Monday, May 15, 2000
We started working on Laura’s family yesterday. When we were at her parents’ house for mother’s day, we pulled out Laura’s baby book and got the names for her grandparents (which we already knew) and great-grandparents (which we, or at least I, didn’t). We got some nice stories, too, like the fact that when Laura’s grandmother Albana Maracci came to America, her ship was diverted to Philadelphia because Ellis Island was under quarantine, and her husband Luigi had to find someone with a car to drive him to Philadelphia to pick them up. Albana was from La Spezia in northern Italy, while Luigi was from Sessa Aurunca in Caserta; when I wondered how they could have met in Italy, Laura’s mom told us that they met because his brother had married her sister. Now I wonder how they met.
Laura’s great-grandmother Felice Minocci’s parents eventually came over to America, too, and owned a pasta shop in Paterson, NJ, where they made the pasta on the premises. Laura’s mom was joking that they should have put it in boxes, then they’d have gotten famous and rich. Felice and her husband Sisto Pantano must have come over to America in mid- to late-1907, because she was pregnant with Laura’s grandfather when they came over.
Laura’s great-grandmother Frances De Rosa came to America because her brother Raffaele had eloped and moved to America, so the family followed in hot pursuit. They all became Methodists. She likely married in America, given those circumstances. Her husband, Philip Saracco, came to America at about age 11 with his two uncles because he didn’t get along with someone in Italy. His uncles didn’t like it here and returned to Italy, but he stayed here. He came to America before Ellis Island opened, so it must have been before 1892.
Posted at 8:14:07 AM
