Perms, Flooding Basements and Things That Overturn

Ladies and Gentlemen, family, readers, an exciting thing has happened. Fifteen years since I started looking for it, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1890 - 1970 has been digitized and is now online at newspapers.com. This era has not been available for a while. I'll have to pay to get more access, but I've found plenty already.

Initially I thought there would be tons of information that could be obtained from a resource such as this, but I've learned a thing or two. 

Firstly, there are no birth announcements in the paper. I thought for sure that I'd find something on Jimmy and Angie's births in 1905, but nothing. I'm going to have to go to the church for that. 

Secondly, although there are a few obituaries, there are none pertaining to our family. I know the date Francesco died, but there's no obituary for him, and few for regular neighborhood people. That's how it was. 

The prevalent feeling was to NOT get your name in the paper. This was something to be avoided. Getting your name in the paper meant two things: either something good happened, which was rare, or, something bad happened, which was more often the case. 

The penchant for notoriety was not a trait to cultivate or aspire towards. One would keep their head down, live a good life, and not get into trouble. Reticence and restraint prized above all. 

As a case in point here's something I was going to save for a later post, but it is a perfect example. 

This is Uncle Jimmy, who's really my great uncle, my grandfather's little brother. Born in 1905 he would be 21 here. His first name is actually Vincent, (Vincenzo), but I always knew him as Uncle Jimmy. I will have an entire segment on Jimmy alone, but know this for now, Jimmy was a wild man. 

"James Paterno of 171 Montrose ave., is pictured above having a permanent wave put in his hair in payment of a bet on the Delaney-Maloney bout. Paterno bet a fellow member of Montauk Council, K. of C. [Knights of Columbus] that Delaney would win. He was a bad guesser and now, in addition to the "permanent," he must have his hair bleached..."

and here's the kicker "...One of his brothers said today that the family does not approve at all of "such foolishness." 

Whether the foolishness was the bet, or the hair-do, there's one thing for certain the family didn't approve of, and it was being in the paper. That truly was foolishness. 

There were some Paternos who were part of "High Society". They were a Dr. Charles Paterno, hailing from a village outside of Rome, not a Sicilian and his brother Joseph. They had come to America in the 1880s. Real estate developers and builders, some of their buildings are Castle Village, Hudson View Gardens, the Colosseum, and The Paterno, (a Manhattan apartment building located at 116th Street and Riverside Drive and also known as 440 Riverside Drive) which is featured in the movies "Enchanted" and "Enemies a Love Story". There's also a Vincent Paterno. They and their families are frequently mentioned in the society columns, from 1900 - 1930. 

These are not our people. 

Here's an article for the Appellant Court, in the January 9th 1909 edition from page 6. I found this first. 

It's Frank Paterno and Michael Rosalia's turn, although Uncle Mike's name is spelled Rosalio. 

How do I know this is them? Here's the story from page 3. You need to read the entire thing. Trust me.

CITY NOT LIABLE FOR RAINFALL DAMAGE
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Justice Gaynor's Opinion in Cases Brought by Men Whose Cellars Were Flooded
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LOWER COURT IMPOSED UPON.
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Appellate Court Expresses Astonishment and Reverses Judgments Obtained
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Following a decision handed down last week, in which is reversed a judgment against the city, obtained for an alleged rainfall damage, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon did the same thing in five other like cases, Justice Gaynor again writing the opinion. This time, though, the Appellate Court expresses a little more emphatically its astonishment that the Municipal Court justice could have been imposed upon by “such improbable or false testimony.” Four of the cases were brought by Frank Paterno and another by Michael Rosalio. The city, through Assistant Corporation Counsel James T. O'Neil, appealed from the judgment given the plaintiff after a trial before Municipal Justice Williams.
In his opinion Justice Gaynor says:
“These five cases were tried before the same municipal justice. In each the judgment rests on the unsupported evidence of the plaintiff, and judgment was given for the full amount claimed. They are for damages for the alleged flooding of the cellars of the plaintiffs by the negligence of the city. Four of them are by the same plaintiff. It is doubtful if such improbable or false testimony was ever imposed on a court before. The story is that it rained, and of a sudden flood of water poured down the cellar steps into the bakeries of the plaintiffs from the street and filled the cellars to a depth of five feet. The thing was so sudden, according to the story of the plaintiffs, that they and their workmen had to run to save their lives, to use the exact words. They did not close the cellar door, because it would make the cellar too dark.

 “The floods were at four different times. One plaintiff, it so happened, had exactly fifty barrels of flour and five bags of salt in his bakery cellar at three of the floods, and he bought them and they were delivered to him that very morning, although he could not tell the name of the seller or his place of business. A salesman came along and did the business. The cellars were the ordinary ones of medium sized residences, about 20 feet by 40 feet; and yet each had from fifty to eighty barrels of flour in it, and also about one thousand loaves of bread, and ample room seems to have remained for ovens, utensils, litter and working space.

