Over the course of several years, from the mid-1890s to the early 1900s, four sons of Nicola Giorgio and Filomena Pace (the only four who survived to adulthood) left their home town of San Vito Chietino, Chieti, d’Abruzzi on the eastern coast of Italy and made their way to western Pennsylvania. All but one of them (Adriano) lived in New Castle for the rest of their lives. Like most Italian immigrants of their time, they made several trips back and forth between the US and Italy. I am writing about these ancestors for Week 6 of the 52 Ancestor challenge – “So Far Away.”
A lot of the information I use comes from Pennsylvania Death Certificates, which are digitized for most of the relevant period. That’s how I know that Ciro, Pasquale and Romeo died in Pennsylvania. That’s also how I’ve determined the birth dates for each of these men (even though they are not a primary source) since the age listed on census reports only gets you within a year or two. Obviously in both cases you have to assume the person providing the information is being truthful. Their birth order and the order in which they arrived in America is: Ciro (1865), Adriano (1872), Pasquale (1878) and Romualdo, who went by Romeo (1879).
Adriano Giorgio (my husband’s great grandfather) became Andrew or Andy George and was identified as a laborer in the 1910 census for Dunbar, PA. In various ships’ logs his occupation was listed as laborer but we know from other secondary sources such as court records that he ran a grocery store with his wife Custode for several years in the early 1900s. He might also have been a brick maker – the occupation listed on his son Nick George’s application to join the Sons of Italy lodge in 1937. From a lawsuit filed by Custode in July 1912, we know that Adriano was last seen in Dunbar near the end of May. From Italian family history records we believe he married Maria Flamminio (his third wife) in Castel di Sangro on June 1, 1913. I guess he thought his wife and eight children in Dunbar didn’t get in the way of a new life, with a new wife, back in Italy. Interestingly, Castel di Sangro in the province of L’Aquila is where his first wife Marianne Frattura was from and where Adriano’s first son was born in 1896.
Ciro, Adriano’s older brother, spelled his name Giorgio or Georgio. His death certificate uses the later spelling while the first spelling was used on his declaration of intention to become a citizen, which was filed on September 21, 1923. My guess is that the variations in spelling depended on who was filing out the form. Ciro married Rosario Lance(?) in Lanciano, another town in the province of Chieti, in February 1892 and came to America without her soon after the wedding. According to her declaration of intent, Rosario arrived in New York for the first time in February 1901. Ciro and Rosario had four children – Josephine George (1896-1974) whose married name was Gianni (her first husband died before 1920 and left her with 4 children) and later Bucci (second husband); Pasquale (Patsy) George (1903-1993); Anna (1905-1973?) and Vito (1909-1968?). Ciro died at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh on January 13, 1926 after surgery for pancreatic cancer.
Pasquale, Adriano’s next younger brother’s last name was sometimes spelled Georgia, which is how it is spelled on his death certificate. It is also the spelling in the criminal court proceedings in Lawrence County, PA in 1937 when Pasquale was committed to the state mental hospital for the criminally insane where he spent the next 21 years, 8 months, 11 days of his life. He was sent to Farview State Hospital for the Criminally Insane http://www.wayneindependent.com/article/20130805/News/130809942 instead of jail after a court appointed Commission of three experts determined he was insane and had criminal tendencies. I have not been able to determine the crime he committed but I think it was an assault. The Commissioners’ report found that Pasquale was having hallucinations, talking incessantly, thought that people were trying to hurt his family and saying bad things about him and his family. As an interesting aside, Custode’s testimony in 1912 indicated that Adriano left Dunbar because he thought people were trying to hurt him. Hmmm… could there be some truth to their paranoia?
Pasquale’s children with his first wife – Concetta (Iavicoli) were Maria Elisabetta (Colaluca) (1906-1993); Cristina Maria (Panella)(1908-1985) and Vida Maria (Sforza) (1910-2000). With his second wife, Filomena Ranierri (1891-1920) whom he married in 1914, he had Vittorio (1915-2004); Nicolino (1916-1992); Luigi (1917-1994) and Concetta (1919-1920) and possibly one other child.
