. James born in 1913 and married to Eva
14. Charles born in 1915 and married to Leola-Cleo
15. Edward born in 1917 and lived with Mary

In my next letter I will describe the children, offspring of the marriages, which will be cousins first and second. Of course all the women should be called great Aunts, (Zia) and the men great Uncles (Zio). I am sending funeral cards of those that I have more than one, the others I will make Photostats. I am sending several photos which I have duplicates of weddings. On the back I have written the name so you can identify them. Also ones of me alone at Francis (?) wedding and HJ Lodge we stay while our home was being finished. As I stated before my next letter will describe the children of there marriages.

However I will describe one of thing [sic]. As I said before your grandmother my sister Pearl had the grandest wedding of them all. Now this goes back a long way in the year of our Lord 1910 [1908]. She had a full veil from head to foot, and they had a two-horse carriage, and as they came out of the house going to the carriage all of us were throwing rice and hard candy almonds at them and they rode to the church. Our Lady of Pompeii where the marriage was consummated. NOTE: Frank was not yet 6 when Domenico and Pearl were married.

I am going to close as my hand is getting tired and I am no longer used to writing as I used to, since I have been retired for 28 years. I hope that I have filled the vacuum you had regarding who your relatives where as you have as many as a hundred relatives however the older ones are dying out. Out of the twelve original boys and girls only 3 boys and 1 girl life [live].

When you write again let me know if there is anything you would like to know.

God be with you.

Uncle Frank

Using a Timeline to Help Prove Facts

The timeline feature in Roots Magic is a good tool to review the events in a person’s life. It allows you to see a person’s age at the time of a particular event and helps you find inconsistencies.  For example, take a look at Frank born about December 1900 and James born about June 1901.  The glaring error is that there was only six months between births.  Not an impossibility, but unlikely.  However, combining this information with the following information, I have eliminated James born in 1901 as a child of Salvatora and Vincenzo James.

1. The 1900 U.S. Census, enumerated on June 11, 1900, has the family living at 6719 S Hermitage, Chicago.
2. The July 1, 1901 the Death Certificate of Frank (born December 1900) states his address as 6719 S Hermitage.
3. The April 8, 1902 Death Certificate for James (born about June 1901) states his address as 221 S Jefferson St., Chicago.
4. In June 1.1902 When Frank A. was born, the family still lived at 6719 S. Hermitage.

The family could not be living in two places at the same time, therefore James cannot be a child of Salvatora and Vincenzo James.

Loose Ends, Dead Ends-Not the End

As you can see from the lopsided chart, our direct lineage can be traced back six generations on only one line.  There are only 21 names on this chart including myself. However, I have over 400 individuals in my genealogy program and I have more to enter.  Aunts, uncles, siblings of our relatives, births, deaths, marriages, occupations, where they lived and even relations living on the same street. provide a very interesting picture of our family.

It has been difficult to find links to many individuals due to spelling inaccuracies, poor or illegible handwriting, missing documents and lack of information.   For example, Aunt Millie and Aunt Sylvie, Mom’s sisters. Millie’s given name was Magdalene and she was called Mildred.  Sylvie’s given name was Palma and she  was called Sylvia.  Even with their birthdates I have yet to locate any birth records.  It could be that they have not been indexed by Ancestry.com.  But, in the case of Aunt Millie I even located the 1909 birth records for Chicago and went through them page by page online and after hours of searching, I finally gave up.  The birth record may be there but there didn’t seem, to me anyway, a rhyme or reason to  their order.

I will continue inputting the information I have collected thus far and maybe someday our missing ancestors and relatives will turn up. 

A Family Outing

Tom and I met Sister Sharon and Brother Jim at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois the other day. Armed with a list of the names of almost 50 deceased family members, a lawn edger, broom, brush and  bucket we began our quest. Our purpose was to find, spruce up and photograph as many gravestones as possible and to fill in some information that was missing on the list. Our first stop was the kiosk in the office that contains a database of burials in the Chicago Archdiocese, where we looked up the names of individuals that had blanks on the list.  There were only four names that were not on the database, however, we came up with three more that were not on the list and now have their information.  We then prioritized the graves to find and plotted those on maps of Queen of Heaven and neighboring Mt. Carmel. 

We set out with maps in hand first to find the “easy” graves, in Mt. Carmel, the ones we remembered visiting on yearly Memorial Day treks to the cemeteries. We found our Grandparents, Domenico and Pearl, Mom’s Uncle Jimmy and her sister Julia (both in the same grave) and our Uncle Jimmy in the military section.  Jim edged the gravestones, Sharon and I brushed the stones and then Jim and I took photos of each one. “Chauffeur,” Tom, took us from section to section and moved the van as we meandered around.

