"A family tree can wither if nobody tends its roots."

May3rd2020

Those Before Us

by  Phyllis Zeck

Elvira Ciolli u Teresina before 1939

Elvira Ciolli u Teresina before 1939

A few months ago I was contacted by Maria who had stumbled across this website. I’d like to share some of the email she wrote to me along with some photographs she sent. Maria’s parents are Inelde Vitale and Angelo Del Principe. Angelo emigrated in 1958 to Switzerland where Maria now lives. Inelde’s parents are Marietta Saltarelli & Bartolomeo Vitale (a tailor).  Maria’s great grandmother is Ester Ciolli. Ester and my great grandmother Elivra were sisters. 

I have never seen the photo above of my great grandmother Elvira. I don’t know the woman next to Elvira. Elvira wrote on the back of the photo “This is Teresina the mother of Lucia.” My grandfather Gilbert’s handwriting looks like his mother Elvira’s.

Maria Filomena was born in Pescasseroli in the 1950’s and lived in her grandfather Bartolomeo’s home until 1965. She has two brothers. Franco is a biologist and Claudio is a cook book author. The photo below is of Maria’s grandmother Filomena, Filomena’s sister Anna Maria, and their parents Nunzia and Gabriele Di Pirro. Filomena’s brother Cesidio Di Pirro emigrated to Buffalo, New York.

The following paragraphs are some memories that Maria shared with me in an email.

di pirro, pescasseroli

Filomena Di Pirro, sister Maria, mother Nunzia & father Gabriele.


My grandfather’s home is just opposite Salvatore’s B&B. this house used to belong to a single teacher, Miss Trella. both houses are located in the old part of pescasseroli near the church. you may find something in google view. grandfather’s house belonged to the ciolli’s and he bought the upper apartment. two rooms, screed, a vault with some chicken a goat and wood for heating, and a separate room in the stairwell. the lower apartment belonged to my grandmother’s brother, he was the father of esterina and salvatore’s grandfather. both families had at least seven children, but some of them died as a child. 

During the Second World War, German soldiers occupied this house, and when the Americans arrived, a bomb fell into a house 20m away. during this time they had little to eat and sometimes they had to ask the american garrisons for food.

del principe

Maria’s Grandparents Marietta Saltarelli  (Ester’s Daughter) & Bartolomeo Vitale

When I lived in this house, I was the only child and it was a beautiful time even though we had nothing, no running water, no bathroom, no heating. my matrasse was filled with corn leaves, which were changed every year. the drinking water was brought home in this typical “conca” of copper by the women on their head. the hot water came from a tank in the wood stove. the bread was kneaded kilos by my grandmother in the house and baked in the nearby bakery. everything was transported on a wide wooden board on the head. We also had none of the laundry,

robertocipollone.wordpress.com

Photo courtesy of Robert Cipollone

everything came in the washing pan with boiling water and was knocked and rinsed in the river. I had nailed shoes from our shoemaker, my mother and her sisters had only wooden treaders in summer and winter.

The room in the stairwell was inherited from an American woman, who then came to pescasseroli and was paid out by my grandfather. My mother does not know who she was. the room was later integrated into the upper apartment and now belongs to my cousin Paolo vitale.

Domenico Pandolfi abt 1915?These photos were also sent to me from Maria. The photo to the left is Domenico Pandolfi taken approx. 1915. If you recognize anyone in the 3 photos below, please email me so I can add their name to their photo. There is a sadness that accompanies an photo without a name. It’s so important to preserve and share these photos and stories.

I’m very grateful to Maria for sharing her memories and amazing photos. I have a clearer picture of what life was like in the 50’s and 60’s in Pescasseroli and it was not like the image that I had painted in my mind. 

 
 

Apr26th2020

Everything Has Changed

by  Phyllis Zeck

Our world has turned upside down due to the Covid-19 Virus. I never thought I’d live through a pandemic.  I am social distancing but I miss my family and friends. I just want to hold my grandbabies. My heart goes out to Italy where so many have lost their lives.

