Every Picture Tells A Story

Gregorio and Vittoria

My Grandfather Dominick , Lucy, and Sonny

            When I decided to blog my family history. I chose a photo of an italian market  in South Philadelphia. I grew up hearing stories of our family fruit and produce business, from pushcarts and produce stands to our own trucks and storefronts. When my father Dominic "Hap" Scirrotto was born they lived in an apartment on Passyunk ave. My Grandfather Dominick was one of ten children born at 1120 south eleventh street. South Philadelphia was one of the largest italian communities in America. All my ancestors settled there when they first immigrated to this country. My Great Uncle Francesco Scirrotta was the first to arrive in 1890. He was followed by his siblings Gregorio, Rachele, Filomena , and my great grandfather Pasquale. They came from a village named Terranova Da Sibari in Calabria. They brought their knowledge of farming with them. Francesco Scirrotta became Frank Scirrotto. He married Emelia Zaccaro in 1894 in Philadelphia. With his wife ,mother in law Rosa , and Jenny the half sister of his wife. They traveled to Port Norris New Jersey and worked as migrant farmers. Within a few years Frank Scirrotto owned his own farm and canning business. Frank would often help other italian families get started in the area.

The Year 1900

Castelbuono

Myself , Guiseppe, and my father 

In the year 1995 my father and I went to Sicily to visit the ancestral home of the Fesi family.The village of Castelbuono is a medieval town nestled in the ancient madonie mountain range. Our great uncle Guiseppe took us up to his farm above the village. From there he pointed to a large tract of land across the valley where our great grandfather Pietro Fesi owned a large farm . He explained ,a land dispute arose between Pietro and his brother. It resulted in the loss of there land and farm.
Guiseppe was the son of Vincenza Fesi , the sister of my great grandfather Mariano Fesi. During World War Two while serving in the Italian Army ,Guiseppe was captured and held prisoner for four years by the Russians. After he was released,it took him almost two years to find his way back to Castelbuono. It was an incredible story!  Today life was good in sicily. At the turn of the century life was very different. Sicily was a land burdened with  natural disasters, famine and disease. One third of the population would leave the island.

Pietro Fesi

 Pietro at the age of forty two and his fifteen year old son Mariano Fesi decided to go to America. The ship manifest date of arrival was January 3, 1900. Pietro Fesi was born Febuary 2, 1857. His wife Vincenza Biundo remained with there two daughters Concetta and Vincenza. During there voyage on the Atlantic Ocean. What thoughts raced through his mind that new years eve?  A Sicilian farmer, from the old world, with his only son, was about to arrive in America. Pietro would return to Sicily in a few short years , he would die there. Mariano , a barber by trade would settle in Philadelphia. The italian colony of south Philadelphia had grown to almost eighty thousand. It was peak time for italian immigration. The italian community in Philadelphia was second only to New York. Many Castelbuonese had settled there. There would be many familiar faces there. Vincenza Meli was only twelve years old when Mariano left castelbuono. Within five years on Febuary 19,1906 they would marry at a little church called "Our Lady Of Good Counsel". This church was built by the sicilian immigrants.

Pietro and Mariano Ship Manifest

A Time To Weep

                     
     

Maryellen Scirrotto (Sulimay) 1941-1992

             The most painful experience in my life was when I had to say goodbye to my sweet mother. She had just turned fifty years old. She left us three months to the day of the diagnosis. She was my rock. She had late stage liver cancer and she accepted it. She chose not to go through chemotherapy. Through her faith, she was able to take that final walk with strength and dignity. This is something that I continue to take with me. Vincenza Meli was thirteen years old when she experienced great loss. The summer she arrived in Philadelphia would be one of the hottest on record. My relatives spoke of a comment Vincenza would often make that her mother died of a broken heart. It was the clue that would help reveal her story. Guiseppe age three, it seems, never made it to Philadelphia. Maybe that was the reason for their detention at Ellis Island but I am not certain. I can only speculate. I am sure though that he never was mentioned again.

Nicoletta Genchi death notlce

           On July 2,1901, Nicoletta Genchi died. There with her husband Giaocchino, and three surviving children Vincenza thirteen, Vincenzo age seven, and Antonette age nine months. I cannot imagine what that must have been like for the children watching their mother slip away and seeing their fathers' grief in this small tenement house on Seventh Street.  All prisoners of the stifling heat! Was Vincenza holding Antonette as she screamed for her mother? Did she have to stay with the children and the body of her deceased mother as her father went for the undertaker? Vincenza now without her mother in this strange land was left caring for her baby sister and little brother. As cruel and unforgiving the world could be, this small Sicilian family was dealt another terrible blow. The baby Antonette died twenty days later July 22, 1901 from cholera.
                                                                                                                         

Antonette Meli death record

               Gioacchino had made that decision to come to America, to settle in Philadelphia to give his family a better life. Within three short months, he had lost his wife and two of his four children. In that era, it was common for men to give their children up in these circumstances but Gioacchino kept his family together. I can't help but feel that it was Vincenza's character and willingness to care for young Vincenzo that helped keep the family together. The family survived and within three years a widow named Anna Prestianni from Castelbuono, arrived at Ellis Island with two young daughters. On her ship manifest she listed her future residence as Seventh and Clymer street, Philadelphia which was the home of Gioacchino Meli.

7th street circa 1900

The journey

            I was observing my daughter the other day as she was sitting in a chair reading a book. She was completely immersed and I thought to myself how much she is like me. She is passionate about reading. She loves history and has a keen interest in the World War II era. This is not common for a thirteen year old girl. My thoughts began to shift to my great grandmother Vincenza Meli . When my daughter Serena was born, we were all surprised by her blue eyes. We were always told Grandmom had blue eyes. Blue eyes are fairly common in Sicily evidence of the Norman conquest of the island. And then I started to think that this was the tender age of my grandmother when she came from the old country. Her story is heart breaking. I could not imagine my daughter experiencing such great loss and pain. I try to create in my mind what it was like for her. The ship her mother Nicoletta and her three younger siblings came over on was the SS California by route of Palermo to New York. The date was May 1st ,1901 and how frightening that journey must of been! A women alone with four children packed in steerage with all types of people crossing the Atlantic Ocean. I would think Vincenza being the eldest daughter would have been responsible for her younger siblings.  The baby Antonia was just three months old and would had required most of her mother's attention. The two boys, Vincenzo age seven and Guiseppe age three, would have been very difficult for a thirteen year old to care for.

ship manifest uss california

Sweet Memories

me and grandma fesi 1963

•          My name is Dominic Scirrotto. I am a third generation italian-american. I was born in philadelphia in 1961. I was keenly aware of my italian identity from a very early age. My father instilled in me a deep sense of pride in our heritage. My earliest memory of my great-grandmother Vincenza Fesi nee (meli) was around christmas  1966. As we entered the house , grandma Fesi grabbed me up and took me into the kitchen to give me a homemade cookie. She put her finger to her mouth and smiled and looked around , and then quickly she and I had a taste of anizette. Her home was a three story row home on 24th street in the fairmount section of philly.It was the place where all of the family came together. Of course sunday dinner was the driving force.I will always remember the sounds and smells when we went there. She lived there with my grandparents , her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her husband Mariano Fesi died the year I was born. My father and his siblings lived most of there lives here.