 

 

 

 

 

Now things got tough. There were only three more we wanted to find, but with difficulties finding block and lot markers and deteriorated or lack of gravestones, we had limited success.  We did find Grandmother Pearl’s sister, Mary (Marchese).  She wasn’t on our list but while looking for one of her uncles we came across the Marchese monument one row in from the road.  It was nice to see a pot of flowers placed near the monument.  However, we never did find the uncle we were looking for.  

Moving on to another section, we spread out to cover more ground, checking gravestones and searching for markers, but no luck finding our great-great-Grandfather Francesco Scolaro or his son Frank C. (in same grave) or baby James Giunta or his sister Jenny (in same grave).

We did find great-great Uncle Antonino Scolaro, his wife Rose, their son Anthony T. and his wife, Gloria and another son, Frank all in one plot under a large “Scolaro” monument.  Antonino was a fruit peddler and his sons Anthony and Michael continued the business,expanding it into Scolaro Brothers Produce, South Water Street Market.

At Queen of Heaven we trimmed and scrubbed the graves of our parents Leo and Julia Studlo and those of our aunt and uncle, Mildred and Dominick “Dutch” Columbatto.

So while we didn’t find everyone we were looking for, we did fill in many blanks on the list, we were able to fill in 15 grave locations, eight burial dates and confirmed that James Giunta born in 1910 and died at one month and Jenny Giunta were, in fact, siblings as they were buried in the same grave.  Not a bad day.

How Did the Giunta Family Name Change

Letter from Great-Uncle Frank Giunta to his Niece, my Cousin Bette Jane

Dear Bette, 7/15/93

Received your letter of Jul. 8 and was happy to hear that your lineage pleased you. Of course I expected you would have more questions to be answered so will try to give them to you to the best of my ability. My birthday is June 2, 1902. As to the other birthdays I must do some investigation in as much as I do not have that information on hand. As for the different spelling of our name, it seems that I always run into it seems like people want to know why we all spelled it another way. So I will explain it to you. The proper surname is Giunta. You must understand that when my parents imigrated [sic] from Sicily, that they could not speak a word of English. All imigrants [sic] of that age were tagged at Sicily, so when they reached U. S. at Ellis Island the imigration [sic] authorities read the tag. They were then hearded [sic] in a room to await for relatives who were here to pick them up. Accordingly they went to New York and boarded a train for Chicago, Ill. So all children were born in Chicago, Ill.

When I was 4 going on 5 yrs. A truant officer came and told my mother I was to be enrolled in school. So I went to the Andrew Jackson school and was placed in first grade. The teacher asked my name and I said Giunta. She said how do you spell it and I said I don’t know, because while I spoke English I did not know at that time how to read and write. I told my mother about it and she could not help with the spelling. So she said, tell them your name is Giunta. So I told the teacher what my mother said and she said I will spell it out for you. So she did and do you know what she came out with Guinte so from then on I was Guinte. And no matter where we moved to regardless of what the others used my name Francis Anthony Guinte. As we moved around the west side about 6 times it still was the same. However when we moved the 7 time we landed on the Southwest side of Chicago in a suburb named Chicago Lawn. In this section was two of Pa’s brothers, Joseph and Tony. Joseph was married to an American girl of Italian descent who did not like the name of Giunta because it sounded foreign. So she prevailed upon Uncle Joe to change to Ganta. So when we moved to Chicago Lawn there were two families of Gantas so they prevailed upon Pa to change to Ganta so that all families name would be the same. Only I stuck by the name that the 1^st grade teacher said it was. However it was pronounced Guinta until I got into 6^th grade. This teacher said that I was pronouncing is wrong. She said the correct pronunciation was Guinte. So I became Guinte. However I became acquainted with a man who was educated in Italy and imigrated [sic] here who was a teacher of Music, and I asked him what the correct pronunciation of Giunta was and he said it was Giunta. So as it stands as of now, part of the family is Ganta and I am the only one who still used Guinte. However if it didn’t entail so much litigation I would have it changed to Giunta, as it now stands on my Soc. Sec. I am under Guinta but on R.R. Retirement they refused to accept Giunta and said my business name was Guinte. So I am both. I trust that this explains the mixed names but the true name is Giunta, my mother’s and father’s grave stone is Giunta and my wife and my grave stone is Giunta so that should settle it once and for all.

