My paternal Grandfather, whom I have not had the pleasure to meet in person, was named John Iannelli (see FT AG4, photo1, photo1bis e Appendix1).
He was born on 1884/05/03 in Morcone ( M01, M02, M03, M04, M05, M06, M07, M08 ), a nice mountain village of Sannitic Apennines in the province of Benevento in Italy, where he died at age 54, on 1938/11/24, following complications after amputation of a leg, made necessary by an atherosclerotic gangrene, perhaps complicated by septicemia.
During his life he lived a fantastic, seems to me, adventure: in 1909 he emigrated to the U.S. where he remained until about 1913, when he had to return to Italy because of serious illness of his beloved mother, Marie Cristine Rucci.
John was the second son (the first male) of Raphael Archangel, said Raffaelone, born on 1854/10/30 in Morcone, nearly 100 years before me, died in Naples on 1907/9/20, which had, by Cristine, 10 children, as it was very frequent in Italian families of the time (FT AG 2).
Raphael Archangel ran a tavern, the equivalent of our bar, often more similar to the Anglo-Saxon Pub, where the villagers would gather to drink and eat but mostly to meet other male members of the community. He was descended from a family of “Morconesi” (FT AG1) whose ancestors are identifiable in the parish and municipal registers until Francis born in about 1700.
The main work of his family was the craft: his grandfather Bernardin shoemaker, blacksmith his father Thomas, carpenters his brothers Bernardin and Stanislaus, as indeed himself in his youth, and some of his children, especially the eldest male “Giovannino (little john)”, at least in his youth, but also his smaller brothers “Nicolino and Tommasino”, as his mother Cristine liked to call them. At the turn of 1900 Thomas, father of Raphael Archangel, lived at N° 5 in the 2nd alley of San Lorenzo (or Laurel) street in Morcone together with his three sons and the family of Raffaelone, his wife and 10 children; I have never seen the house (perhaps near the actual church of San Laurel, if the house still exists!) and I cannot assign a precise meaning to this cohabitation (economic condition? Strong family ties?).
Returning to Raphael Archangel, he on 1097, on the occasion of a trip to Naples, for pleasure or for his work as a restaurateur, it is not known with precision, fell by getting a broken right leg that quickly led him to death; because of the difficulty in transport and/or, as it may be supposed, to financial difficulties, he was buried in Naples thanks to the intervention of a friend co-villager, Francis Nazzaro, working as accommodation in Naples. The nephew John Dominic, the unforgettable uncle Mimì, son of my Grandfather John (FT AG4 e Allegato1), the main source of these and other news related to our family, he was able in 1963 to find the grave at the cemetery “Capodichino” and to transfer remains in Morcone, where they were deposited in the family chapel built by Mimì and his brothers Raphael, my father, and Ennio (Allegato2 e 2bis). I like to remember that Mimì, dealer manager of a multi-faceted grocery store, has continued to work in the restaurant industry as practiced by his grandfather and by his father, just the same a very multi-faceted man, on his return from the American adventure.
The death of Raphael Archangel, sudden and traumatic, led to a rapid deterioration in the economic conditions of the family, I do not know how prosperous earlier, burdened by debts with other villagers which I have documentation relative to the early ‘900 provided to me by my uncle Mimì.
The Italian economy of those years and the economic conditions of the family suggested to the skilled craftsman John to seek his fortune in the U.S. I could see personally some bespoke furniture of good quality made by my grandfather, still existing in the family home in Morcone, via del Corso n° 96, actually the residence of my cousin Albina, daughter of Mimì and of the solar Aunt Lina, of which I keep alive the memory of his kindness and sincere and deep affection for me and my family.
As is known, at that time in Italy there was what is called the “great migration” that led out of our country, especially to America, more than 20 million people between 1870 and 1915, the year of the beginning of the First World War, that interrupted momentarily that phenomenon.
About the adventure of “little John” there is still a trace in a few letters of correspondence exchanged with his mother Christine. Reading them is challenging for the spelling and the use of an Italian a little obsolete (as an example see Appendices 3–4–5–6–7–8–9) and their transcript will be my future but not too next engagement. Surely it is exciting to be able to read, nearly with fear of violating their privacy, these precious documents so distant in time but so timely and vital; reassures me to know that John’s letters were addressed to the pastor (not relative as I am), their protector and family friend, who would then read to the mother Cristine likely about or completely illiterate, I do not know with certainty, as the rest of the 90% of the southern Italians of the period; interesting the style of John very pragmatic, basic but that gives a clear expression of his feelings, that are described with great frankness. The emotional impact caused by these pages has been very strong for me and I am deeply moved and proud for the affection and strong spirit of this man that fully meet the demands of the family of which he feels the full economic and moral responsibility. The untimely death of his beloved mother causes him, as I said, to return to Italy to take the reins of the householder not without, meanwhile, have managed to almost completely restore the economic situation of the family, extinguishing most of the debts with continuous remittances of money from the United States.
