I have promised, more than once, in previous posts to tell you more about our relationship with the Foresi Families. Today is your lucky day. We will begin with the Foresi family members that are not our cousins.
Our great grandmother, Venanza Arcangeli, was from a large family. We are not sure exactly how may siblings that she had, but they (and their descendants) are cousins to la famiglia Sgriccia…that means your 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins.
Venanza’s sister Ermenegilda (Emma) was 9 years younger. She married Ottavio Foresi. It is their children that are our cousins – but first – let us talk about the “other” Foresi’s that are not related to us.
(Remember: the charts are jpegs. You can right-click on them to save them and enlarge them for easier reading.)
The Foresi Family in Preci/Roccanolfi consisted of at least three brothers: Ottavio, Renaldo and Enrico. All three have connections to families in the USA.
Enrico Foresi was the youngest, he never came to the USA, but three of his children did. His daughter Felicitta (Phyllis) was born in Roccanolfi in 1901. In 1921 she traveled to Clymer, PA with her husband – Pietro (Peter) Falcucci. They did not live in Clymer very long – by the 1935 they were living in New Jersey.
Gravestone in Preci Cemetery
Enrico’s oldest child, Teodoro (Theodore) was born in 1895. He traveled to Clymer in 1913. He traveled with 8 other men from Preci – some heading to PA coal mines and the rest to other destinations. One was his cousin Domenico Arcangeli. Their contact in Clymer was their cousin Giuseppe Foresi (our cousin). Theodore lived on Harrison Street in 1920 as a boarder with the Galli or Galls family. By 1926 he had married Anita Landi. They had three children: Elaine, Henry and Gloria. Unfortunately, Theodore was killed by a reckless driver in 1933 while he and 19 other miners were walking home from the mine in Mentcle PA.
Enrico’s middle child, Remo (Raymond) was born in 1897. He traveled to Clymer in 1923 following his brother to the coal mines. By 1930 Remo had married Margaret and they had at least one son named Antonio. They moved to Lackawanna, PA. Remo died in Lake Ariel, PA in 1989.
Bottom line: The Enrico Foresi family branched out in the USA with family names of Mears, Falucci, Conti, Davis, Ruffner, Short and Santini. These are NOT our cousins though – close – they are cousins of our cousins.
Ottavio & Enrico had a brother named Renaldo Foresi. His story and that of his descendants is the most confusing. Since they are not actually related to us, I have not spent a great deal of time researching this family. Renaldo was born in about 1871. He married Maddalena Amici. They had three children. The oldest (Vincenzo) was the only one to travel to the USA.
In December 1920, Vincenzo (Vince or sometimes James) sailed to the US and guess where he was headed…Yep… Clymer… to see his cousin Giuseppe Foresi. By 1930 James was married to Rose Malengo and they had 3 children – Renaldo (John), Madeline and James. They lived in Pine Twp., PA – a few miles from Clymer. He died in Indiana County in 1988.
The descendants of Renaldo have branched out into many families of Foresi, Bellando, Platko and Tonelli – to name a few. Many are still in Indiana county, others have moved to Ohio and New York state.
This part of the story may have seemed a waste of time or perhaps needless, but it is important to understand that the Foresi descendants have intertwined and it has been very difficult to untangle the web. If you ever meet any of the people mentioned above you will know that they are descendants from Preci, Italy and cousins of our cousins.
Next time the Foresi’s that are related to us….
Sgriccia 