Now I can go on with the rest of your letter . . .

So as soon as I can things I will send them to you. Moving here from Palm Spring has been hectic and I haven’t got my wits together. I suppose you wonder why? Well for two things, Earth Quakes and where my roots are.

These sheets I am writing on used to be my note sheets that I wrote on when attending Traffic Meetings. Used for questing and for rebuttal and for pro’s and con’s before the I. C. C.

There is a lot to tell you because so many years have gone by. Like the times I used to play with your father and your Aunt Sylvia. At one time we only lived four blocks apart so it was very easy to walk over to Pearl and play with them both. We lived close for several years and then we moved to Chicago Lawn. How Uncle Mike became and Iceman and how we had a horse to pull the Ice wagons and how one of the horses had a colt we called Pony Jim and there was the Big Black Stallion. He was a Prize. Of streets that were not paved and of cinder sidewalks of course this happened so long ago. When we lived on Aberdeen and May sts. Street Cars were pulled by horses. Our light at night was by Kerosene No electricity, no Gas, no Radio, Stoves were wood and coal burning. They called those days the Victorian Age in the turn of the Century.

More Much More to Come

God be with you

Love

Uncle Frank.

Rememberances

Excerpts-letter to Julia K. Petorella Studlo,dated March 6, 2000, from Gloria Klir (Julia’s cousin).

“Dear Sue,

Pearl and Dominick Petorella as you know are your grandparents (you may remember Grandma Pearl). They had 3 girls and 1 boy.  The girls were Millie (Frankie’s mother), Sylvia, Julia and Jimmy.  Pearl was my mother’s sister, therefore my Aunt and Dominick my Uncle. Since your mother was born in 1916 and I in 1932, she was grown up when I was little and consequently my remembrances are from that time (with her as and adult). 

They lived at 802 S. Western Avenue in Chicago (Polk and Western).  Their house was a 2 story on a corner and on the first level was a gas station which Julia’s father and brother Jimmy ran.  The family lived on the second floor and on the back porch Aunt Pearl (your grandmother) had flower boxes in which she planted petunias and basil.  They also kept pigeons and had a dog named Nellie.  In the summertime Aunt Pearl and Uncle Dominick and my family would get together and go fishing at Maple Lake (my family being Rose, my mother, John, my father, my sister, Grace and my brother Richard—at that time my younger brother was not born yet—Rose is Pearl’s sister and Julia’s Aunt).  Uncle Dominick would go to the market and buy bushels of tomatoes and pickles [cucumbers] and Aunt Pearl and Julia would “can” them and my mother would do the pickles (she made bread and butter pickles) and they would trade off tomatoes and pickles.  Your grandmother was a very talented lady-she could crochet, knit, make paper flowers and she also did piece work where she would pick up bodices of dresses and sew the beadwork on them.  The family attended Precious Blood Church on Congress & Western—the church is still in existence today.  When we would visit your grandmother Pearl she would teach my mother new crochet patterns and my sister Grace but I couldn’t learn it as I was left-handed and she said I did it backwards.  Although we all did stitchery there were our summertime projects and then Pearl and my mother would crochet the lace on the stitched doilies, dresser scarves or pillow cases. Pearl also taught us flower making. I don’t know if your mother crocheted or knitted.  I don’t remember her doing so but she did make flowers with us,  I don’t know where your mother worked but your mother at the time was a very shy, quiet person (Millie was already married and out of the house as was Sylvia).  Your grandfather Dominick died in 1940.  Jimmy as you may or may not know got married shortly before he was drafted.  He married Betty (had Betty Cole-never saw her and was killed on D-Day in Normandy.  Aunt Pearl showed us his Purple Heart and when the [war] was over had his body shipped back for burial here (Mt. Carmel Cemetery).  He had a military funeral.  Am enclosing a picture of the headstone.

About 1950, Aunt Pearl had a stroke and Julia in order to keep her mother home bought her a TV (we didn’t have one and Julia asked us to keep her mother company so every Friday we would go to their house where we would watch TV with Aunt Pearl and have coffee and cake or pie.

About this time Julia went to a beauty school, made some new friends who experimented with glam [sic] themselves up and they would go out on Fridays.  She met your father and they started dating.  They got married and the house on Western Avenue was sold because Aunt Pearl had a second stroke and your father and mother bought a house on the North side and your grandmother lived with them.  We visited there a couple of times and I don’t remember who was born first but at that time she had a baby.

