Paternal Grandparents of Salvatore Moschilla
Locations: Calabria, Italy and America
Date: 1850’s onwards
During the 1800’s, education was not considered a priority for the Moschilla family residing in rural Siderno. Developing farming skills associated with food production was more crucial for survival than an ability to read and write. Therefore, with written records not an option for documenting history, information was passed orally to the younger generation by their parents and other elders.
Building the family tree for Francesco Moschilla and Fortunata Fragomeni was achieved through this powerful verbal process - a tradition mastered by their descendants, son Girolamo (b.1872) and grandson Francesco (Frank). The end result is more than just a list of names on a page - oral history has provided an insight into the extensive marital connections with other families and has also led to the gift of unexpected and exciting new discoveries.
Fortunata was a sixteen year old teenager when her father approved an arranged marriage to Francesco. The couple lived in Contrada Flavia and had ten children: three sons and seven daughters.
Their eldest child, Girolamo, was born on 19 May 1872. He became a ‘cuntadinu’ (farmer). After the death of his first wife, he married Rosa Pedulla. Rosa was the mother of his only child, Francesco (Frank) born in 1941. Girolamo and his son shared a close bond and were inseparable; he taught him everything he knew and passed all family knowledge to him, preserving what may otherwise have been lost.
Francesco and Fortunata’s second son, Andrea, was born in 1875. Andrea is the father of Salvatore Moschilla - this is the branch of the family tree that will be explored in more detail in upcoming posts.
According to oral history, another son, Domenico, was the first known member of the Moschilla family to leave Siderno and permanently settle in another country. He relocated to the United States of America and was referred to as, ‘u zu Micu d’America.’ Further information about him has been extracted from a U.S. immigration passenger list. This document revealed that Domenico was born in 1880 and was single when he departed Naples on a ship named S.S. Neckar. He arrived at the port of New York on 21 April, 1905 at the age of 25, with US$18 in his possession.
Presented below is the entire family of Francesco and Fortunata. Their children appear in random order since most of their birth dates are unknown.
EXTRA INFORMATION
In addition to the factual information recorded in the 1918 World War 1 Registration Card for Domenico Moschilla, it can be inferred that his father, Francesco, was likely deceased by then - given his mother is noted on the card as the "nearest relative".
The second document, the Illinois Death Index, is presented in its original format, with spelling errors corrected in pink text. After working at different mine sites, 'U zu Micu d'America,' settled in Springfield for at least for 18 years before passing away at the age of 55.
Photographs from this era are quite rare, so it's not surprising that images have been found for only two of the ten Moschilla siblings - Girolamo and Andrea. Wedding photos, showing exquisite bridal fashions, are perhaps even rarer. The bride is the granddaughter of Francesco and Fortunata. Her identity is only partially solved: her parents are Girolama Moschilla and Giuseppe Meleca, therefore her surname is MELECA; however, her first name remains a mystery. She married Francesco (surname possibly - Adolfo), who was known as ‘Cicciu u postinu’ (Cicciu the postman).
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