 “These are samples from the testimony of the two plaintiffs. They waited over two years before bringing action. On cross-examination the counsel for the city asked if some one had not come to their places and solicited or suggested the actions, but the municipal justice would not have it; he excluded any such inquiry, as well as other inquiries tending to show the exaggerations of the plaintiffs. No one was called to corroborate the plaintiffs as to the floods, as to the damages or in any respect, although every one in the locality must have known of the floods if they ever occurred. The city called several witnesses who testified that no such floods had occurred. If they did occur there is no evidence showing that the city caused them.
“Altogether the judgments are inexplicable. The cases are the same as that of Punsky vs. City of New York (Ap. Div.), in which we recently reversed the judgment. The city cannot be made the victim of such judgments as these.
“The judgments should be reversed.”
An examination of the records in the hands of Assistant Corporation Counsel James T. O'Neil, who has fought for the city in hundreds of the so-called rain-fall or sewer damage cases shows that the four suits brought by Paterno and the one by Rosalio were all tried the same day before Justice Williams, who was sitting then in the Fourth District Municipal Court. William O. Miles, now serving a term at Blackwell's Island for frauds upon the city in the sewer claim cases, was the attorney for the two plaintiffs. The four judgments given Paterno amounted to $1,484 and that to Rosalio amounted to $494.

A further examination of the records in the Brooklyn office of the Corporation Counsel shows that of the over 200 rain-fall or sewer claim cases, mostly if not quite all of them Miles' suits, tried before Justice Williams, in not one of them was the city successful in defeating the claims put in by Miles in behalf of the plaintiffs. Paterno's address was 182 Johnson Avenue and Rosalio lived at 216 Johnson avenue at the time they put in the claims for damages."
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These two, these are our people. 

Of the 200 rain-fall sewer claims filed by their corrupt lawyer who's in jail, of course it's our guys that get in the paper. Of course it is. 

Yet, what I love about this the most is that Frank and Mike are together in this. My one little piece of evidence that gives us a glimpse of what kind of characters these two are. It answers so much.

I'm going to close this segment with another incident I found which may corroborate a family story and may explain a family attitude toward Francesco. 

Here in the Saturday, June 30th 1906 paper: 

The Anthony 11 is my grandfather. The other boy, Joseph, is either Pietro, who would have been 14, or some other boy. Frank is Francesco and he's not 40, he's 51, the address, 182 Johnson Avenue is his. 

I don't think Francesco ever totally recovered from this accident. I believe the results of these injuries made it so Francesco had a hard time working, and contributed to the idea that he was "lazy". He had sons who could do the work, and he let them.

Wanting to do his part perhaps he could only "glad-hand" people as they walked by. Frank was a proud man, and his pride would not let others know of his weakness, this he kept hidden and as a consequence, an idea of who he was developed that was incorrect.

The facts, again are helping the truth reveal itself. The truth about these wonderful people, these characters, famigghia mia.

A tale of the Salvatores, Loyalties and WWI

As soon as Michele Rosalia arrived he quickly changed his name to Michael which is reflected on almost all of the documentation I can find for him. I find both Francesco and Frank in the documentation at first, but later on only Frank for my Great-Grandfather. Wanting to be considered American they Americanized their names as soon as they could.

Antonina, well, she was Mama, and Mama is the only name I heard everyone use for her, whether in truth she was their mother, grandmother, great-grandmother or not. I can't find one instance on the New York or national censuses where her first name is spelled correctly. One year, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma were Puterno's instead of Paterno's, all living at Montrose Ave.

I keep beating my head against the wall trying to find more connections, more facts for the relationships of the Paterno brothers, and the Rosalias, but, with all those destroyed records, it's leading to a dead end.

I do have a theory, and it's been growing in my mind for a while. I know that my documentation shows who knew each other, but I believe there's confusion because there were also cousins of the same age coming over at the same time.

Not only that, each family used the same first names. Last name Paterno, and then pick one of these: Calogero, Salvatore, Francesco, Andrea, Vincenzo, Pietro, Giuseppe and sometimes Vito, oh and there's a few Dominics.

For example, take a Paterno with the first name of Salvatore. Our Salvatore, Francesco's brother, was born July 22nd 1856. He's two years younger than Francesco and he was born in Santa Ninfa, Sicily.

It just so happens, however, that there is another Salvatore Paterno, born May 1, 1856 in Naro, Agrigento, Italy, a mere 37 miles away...

But here is where it gets really screwy. The paperwork here says that this Salvatore born in May is a vendor living in New York. He lives on Roosevelt St. in NY, NY.


