Donatantonio d'Abruzzo (1830 - 1901)

Born 4 Apr 1830 in Sant'Angelo del Pesco, Isernia, Molise, Italia

Ancestors

Husband of Alba Maria del Monaco — married 30 Dec 1858 in Ateleta, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italia

Descendants

Died 1901 at about age 70 in Ateleta, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italia

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Biography

The following is a history of the D'Abruzzo family written by Ottavio Savina Grandson of Enrico D'Abruzzo Donato's son:

Donato D’Abruzzo, the father of Enrico “Henry” DaBruzzi, Antonio “Tony” DaBruzzi and Francesco “Frank” DaBruzzi, was born in the tiny village of Sant’Angelo del Pesco, probably in the late 1830’s or early 1840’s. At that time, Sant’Angelo and all of southern Italy and Sicily were part of the Spanish Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The nation of Italy was not completely united until 1870, although it was initially founded in 1861. It was about this time (1860) that Donato married Alba Maria Del Monaco of nearby Ateleta. At that time, weddings usually took place in the hometown of the bride but the newlyweds normally raised their children in the hometown of the groom. This was not the case with Donato and Alba Maria for they raised their family in the Ateleta area. In particular, the “frazione” (a small hamlet near a larger comune or town) of Sant’Elena is where the family resided. It was located higher up in the mountains which surround Ateleta. Both Sant’Elena and Ateleta were heavily destroyed during World War II by both the Germans and the Americans who were fighting for control of the area. Sant’Angelo del Pesco was also destroyed. If you were to visit these towns today you would be struck by the fact that most of the buildings are relatively new (considering the long history of Italy), all having been built after World War II. There are still D’Abruzzo surnames in Sant’Angelo although we have had no contact with those families. There are no D’Abruzzo surnames in Ateleta, however, since three of the sons emigrated to the United States and the remaining son never had a child of his own .

Donato and Alba Maria had 5 children. For many years the name of the first child, a daughter, was not known by the children of Enrico, Antonio and Francesco. It was not until recent years that an accomplished genealogist, Tom Grilli, was able to find some information about Maria D’Abruzzo for me. She was born on June 20, 1861 in Ateleta. It is possible that she married Giuseppi Serafini in 1886. If so, she probably moved to her husband’s hometown to raise their family. As far as I know, the D’Abruzzo brothers who came to the U. S. did not have contact with her. We therefore have lost track of this branch of the D’Abruzzo family.

The second child of Donato and Alba Maria was Enrico D’Abruzzo who was born in 1863. In 1886 he married Caterina Ricci, the daughter of Evangelisto Ricci and Angela Del Monaco (Caterina’s sister, Carolina, married Enrico’s brother, Francesco). Enrico and Caterina had at least four children before immigrating to the United States. I say “at least” four children because Tom Grilli uncovered information indicating that Caterina may have had another son, Carmine, who was born on January 12, 1899. This was startling news to say the least! Unfortunately, Tom was not able to find any more information about Carmine. There is no death record in Italy nor is he listed on the ship which carried the family to the U. S. in November of 1899. There is also no record of him registering for military service in Italy at the age of 18, as required by law. It is hard for me to believe that parents could have left behind a tiny child when they emigrated. However, Tom said that it was not all that unusual at that time. The ship passage to the United States was difficult enough for adults, but even more so for a 10-month old infant. My best guess is that they left the infant with Enrico’s brother, Domenico, and his wife, who remained in Italy. Since Enrico and Caterina also named the son who was born in 1903 “Carmine,” it is my belief that they perhaps had received news from Italy that the first Carmine had passed away. Perhaps he was a sickly child or was afflicted in some way. It was very common in those days for a couple who lost a child in infancy to name the next child of the same gender by that same name. Enrico and Caterina did this for their last two children who were both named Carmela. The first Carmela was born in 1906 and died five months later. The second Carmela was born in 1908. Enrico and Caterina had six additional children here in the U. S. for a possible total of eleven.

The next child was Domenico D’Abruzzo, referred to above. The best guess is that he was born in 1865. He was referred to as “strupiato” (“cripple” in dialect) because he had some physical impairment which forbid him from immigrating to the U. S. It is believed he married a widow who had a son. My mother told the story that this son came to the United States and lived with her family for a short period of time. However, since this young man didn’t feel like he needed to work as hard or as often as the rest of the family, my grandfather, Enrico, sent him back to Italy. Since Domenico had no children of his own, there were no D’Abruzzo’s left in Ateleta to carry on that surname. It was not unusual for family surnames to completely disappear from Italian villages because of the mass immigration to North America.

The fourth child of Donato and Alba Maria was Antonio. There are no birth records for him either. His tombstone in Cumberland, WI indicates he was born in 1867. He married Margarita Sciullo, the daughter of Giovanni and Concetta Sciullo. It is unclear if they married in Italy or here in the U. S. Unfortunately Antonio died in 1906, at the age of 39, after a fall from the roof of an addition he was building onto his house. He suffered a broken leg and gangrene set in. He left behind four children, the oldest six and the youngest a little over a year. Margarita remarried and had seven more children with Antonio Ricci.

The last child was Francesco D’Abruzzo. He was born in 1870 and married Carolina Ricci in 1891 in Ateleta (Carolina was the younger sister of Caterina Ricci, wife of Francesco’s brother, Enrico). They had one child in Italy before immigrating to the United States in 1893. They had ten additional children here in America for a total of eleven. Carolina died in 1915, her youngest being 4 years old. Francesco then sent for a second wife who was a widow with two children. Her name was Giovina Ricci Manella. They had two more children.

All three of the D’Abruzzo brothers who immigrated to North America came some years earlier in order to earn enough money to bring their wives and families over and start a new life here in the United States. My mother stated that her father worked on the railroads near Pittsburgh before bringing over his wife and children. It appears that many men from the Ateleta area worked on railroads in Pennsylvania and settled in that state. These three brothers, however, did not settle in Pennsylvania. Instead, they settled in the Comstock area of Wisconsin and all went into farming.

Sources

• Date of birth / data di nascita: Registro dello stato civile di Sant'Angelo del Pesco (Archivio di Stato di Isernia, Stato civile della restaurazione, Sant'Angelo del Pesco, Nati, volume 1830, numero 15)
• Marriage / matrimonio: Registro dello stato civile di Ateleta (Archivio di Stato di L'Aquila, Stato civile della restaurazione, Ateleta, Matrimoni, volume 1858, numero 15)

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dan Bauer for creating Dabruzzi-16 on 21 Nov 13.