We watched the virus wreak havoc in China and we were not prepared for our outbreak. We should have listened more closely to our doctors and scientists. We have a shortage of tests. The tests we do have can take up to 7 days to get results. There is no vaccine. On March 16th our schools closed and will remain closed for the rest of the school year. Parents are in charge of making sure their children’s school work gets done. On March 23rd Oregon’s Governor issued a stay home order and all non-essential businesses were closed. There is so much wrong with closing and roping off our parks. We have been in lock down for over 4 weeks.

The United States has a shortage of masks, caps, face shields, and latex gloves for our health care providers. New York hospitals are in crisis with patients over flowing into the halls. They don’t have enough ventilators for patients in Intensive Care. Oregon has loaned New York 140 ventilators. Hoarders have scooped up hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes making it hard for even hospitals to secure these items. People are panicking.

Unemployment claims topped 4.4 million last week. Lines of cars waiting for assistance from food banks snake on for miles. Many food banks are unable to keep up with the demand. Women aren’t allowed to have their husbands in some delivery rooms when they give birth so we’re seeing more mid wives assisting with home births. Animal shelters are being emptied by families who recognize that pets need help now also.

1918 Seattle, WA Streetcar

While I feel challenged and uncertain of the future, I savor the encouraging stories I see and read about. I’m thankful for our courageous first responders and for restaurants who provide free meals to our homeless population. I’m thankful we can order our groceries online and have them delivered. I’m thankful to be able to face time with my family members and watch my grandchildren laugh and play. These thoughts lead me to wonder how our ancestors survived the Spanish Flu.  I have no stories that I can retell of this health disaster. If any of you have a story that’s been passed down in your family, please drop me a note. I’d love to share it. 

1918 Spanish Flu  Detroit, MI   Red Cross

 

 
 

Dec30th2019

The Documents Can Wait

by  Phyllis Zeck

You see this cute little fellow?  He’s part of the reason that I haven’t had time for genealogy research this year. Kingston, my youngest grandchild, was born in January. I’m so lucky that we live close to each other and I babysit at least once a week. My house is a mini day care with high chair, changing table, a toy box bursting at the hinges, blocks, and trucks. I love every minute we spend together. The documents can wait.

Since Kingston’s mom is on vacation, I’m on vacation, and I’m cleaning up some of my research documents that have been waiting on my computer desktop to be shared. I ran across a few unexpected surprises in the docs.  

Click here to view my grandmother Bertha Del Principe petition for naturalization filed Aug 4, 1943. This record notes that Bertha’s eyes were green and she had a scar on her throat. The second page shows Bertha’s witnesses and has her signature. My daughter Ashley points out that perhaps Bertha was trying to disassociate herself from her place of birth due to WWII. Bertha was born April 22, 1901 in Hamburg, Germany.

My brother Tom remembers “Grandma Bertha’s witnesses were close friends of the Del Principe family. Mrs Esther Corbel lived across Harrison Street, in 1 of the 2 or 3 story houses that are long gone. Grandpa’s house had a huge first floor store front, and 4 apartments on the upper floors. Mom and Dad lived in Grandpa’s unit, and he rented out the unit facing Harrison St to Auntie Theresa & Uncle Gus. Uncle John, Aunt Jeanette and their family lived on the 3rd floor which also had a rental unit. The houses across the street were similar. There were shops on the corner so everyone saw one another all the time. Bertha’s other witness was Grandpa’s good friend Johnny DeLeo, who lived a few blocks south with his huge family. In between the DeLeos and the Del Principes was Saint Callistus Church and Catholic school which Mom & Auntie Phyllis attended. It once had fountains, gardens, chapel bells and flower beds. The church was closed long ago, and the buildings were empty for many years, The school Mom attended is now a private Christian Academy.”

I also found Emil Del Principe’s 1937 two page petition. Emil’s application renounces all allegiance to Victor Emmanuel III, King Of Italy.