And here is more, on October 3, 1884.

But here is another petition for a Salvatore Paterno.

No birthdate, no address, and it's a year earlier, October 24 1893. There on the bottom line is a Vincent Paterno, who may be a brother, but may be a cousin.

There is a Vincent Paterno who lives on 5th Avenue, New York in the 1900 census, and there are others. I can find documentation for a Vincent Paterno born in 1856, one in 1859, 1860 then later in 1890, and then there's Uncle Jimmy born in 1905, he's really a Vincent, and named after which one? He's named after somebody because that's how they did it.

The Vincent listed above could be a Vincent from Santa Ninfa, but since there's no documentation from Santa Ninfa to verify it, things get befuddled. Dang earthquake.

Are these petitions for two different Salvatores or the same one? Which Vincenzo is this and what is the relationship? Are there brothers here? Cousins? No relation? I'm not sure. Not sure at all.

Regardless, the petitioner signatures are different on each County Court document. That's what's priceless on the one below, Salvatore's signature. To me it tells so much, regardless of which Salvatore this is. Look about three quarters of the way down, by the second date.

This person was so proud to sign. I believe this person was not used to writing, but would do nothing less than sign their own name to a document as important as this. This was not something that was taken for granted. This was a very big deal.

The process of becoming a citizen at that time was thus:

The petitioner would need to submit a paper known as the Naturalization Petition.

After arriving in the U.S., and waiting a period of two to three years, an alien resident could enter any court in the country and file a "declaration of intent" known as "first papers". After 3 additional years, the alien could "petition for naturalization" proving that he had resided in the United States for a period of not less than five years. When presenting the petition, the petitioner needed to have a person vouch for their character.

If the petitioner fulfilled all of these obligations, the court would then issue an order granting citizenship, and the petitioner would take an oath of allegiance, although it wasn't always that smooth. Many times the petitions were denied and the petitioner would have to reapply.

The most interesting thing, though, is that the only reason at this time to apply for citizenship was to be able to vote.

The petitioner did not need to become a citizen in order to do any of the following:  buy or sell property; hold a job; get married or do anything of a personal or social nature.

It's an historical fact that the majority of citizenship petitions occurred in the weeks prior to a primary or general election, and the two examples above in October were submitted just before November elections.

The 1883 New York state election was held on November 6, 1883, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer and the State Engineer, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.

In the November 1884 national election Democrat Grover Cleveland won his first term as President.

Between 1855 and 1922 a woman alien became a citizen automatically if she married or was already married to a native-born or naturalized citizen. It wasn't until after 1922, that a married woman alien had to obtain naturalization on her own, therefore no documentation of this sort exists for any of the wives, or daughters, including Mama. Non-native minor children became citizens when their parents were naturalized.

This also explains why very few women bothered to become citizens on their own until passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Kind of makes you wonder....

So one Salvatore is born in May, but I have July 22 as the birth of the brother. There's another Salvatore that immigrates directly to Boston, and another that is a Minister, in Kansas and there are others. All of them Salvatore Paternos, and then when the next generation of Salvatores starts showing up, all bets are off especially if specific birth dates and addresses aren't in the documentation.

There's a Paterno clan in Manhattan who are builders. Our Paternos are from Brooklyn. There's a Paterno clan that goes to Chicago, some to Ohio, others to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and a whole bunch in Maryland, who I believe, really are our cousins.

Without the birth records there's a lot I can't confirm. I'm in the process of speaking to some 'refound' cousins, collecting their stories and hopefully filling in the pieces, it looks promising.

Here it is, then. Our family tree keeps growing, but I'm not sure everyone I have as brothers to Francesco are really brothers to Francesco. They might be, they might be cousins though too.

The best clues are in an earlier post which shows who the people listed on the ship manifests as their contact - helping them to get entry into the United States. For many Paternos coming in, it all circles around Francesco.

I've made some inroads and have figured some things out, but I'm putting this on hold until I can move forward with some definitive facts. Stay tuned.

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Never-the-less, becoming a citizen was very important and to do that you had to submit a petition for citizenship.

Here is Michael Rosalia's. It shows that he's lived in America for 14 years, it's been 5 years since he's put in his last petition. I have one for him submitted August 9, 1898. This one is from September 17, 1903. Please note: This image is in three sections so don't let it confuse you.

Now 1903 minus 14 is 1889, and Michele comes over in 1880, but trust me, not all the dates on the documentation are correct when it comes to "arrival" dates. Perhaps Michele did go back to Sicily for a visit. He did get married in America in 1890 to an Antonina Ciaccia or it might be a Ciaccio which would make her a cousin. Would they have gone to Sicily afterward to see the family and then returned? Then 14 years is correct.