But John, who settled in Boston as a appreciated carpenter in a large company, he has also put the foundation for the gradual transfer of 6 other brothers and sisters, which gave rise to numerous descendants spread to various states in the U.S.A. (FT AG3, AG5, AG6, AG7, AG9, AG11 and AG11bis). After decades of substantial loss of contact between the descendants of John (FT AG4) and two sisters, Mary Iannelli married “Cioccia” (FT AG8) and Pellegrine Iannelli married “D’Adona” (FT AG10) remained in Morcone, certainly favored by his untimely death and the subsequent Second World War, relations have slowly recovered by not well documented through meetings between Mary “Cioccia” (FT AG8), and Immaculate Iannelli Rosato (FT AG11 e AG11bis), settled in Connecticut, but especially for the trip to Italy of Dominic (FT AG7) who in his old age, at the turn of the ’80s, wanted to return to see his hometown, accompanied by his loyal granddaughters Deborah and Stephanie, the daughters of his daughter Marie with which we have maintained, especially Mimì and his son John, regular relations. At that time my father and his brothers met him and later Mimi visited twice in the United States many of our relatives, most of whom reside in Boston.
In the 2000s some of our cousins, especially Ralph “Buddy”, the son of Ralph of Dominic, with his wife Gina and their daughters Tanya and Tara, his brother John, his sister Joanne, the cousins Deborah and Anne Marie, daughter of Eduard, son of Dominic, have, also several times, visited Italy; in September 2009, Steven, son of the already mentioned John, and Jenna, his wife, were on their honeymoon in Italy with, of course, stops in Rome and Morcone. Even Mark, son of Robert, the brother of Deborah and Stephanie visited Italy a few years ago. In 2005, during the short stay in Rome by Buddy and his family, also I, my wife Maria Luisa and my children Andrea and Albert have done their knowledge and especially in 2007, I and my brothers John and James, as well as our mother Bastiana, we had the pleasure of having Buddy, Joanne and Deborah guests for a few days in Sardinia, where we live (Allegato10). Also John, son of Mimi, along with his wife Elisabeth, visited Americans relatives in 2003, in Boston for the wedding of Andrea, the daughter of John, and in 2006 in Orlando, hosted by Deborah.
Many news relating to the various branches of the family are derived from the drafting of the Family Tree, prepared for her dissertation, from Marjorie our cousin, granddaughter of Thomas (FT AG5). For data related to our ancestors Marjorie turned to the ubiquitous Mimì, who did early research in the parish archives, then transmitted to her nephew; probably because of problems related to the understanding of the written notes in Italian, some information may not have been properly interpreted and have been correct by me in the preparation of our family tree, here partly enclosed as Appendix, also enriched with data, added to the already powerful original version, based on information provided by the various Italian and American relatives with whom I have contact by letter and especially through the internet (Allegato11).
Going back to my Grandfather John, after his return to Italy he showed his versatility in basically continue his father’s business as a restaurateur, and in this task he was, after a few years, assisted by his wife Linda Di Mella (FT AG4bis e foto2), my paternal Grandmother, among other, skilled cook of which I remember the delicious “rustic pizzas” that almost ninety continued to prepare for us when we went to visit her in Rome, where he lived for decades with my uncle Ennio, my cousins Alma and John and the unforgettable Aunt Grace, passed all too soon and that we remember affectionately. In addition to the initial restaurant business the sale of groceries were added. Also, my grandfather, particularly susceptible to the practice of many manual tasks, specialized himself in the production of wine, his great passion, as evidenced by the cellar of his house and as also noted our aunt Lida, nephew of my Grandmother Linda (FT AG4bis) that in his youth attended assiduously the John’s home. These activities were , after his death, continued by his son Mimì. I wonder if the passions of my Grandfather John also favored the choices of the eldest son Raphael, graduated in Agricultural Science in Portici (Na), and of the youngest son Ennio, graduated in Law and also in Political Science at the University of Naples.
But that’s another story.
Cagliari 2013.12.10
Pietro Iannelli