Agostino Marfisi (1865 - 1946)

Born 24 Aug 1865 in Termini Imerese, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Ancestors

Husband of Girolama Marfisi — married 6 Jun 1899 in Termini Imerese, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Died 25 Apr 1946 at age 80 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States

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Biography

On 24 August 1865, Vincenzo Marfisi, age 28 (b. 1837), shepherd, reports the birth of a boy to Liboria di Natale, his wife, age 24 (b. 1841), that day in their home in Termini Imerese. He is named Agostino Marfisi.^[1]

On 6 June 1899, Agostino Marfisi, celibe, age 33 (b. 1866), shepherd, native resident of Termini, son of the late Vincenzo Marfisi and the living Liboria Di Natale; and Girolama Marfisi, nubile, age 30 (b. 1869), housewife, native resident of Termini, daughter of Liborio Marfisi and Agata Battaglia; announce their marriage in the civil record of Termini, where all are residents.^[2]

Agostino and Girolama have five children: Liboria (c. 1902), Agata (c. 1905), Rosa (c. 1907), Mary (c. 1911), and Josephine Rita (1912).

Based on the 1910 census, Liboria is born around 1902 in Maryland.

Agata is born around 1905 in Ohio.

Rosa is born around 1907 in Ohio.

In the 1908/1909 Polk Uhrichsville-Dennison, Ohio city directory August and Girolama Marfisi are listed at 237 Grant, both as their home and from which they deal in fruit.^[3]

Agostino is a successful merchant in Dennison, Ohio, where he owns a saloon, a candy store, and a fruit shop. He is also part of a Black Hand organization called the Society of the Banana which extorts wealthy Italians in cities across the United States. Two other associates of the Society are his young employee, Antonino Vicario, and Tony's brother, Calogero "Charlie" Vicario.^[4]

In 1909, a postal police investigation uncovers the ring and orchestrates the simultaneous arrests of more than a dozen members in multiple cities and states. Two months before the arrests, Agostino returns to Italy. When he comes back to the United States, Agostino is arrested in Dennison, on 9 June, after a running gun fight with police.^[5][6] He claims to have been in Italy to see his sick mother.^[7]

Most of those indicted in a 1909 extortion case based on the postal investigation are residents of Ohio.^[8] Nineteen are found guilty in January 1910 in Toledo, Ohio. Three men, including Agostino, are granted new trials.^[9] He is released and the blackmail charges against him are dropped.^[10]

In the 1910 federal census of Dennison Village, in Mill Township, Tuscarawas, Ohio, taken 1 April, August Marfisi, 44 (b. 1866), heads a household on Grant Street. He and his wife of eleven years (m. 1899), Girolama, 38 (b. 1872), were born in Italy. August emigrated in 1896 and is a naturalized citizen. Girolama has had three children, all living. Their oldest child, Liboria, 8 (b. 1902), was born in Maryland. Their younger two children, Agata, 5 (b. 1905), and Rosa, 3 (b. 1907), were born in Ohio. August is employed as a fruit merchant. Also living with them is a clerk (that is his relation to the HOH), Salvatore Buemi, 23 (b. 1887), born in Italy, who emigrated in 1907. Salvatore is a clerk in a fruit store.^[11]

Mary is born around 1911, based on the 1920 census. In the same record, her sister Josephine is two years younger.

Josephine Rita is born in Dennison, Ohio on 17 April 1912.^[12][13]

Girolama dies 26 June 1918. She is buried in Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA.^[14]

In the 1920 federal census of Dennison, Tuscarawas, Ohio, August Marfisi is a widower, age 54 (b. 1866), living at 215 1/2 Grant St. with his daughters Liboria, 17 (b. 1903), Agatha, 14 (b. 1906), Rose, 13 (b. 1907), Mary, 9 (b. 1911), and Josephine, 7 (b. 1913). Liboria was born in Maryland and the younger children in Ohio.^[15]

In the 1930 federal census of Dennison, taken 11 April, August Marfisi, 64 (b. 1866), widower, heads a household at 217 Grant St with his daughters Rose, 23 (b. 1907), Mary, 19 (b. 1911), Josephine, 17 (b. 1913), son in law Bert Calderone, 33 (b. 1897), daughter Laboria, 28 (b. 1902), and grandchildren Richard Calderone, 1 yr 10 mo (b. Jun 1928), and Angela J. Calderone, 1 month (b. Mar 1930). August and Bert were born in Italy; August came in 1898 and is naturalized; Bert came in 1912 and is also naturalized. Laboria was born in Maryland. Everyone else was born in Ohio. August is the proprietor of a fruit store and Bert is a salesman in a fruit store.^[16]

August's son-in-law, Bert Calderone, dies on 15 September 1935 in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. He last lived on Grant Street in Dennison, Ohio. He was 39 years old, a wholesale produce merchant.^[17]

Josephine's last name at death is Aiello.^[12][13] Mrs. Louis R. Aiello of Pittsburgh is named as a surviving daughter in August’s 1946 obituary.