Don’t have too much more remembrances because we were growing up, my mother was working and your mother was busy with taking care of her family.  Your father and mother bought the house in Darien (I believe Grandma Pearl lived there for a while. Grandma Pearl died in 1956 so maybe she didn’t).  As you know your mother and father grew quite a few vegetables.” 

Someone Famous

While shaking the old family tree to see what falls out you always hope for a hero or someone famous.  The truth of the matter our tree won’t have any Revolutionary War or Civil War heroes as our ancestors weren’t in the United States at the time of those events. No D.A.R. for us.

Our hero came later.  Was he famous? No, but a hero none-the-less. Our hero was Private First Class, James V. Petorella, Company I , 47th Infantry Regiment.  James, born Innocenzo Vigenzo Americo Petorella on November 14, 1910, in Chicago, was my Uncle, my Mother’s brother.

The 1940 U.S. Census has James living at home and working as a gas station attendant.  His father Domenico operated a gas station at the time. James married Betty Louise Mulhern on September 7, 1940. He was hired by the B & O Railroad in August of 1941 and worked there until he was furloughed for military duty In August 1943.  While away at camp  Betty gave birth to daughter Bette Jane on December 4, 1943. James was on furlough in March of 1944, when Bette was baptized. In June James was sent overseas.

The 47th Regiment landed on Utah Beach, Normandy on June 10, D-Day plus 4.  Battle after battle the 47th pushed the Germans back.  By June 16, the 47th had blocked the German escape route in the Contentin Pennisula, captured the Port of Cherbourg on June 28, joined the Battle of the Hedgerows on July 9, and went on to cross the Seine River by August 1944.  The 47th would go on to fight other battles, but on August 10, 1944, our hero had fought his last at Villedieu les Poeles, Normandy, France. 

A letter from the Company Chaplin reads as follows:

18 August 1944

Dear Mrs. Petorella,

I am writing to you at the request of the regimental commander to express our deepest sympathy at the death of your husband, Private First Class James V. Petorella,  It is impossible for me to give you any more details regarding his death than those already transmitted to you by the War Department. However, I can say that Private First Class Petorella was killed while bravely performing his duty as a soldier.  Also the he was given a proper religious burial with full military honors.  Further information regarding the location of his grave will be forwarded to you in due time by the War Department.  His personal effects are being sent to you through army channels.

Please know that this letter brings not only my sympathy and that of his regimental commander, but also that of Private First Class Petorella’s company commander, other officers, and his fellow soldiers.  We share your loss, we mourn with you and remember both him and you in our prayers.

Sincerely yours,

Anthony F. Di Laura

Chaplain, 47th Infantry, Catholic

My Uncle’s body was brought back to Chicago and reinterred at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Petorella,PFC James V. Petorella,WWII,Normandy,France,Killed-in-Action WWII

Gravesites

Monday we attended the funeral for one of Tom’s Cousins.

I figured this would be an opportunity to do some preliminary cemetery legwork prior to an outing with my sister and brother yet to be scheduled. So I prepared a spreadsheet with names, birth/death dates, cemetery and a space for gravesite info. When I was done I had 45 names on the list.

By the time the luncheon was over it was about 3 p.m. This did not leave us much time to get from Hodgkins, Illinois, where the luncheon was held, to Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside and do the look-ups.  I knew there was a kiosk at Queen of Heaven with a database of internments.

I did find a few relatives in the time I had, however, it is what I did not find that was the problem.  You see it was my understanding that the kiosk had burials from all Cemeteries in the Diocese of Chicago, however, it seems the database is incomplete.  I don’t know if the office staff there have additional information or not.  I may be able to find spouses if they are buried in the same or adjacent graves but if they are not then what. I don’t know how many graves are in Queen of Heaven and neighboring Mt. Carmel but searching randomly is not an option.

We have tentatively scheduled a visit to Queen of Heaven and Mt. Carmel later this month.  I hope to located as many gravesites as possible and photograph them to post here.

It’s Raining Cousins

Original post 21 Aug 2011 to my other blog Weeds in My Garden

Last year I was contacted by a fellow Szczuldo genealogy researcher, Andrjez, in Poland.  While he has not found the connection between his line from Sejny about 40 km from my line in Raczki, he is still trying to find a link.  Meanwhile, he has put me in contact with a cousin Jerzy in Chicago.  Jerzy, grandson of Julius (born abt. 1881), has been in Chicago for 20 years.  I have Skyped with him and talked about a meeting.