According to Terry Colaluca (whose grandmother was Maria Elisabetta but went by Mary), the family story is that Pasquale’s emotional turmoil began when his wife died (presumably his second wife Filomena) and he had eight young children to care for. He gave his youngest child up for adoption because with so many young children and no wife, he simply couldn’t take care of them all. As the story goes, the family who adopted that child named him Luigi, which was also the name of the youngest son that Pasquale kept. According to Terry, Pasquale was never the same after that. He was haunted by the choices he made, but when you look at the facts, it certainly seems he made the right decision.
The 1920 census for New Castle, PA, dated January 5, 1920, shows Pasquale and Filomena Giorgio living at 728 South Mill Street. The children in the home were Maria (14), Cristina (12), Vida (10), Vittorio (4 and 5/12), Nicolina (3 and 11/12), Luigi (2 and 2/12) and Concetta (1). I found the death certificate for FIlomena who died of “lobar pneumonia” on January 23, 1920. I also found baby Concetta’s death certificate. She died on February 27, 1920 (at the age of 1 year and 2 months) of “marasmus following pneumonia.” I had to look it up – “marasmus – a form of severe malnutrition characterized by energy deficiency; a child with marasmus looks emaciated.”
Since we know from Concetta’s death certificate that she was born on December 27, 1918, it is possible that FIlomena had another child before she died in January 1920. Perhaps she gave birth between the date of the census and her death on January 23rd. That would certainly explain why Pasquale had to give up the infant and might also explain why Filomena had trouble recovering from pneumonia. And poor little Concetta – it sounds as if she starved to death. I cannot imagine the sorrow at 728 South Mill Street during the winter of 1920.
I have to admit that it is very hard for me to stop researching Pasquale’s branch of the tree once I get started. I feel a special connection to Pasquale because it was his great granddaughter Terry Colaluca (Rick’s third cousin) whose DNA match allowed Rick to find his George cousins. So without Pasquale and Terry, it is unlikely that I’d be spending all my spare time on this blog. Exactly why I think that is a good thing I haven’t quite figured out.
Pasquale lived the longest of the Giorgio brothers, dying at age 81 at Farview State Hospital. His cause of death was arteriosclerotic heart disease.
The youngest and last Giorgio brother to make his way to Pennsylvania was Romualdo, who went by the name Romeo. Interestingly, the records that Terry got from her research into the family history in Italy, indicate that the Romualdo born on December 7, 1879 in San Vito Chietino, Italy, was the third Romualdo born to Nicola and Filomena Giorgio. The other two died before reaching the age of 4. I have found that it was fairly common for a child to be given the same name as a previously deceased sibling. I guess the third time really was the charm for the Giorgios.
Romeo married Dorinda di Francescantonio in Italy in January 1904 and left for America on March 10, 1904. Dorinda joined him in 1907 and they also settled in New Castle. They had five children: Nick (1907); Concetta (1909); Louis (1911); John (1913) and Phyllis (1923). Romeo died of a stroke in 1941.
Just a quick glance at the number of children that each of these Giorgio boys had who stayed in America and had children of their own, leads me to believe there are quite a few George cousins out there we’ve yet to discover. If you’re one of them, drop me a line.
Irene has no idea who these people are but it is certainly an interesting couple. Mother and son? Husband and wife? We haven’t had much luck with figuring this out. Irene is certain they can’t be Georges because – well – to be frank, they’re just not good-looking enough to be Georges (that’s what Irene said and I’m sticking with it!) Iacobuccis maybe? Or perhaps someone from Irene’s mother’s side of the family -Giampaolos maybe? The fact that they were in Irene’s possession suggests there must be some family connection.
Trovando Famiglia 