Lobosco Family History
So where did it all begin....somewhere in Italy, in the province of Salerno in the region known as Campania, our ancestors came from Sala Consilina in a section of town known as La Trinita'. Today Sala Consilina is a rather large city with a population of over 12,000.
As many of you may know, the patron saint of Sala Consilina is San Michele the Archangel. So maybe that is why our ancestor was named Michele - Michele Lobosco. Translated from the Italian, Lobosco means forest.
Our family’s patriarch was born about 1853, the son of Rosario Lobosco and Maria Spinelli. It is known that he had two brothers, Angelo and Pasquale, and three sisters, Rosanna, Maria Giuseppa and Teresa. An uncle once said that Michele’s forefathers originally hailed from Sicily.
Michele married Maria “Vincenza” Carolina Paladino in 1884 and fathered twelve children, two of which died in childhood. As the story goes he was a furrier who traveled to Canada and South America. He made rather frequent trips and died in 1905 at the age of 52 shortly after seeing his youngest son born. His wife, Vincenza was then left to raise their ten children on her own.
Vincenza was born about 1867, daughter of Angelo Paladino and Maria Tierno. We know she had one brother named Michele and four sisters named Maria Vincenza Antonia, Filomena, Giuseppina and Giuseppa.
Just think, 10 children and now Vincenza was a widow. In any day and age, this was definitely a hardship, but more so in early 1900's Italy. What began as a tragedy would culminate in the immigration of 7 children to the United States. One by one they would leave Sala Consilina and help one another to find a better life, a place to establish new roots, a place to build a new home.
On March 26, 1912, almost 6 ˝ years after his father died, Angelo found his way to the United States, sponsored by a relative, Mario Pettinato. At the age of 18, a long way from his family, he came to Paterson, New Jersey an industrial city bustling with activity. For early Italian immigrants, the grand streets must have looked like gold, a far cry from their native Italy. But Angelo couldn't find work so off he went to Chicago to work on the railroad.
Previously, back in Sala Consilina, Rosario had married his bride, Maria Cava on July 10, 1910. He then followed Angelo and emigrated to the United States on December 4, 1912.
The third brother to purchase a ticket to America was Michele at the age of 16 arriving on December 9, 1913. Leaving from the Port of Naples on a ship called the Taormina, he traveled in the company of his sister-in-law Maria Cava Lobosco, and nephew Michele aged 1. These new immigrants came to Cross Street where they joined Rosario.
These were difficult years, hard work for little pay. By the time Angelo married Maria Tafuri on October 15, 1915 in St. Michael's Church on Cross Street, he was only earning a dollar a day working with a pick and shovel. His wife Mary worked as a weaver in one of the many silk mills for which Paterson was known.
World War I came along and brothers Luigi and Emilio served in the Italian Army. Across the Atlantic, their brother Michele served in the United States military. Following the Armistice and having served his new country, Michele was the first of the brothers to become a citizen on December 31, 1918.
Before emigrating to America, Luigi wed Antonia Manzo. On May 29, 1921, Luigi and his sister Giuseppina arrived in Philadelphia having traveled together across the Atlantic on the Caserta. They now joined their three brothers in Paterson.
On December 14, 1921, Antonia Manzo Lobosco aged 23 set sail on the Providence from Naples with her son, Michael aged 9 months. They arrived in New York on December 27, 1921 having spent Christmas at sea. Also arriving with them was the matriarch of the Lobosco clan, Vincenza and the youngest Lobosco, Attilio aged 17. Surely Vincenza was happy to see her sons Michele and Luigi when they picked her up at the pier. The new arrivals were to live at 47 Cross Street in the Little Italy section of Paterson. On the ship's manifest it stated that Luigi and Michele were in the junk business which was worth $11,000.
The brothers, Angelo, Rosario, Michele and Luigi had established themselves in the "junk" business. Today recycling has an environmentally correct connotation, but then it was just a collection of waste products called "junk."
On May 3, 1923, Michele married Maria Teresa Russo in San Arsenio, Italy. He then brought his young bride to Van Houten Street in Paterson on June 14, 1923 following 10 days at sea on the Conte Russo.
On September 20, 1923, Emilio Lobosco arrived from Montevideo, Uruguay on the Vauban. He was listed as a 24 year old mechanic on the ship's manifest. He had married Francesca Terranova in Italy before his South American venture. Eventually his wife and two children, Michele and Vincenza joined him from Italy to live in Paterson.
Giuseppa (“Giuseppina”) also married during these years. Her husband, Francesco Mastrogiovanni was from Sessa Cilento, Italy. And finally, the last of the siblings to marry was Attilio; his bride, Elvira Marino.
During the ensuing years the brothers worked hard and saved their money. Sometime between 1924 and 1925 the brothers went their separate ways in business. Rosario and Angelo pooled their resources and in 1924 built a house on McBride Avenue and a small shop next door. Trucks would haul newspapers, old magazines and books to the shop where it would be weighed, sorted, put into bales and shipped to mills where it would be turned into pulp and reused to make new paper products.
As time went by, the families grew. There were a good number of cousins running around; many by the name of Mike and Vincenza (or Jennie) all named to honor their Lobosco grandparents. It must have been terribly confusing to call out the name Mike in those days - at least 6. Not to mention an equal number of Jennies!
The first of the cousins to marry was Michael from McBride Ave. His lovely bride Clotilda was from San Mango, Cilento, Italy. They were married on July 30, 1939 in Italy.
In the early 1930's in an effort to bring the old country a little closer to home, the chapel of Saint Michael was built at St. Michael's Grove in Totowa. Rosario and Angelo were among the founding members of St. Michael's Society. Rosario, a handy-do-it-yourselfer constructed sturdy wooden tables with attached benches for use at the Grove. Over time, small shrines to various saints were built along a winding path that led to the summit of a hill. Each year on the weekend closest to September 29th, St. Michael's birthday, a feast was held at the Grove. Who can forget watching a young boy dressed as St. Michael the Archangel hovering on a cable suspended above the crowds?
The cousins grew older and time marched on. Before long World War II was upon them and the Lobosco boys went into all branches of the service. What a worrisome time for the families left behind.
After the war, the cousins got back to their normal lives in Paterson. Hotdogs at Libby's, get-togethers with friends and family and boat rides on the Passaic River. And before long, the Lobosco clan began to marry. Imagine all the cookies and noche that were prepared in the kitchens as well as the beautiful needlework adorning the linens of the brides so lovingly prepared by their mothers.
As the families grew, the cousins couldn't help but think of a way to hold the family together and so it was on April 28, 1957 that they met to form an Association, The Lobosco Association. Membership was open to the male head of a family who is married to or is a direct descendant of the children of Michele and Vincenza Lobosco. Meetings would be held once a month on the first Friday. The initiation fee was $10 and dues were $2 per month. First elected officers - Roy Lobosco, President; Angelo Lobosco (McBride Ave.), Vice-President, Frank Zanfino, Secretary and Mike Lobosco (McBride Ave.),Treasurer.
The Association planned many events to keep the family together and for that we are forever grateful. The picnics, parties, dinners and trips have been enjoyed by the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Michele and Vincenza. It is this generation’s hope to continue the tradition by keeping the Lobosco Family spirit alive.
Nearly 97 years have passed since the first of our family came to these shores in 1912. A lot has happened both good and bad. But we're a family that has held together so many years and we're still going strong. Just look at what we've done and where we are - memories that will last a lifetime .....
- Clelia Lobosco De Souter
January 18, 2009
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