as remembered by my brother Gabriel
R. Micchelli
09-12-2023
Heritage
and Pedigree of the Lucciola Family
This is the story of my maternal grandfather’s immigration experience
coming from Italy to the United States America in 1918. Like tens of
millions of other Europeans, he came through Ellis Island. The
colloquialism “coming through” seems appropriate because he was
like a baby being born, coming through the birth canal, not knowing
what would happen next or where he was going. Tens of millions of
immigrants’ stories are similar. In those days they came by ship.
Ellis Island was the birth canal through which the immigrant passed
checkpoints and waited to be born into new life, a life of freedom
and opportunity in the United States of America.
How
I heard this Story
I would ride my bicycle on the warm summer days in July of 1968, down
my street to the corner. Once I turned that corner, I was out of
sight of my home at 101 Forest Street. I’d ride down a long hill to
the busy cross street of Union Avenue where I would make a right turn
and ride on the sidewalk for a few long blocks until I reached EL
Cleaners on Union Avenue near Joralemon Street - another busy
thoroughfare. Joralemon Street was named after one of Belleville’s
founding families from the early 18 century.
I’d kickstand my Stingray bike on the sidewalk and visit my grandfather -
who I called Popa. I’d watch him sow and press suits and wait on
customers. When times were slow, I’d ask him things. Many things.
What it was like when he was my age. How old he was when he came to
the US. What mom was like when she was a young girl.
Most
kids my age had heroes who were sports figures and astronauts. My
heroes were businessmen like my grandpa and my dad and his brothers
and sister. Dad had five other brothers and a sister in the
hairdressing business. My paternal grandfather, the original Gabriel,
passed away when my dad was four years old of an unknown illness. My
grandfather Gabriel’s brother Nicholas looked after his brother’s
young family. When Joe, Nick and Gabriel came home from WWII in 1944 and 1945, their
Uncle Nick set them up in hairdressing school and afterwards, brought
them into this hairdressing salon in Newark’s busy and bustling
downtown. Once employed at Micchelli
Hairdressing,
Joe, Nick, and Gabriel joined their other brothers, Louis, Anthony and
Michael, and their sister Philomena. Also in this gaggle of Micchelli
hairdressers was Louis’ son, another Gabriel, named after his
grandfather. The two youngest hairdressers in the shop were 18 year
old Gabriel, Louis’ son and 22 year old Gabriel, my dad – both
named after the same man.
Enough
about the Micchelli family for now. Let’s get back to my Papa. My
mom was Papa’s only daughter. Papa and grandma Mary raised their
daughter Louise in Belleville, on the other side of town from where
we lived. Grandma died when I was a toddler - before I could know
her. Papa came to live with us after grandma passed and he was like a
2nd father to Barbara and me. I don’t remember a time without Papa
being there. Papa and I played a little, but we talked a lot when I
was a young boy. Papa’s life was his tailor shop and his daughter
Louise and all of us. He and dad would talk about business along with
mom. When dad left Uncle Nick’s salon in Newark, he and brother
Michael opened their own salon. When dad finally went on his own,
Papa gave dad confidence and was a valuable sounding board.
Papa
had a relationship with a woman from Brooklyn. Her name was Yetta.
She was a Jewish lady who escaped Germany just before WWII and was a
great dancer according to Papa. Papa would take the train to meet
Yetta on the weekends and they would go dancing. She worked at the
Knickerbocker Toy Company in New York City. The name 'Knickerbocker'
was derived from the nickname for the citizens of New York in
reference to the baggy trousers (knickers) that the original Dutch
settlers wore. Yetta came to our house for holiday dinners and once
we all went to New York City to meet her and her son for dinner. She
was fun and funny and was the only grandmother that I ever knew, as
both of my grandmothers had passed away before I ever knew them.
The story that follows is as I heard it in bits and pieces when I was 11
years old from my grandfather, Eliseo (Eddie) Lucciola, in the back
of his tailor shop on warm July afternoons in 1968.
The
Story Begins in Cassino Italy
Eliseo was startled awake one morning in his small bed in Cassino. He had
made his decision concerning a letter he received from his older
brother Serafino, postmarked America. Serafino had left Italy a few
years before for America. He had been sending money. A few weeks ago,
a letter came from Serafino addressed to Eliseo. It said,
In
Italian,“Vieni
in America dove ho un lavoro per te nella mia sartoria. La vita è
bella qui. Arriva attraverso i servizi di immigrazione di New York
City a Ellis Island, USA. Fammi sapere il nome della nave che prendi
da Napoli a New York, e ti incontrerò nel luogo designato vicino a
Ellis Island.”
In English, “Come
to America where I have work for you in my tailor shop. Life is good
here. Arrive through New York City Immigration Services at Ellis
Island, USA. Let me know the name of the ship you take from Naples to
New York, and I will meet you at the designated place near Ellis
Island.”
 |
Eliseo and his bride, Mary
|
That letter had
been rattling around in Eliseo’s head for weeks. He had never
thought about going to America before, but the letter forced Eliseo
to look at life in his village. “What kind of life is there for me
here in Cassino?”, he thought.
