My Grandfathers

I know so little about my grandparents.  They are vague historical figures about whom I know some facts but little else.   I think I know more about real historical people than I do about them.   I’ve written about Grandmother Lumia before.  I will have to write about Grandmother Amodio another time.

Peter Lumia died in 1926.  He was rarely the topic of conversation among my Lumia relatives and they never sat around and told stories about their childhood or their parents.  I think they did refer to him as “Pop.”

He was born in Villalba, Sicily in 1863.  I can’t be sure when he came to America.  There are 3 Pietro Lumias who arrived between 1891 and 1892 and the manifests give no specific helpful information.  At some point he went to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  He probably worked in the coal mines.  The next time I can find any information on him is my father’s birth certificate.  My father was born in NYC in January 1900.  Pietro was “married” to Margarita Vitrano who had a daughter, Rosaria Mastrosimone.  Rosaria was born in Punxsutawney on Feb 2, 1897.  Her father was Vincenzo Mastrosimone.  Margarita and Pietro remained together until his death in 1926.  They had 5 additional children.  He worked for the railroad, apparently.  About 1903 they moved to Trenton, NJ.  Pietro had a brother who also lived in Trenton (see The Uncle, previously posted). 

I put the word “married” in quotes because they probably never married or did so, on his death bed.  Whether Margarita married Vincenzo Mastrosimone is also unknown.  I learned that they were not married in 1986 from my mother’s sister while we were attending a wedding.  Until then, it was a well-kept secret.  That’s also when I learned that Aunt Sarah (Rosaria) was my Dad’s half-sister.

Pietro also had “cousins” in NYC.  Their exact relationship was unknown but I was able to search records and determine their relationship.  Pietro was the son of Giuseppe Lumia, minore.  Giuseppe had an older brother, named Giuseppe Lumia, maggiore.  They actually named 2 sons, “Joe”.  The elder was “Big Joe” (Giuseppe maggiore) and the younger, “Little Joe” (Giuseppe minore).  All the official records in the town also used that nomenclature.  The NY Lumias are descendants of Giuseppe maggiore.  The elder Lumias, Angelo, Alfonso, Santo, Giuseppe are all first cousins to Pietro.  Out of respect my father and his siblings called them “Zio”.  Their children and my father were second cousins.  So they were more closely related than I had expected, or they knew, themselves.

Frank Amodio died in 1939.  His children also spoke very little about him.  However, the few times they did mention him, the comments were very different.  Mildred, Phil and Joe rarely said anything negative about him, though Mildred was not as fond of her mother.  My mother did not like her father for several reasons.  First, he was not interested in his children’s education.  Second, she thought he was lazy, did not work hard enough for his family, and drank too much.  Third, she sided with her mother who was never happy in the US.  Aunt Mildred said that Mom was their mother’s favorite.  Who knows?  My parents moved in with the Amodios during the depression and helped financially, since my Dad was working steadily for the NJ State Prison.  After Grand mom died in 1935 my parents moved into their own home.  I don’t know the reason, but have always assumed hat Mom did not get along with her Dad or with her teen-aged siblings. 

Although the custom called for me to be named after Frank Amodio, I think the major reason Mom followed the tradition was that “people would talk!”  She had no choice about naming my brother for his paternal grandfather.  Peter said he wanted me named “James.”  So that’s my middle name.

Frank was born on December 1, 1874 in Bisignano.  His mother was 40 when he was born.  His father was 48.  They were married just before Frank’s birth.  Frank’s name actually was Fedele Francesco.  He was apparently named for his uncle Fedele Amodio who had died in 1869. Fedele was 9 years older than Giuseppe and they must have been very fond of each other.   Fedele had at least 3 children:  Francesca (b @1851), Peter (b. 1856) and Vincenzo (b 1860).  No one knows about their childhood but their father died young, their grandmother was already gone, and their grandfather, Carlo Amodio, died a couple of months later.  Apparently, Giuseppe stepped up and helped raise Fedele’s children.

When Giuseppe’s son was born, I think Peter was living with his uncle. Peter married in 1881 and had 4 children:  Luigi, Rosario, Maria Francesca and Maria Concetta.  Luigi died in 1891.  The three other children immigrated to the USA and settled in Trenton.  When Rosario arrived in 1908, he looked up his relatives.   When Frank’s family came in 1913, my mother always remembered, Rosario calling Frank “Zio” and Frank referring to Rosario as “neppo.”   These terms of endearment confused further generations about their exact relationship.  However, to me they suggested that Frank grew up with Peter and Peter taught his children to refer to Frank as “zio.”  Although this honorific is frequently used loosely, I believe in this case it reflected a real closeness in the family.

I grew up knowing the Rosario’s children.  Rosario died young, leaving a widow with several children.  My mother thought his widow, Josephine, was an amazing woman who did a great job taking care of her family.  Oddly, Rosario’s sister Maria Francesca lost her husband about the same time and she too was left with a large family.  Again Mom was proud of her cousin’s ability to handle her adversity.

I went to school with one of Rosario’s grandsons.  We are still friends today.  I met a granddaughter of Maria Francesca through work and learned that her sister was Joe’s Kindergarten teacher.  I mentioned the teacher to Mom who quickly pointed out that the family was cousins!

When I started my genealogic research on the Amodios, I concentrated on the exact relationship between Rosario’s and Frank’s ancestors.  Initially, I “assumed” that Rosario was in fact Frank’ nephew.  However, Frank was an only child!  Maybe Giuseppe had been married before?  I could find no evidence of a previous marriage.  If his wife had died, he would have been listed as a “widower” at his remarriage.

Rosario’s birth record, listed his Dad as Pietro!  That was logical as Rosario’s son was Peter, but provided no help.  Peter’s birth record listed his Dad as Fedele, son of Carlo.  Carlo was also Giuseppe’s father.  So Fedele and Giuseppe were brothers and their children were first cousins! 

Siblings	Fedele	Giuseppe
First Cousins	Pietro	Fedele Francesco
Second Cousins	Rosario & Maria Francesca	Rose (Mom)
Third Cousins	Mary, Mildred, Peter, John et al	Frank, (me)
Fourth Cousins	Bill Zoda (my friend), Jane Latini (Joe’s teacher)	Margaret & Joe (my children)
Fourth Cousins Once removed	Children of Bill and Jane	My children (I don’t have grandchildren)

 So, apparently we are not closely related.  However, we are still “cousins” particularly in the Italian sense of “La Famiglia! 

I always thought Frank was unusual since he traveled to the USA 3 times before deciding to stay permanently.  Apparently, many Italian men also traveled back and forth several times before settling down.

Frank came to America in 1899, a few days after his first child was born. He lived with his in-laws, Frank and Rose Viteritto.  His father died in 1903.  Frank returned to Italy the following year.  His wife became pregnant and had their second daughter in August 1905 (my mother).  Frank returned to America in 1906 taking with him photos of his mother and his wife and daughters.  He again stayed with the Viterittos.  He worked at Roebling’s.  He stayed until 1909. On return to Italy, his wife again became pregnant and delivered their 3^rd daughter, Maria Bambina, in Jan 1910.  He returned to Trenton in August 1911.  Again he lived with the Viterittos.  In 1913 he sent for his family, who arrived in May.  Initially, they lived with the Viterittos before renting their own home in Chambersburg.  In the 1920’s , they bought a house at 804 Roebling Avenue.