Matrilineal Monday - The White Widows Of Italy

Between 1880 and 1920 a mass migration out of Italy cut the population of many towns dramatically. Immigrants left Italy in huge numbers during this period. Approximately one third of those immigrants came to the United States. There were many reasons for this mass migration during this time frame. Crops were failing due to over farming caused by greedy feudal landlords, Phylloxera destroyed many of the vineyards, and a series of many natural disasters and outbreaks of illnesses such as cholera made earning a living and surviving in Italy difficult. Something new began to occur during this time period. It became so common, it was given a name and the wives left behind were called White Widows. Leaving Italy was not as easy task and could be quite expensive. Often men would leave their families for other countries and look for work. Once they found work in the new country, they would obtain proper lodgings for their families and send money for their passage so the family could be reunited in their new country. However, this did not always happen. Sometimes the husband would leave promising to send for his wife and children when he obtained work, and would never be heard from again. The wives that were left behind to feign for themselves and their young children were called white widows. Food and jobs in Italy were scarce during this time. Most of the men that left Italy probably left intending to send for their families. However, once they found work in America, they had to pay rent and eat. Many also had to send some money home for their families to survive. Saving money for ship passage for the family would have been difficult at best. The lucky ones would have found good jobs with opportunity to save but many did not. Other circumstances also lead to men leaving their homeland and families behind also. Many of these men after a period of time gave realizing that the reality of their finances would never allow them to send for their wives and children. Some of these men continued to send money back to their families but for some of these white widows, their husbands were never heard from again.

Surname Saturday - Cefali/Cefaly of Cortale, Italia

I have written in the past about discovering a cousin who was an artist in Tropea named Giuseppe Naso. Years ago when I was researching Cortale in Calabria, the town my grandmother was born in, I read about an artist who was born there named Andrea Cefaly. Pictured here is a statue he made that rests outside the church Santa Maria Cattolica Maggiore in Cortale. Andrea Cefaly (1827-1907) is known more for his paintings than his sculptures and created one painting that hangs in the Louvre in Paris. But this sculpture is really quite interesting because it is a political statement that holds a key to the identity of this family as well as an interesting period in Italian history - the unification. He sculpted it around 1870 and named it "Italia". The statue of a woman represents Italy and you will notice her back is to the church. This was a political statement representing the separation of politics from faith. It was a strong and popular sentiment around the time of the unification of Italy. The family of Andrea Cefaly supported this movement with all their hearts and the father of Andrea, Domenico was also a supporter of a unified Italy, with the separation of church and state. The grandson of Andrea, also named Andrea (referred to as Andrea Jr.) was also an artist.

Years after first reading about the famous Cefaly family, I found the 1811 marriage act of my third great grandparents Antonio Frontera and Domenica Schinnea. This document listed Domenica Schinnea's mother as Vittoria Cefali. I wondered if there was any relationship to the more famous Cefaly family but I assumed I would never know since Vittoria was born about 1754, long before civil records were kept. I also assumed there was probably no connection since the names were spelled differently.

This week while extracting the early marriages that occurred in Cortale I made 2 discoveries. The most exciting discovery was the marriage record of Vittoria Cefali to a second husband named Giuseppe Cefali. This document provided me with the names and dates of death of Vittoria's parents. Vittoria's father was Giuseppe Cefali who died in Cortale on 7 October 1773. Her mother was Giulia Pellegrino and she died 8 September 1766. I will probably never know their parent's names. The second discovery was while reading each marriage record that occurred between 1809 and 1819 there were many Cefali marriages but not a single marriage that contained the spelling Cefaly. It is currently my belief that the spelling of the surname changed. That is not unusual and I found many changes to surnames in my grandfather's town. A review of more records is needed to be certain. I will also need to examine the early allegati records and will need a lot of luck to obtain enough information on the Cefali families if the 18th century. For now, I am happy I have the names and dates of death of Vittoria Cefali's parents. Still, I cannot wait until I can read more records on Tuesday!

Those Places Thursday - Chicago's Little Italy

Today, people who don't know any better think Chicago's Little Italy has the largest concentrations of Italian Americans in Chicago. This was once true, however, every time I return to the "old neighborhood" I see less and less of what was once Little Italy. It is getting harder to imagine what my grandmother saw over 100 years ago. Few Italians remain there now. Pricey Italian restaurants line Taylor Street now along with many chain restaurants. Even the iconic Mario's Italian lemonade stand is no longer owned by Italians (or at least it wasn't in the late 1990's when my daughter's school friend's family owned it). My best friend and I used to hang out there back when we were in high school until we were 21 or so. A group of neighborhood boys we knew rented a storefront on Taylor Street and called it "the club". They built a bar out of plywood and had parties there. Today the club is a Subway! 35 years ago as I would walk down Taylor Street, I could still imagine my grandmother walking down the same street trying to sell her shelled peanuts to the bakeries and restaurants. You could still see the Italian faces, hear Italian being spoken on the street, smell the food cooking and the heavenly smells from the bakeries permeated the neighborhood. Today, I see another commercialized neighborhood of Chicago and the amazing smells are long gone. Many of the old houses, apartments and tenements that helped give this area it's identity have been torn down and replaced by new buildings, a skyscraper and housing and school buildings for the University of Illinois which has largely taken over "Little Italy". The area lost most of it's ethnic identity. However, much is left and there are many places you can still walk and imagine. You just have to imagine harder.