Again, look at his signature, and note, this is one of the few pieces of documentation where he is Michele and not Michael. Also, the person who is vouching for him is a Pasquale Ciaccio, and Michael and Mama's mother's last name is Ciaccio, so Pasquale is family. One of Michael's daughters is named Pasqualina. Perhaps his wife's maiden name is Ciaccia and the documentation here is incorrect and it's actually Pasquale Ciaccia vouching for his brother in law. These are the kinds of things you see in the documentation all the time. Tiny errors which can change so much. 

Francesco petitions in 1903, and what's really funny is his date of arrival is incorrect, the arrival date is March 9, 1896, but obviously no one is checking these things completely...

and here's the official documentation stating his petition has been submitted:






...but Francesco is denied, so he petitions again in 1906 - here's the big petition submitted September 20, 1906...

When he finally became a citizen, this is the certificate he was allowed to take home:

The message here is that they wanted to become Americans during a time when there was great prejudice against Sicilian Americans and immigrants. Legislation was being passed that made it harder and harder for immigrants to enter America, especially if they were from Southern Europe.

Eventually everyone became citizens and by the end of the 1910s WWI started.

Here, I think, is the brother of Francesco, Andrea Paterno, born February 12, 1876, yet that would make Francesco 22 years older than him, but he is not Francesco's son.

It's times like these I start doubting, and wonder, is this a nephew or cousin? Then again they might be brothers. The address is 173 Montrose Ave, and this is Andrea's draft registration for WWI.

Here is Francesco's son, Andrea / Henry - his registration showing he was born September 24, 1887. He is married and does not live with his parents anymore. 

Here is Francesco's son Peter, born April 29, 1891: 

Calogero / Charles has a withered right arm due to 'infantile paralysis', so there are no enlistment papers for him. 

Truly weird is looking at this next one which is for my grandfather. If anything had happened to him, you wouldn't be reading this. 

Born September 12, 1895, in Santa Margherita, not Santa Ninfa, so there was a move that happened prior to his birth. A move back to Mama's town, and it must have been because Francesco took the first trip and Mama stayed with her family and was there when she gave birth. 

Salvatore's son Andrea does go to the WWI theatre. Salvatore has moved to New Jersey, taken his family and has a farm. Andrea lists himself as a baker. When I spoke with his grandson and he said that Andrea was a baker during his enlistment, my mind got going. 

What if... what if not only Michele Rosalia was a baker, but some of the Paternos were as well. Wouldn't they get to know each other? The bakers from one town and the bakers from another? Wouldn't that make sense? Perhaps, perhaps... can't prove it though.

This Andrea fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Maas-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of the Argonne Forest, part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that
brought the war to an end.

But ultimately, it is Michael Rosalia who was to make the greatest sacrifice a parent can make.

In the Brooklyn Standard News of Wednesday, October 9th, 1918 the following appears:

His son, Charles C. Rosalia, gives his life for his country, the United States of America.

Killed in France on August 28th, 1918 while serving as a member of Battery C., 305th Field Artillery. He was survived by his parents, brother and four sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins.

The price of freedom, given by so many, for all of us. Let us never forget, always honor, and live our lives as best we are able in tribute to those who have died for us and their country.

Barking up the wrong tree

There's a reason why I like history. One of the most important things history does is provide documentation that helps to make sure I'm backing up what I'm writing here.

Remember how I keep saying in my previous posts how important it is to understand how things were back in Sicily? How families and communities worked, the social system, how this affected loyalties, complete to patterns of immigration? How if your people went to Brooklyn, then you went to Brooklyn, and if your people went to Chicago, then you'd go to Chicago? It all has to make sense.

Let me remind you also, how on January 15th, 1968 there was a huge earthquake that destroyed Santa Ninfa and Santa Margherita di Belice, remember? Many records were lost forever.

The research I do for this, the fact finding, allows me, hopefully, to not make any statements, or present anything that isn't logical given the whole picture. The old "assuming" adage high on my list of priorities.

Case in point: Ancestry.com is a great place to start looking for documentation. They have a lot of it. The problem starts when someone thinks that Ancestry.com is the be all and end all. Ancestry.com is a tool to use, one of many, as you try to take the puzzle pieces of the past and put them together to get the story.

A few users of Ancestry.com have put together family trees with Paterno's in it. From what I can tell, these are the descendants of a Salvatore Paterno, maybe even our Salvatore Paterno. They even have Salvatore's parents, and brothers, but there were some glaring things that made me put on the brakes. Here's what's on their trees:

That is our great grandfather, Francesco, but I don't think those are his parents, or great grand parents. In fact some of them aren't even from Sicily, they are from Eastern Italy, which is truly suspect. Just because someone has the last name of Paterno, and maybe they are from some other town in Sicily and you can't find any other records, doesn't mean that's the Paterno you are looking for.

