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Climing my family tree, part 4: Great uncle Leonardo.....
In this installment, I cover the history of Leonardo Poltrone -- my grandfather's brother, whcih makes him my great uncle, or grand uncle.
Leonardo went by either "Leonard" or "Leo". He was born around 1888 in Brucoli, Sicily. He came to the US three times: in 1905, 1913, and 1925. He worked as a general laborer during his time here. He married a woman named Carmela and they had seven children together: Sebastiano ("Yano"), Salvador ("Sam"), Joseph, John, Domenic, Anna, and Josephine ("Josie"). These are my first cousins, once removed (as they are all part of my parents' generation). Their children are my 2nd cousins.
The story I heard from my father was that Leo wanted to move to Florida, but only got as far as Lorain, Ohio -- about 30 miles west of Cleveland. This was somewhere between 1925 and 1930. The family settled into a house on 17th St.
Domenic, the youngest of the siblings, died at age 9 following a brief illness. The rest of the children got married and stayed in the Lorain area. Yano married Clara; Sam married Lorraine, Joseph married Theresa, John married Mary, Anna married Jim, and Josie married Richard. Joseph served in WW II in Europe, and was involved in the local Italian-American Veterans post.
Growing up, I rarely saw the members from this part of the family. I think they came up to Buffalo to visit us once or twice. When we came back from Florida in the summer of '75, we took a side trip to Lorain to visit one of the relatives. (All I remember was that it was a two-story brown house. It might have been the house on 17th St.) I think it was around 1979 that one of the family members passed away. That was the year my father had varicose vein surgery, and couldn't drive down to Lorain for the wake or the funeral. Or it might have been 1983, when Joseph passed away, and that was the year my dad broke his kneecap. And as a result, some resentment built up between the branches of the family, and we didn't speak to each other for many years. My mom and my aunt Angie continued to send them Christmas cards, but that was about the extent of the communication. I don't think they sent any back. And Leo and Carmela's grandchildren or great-granchildren weren't interested in meeting us or talking with us.
In October 2009, while I was finishing up a contract job in Cleveland, I looked up cousin Clara's current address and phone number. I called her up, introduced myself, and asked if I could visit with her. She welcomed the opportunity, and invited the surviving relatives of that generation -- herself (Yano pased away in 2007), Sam, Ann and Jim, and Richard and Josie -- for a get-together. Unfortunately, Sam and Jim have passed away since then, so there are now only 4 members left from that generation.
I should call Clara this week and ask to visit with them again. The IAV is hosting their annual Festa Italiana on Saturday, Sept. 7th, and I'm considering attending. A trip up to Lorain will also give me an opportunity to flesh out this branch of the tree.
By the way, I haven't gotten any closer to solving the mystery of how Vincenzo (aka James) and Splendora Poltrone fit in to the tree. As mentioned in part 1, I came across their gravesite on findagrave.com, in the same cemetery as Domenic's gravesite. There was never any mention of a Vincenzo or a Splendora while I was growing up. But looking through the census records and street directories, they happened to be another Poltrone family in town, that lived on 12th St. -- 5 streets away from Leo and Carmela's home. They had three children -- Andrew (who married Mildred), John (married Annabell), and Louis. And I suspect there was some confusion between the members of the two families. Were there any interaction among the two famlies? I will ask Clara about them when I see her.
Leonardo went by either "Leonard" or "Leo". He was born around 1888 in Brucoli, Sicily. He came to the US three times: in 1905, 1913, and 1925. He worked as a general laborer during his time here. He married a woman named Carmela and they had seven children together: Sebastiano ("Yano"), Salvador ("Sam"), Joseph, John, Domenic, Anna, and Josephine ("Josie"). These are my first cousins, once removed (as they are all part of my parents' generation). Their children are my 2nd cousins.
The story I heard from my father was that Leo wanted to move to Florida, but only got as far as Lorain, Ohio -- about 30 miles west of Cleveland. This was somewhere between 1925 and 1930. The family settled into a house on 17th St.
Domenic, the youngest of the siblings, died at age 9 following a brief illness. The rest of the children got married and stayed in the Lorain area. Yano married Clara; Sam married Lorraine, Joseph married Theresa, John married Mary, Anna married Jim, and Josie married Richard. Joseph served in WW II in Europe, and was involved in the local Italian-American Veterans post.
Growing up, I rarely saw the members from this part of the family. I think they came up to Buffalo to visit us once or twice. When we came back from Florida in the summer of '75, we took a side trip to Lorain to visit one of the relatives. (All I remember was that it was a two-story brown house. It might have been the house on 17th St.) I think it was around 1979 that one of the family members passed away. That was the year my father had varicose vein surgery, and couldn't drive down to Lorain for the wake or the funeral. Or it might have been 1983, when Joseph passed away, and that was the year my dad broke his kneecap. And as a result, some resentment built up between the branches of the family, and we didn't speak to each other for many years. My mom and my aunt Angie continued to send them Christmas cards, but that was about the extent of the communication. I don't think they sent any back. And Leo and Carmela's grandchildren or great-granchildren weren't interested in meeting us or talking with us.
In October 2009, while I was finishing up a contract job in Cleveland, I looked up cousin Clara's current address and phone number. I called her up, introduced myself, and asked if I could visit with her. She welcomed the opportunity, and invited the surviving relatives of that generation -- herself (Yano pased away in 2007), Sam, Ann and Jim, and Richard and Josie -- for a get-together. Unfortunately, Sam and Jim have passed away since then, so there are now only 4 members left from that generation.
I should call Clara this week and ask to visit with them again. The IAV is hosting their annual Festa Italiana on Saturday, Sept. 7th, and I'm considering attending. A trip up to Lorain will also give me an opportunity to flesh out this branch of the tree.
By the way, I haven't gotten any closer to solving the mystery of how Vincenzo (aka James) and Splendora Poltrone fit in to the tree. As mentioned in part 1, I came across their gravesite on findagrave.com, in the same cemetery as Domenic's gravesite. There was never any mention of a Vincenzo or a Splendora while I was growing up. But looking through the census records and street directories, they happened to be another Poltrone family in town, that lived on 12th St. -- 5 streets away from Leo and Carmela's home. They had three children -- Andrew (who married Mildred), John (married Annabell), and Louis. And I suspect there was some confusion between the members of the two families. Were there any interaction among the two famlies? I will ask Clara about them when I see her.