I had never heard the term "Little Italy" until the 1990's. Those of us with roots there have always called it the "old neighborhood". Although constantly changing, one constant has been the church of my family, Our Lady of Pompeii. Our Lady of Pompeii originally was started in 1910 to relieve the Guardian Angel Church which was having a difficult time keeping up with the burgeoning influx of Italian immigrants to the neighborhood. A permanent church and school was built in 1923 and finished in 1924. The church has maintained it's Italian background and has huge celebrations for many of the Italian Saints. After many of these feast day celebrations a luncheon is served in the basement of the adjacent school. The food served is to die for! The Guardian Angel Church is long gone and has been replaced by University of Illinois buildings. Our Lady of Pompeii has always been the heart and soul of the neighborhood. This church is now a national shrine and has changed much during my lifetime. The old doors in the front of the building were replaced in 1993 with beautiful brass doors with figures hand carved in Corleone, Sicily. The alter which was surrounded by gold tile for many years has been stripped away to reveal the old walls. A new statue of Padre Pio has been added as well as many other adornments. But many of the old statues hold a place of prominence throughout the church and the ceilings and columns still hold the original painted work. I can still feel family here surrounding me despite the changes. The church itself has maintained the most important traditions of it's Italian roots. It is a place of the Catholic faith but more importantly, it's Italian Catholic faith. There is a difference. For most of my life, I attended church here with my parents. It became important to my father to attend this church on occasion. Although my father was never a big church goer, attending church here was his way of connecting with a family that was long since passed. The last time we gathered as a family here was Santa Lucia day several years ago. Their church service and following festa meal in the basement of the school made it a memorable day. The meal after the church service made me smile. All the women got in line to get plates of food for their husbands and children before their final trip to the food line to get their own food, in true Italian fashion. Family first, always. I had seen this ritual at every family gathering as I grew up. A small gesture that made me feel so loved and protected.

Since I cannot possibly cover everything I want to in one post, I have decided to make this the first in a series about the old neighborhood. Look for my future posts about Arrigo Park, Columbus Park, Loomis Street and posts and pictures about the original buildings and architecture that remain in the neighborhood and life as it was there 100 years ago.

Wordless Wednesday - Our Lady of Pompeii Shrine, Chicago

Our Lady Of Pompeii Shrine, Little Italy, Chicago

Left side of Alter and the back of the Church

Ceiling art and statue of San Francesco di Paola, Patron Saint of the Calabrese people

Funeral Card Friday - Napolitano/Maiola

As part of my series of my mother's funeral cards, this funeral card is the funeral card of my grandmother, Catherine Maiola (Maiuolo in Italy) Napolitano who died 5 October 1958. She was about 59 years old. You will notice the name of the funeral home at the bottom is (Anthony) Cappetta Funeral Home on Roosevelt Road. This funeral home was located 3 blocks from my grandparents house and the Cappetta family has buried almost every member of my father's family since they came here from Italy. The original proprietor was Anthony Cappetta. His grandson Anthony (the 3rd) and his great grandson Anthony (the 4th) took care of the arrangements for my mother in 2011.

Wordless Wednesday - 1st Church, Springfield Mass Then and Now

1645

Treasure Chest Thursday - Italian Processetti Records

My favorite of all Italian records are processetti or allegati records. If you are lucky, you can obtain 3 generations of your direct line ancestors with a single series of processetti documents for one couple. Processetti documents are a series of documents that was required to be provided to the Municipio when a couple was completing their marriage banns. Before a couple could marry, marriage banns had to be posted for 3 consecutive weeks in a public place (usually the municipio) before a couple could get married. This practice is still law in Italy, however, today many towns post the pubblicazioni on their websites. When a couple would go to the municipio to complete their first marriage bann, they were required to bring in a series of documents that vary depending on their personal circumstances. The documents are always noted on their marriage bann. These series of documents always include either a record of baptism or atto di nati (birth act) for both the bride and groom. Other documents that are provided depend on their individual circumstances. If one parent was deceased prior to the date the first marriage bann was posted, that parent's atto di morte was included. Because the atto di morte lists the names of the parents of the deceased, it can be a quick way to obtain the names of another generation. If both parents were deceased, the grandparents appeared at the municipio, however, if they were also deceased it is highly likely their death act were also included. If the bride was under the age of 18 and the groom was under the age of 21, they were considered minors. In the event an orphaned minor married, a family counsel meeting was held with 3 men of each parent's family who had to agree that the marriage would be in the best interest of the minor child. Many other documents may be found in these series of records which are the richest in genealogical information in all the available records (in my opinion).