This summer I have been contacted by three other cousins.  First cousin, Rosann, who I have been out of touch for 40+ years and two cousins--Sandra and Susan, both grand-daughters of my grandfather Josef’s (b1883) brother, Franciscous (b1886).  We hope to get as many  cousins together as we can in the Spring. 

Here are photos of the brothers.

     

Julius                                         Josef                               Franciscous

This has been a very difficult search as my Dad left very few links to his family.  My grandmother, Josef’s first wife , Marianna, died at a young age.   Josef remarried in short order as he was left with very young children.  He had three more children with second wife, Caroline.  Aunt Mary, my only living aunt, was the youngest of all the kids and can’t offer me any information. 

I am looking forward to exploring my Dad’s family more and hope to have a continued relationship with my newly found cousins.

My Temporary Dining Room Workspace

I have moved my workspace to the dining room for now.  It’s spring and I just don’t want to be in the basement. As you can see I have a good view, I have my printer, laptop, portable file, family notebooks and a floor lamp to work in the wee hours. We put one leaf in the dining room table and I have plenty of room to spread my stuff out as needed.

If necessary I can easily dismantle my “office.”  I will move back to the basement for the winter.

One Scolaro Leads to Another and Another-(Revised)

Our Scolaro ancestors appear again in the form of a marriage. 

On June 7 1891, fifteen year-old Salvatora married Vincezo Giunta at the Church of the Assumption in Chicago. The Scolaro’s had arranged this marriage, a custom that has a long history in many countries.  In a letter from Frank Giunta (b 1902) to Cousin Bette (daughter of James (Innocenzo) Petorella b1910) dated July 1 1993, he writes, “Ma came from Termini Immerse and Pa came from Palermo. The marriage was consummated by both families, in other words it was an arranged marriage. Ma’s name was Salvatora Scolaro and Pa’s was Vincenzo Giunta.”

The hunt continues for information related to the Scolaro’s in the 1900, U.S. Census. Here we find Francesco and Loretta (Margherita) listed as Frank and Mary. My first question was, “Are these our people.?” 

Julia’s notes have Francesco (Frank, Sr.) Scolaro born February 20, 1846. Then if we look at the December 19, 1890, S.S. Stura manifest that lists the ages of our immigrants as: Margherita-34 (b1856), Salvatora-14 (b1876), Antonio-11 (b1979) and Francesco-6 (b1884).

More clues were their birth years listed on the 1900 U.S. Census..  Frank, Sr.–1845; age 55, Mary (Loretta)-1856, age 44; Tony (Antonio)-1879, age 21; Frank C.-1883, Age 16; Ignatia (Ignazia)-1895. age 4 and Annie-1897, age 2. Margherita is also reported to have had five children and five are living. Comparing this information with known information gives us some answers and more questions.

Salvatora is not included in the child count as she should have been.

Looking ahead at the 1920 U.S. Census shows  Antonio (Tony) Scolaro’s birth year as 1879, age 41. So he seems to fit.

The Death Certificate for Frank C. lists his age as about 42 and birth year as 1875.  This appears to be off-the-mark.  This would have him born before Antonio and we have two documents, S.S.Stura manifest and 1900 U.S. Census that say otherwise.  While death certificates can provide good leads, the only information you can count on to be accurate is the date and cause of death.  Information can be given by a distraught family member, neighbor or even a friend of the family.

Giuseppe Scolaro, born February 23, 1895, was born to Margherita and Franchesco.  It states that Giuseppe is Margherita’s fourth child. A Death Certificate for Giuseppe shows his date of death as March 11, 1896, and that he was 1 year old.  Giuseppe does not appear on the 1900 census so he could have been easily forgotten, however he turned up on a search on Ancestry.com.

We next look at Ignazia’s Birth Certificate dated April 15, 1896, which shows Ignazia born to Lorita Azzarello, age 41, and Francesco, age 48, and that Ignazia is child number three of “Lorita.  Three at home? Probably.

Annie’s Birth Certificate (given name, Anna) shows she was born March 12, 1898. Anna’s parents are recorded as Margherita Azzarello, age 44, and Francesco Scolaro, age 43. Anna is child number 5 of Margherita. NOTE: Francesco’s age is listed as 48 on Ignazia’s Birth Certificate and 44 on Anna’s.   Anna is, in fact, the fifth living child.

1900 U.S. Census indicates that Margherita gave birth to 5 children and 5 are living.  So now we know that the number of children reported to the enumerator in this census reflects living children. 

