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.