Click here to read Onesto Ursitti’s Petition For Naturalization and his Declaration page. My 2nd great grandparents were Filomena Ursitti and Pietrantonio Ciolli. I’m still digging to find out how I’m related to Onesto. I was thrilled to see that Onesto’s Declaration of Intention has a photo of him! When searching for records I try to remember to look at the page before and after the document I’m looking at. When I turned the page for Onesto’s declaration, I stumbled upon one file for Vito Di Nella.  Hmmm, what other documents could I find for Vito? May as well pop over to Family Search’s website to see if they’ve scanned any of Vito’s docs. I’d fallen down the rabbit hole.

This set of documents is Cesidio Gerrardo Del Principe’s Declaration & Petition. Another photograph! I believe that Cesidio is the grandson of Vincenzo Del Principe. Pietro Del Principe (my great grandfather) and Vincenzo (1830-1888) were brothers. Vincenzo and his wife Lionarda Liboria Rossi had 4 children that I’ve been able to document: Giuseppe Donato (Daniel), Carmello Antonio, Leonardo, and Dominick. Giuseppe Donato (1863-1924) and Leonardo (1866-1946) resided in Pennsylvania. By the 1930 census Leonardo had moved to Chicago and lived at 2234 Irving Ave.

I have not yet been able to confirm that Cesidio Gerrardo’s grandparents were Vincenzo and Lionarda. Cesidio was married to Lucia (1885-1922) and they have at least 4 children: Mary, Joe, Della and Carmella. You can find more blog post about Vincenzo’s family by clicking his name in the “Categories” section. I will continue digging in the Naturalization documents to see what other ancestor’s photos I can uncover and will of course share them with you. Happy New Year to all!

 
 

Jun7th2019

Welcome Home

by  Phyllis Zeck

del principe, winikeWhen my sister Lori and I decided to sell our homes and purchase a new house together we had to say goodbye to some of our excess belongings. However, sending certain pieces of furniture and knick knacks to new homes was not an option. Lori had furnished her spare bedroom in Utah with our mother’s bed and two dressers along with other keepsakes which she isn’t yet ready to part with. Our new guest bedroom is now called Grandma Corinne’s Room. 

When the movers brought our mom’s chair inside we were debating where to put it.  In the shuffle the chair landed in our upstairs hallway which happened to be the perfect spot for it. On our party days I’ve often found our teenagers (who are too old for the toy room and bored by adult prattle) lounging in the chair reading their books or their tablets. This makes my heart happy!

As we began hanging our photos this last winter we contemplated what to put above mom’s chair. Lori had a large photo that she was ready to discard but we decided to keep the frame and make a family tree collage.  We had so much fun placing the puzzle pieces of our favorite memories into the tree template. It was impossible to decide which photos to use as we created our design using Photoshop Elements. The last photo we slipped into the tree was a snapshot of some of mom’s great grandchildren sitting in her chair. We printed the matt at Costco and are so happy with the results. Lori ordered an engraved plate for the frame which says Winike & Del Principe Family Tree and glued it on. Every time I come up the stairs this new space says Welcome Home in so many ways.

 
 

Mar29th2019

Aerial View of Pescasseroli & Opi

by  Phyllis Zeck

Pescasseroli Italy Del Principe

Pescasseroli, Italy

This winter I was looking for some images to purchase for the walls of our new home. I bought these panoramic photos of the towns of Pescasseroli and Opi. After having 11×14 prints made I bought new frames and hung the photos in my bedroom. They look wonderful. The photo on the left is the birth town of my great grandparents Cesidia Elvira Tranquilla Ciolli (1867-1939) and Pietro Giovanni Del Prinicipe (1853-1922). The photo below is the town of Opi where my great great grandmother Filomena Ursitti was born in 1837.  Filomena married Don Pietrantonio Amabile Ciolli and they raised their family in Pescasseroli. 

Opi Italy

Opi, Italy

While I was looking for photos I came across the website Life in Abruzzo. If you plan to visit Italy this site has some info about the community of Pescasseroli and things to do in the town. The writer mentions Salvatore, the owner of the B&B via Della Piazza, at the end of the article.