Sarah was born February 6, 1903, would not appear on the 1900 Census.

The Francesco and Margherita (Azzerello) Scolaro family proven so far:

• Francesco born February 20, 1846, died September 17, 1917
• Margherita born 1856, died December 24, 1918
• Salvatora born February 20, 1876, died June 30, 1930
• Anthony born about 1879, died January 16, 1929
• Francesco (Frank C.) born 1883 or 84, Died May 17, 1917
• Giuseppe born February 23, 1895, died March 11, 1896
• Ignazia born August 15, 1896, no death date
• Anna born March 12, 1898, died March 4, 1955
• Sarah born February 6, 1903, died June 29, 1939

Looking ahead to the 1910 Census we find that Margherita had given birth to 12 children (the number living is illegible).  So far seven are accounted for. So the search continues. 

"Everyone had just come from somewhere”

"Everyone had just come from somewhere," wrote Edith Abbott in The Tenements of Chicago.

In 1890, Chicago was comprised of about 40% immigrants.  Like Loretta and her children, they made their way from ports of entry to Chicago to find work or join family members already there.  Some arrived with instructions and addresses pinned to their clothes and others found their way to ethnic churches that would provide the help they needed to get settled.  Different ethnicities would settle into certain neighborhoods where languages and customs were not a barrier, but rather provided a sense of familiarity in a strange land.

As early as 1850, Italians lived in Chicago, although their numbers were few. Between about 1876 and 1924, Chicago saw the greatest influx of Italians.  Most of these Italian immigrants were from the south of Italy and Sicily.  They were from a mostly agricultural background and now had to fit in to an urban environment. 

Our Italian relatives joined the one third of Chicago’s Italians that settled in “Little Italy,” bounded on the east by the South Branch of the Chicago River, on the north by West Harrison St., by Ashland Ave. on the west and Roosevelt Road or 12th Street on the south. (some descriptions have the east boundary at Morgan Street or the Kennedy Expressway and the north boundary at the Eisenhower Expressway, both expressways were built in the 1960s.)

There is still a “Little Italy” neighborhood, although much of the area has changed with the construction of the Eisenhower and Kennedy Expressways and the University of Chicago.

An excellent article, Chicago’s Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Achievers, 1850-1985 by Dominic Candeloro.

A Long Journey

This is the December 19, 1890, Passenger List for the S.S. Stura containing the names of Loretta Azzarello and her three children. 
Loretta Azzarello is Margherita Scolaro my Great-Great Grandmother. Italian tradition has married women retaining their maiden names, while children take the surname of the father. So, as on Salvatora’s birth certificate, Margherita’s name is also listed as Loretta Azzarello and the name Loretta may have been a nickname.
In 1890, the passage from Italy to New York may have taken about ten days.  Oftentimes tickets, money and clothes were sent back to the homeland for the immigrant's travels.  Up to that point the journey to board ship, may have been the longest trip they ever made in their lives. Loretta must have had misgivings about immigrating. She would be joining her husband, that was good.  Francesco Scolaro, was already in the United States, having arrived about 1885. But all that was familiar was left behind--friends, family, church and community.  What about her children Salvatora,14, Antonio, 11 and Francesco 6?  What dangers were in store for them?  The unknown is a  frightening thing. The children, on the other hand, could have had a different perspective—one of adventure.
Arriving in 1890, Loretta and children would have passed through Castle Garden, America’s first immigration center, not Ellis Island. Looking at the document above we see that  Loretta was 34 years old and her calling was domestic.  She and her three children had only two pieces of luggage and their final destination was Chicago.  Oddly, Salvatora is listed as Salvator, a male.  Some ships carried up to 3,000 immigrants who disembarked en masse, mistakes could be made.
Who, if anyone, greeted our people when they arrived? Did Francesco meet them or did he send money and instructions? Train travel would have been the most likely means of transportation to Chicago. How  did they manage?

Starting Point

Mom kept almost everything.  Funeral cards, birth certificates and baptismal records.  In addition to those records, Mom tried to put together our history mostly by rote. This has been an invaluable starting point on a long and continuing journey to fill in blanks left as long as 166 years ago.  So the quest began with the oldest record I had, my Great-Grandmother's birth record in Italian.

So what do I know from this document.  My Great-Grandmother's name is Salvatora Scolaro and she is the daughter of Francesco and Loreta Azzorello (names aren't always accurate or legible on documents) born on 20 February 1876. The town where this document was recorded was Termini Imerse, Sicily.