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Ida has been gathering documents to gain her Italian Citizenship, and located this wonderful record of the marriage of Giovanni and Antonetta Santomassimo! Here's the story of how she uncovered it; "We weren't sure where they were married, but St Donato Church, our family parish wasn't built until 1915 and they were married in 1908. George thought it had to be St. Michael. All it took was a phone call and a very helpful church secretary who very nicely took a photo of the original document (which she said is in a ledger that is falling apart!) and sent it to me." --Ida I hope you enjoy this little piece of our history, and thank you Ida for sleuthing and sharing! 
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An article Armand saved from 1965 naming Hugo and Theresa's house the best in Christmas lighting!  Thank you, Sean, for finding the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 Census records for the Santomassimo family! Below you'll find the information for Giovanni, Antonetta, Antonio, "Ita" (Ida), and Rosina. As you can see from the original document at the bottom of this post, the typing and the handwriting is very small. I've broken the long line of information up into three sections so that it's easier to read. This document tells us many things. It tells us that Giovanni arrived here in 1901, and Antonetta arrived in 1903. It tells us that Giovanni was not naturalized. Some of the family may already know this, but I was surprised and delighted to find out that both Giovanni AND Antonetta could read and write when they came to this country. I can't imagine that was a small feat for that time, especially if you were a woman. In the coming weeks I'll be posting the other Census records. The nature of these records is that they will often conflict with each other. Census takers were not always thorough, and sometimes handwriting is hard to make out. Still, it's worth poring over these documents to see what they can tell us. Is there anything about this Census you find interesting? Please share in the comments!        This city directory from 1902 tells us that very soon after Giovanni arrived in the United States (according to census records, he arrived sometime between 1900 & 1901), he and his brothers Angelo and Vincenzo had employment at Sargent and Company in New Haven. A little bit about the Sargent company, a wholesale hardware business in New Haven, can be found below; "SARGENT’s original New Haven location was along Water Street on land now occupied by the Teletrack Theatre and The Maritime Building(s) with a portion of the plant bordering Wallace and Hamilton Street. Prior to the Sargent brothers acquiring this property, it was owned by such historical names as colonial patriot Jesse Leavenworth (1760), Benedict Arnold (1778), Eli Whitney (1807), and the Fulton Steamboat Company (1817). The original plant started out with a series of five-story brick buildings, storage sheds, and, as the business grew, other buildings were added. Connecting these various structures were “catwalks” or bridges, often spanning busy city streets. By 1914, the SARGENT product catalog listed some 60,000 different items, making it one of the largest hardware manufacturing plants in the United States." If you'd like to learn more, click here.  1902 City Directory Detail  A few months back, John Morcaldi sent me this treasure. It's a series of Super 8 videos his father, James Morcaldi, shot from 1949 - 1961. It starts in Havana in 1949, and follows the Morcaldi family on their vacations to Miami throughout the 50's. Olga's dresses and bathing suits are to die for! And Roberta and the boys are adorable... Somewhere towards the end of the video there is a short piece of the Santomasso family picnic at Lake Compounce 1958. Luckily we also have photographs from that day! They are featured today in the Family Photos post, if you haven't checked it out yet. It's fun to compare the video footage of everyone getting things out of the car, sitting down under the pavilion, eating at the table - with the photographs of that same day. The final tableau in the video is the posed photograph in front of the car. I love watching everyone in motion, getting ready for the shot. If you want to skip ahead to the picnic, it starts at at 51:42. Thanks again John, we are so lucky to have this. Enjoy! Anthony Santomasso attended the University of Connecticut and graduated with Distinction in Economics in 1932. Below, you'll find some pages from his yearbook, listing him as a member in the Fraternity Alpha Phi. The photo of the brothers of Alpha Phi is also below, but I can't seem to make out anyone who looks like Anthony. Perhaps he was absent that day? Let me know if you think you spot him. Underneath that you'll find a page from the yearbook listing his senior class roll, and lastly the program for his graduation ceremony. Thanks Bob, for finding that! Enjoy!        In September of 1949, Armand graduated with an Associate in Science from the Junior College of Commerce. Today, we know this institution as Quinnipiac University, in Hamden CT. Below, you'll find a photo of the college as it looked in 1947, which was likely the time that Armand started classes. Underneath that is Armand's commencement program. You can find his name listed on the last page. For a bit of history of the Junior College of Commerce, and how it's name changed to Quinnipiac, please click here. Please click "comments" above to share your thoughts / memories.      Thank you Idie, for sharing this document with us! Rose's passport tells us that she started her adventure in Manchester, England when she arrived on May 15, and ended her travels when she left Rome on May 29 to go back to America. This document also speaks of a different time, a time when the assumption was that the bearer would be a man, perhaps "accompanied by his wife... minor children..." (see third page of the passport), but take note that there was no section for a woman traveling to write in her husband's name! Different times. That wouldn't fly today! Rose has clearly also managed to take an attractive passport photo, and I don't know about you, but mine has always come out horrible. Go Rose! Enjoy!     As I mentioned in a previous post, we are very fortunate to have memorial records for both Giovanni and Antonetta. Though these documents are somber in nature, I think it's important to share them, as they too are small windows into our family's past. Below, is the memorial record of the proceedings of the funeral service for Antonetta. It includes the location of burial, attendants, and lists an obituary. Unlike Giovanni's, Antonetta's obituary doesn't list her interests and involvements. Perhaps she was involved in activities at the church? Perhaps she found herself too busy at home to volunteer in the community? Could anyone shed some light? If nothing else, we know by the outpouring of condolences, Antonetta was loved. Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories!                       Recently, I was talking with my Dad (Bob) and he pointed out that both Hugo & Theresa, and Armand & Carmel got married on a Monday morning. Monday morning? Really? I went and looked at the invitations for each of their weddings. Absolutely. Monday morning. I can't remember one wedding I've ever been to on a Monday morning, let alone two weddings of people in the same family, BOTH getting married on a Monday morning! My Dad explained why, and it makes a lot of sense. As you can imagine, after World War II churches were in great demand because returning soldiers and their fiancés were itching to get married and get on with their lives. With so many soldiers back from the war at the same time, the churches were overbooked. It was so impossible to get a weekend that couples resorted to weekdays, they were even happy to snatch up an inconvenient Monday morning! Below, you'll find the unique invitation to Carmel & Armand's wedding, and their marriage certificate. Enjoy! Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories!
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