Locations: Calabria, Italy and America
Date: 1903 - 1905
The pieces of documented evidence for Moschilla migration to the United States during the first decade of the 1900’s were not fitting into place. It had become a puzzle with missing pieces hindering the whole story from being clearly revealed and understood.
Domenico, son of Francesco Moschilla and Fortunata Fragomeni, was the first family member to permanently relocate to the United States. This is an undisputed fact. As noted in Entry 19, the earliest passenger record of Domenico Moschilla’s arrival in New York is dated 1905. However, unexpected information on this same document revealed that upon his arrival, he would be joining his brother Andrea - obviously indicating that his older sibling was already in America. This discovery raised several questions: Who then, first conceived the idea of leaving Siderno in search of a better life in America, and when did this milestone voyage occur? Was Andrea the immigration pioneer? The problem was, there was no proof. After extensive searching, no passenger records prior to 1905 were found for Andrea to indicate an earlier journey. For a while, with nothing more to investigate, the research was set aside, leaving the questions unanswered and at risk of remaining a mystery - until, the possibility of spelling errors in the documented records was considered. With further research, two more U.S. immigration passenger lists were discovered, each listing the brothers on separate voyages with their surnames misspelt: Andrea’s was recorded as MOSCHELLA; and Domenico’s as MOSCHILLO. Finally, the missing pieces of the puzzle were found, providing a 1903 starting point for the family's immigration story:
On the 14 January, 1903 the steamship named Nord America departed from the port of Naples on a journey to New York. On board, embarking on an adventure of a lifetime, was an unmarried 22-year-old named Domenico Moschilla. Although he was an illiterate peasant, unable to either read or write, he had managed to pay for his ticket himself. About two weeks later, the ship entered the harbour in New York, and the passengers disembarked on Ellis Island for processing. Domenico was in possession of US$11 and his final destination, when he reached the mainland, was Albany, NY. He had never been to the United States before and there were no relatives or friends he would be joining in this foreign country.
His brother Andrea followed later that year.
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