There are many Francescos, Salvatores, Pietros, and Cologero Paternos, I know, I've found them, but the dates aren't right, the location isn't right and neither are the ages. Could they be cousins? Sure, they could, they could absolutely be related, but is this tree above accurate? I don't think so.

Why do I say that? Because of this and what follows:

The supposition is that the Andreo Paterno there is the father of Francesco, who was born in 1854, but also the brother of a Francesco born in 1950. Ok, so Andreo would have been 14 when Francesco was born. I don't know about that. I have doubt. And the accent over the o as ò Paternò. Not that that isn't something that could have been, but still... so I went and dug a little further and found this...

Here is a Pietro Paterno, who dies in Santa Margherita Di Belice. His parents are Calogero Paterno and Anna Mule. Now Pietro dies in 1835 at the age of 50, which means he's not Francesco's father, but perhaps Pietro had children, or a brother that had children. This makes sense to me and so my family tree looks like this:

And this is what I'm going with unless someone can give me the proof otherwise.

In terms of missing records, I can find births and marriages for Paternos up to 1830 in Sicily and mainland Italy, but I can find none of the birth records for Francesco or any of his brothers. I can't find any birth records on Mama either. The papers I have from Sicily are all I have, Mama's birth and Katie's birth certificates so I know at one point they existed, but there's nothing for her brother or her sisters, or any of her children born in Sicily, except Katie, who made the trip twice. Someone kept hers. Perhaps in some box somewhere in some attic are all the other records, or perhaps when Angie died we lost it all.

There isn't even a record, in any of the Italian documentation, of Mama's marriage. That's more than odd.

My parents vacationed in Sicily after the earthquake, and I asked my Dad if he found anything, and he told me everything, all local records, were destroyed in the earthquake, and I figure, probably not just the one in 1968 either.

I will have to do more digging. My hope is to contact someone in Sicily to see if anything was salvaged or may be found.

One of us got to go to Sicily this summer. I haven't heard if they found anything or only had a great time. I hope for both, but will settle for just the great time and lots of pictures.

But this is why I take my time and do the work. My leaps of faith are based on fact and what the facts present. If it doesn't make sense I keep seeking to find what does.

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Odd things, mistakes, and unknown family

I believe in the importance of family. I'm not a believer in coincidence. I've had too many life experiences that have led me to the notion that something else is going on that science will never be able to explain. 

For example, I was born on 3.13 and the combination of 313, 133, 331, has come up for me so many times, it's weird.

I'm sure we all notice number combinations, and it might very well be that the only reason I notice this particular combination is because it's relevant to me. 

For instance, someone born on 1.15 like Mama might notice 115 and combos of that, whereas I don't notice those numbers. I get it, but to me I'll sit up and take note of the fact that my daughter was born on 1.23 while we were living at 123 School Street (I kid you not), and though not my particular number combo, something I can't not notice. 

But maybe it is just me who notices that kind of thing. 

Regardless... over the years my combo has happened so many times, that I do take notice whenever it happens.

Multiple times I'll glance at the clock, it's 3:31, or 1:33; I'll check on the timer in the kitchen or when working out and it's on 3:13, just for that second, and keeps going, or the change on my receipt is $3.31, or $1.33, and not once or twice, but with an odd random consistency that's been going on for a good number of years. 

When it happens I nod my head and think, well, there it is again, and keep going my merry way.

A week and a half ago I took the day off from work as it was my birthday, (3.13). After completing all my errands and family obligations I sat down and started continuing my research for this little project, and finally, after years of searching, I found the microfilm for the ship's manifest for the Giava, for Michele Rosalia, from June 9th, 1880 - M237 Roll 549 Frame 544. 

I scrolled down through the pages and found this...

On 3.13 I found passenger number 331 - Michele Rosalia, 21, Fornaio (baker) S. Margherita. 

That made me stop for a moment.

Does it mean anything? Who knows? I have no clue, I can only nod my head, say, "there it is again", take note of it, and keep going my merry way.

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I now have to admit to a mistake in regards to Katie's birth certificate. When I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. Comes from growing up in a big family, admit first before anyone tells on you, it's better that way. 

My mistake was to not read the certificate completely. I'll admit to being lazy. I looked only at the number, and are you with me in that it looked like 1882?

Well, I can read Italian / Sicilian even if I can't speak it, and looking at it and actually going through it word for word here's what I didn't comprehend even though I must have read it a thousand times. 

mille ottocento ottanta quattro aka 1884. Here is her certificate, I've gone back and corrected my old postings to reflect her correct age. 