In the 1940 federal census, August Marfisi, 74 (b. 1866), a widower, heads a household at 213 1/2 Grant St with his daughters Rose, 34 (b. 1906), Mary, 29 (b. 1911), Laboria Calderone, 38 (b. 1902), a widow, and her children Richard, 11 (b. 1929), and Jeanne, 10 (b. 1930). August was born in Italy and the rest of the family in Ohio. August works on his own account as a clerk in a confectionery.^[18]

Death of August

August Marfisi dies on 25 April 1946 at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus (in Franklin County) after two weeks’ stay. He last lived at 217 1/2 Grant St., Dennison, Tuscarawas, Ohio. He was in the US for 43 years. He was a widower. His wife’s name was Girolama. August was born 23 August 1865 in Italy, the son of Vincent Marfisi and Liboria Natila. He died at age 80 from myocarditis due to hypertension. His occupation was confectioner. The informant is Laboria Calderone of Dennison.^[19]

August Marfisi, 80, prominent resident of 217 1/2 Grant street, Dennison, died this morning at 7:45 in St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, following a months’ illness of complications. Born in Italy August 23, 1865, he was the son of Vincent and Laboria Marfisi. He was proprietor of a confectionery store in Dennison for the past 43 years [since 1903], and was a member of the Immaculate Conception church. His wife, Gerolama, is deceased. Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. Laboria Calderone and Rose, of the home: Sister Augustina, Louisville. Ky.; Mary, Dayton; and Mrs. Louis R. Aiello, Pittsburgh: four grandchildren and two sisters in Italy. Funeral arrangements. In charge of the R. K. Lindsey Funeral directors.^[20]

Josephine dies 7 August 2000 at age 88.^[12][13][21]

Sources

1. ↑ Atti di nascita, Agostino Marfisi. (1865, August 24). Record no. 552. "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862-1910," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MZ-Z2RK?cc=1947613&wc=MDBD-9P8%3A245876501%2C246605201 : 20 May 2014), Villaurea > Nati 1863-1867 > image 1969 of 3089; Tribunale di Termini Imerese (Termini Imerese Court, Termini Imerese).
2. ↑ Atti di matrimonio, Agostino Marfisi and Girolama Marfisi. (1899, June 6). Record no. 95. "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862-1910," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9M8-3NH2?cc=1947613&wc=MDB8-QWL%3A245876501%2C246013501 : 20 May 2014), Villaurea > Matrimoni 1885-1910 > image 1632 of 3015; Tribunale di Termini Imerese (Termini Imerese Court, Termini Imerese).
3. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/polkuhrichsville00unse/polkuhrichsville00unse_djvu.txt
4. ↑ Oldfield, W. and Bruce, V. (2019). Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society: America’s Original Gangsters and the US Postal Detective who Brought Them to Justice. Simon and Schuster.
5. ↑ Sleuths arrest alleged leader of black hand. (1909, June 10). Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 36, No. 252. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19090610.2.2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
6. ↑ Nab two more mafia suspects. (1909, June 10). The Detroit times. (Detroit, Mich.). Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016689/1909-06-10/ed-2/seq-4/>
7. ↑ More suspects are in toils. (1909, June 10). The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio). Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88077573/1909-06-10/ed-1/seq-2/>
8. ↑ “16 Black Hand Indictments.” The Sun (New York, NY) 12 December 1909.
9. ↑ Convict black hand plotters. (1910, January 30). Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 37. No. 121. P. 3. Retrieved from https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19100130.2.20&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
10. ↑ Blackmail charges are dismissed. (1910, January 29). The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, OH). P. 8. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19638209/the-daily-times/
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRVT-39P?cc=1727033&wc=QZZ4-ZT2%3A133640001%2C142978801%2C133973701%2C1589089036 : 24 June 2017), Ohio > Tuscarawas > Mill > ED 133 > image 2 of 54; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JPKW-L48 : 9 January 2021), Josephine R Aiello, 07 Aug 2000; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
14. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70656035/giroloma-marfisi : accessed 23 October 2021), memorial page for Giroloma Marfisi (15 Mar 1870–1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 70656035, citing Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by D S (contributor 47279177) .
15. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RXN-X9B?cc=1488411&wc=QZJR-SVV%3A1036474301%2C1039675601%2C1037935101%2C1589332533 : 13 September 2019), Ohio > Tuscarawas > Dennison > ED 165 > image 4 of 50; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
16. ↑ Year: 1930; Census Place: Dennison, Tuscarawas, Ohio; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0030; FHL microfilm: 2341620 District: 0030; Description: DENNISON CITY, WARD 1, BOUNDED BY (N) CITY LIMITS; (E) N. 3D; (S) ALLEY BETWEEN GRANT AND CENTER; (W) CITY LIMITS. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
17. ↑ "West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9HN-3BT : 10 March 2018), Bartolo Calderone, 15 Sep 1935; citing Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia, County Records, cn 860, county courthouses, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 857,612.
18. ↑ Year: 1940; Census Place: Dennison, Tuscarawas, Ohio; Roll: m-t0627-03161; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 79-43; Description: MILL TOWNSHIP, DENNISON VILLAGE BOUNDED BY (N) VILLAGE LIMITS; (E) N 3RD; (S) GRANT; (W) VILLAGE LIMITS; ALSO TWIN CITY HOSPITAL Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
19. ↑ "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DBT7-J15?cc=1307272&wc=MD9X-H3D%3A287602801%2C294194301 : 21 May 2014), 1946 > 21701-24800 > image 1599 of 3503.
20. ↑ August Marfisi [Obituary]. (1946, April 25). The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) P. 16. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/82997486/
21. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150645023/josephine-rita-aiello : accessed 23 October 2021), memorial page for Josephine Rita Marfisi Aiello (17 Apr 1912–7 Aug 2000), Find a Grave Memorial ID 150645023, citing Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Crypt Finder (contributor 50307473) .