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The Immigrant's Tale: Part I Part II Part III Part IV
(The following appeared in
Pizza
News, October 2000)
(Volume II No. 10) (ISSN: 1533-3795)
© Grande Publishing 2000
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In the last two issues of "Pizza News"
we chronicled our search for my grandfather Antonio Palmieri. He
was born in Brazil of Italian immigrant parents. His parents
returned to Italy when he was 17. He soon left Italy with the
idea of going to America, to earn his fortune and then return to Brazil.
According to him, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island, met a girl, got married and thoughts of returning to Brazil faded away. We began our search at the Ellis Island site. After countless dead ends, we found no record of his coming to America. My mom suggested we try to locate her mother: Leontina
Fratantuono. Grandma Palmieri (as she was known to me,) had
always said she was born in Italy but came over when she was one year
old. Leopoldo Fratantuono. We immediately found only one
immigrant with that name! He was born in Fossalto, Italy. He was
41 years old and he arrived July 09, 1899, on the Tartar Prince,
a ship from Naples, Italy. As soon as we read the ship's
manifest, we knew we had found my great-grandfather! The real story
began to unravel as we continued to examine this document. Leopoldo and Filomena listed their occupation as laborers. Their final destination was Providence, Rhode Island. The manifest states they all had tickets to their final destination. I speculate they knew someone from their village, who had settled in the Providence area. As a matter of fact, above Leopoldo's name is one Fillipo
Sanboro, age 16, also from the village of Fossalto. He listed
his occupation as a sailor and he was able to read and write. He was
going to Providence to be with his father. He had $10.
Perhaps, Leopoldo was looking after young
Fillipo. (The manifest lists all of the passengers traveling on
the ship along with other information). You can look at a part of this manifest
yourself by clicking on the the thumbnail. The ship's manifest appears to have been written at the time
the Fratantuano family boarded the Tartar Prince on June
28, 1899. Pietro, studying to be a tailor, would die of pneumonia, four years after coming to America. Amalia (known to our family as Auntie Mary) would have six sons. Her husband died shortly after the birth of their last child. (She would become the "Pasta Maker" for the family. I have fond memories of going to Auntie Mary's house to pick up fresh pasta. I can still see the pasta drying in all corners of her house!) Luigi would break his mother's heart by marrying an older woman with nine children. He would die in his early forties. Because her name was hard to pronounce by her American teachers, Leontina, would be Known as Louise. (She would frequently protest "My real name is Leontina, not Louise!") Eventually, she would marry Antonio
Palmieri and have four daughters. One of the daughters would be my
mother.
Immigrants who leave their homeland in search of a better life are amazing people. The difficulties they face are incredible. They do not speak the language or share any of the culture, yet they come, searching for their dream. And, to pass that dream onto their children. Leopoldo and Filomena left their native
Italy looking for a better life. Their story is just one of the millions
of other stories which you can find at
Ellis
Island.
Leopoldo and Filomena
are forever part of this American stew, as well as the other
millions and millions who came to America.
Thank you, Leopoldo and Filomena
for making me part of this American Stew! "I can't believe it", said my mom. "My mother, we found my mother! We found Leontina. That must have been a diminutive (female version) of Leopoldo! I always wondered how my mother got her name. The name is so unusual. Now I know! Hmm…This has got me thinking! Let's see if we can find my Aunt Katherine. She was my father's sister. I think she came over in1924…"
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Finish The Immigrants Tale (IV):
Finding Antonio Palmieri at Ellis
Island
The Immigrant's Tale: Part I Part II Part III Part IV
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