April 2020 – Sgriccia

I have been asked by a few family members about how our cousins in Italy are weathering this Covid-19 storm. The short answer is: Good.

First let us review how many cousins we know we have in Italy and how they are related.

Once again using Cherubino as a reference point: his oldest sister and his youngest sister are the only two of seven children that did not emigrate to the USA. The oldest sister, Francesca married a man named Eliseo Petrini. They first lived in a very small village (Fematre) north of Preci about a 20 minute drive today. The house they lived in is still owned by one of their grandsons – Davide Petrini. Even though Davide lives in Tarquinia, Italy he is staying at his Fematre house to weather the “stay at home” orders. We have communicated with him via Facebook he is doing well.

fran1 fran2 eliseo

Francesca and Eliseo

At some point Francesca and Eliseo moved to Tarquinia, a town about 1 hour north of the Rome airport. They had six children, 3 & 3. I believe that the two oldest sons died during WWII. There are only 3 grandchildren still living in or near Tarquinia – Davide Petrini, Francesca Rosati and Caterina Pacifici.

Second cousins: David & Davide Petrini

We have met Davide Petrini and spent a couple days together. He is single; digs for and collects Etruscan artifacts and is restoring the family house in Fematre. Next is Francesca Rosati also lives near Tarquinia. She is married and has three children. We have never had any contact with her. The third is Caterina. She is married to an artist who has a studio in Tarquinia – they have no known children. (His webpage is here). We were supposed to visit with them this week in Italy.

Yesterday – the day we were to have met – I received a touching email from Caterina – the message was in Italian. Thanks to Google Translate it reads:

“Good morning dear David and Nina,

These days should have been days of happiness for us, unfortunately this is not the case. We could hug, get to know each other and it would have been very nice. We hope we can do it soon, but we are all suspended in this chaos.

The most important thing is to be healthy.

We have been in isolation for twenty days, locked in the house, fortunately we have adopted this system to contain the virus and in Tarquinia it has worked. I hope you are all well too. Protect yourself at home. and “EVERYTHING WILL BE OK”.

Happy Easter and a big virtual hug

Fabrizio and Caterina”

Cherubino’s youngest sister was Liberata. She married Armando Antonelli. They had six children: four girls and two boys – in fact, two of the girls are twins and as far as I know the only set of twins in the entire family tree! (Read more here.) Three of the girls are still living. All in Livorno, Italy. Numerous children, grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren.

We have visited them on numerous trips – the most memorable was Easter Sunday 2011 (Read more here.) We continue to communication via e-mail, Facebook and Instagram. We received an Instagram communication today from a great grandson of Liberata that told us that everyone is fine in Livorno and surviving the lock-down.

We hope all in our USA family are doing well.

Ermenegilda “Emma” Arcangeli is our 2nd great aunt – the older sister of our great grandmother. Emma was born in 1871 in Preci, Italy and died in 1942. She married Ottavio Foresi in about 1890. Ottavio was born in 1868 in Preci and died in 1949. They are both buried at the cemetery in Preci. The pictures below are from their gravestones.

emma ottavio pix

Ottavio

The couple had four children: Giuseppe “Joe” (1893), Romolo “Romeo” (1899), Antonio (1908) and Matilde. We do not know when Matilde was born, but she died in 1926. We wrote about Matilde in a previous posting. You can read it here.

The youngest son, Antonio Foresi, married Amelia and had at least one son. In about 1953 Antonio bought a bulk wine business in Orvieto, Italy. This business included a store front – Cantina Foresi – on the main Piazza Duomo in Orvieto. If you have visited Orvieto you will recognize the picture below and you have walked right past your cousin’s wine shop.

cantina

Today the Cantina is run by Antonio’s grandson -Alessandro Foresi. We had the unique opportunity to meet him during our 2015 trip to Italy. You can read about that encounter here. Allessandro was instrumental in helping me clarify the connection between Family Foresi and Family Sgriccia.

The two oldest sons of Ottavio and Emma – Giuseppe (Joe) and Romolo (Romeo) – ventured to the USA. Can you guess where they headed? In 1912 Joe at 18 years old sailed to New York with two others from Preci. Joe was headed to Clymer to visit a friend named Michele Bidolli. Romeo followed Joe to Clymer in 1914. Both became miners at the Russel Coal mines. In 1919 Joe was drafted into the US Army along with his cousin Cherubino Sgriccia. We found a newspaper article that implied that Joe tried to join the US Army Band that Cherubino was in, but later we learn that Joe shipped out to France with an infantry unit. He safely returned to Clymer.

In 1920 we find the Foresi brothers living in a very crowded household on Franklin Street in Clymer.

1920 census

Shortly after the census Joe married Ludovina “Jennie” Bidolli. Jennie arrived in Clymer in 1920 with her sister and mother. We assume that Joe & Jennie were childhood sweethearts because, you will recall, when Joe arrived in the USA he was on his way to visit his friend Michele Bidolli. Between 1922 and 1926, Joe & Jennie had 4 children though their daughter, Velia, died when 8 months old from Influenza.

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Not to be outdone, Romeo married Jennie’s sister Adeline Bidolli. Romeo and Adeline also had four children between 1922 and 1929.

(I just realized that Joe and Romeo’s children are first cousins TWICE – once on the paternal side of the family and once on the maternal. Their grandchildren are second cousins twice).

During the 1930s both families moved from Clymer to Detroit to work in the auto plants. By 1940 Romeo was working at Ford Motor Company in River Rouge. He and the family were living in Detroit. Meanwhile, Joe was working at Chevrolet Gear & Axle and living in Hamtramck.

All the children married and settled in different parts of the Detroit Metro area. The grandchildren have been spreading out even further and like our family many are retired.

Having lived in the Detroit area my entire life I have never met one of the Foresi cousins, primarily due to the fact that we did not know we were related. Around 2004 my wife was playing in a ladies’ golf league in the evening. I happened to see a list of the players and I immediately recognized the name Foresi. I called the lady and asked want she knew of the Foresi lineage. She said that she knew her husband’s family was originally from PA but that was about all.

Kind of funny…I meet a 3rd cousin Foresi in Italy, but the ones that had lived within a few miles I have never met.

Month: April 2020

Our Italian Cousins Today

The Foresi Cousins

(I just realized that Joe and Romeo’s children are first cousins TWICE – once on the paternal side of the family and once on the maternal. Their grandchildren are second cousins twice).