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As to the manifest for Uncle Mike's ship, I went over it with a fine-tooth comb, checking for other clues it might contain. There were a total of 430 passengers on the ship, the Giava. It's an Italian ship and manifest, look here:

This from the column saying "Going to":
Cicago - Chicago
Brocolin - Brooklyn
N. Yorcz - N. York


I can find no one from S. Ninfa on this, but there are a few others from S. Margherita. They are:

Innes Liberatti (?), 28, son Giuseppe 8, daughter Francesca 2, daughter Anna 8 months all going to Brocolin.

along with Guiseppe Cresenza 42, daughter Calesera 7, Gaspare 8 ?, Guiseppina 7 ? also to Brocolin, and that's it, no one else.

It could very well be that Michael knew these people, travelled with them, but I believe this truly indicates he came over on his own.

We know that after Mama, two other sisters came over, Randanza and Ciacio, pronounced Chacho, but I can find no records for them. I'm waiting for more information so I'll be returning to this at some point in the future. 

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Francesco, though, had brothers and I have to admit to a mistake I made earlier with the 1896 trip. 

The Antonino 40, the other shoemaker from S. Ninfa, that is Francesco's brother and either they didn't list Antonina, or they made an error, because I think that that Antonina, Mirabella 32 seamstress is Mama. 

The age is correct and she is a tailor on the 1900 census. Otherwise there's no record of her coming to America, but her husband, children, and suckling infant do so I'm taking the leap of faith. I can find no listing for her under the name of Antonina Paterno anywhere, and perhaps wives were considered property of the husband and therefore weren't listed. As previously noted, Salvatore's wife wasn't written down either. 

This had confused me for the longest time, but since I've been researching Francesco's brothers, and realized one of them was named Antonino, and he was born in 1856, well, there he is! The age is correct, he's travelling with his brother, both are shoemakers from S. Ninfa, and away we go. 

Wait, there's more. 

There's another brother Calogero Paterno, 20, another shoemaker, from S. Ninfa, August 15th, 1898 and his contact is Francesco

There's an Andrea Paterno - another brother. He will live at 173 Montrose Avenue but coming in the manifest says he's going to his brother Calogero in Brooklyn. 

There's a Pietro Paterno, but I can't find any definitive records on him. 

There's Giuseppe Paterno - He escorts Calogero's wife and children on this September 22, 1905 trip.

Giuseppe is on the bottom of the list, Providenza, Calogero's wife and children list first.

But Salvatore Paterno was here before any of his brothers. Salvatore Paterno from Santa Ninfa, came over in 1884 when he was 24 and went to Brooklyn, arriving four years after Michele who would have been 24 or 25 also at that time. Brothers-in-law. 

It is Salvatore's wife Rosa, son Pietro, daughter Maria that Francesco brings over on his first trip in 1895. (Obviously Salvatore goes back and forth as many did in those days.)

Salvatore Paterno is involved in this patent in 1905. 

He is an assignee and joint patent holder (one-third) and assignee is explained as follows : 

"Patents may be owned jointly by two or more persons as in the case of a patent granted to joint inventors, or in the case of the assignment of a part interest in a patent. Any joint owner of a patent, no matter how small the part interest, may make, use, offer for sale and sell and import the invention for his or her own profit provided they do not infringe another’s patent rights, without regard to the other owners, and may sell the interest or any part of it, or grant patent licensing to others, without regard to the other joint owner, unless the joint owners have made a contract governing their relation to each other. It is accordingly dangerous to assign a part interest without a definite agreement between the parties as to the extent of their respective rights and their obligations to each other if the above result is to be avoided."

I'm pretty sure that the pasta machinery used in the Paterno Macaroni business was one derived from this patent. The design image is here->  https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US787727-0.png

So our family has gotten a little larger. We are related to a lot of Paternos, most of whom settled in and around Johnson Avenue in Brooklyn. Some are still there. 

I never knew that Francesco had any brothers, let alone so many, until I started on this project. 

For me, seeing the connections, seeing what they did for each other, the importance family meant to them, makes me all the happier that so many of our family are helping me to put this together. 

My love and thanks to all as we continue with their journey.

*A great shout-out to Robert Paterno for his excellent research.

Montrose Ave and the Rex Spinola Democratic Club

The next years, 1896 - 1910, were busy. 

Uncle Mike has the bakery. Bread is delivered every day. Francesco works at the bakery to pay back the debt of the trip to America.

Mike also takes Andrea and Calogero to school to "the church on the corner." I believe the school was Trinity and not Our Lady of the Rosary. The story I was told was that the nuns in the school were German and they couldn't understand these boys who spoke Sicilian. One day "Papa" asked the boys, "What do they call you in school?" and Andrea says, "Oh, I'm Henry Lapitino" and pointing to Calogero, "and he's Leo Lapitino." 

