Immigrants Coming to America

Ellis Island is a small island located in New York Harbor and played a significant role in the immigration of European people to America. 450,000 immigrants were processed within the first year in 1893 but a fire in 1897 destroyed the buildings on Ellis Island. The structure was rebuilt and reopened in 1900. Officials estimated 5,000 immigrants per day would be processed and from 1892 through 1954, twelve million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island.

Today, over 100 million Americans, one third of the population can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in American at Ellis Island. In 1907 immigration was on the rise, more people came to the United States than any other year. Approximately, 1.25 million immigrants were processed in that one year. This is the story of one family.

Matteo

In 1907, Matteo, his first wife and their two sons, boarded a ship called La Savoie, a French ship that departed from Turin, Italy on October 19th. Guido (Bill) was 7 years old and Adelino (Elmer) was only a year old baby. Matteo was 36 and his wife Carmelinda was 31.

After an 8 day trip they arrived at Ellis Island on October 26, 1907. I can only imagine what their accommodations were like but lets just say they weren’t on a cruise ship. There were 1,055 passengers on board the La Savoie bound for the United States; 437 first class, 118 second class and 500 third class.

After arriving on Ellis Island their destination was San Francisco and then onto Oakland, California where relatives were waiting for their arrival. Departing on a train for San Francisco, the family settle in for their long ride; I’m sure the family was exhausted and a train would provide better and more accommodating transportation.

In Oakland, being with family and recuperating from their long journey was a Godsend. Matteo cousins informed him their was work in Nevada, so he left his wife and children in Oakland and arrived in Nevada to check out his prospects. After spending several months in Nevada, he sent for his family to join him. Within the next year Carmelinda was pregnant with their third child, a son Gino born in 1909.

And then a tragedy strikes for poor Matteo, his adoring wife Carmelinda dies in childbirth leaving him with three boys. Bill is 9, Elmer is 3 and Gino is just a newborn. How Matteo managed with his three sons is unknown, I would guess that either family or friends hopefully helped Matteo with the care of his three young sons. In 1911, Matteo and his three sons travel by ship to Bozzano, Italy, his hometown where an arranged marriage has been organized by the local priest for Matteo.

Matteo & Fidalma

Fidalma Vannuchi was born July 2, 1885 In Bozzano, Italy. She came from a very poor family and neighbors can remember her begging on the streets for food. In January 1912, at the age of 27, she embarked on a new life, with a man she barely knew and the father of three young children.

On January 1912, they arrived in Ellis Island, for Matteo and two of his boys it’s the second trip but for Fidalma and Gino, their first. Bill is 12, Elmer is 6 and Gino is 3...Matteo is 41. Their destination is mirrored like the previous trip. All aboard the train for Oakland where Matteo and Fidalma are married on February 22, 1912.

The family settled in Sacramento, California and buy a home. In 1914 they had their fourth son Ralph. Fidalma did an excellent job as a mother. The older boys all called her Ma, so she must of earned her name.

The family lived out their lives in Sacramento…Matteo worked for the railroad and provided for his family. Fidalma was a stay at home wife and mother, who could cook like a chef, sew clothes like a professional and kept a home spotless for her family.

Matteo passed away in 1954 at the age of 82 and Fidalma passed away in 1967 at the age of 83.

The Boys

Bill was born in 1900. He had a colorful life and became an entrepreneur early in his youth. A buddy and him opened a car repair shop in Oakland, California. Then Bill met a contractor and he asked Bill if he would come and work for him. Bill said yes and worked on the Folsom Dam and later after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he became one of the earliest Seabees recruited from the civilian construction trades and placed under the leadership of the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. He was stationed in the Pacific, where most of the construction work was needed. After the war Bill bought a trailer park in Orangevale, California, married and died in his 80’s. He had no children,

Elmer was the second son….Born in 1906, at the age of 23 he began working as Mechanic 1st class for the Contractors, Pacific Naval Air Bases (CPNAB), he was working on ships between Hawaii and the West Coast and became 3rd, Assistant Engineer. He was stationed on Wake Island when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, joined in the efforts with the military as a civilian, to help fight off the Japanese. He was captured in 1941, died in 1943 from starvation, overwork and pneumonia in a Japanese concentration camp. He never married and had no children.

Gene (Gino) the third son was born in 1909, he joined the Army in the later years of WWII and was stationed in the Midwest. He worked as a parts manger in a car dealership in Sacramento, California. Married and later adopted two daughters.

Ralph the fourth son was born in 1914. He was the only son born to Fidalma and Matteo. He want to trade school and became a mechanic because he loved to work on cars. He worked for the County of Sacramento for years, married his sweetheart and they had two children. He took care of his mother until her death in 1967. He had a good life but it was cut short in 1985 when he died from cancer at the age of 72.

This family that made this courageous trip from Italy to American in the early 1900’s is my family. They endured hardships, happy times and made America their home. Matteo and Fidalma are my grandparents. I was only 3 when Matteo died but from stories that I have heard, he was a gentle and handsome man. I had a wonderful relationship with my Grandmother. When my parents married, they built a duplex and my grandparents lived in the smaller unit. She lived their until her death.

My Uncle Bill was a real hoot. What a character and someone not easily forgotten. He was always over to visit his Ma and spent all the Holidays with us. Unfortunately, my Uncle Elmer died a horrible death but from the people that knew him, they only sing his praises and what a fun person he was. My Uncle Gene had a normal life and adopted girls later in life. He had a good marriage and enjoyed his family.

My Dad was Ralph, the youngest of the boys and the only son born to Matteo and Fidalma. My Dad was like my grandfather, gentle and so handsome. He had a wonderfully personality with a hardy and contagious laugh. People to this day comment on how fun my Dad was. He was a good son , husband and Daddy, who took care of his family until his death.

So, I grew up in a very Italian household, The food was amazing and thank goodness I have the recipes to make some of the traditionally dishes. My Dad didn’t teach us Italian although he could speak it beautifully. He wanted his kids to be Americanized; a very important aspect for him.

This is the amazing story of my paternal ancestors….a wonderful and interesting legacy to pass onto my children.