Corrections were made and Andrea is now Henry, Calogero Charles, Katerina Catherine, Pietro Peter and Antonio Anthony. Mama was Mama and her name is almost always incorrect on the Census. Francesco is Frank and Michele is Michael, or "Uncle Mike".

I'm not sure if Katie was sent to school, but I do know that she taught herself to read, and the ages given for her on many of the Censuses aren't quite in sync with any of the years we believe her to be born. 

I have official documentation from Santa Ninfa Sicily that says she was born in 1884, and Uncle Francis told me she was born that year as well. He said Katie 1884, Andrea 1886, Charles 1889, Pete 1891, then Anthony in 1895. Ages for Katie on the Census and ships manifests range from 1884 to 1887. 

Someone asked me how she couldn't know her age, they couldn't understand how someone couldn't know how old they were. Well, her father didn't know his year of birth either. His early documentation says "about" or "around" 1856 so his age is always questionable. But I can see, if you were born in some tiny rural village where no one could read or write, how easy it would be to NOT know the exact year of your birth. 

People who couldn't read didn't keep calendars on their walls and time was marked by Church holidays, Saints Days, marriages, births and deaths. 

That kind of record keeping was done by the priest, he wrote down when children were baptized, first communions, confirmations, marriages, and that's why I'm leaning toward the Italian documentation in regards to accuracy, but 1884 +/- a year seems more likely. 

1900 Census (remember, click on images to make them bigger)

This 1900 Census has Francesco, (Frank), and Antonina living at 173 Boerum Street. It looks like it says he's a shopkeeper and she's a tailor. 

This is a modern day view of the street, don't know if these are the original buildings. Johnson Ave. is the street at the top, and another block up is Montrose. 

 Things are going well. August 1902 and 1904 they buy property on Johnson Ave. It looks like #182 and then #175. 

  

In 1904 Mama is pregnant again, and this is the year they buy property on Montrose Ave on October 10, 1904. 

I love the part, Witnesseth, That the said parties of the first part, in consideration of the sum of One Dollar and other valuable considerations lawful money of the United States..... " 
valuable considerations meaning, none of your gosh darn business. 

And it is here that twins Angelina and Vincent are born on September 21st 1905. 

  

The 1910 Census

New York did it's own census on the five years, 1905, 1915, 1925, whereas the Federal Census was on the decade, 1900, 1910, 1920, etc. 

They are missing on the 1905 Census but show up here on the 1910 census living at 173 Montrose Ave. 

and it's all very interesting. Francesco (now Frank)  has his "Own Income". Mama has no job, Catherine (Katie) is an "Operator Pasta Shop", Henry also works at the "Pasta Shop" but it's unclear what he does, although this could be read as "Pants Shop" and I'm all wet, but I don't think I am. 

Charles has no occupation either, as he's going to school to be a lawyer. Peter is a "Stenographer" at a "Glass Shop", Anthony is still in school and Angie and Jimmy are five years old. 

It's right about this time that my favorite picture is taken. This must have been an important occasion. Each time I look it I see them more and more clearly. 

I don't know where this was taken, as the Montrose buildings don't have windows street level. They aren't on a stoop, but the sidewalk. 

Look at them, these red-headed Sicilians, they are all dressed in their best. 

In the back row on the left is Henry, around 23 years old, holding a cigar. Now that's something to be holding a cigar in a family photo right behind Mama, but he's definitely looking like someone I'd like to know, something to his look, a definite character. - Next is Charles, a brooder, 21ish, his arms out of view as his right arm and hand were characterized as "shriveled", by "infantile paralysis". He's still studying to be a lawyer, which would make sense as he couldn't be a laborer with that arm, so he was sent to college. - Next to Charles is my grandpa, Anthony. He has to be around 16 in this picture. Then Peter, who's 19 or 20, (is that a white tie? No tie?). 

Sitting of course is Mama on the left, she's around 43, and look, she's in her finest, with dark gloves and a bracelet or perhaps that's a watch, her red hair up, she's wearing a favorite dress, most likely one she made. Francesco, (55?) in the center, his red hair now gray with age, with his other red-head, his eldest, Katie +- 25 on his other side, her hand on his leg, a devoted daughter, the one who travelled with him on the "Two Trips". 

Lastly, in front, Vincent (Jimmy) and Angelina (Angie), who can't be more than five or six here, both born in l'america, both American. Jimmy looks like he's ready to throw off the monkey suit and go play in the street and Angie seems all business. 

It is a moment, captured. So much behind them in the past, both good and bad, and so much ahead of them in the future, both good and bad, but that makes no difference. 

"Here we are" the picture states. The next instant after this was taken they got up and were off to live their lives, come whatever. 

Yet, they took the time to make this picture looking straight at the camera, hiding nothing, the camera focusing straight on them. For whatever reason it was important to them to save this moment for the future, and they are looking at us, for we are their future, and through us and all of their descendants, they live forever. 

The Rex Spinola Democratic Club at 171 Montrose Ave.

I don't know when the club was founded, if it was there when they bought the building or came later, there's not a lot of documentation. 

There was a Rex Democratic Club and the Spinola Democratic Club. The two merged in November of 1935 to bring harmony to the Italians in the 13th district. The Spinola club was there way before 1935. 

The first thing I wanted to find out was, who was Spinola that they'd name a club after him, and it turns out there's double meaning in the name, and the irony has not escaped me. 

Here is the first Spinola:

Francis Barretto Spinola (March 19, 1821 - April 14, 1891) was the first Italian American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving as a representative from New York (Brooklyn Kings) from 1887 to 1891. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. One of the first great Italian Americans. 

But there's a second Spinola: 

Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases - Genoa, 1569 - Castelnuovo Scrivia, 25 September 1630) This Spinola, an Italian, hired by the Spanish is considered one of the greatest military commanders of his time and in the history of the Spanish army. 

He entered into a contract with the Spanish government - a condotta on the old Italian model, which was a hired soldier. This military - business custom was respected because professional reputation (business credibility) was everything to the condottieri; a deceived employer was a reputation ruined; it was all about honor, and Ambrogio here was an Honorable man, a member, dare I say it, of an early version of l’onorata società. 

He died at the Siege of Casale, muttering, apparently, the words "honour" and "reputation."

Everyone knew that when you visited Aunt Katie and Aunt Angie you went straight up the steps, you didn't open the door to the right. 

One day, one 10 year old got ahead of everyone coming in to visit once and decided to find out what was behind that door on the right. When he opened it he saw card tables with paper bags full of money. His father came up behind him, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and told him to never, ever do that again. 

My father used to tell my brother that it was a dangerous neighborhood on Montrose. I believe my father saw things as a kid growing up in the 20's and 30's that happened in the neighborhood that scared him. He showed my brother bullet holes in a building next to Montrose Ave. where someone was gunned down most probably during the big mafia gang war in the 30s. My father was also born in that Montrose Avenue building in 1924, so it's quite possible he was witness to violence during the mafia upheaval.  

Before, in Sicily, the different bands of "mafia" were separated by miles, at this time in America, they were only separated by blocks. This propelled the evolution of the mafia during the late 1890's into what it became in the early 1900's through the 30's. 

In his book, The Good Guys, Bill Bonanno says, that his father "...operated out of two clubs, the Rex Spinola Democratic Club in Brooklyn and the Shoreview Social Club in Manhattan. The Rex Spinola Club was for our neighborhood... One or two days every week the local people would line up to meet with my father in a back room. They believed that he was a great man who was concerned about their problems and had the power to help them. And mostly they were right..."

Many Democratic politicians wanted the endorsement of the Rex Spinola Democratic Club, it was a legitimate Democratic Club, but of course, with an underside. 

It has been said that it wasn't unheard of to see the Chief of Police and the head of a crime family sharing a brown bag together at the club at lunch time.

In the SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1934 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, there is a story that has this headline: 

109 Arrested In Cleanup of Crime Haunts please read it here, the story is the first on the Left hand column here ->Brooklyn Daily Eagle Cleanup of Crime Haunts it's best to see the entire front page to see what was going on, and how little news has changed.  

I will let you draw your own conclusions with what I have given you, but I must say one thing. Those who went to this club, and it was open until Aunt Angie died in 1997, protected Mama, Angie and Katie, and other family members, for decades, make no mistake, and for that I am grateful. 

I'll close with a story that Angie told me the last time I saw her. 

It was in the 80's and there were many Puerto Ricans living in the neighborhood. Angie came back from going to the store and saw that there was graffiti on the building. She saw some teenagers on the corner and went in and put the groceries away. 

She took her rosary and put it in her pocket, and went out and confronted the teens on the corner. I wish you could hear her voice as I hear it in my head. 

"So I go up to them, and I'm holding onto my rosary in my pocket asking Mary to forgive me, and I say to them, "Do you know who did that?" and I point to the graffiti. They say, "No, we don't." and I said, "Really? Well, do you want to disappear from Montrose Ave? One phone call, I make one phone call and you're going to disappear from Montrose Ave." and I'm holding onto my rosary asking for forgiveness and praying they don't kill me. 

"I want this cleaned up and I don't ever want to see anything like it again." and I turned and walked back in, all the while holding my rosary and praying I don't get a knife in my back. 

And you know what? The next day that graffiti was gone, and when I come back with groceries these kids come up to me and say, "Can I help you Miss Angie", and they carry my groceries for me. Since that day I never had a problem." 

Oh Angie, how I miss you, Montrose Ave. and the Rex Spinola Democratic Club.