He was 17 years
old and was apprenticed to a tailor in Cassino for little wages, to learn
a trade. He made extra money by chopping wood for the townspeople in
Cassino with his small axe and pick. If he left for America, his
younger brother, 12-year-old Elisia, would take over chopping wood
for money to buy the family provisions such as flower, eggs, salt, and
bread. The cow and their little garden his mother tended supplied
milk and enough produce to sustain them.
Mother’s
thoughts - and becoming “American”
Eliseo had spoken to
his mother about Serafino’s letter and asked her what she thought
of him leaving Italy for America. She said, “Italy is old, and the
plight of the people hadn’t changed in 1,000 years, and may not
change for another 1,000, but America was young and growing.” It
was his decision to make, and his alone. She would support whatever
he decided to do.
Eliseo thought
about what his life would be like in Italy and what his life could be
in America. America had gained a reputation during WWI as a
powerhouse. People in America were free and not restrained by the
circumstances of their birth, or by a repressive government, or by
the vendettas of the powerful Mafia who wielded power in Italy. Now
with the war over, Eliseo wanted to be free to do what he wanted to
do. Go where he wanted to go. He wanted to get married someday and
for his family to have a better life than what Italy could offer. He
wanted liberty. In that moment, thinking about what we now call “the
American dream”, he became an American.
The ship to
American sailed from Naples, which was a few days walk from Cassino.
He took what money he had and set out for Naples to find work to earn
money to sail to America. He left early in the morning and walked all
day. The first night he spent just off the road sleeping in a field
near some bushes. The next night he slept in an empty barn near a
farmhouse. The following day he arrived walking into Naples. It was a
large city for the young man who grew up on a small plot of land, in
a tiny house, on the outskirts of Cassino.
Naples is the
sprawling regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of
Italy, after Rome and Milan. This ancient city had been the capital
of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilia. Before that it was the capital of
the Kingdom of Naples, and before that it was the capital of the
Duchy of Naples. Founded by Greeks in the first millennium BC. Naples is one of the oldest continuously
inhabited urban areas in the world – and it looked every day of it.
The city was filthy.
By contrast, the
ancient bucolic village of Cassino lies at the foot of Mount Cassino,
the sight of the great monastery of Saint Benedict. A city of
medieval origins, Cassino is scarred by multiple battles and ancient
wars. Now a peaceful village. Eliseo had once climbed the steep
hillside and approached the ancient wall of the monastery only to be
brushed away by the monks who tended the garden outside the walls.
Before descending he stopped and took in the grand view from the top
of the mountain overlooking his village. He felt like a rich man
surveying his lands. He thought of his father.
His father had
died when Eliseo was eight years old of an unknown ailment. His
mother raised three sons and after his father had died, kept them fed
and clothed by taking in sewing in the village for the tailor who was
Eliseo’s master and teacher. Before leaving for America, Serafino
had chopped wood and done odd jobs to help feed his brothers and
mother.
Eliseo’s mother
was funny and chatty and wise, and always gave him and his brothers
good advice. He always felt good about things and confident in
himself whenever they would talk. She smiled while listening to
Eliseo. When he told her he was leaving Cassino. She told Eliseo that
he was capable of doing great things and should never give up. She
reminded him as she had many times, that he was descended from the
same great Italian people that had produced the likes of Leonardo
DaVinci, Christopher Columbus, Galileo and Michelangelo.
Earning money
in Naples
Eliseo soon got a
job serving coffee in a little shop in downtown Naples and slept at the top of
the stairs in a small room. The next week he got a job waiting tables
in a better restaurant such that he could stay at a nearby farmhouse
with a family who had a spare room. Then one day he ran into Antony,
a 2nd cousin about the same age who was also working to
earn money to sail to America. They pooled their money and rented one
room to save faster. Within a few months they had saved enough for
their fare to America. They didn’t think it necessary to purchase
grand accommodations onboard. As soon as they had enough for the
cheapest fare and a little more to get started in America, they left
on the next ship. Eliseo and Antony did not know how far away America
was or how long it would take to get to New York or what would happen
when they arrived. Antony had a cousin in New York City and Eliseo
had his brother to meet him when he got to Ellis Island. Rumors of
what America was like came from returning travelers who had all sorts
of differing stories, which Eliseo discounted. They were returning
from America or somewhere else.
Off to America
Before they
boarded the ship for New York City, Eliseo mailed a letter to his
brother containing the name of his ship. The letter would probably
sail with them on the same ship. They boarded the ship and found
their small cabin that they would share with eight other people.
Breakfast and dinner were provided by the crew who served it on large
tables in a larger interior cabin of the ship. Breakfast was an egg
at various degrees of boiled hardness, two pieces of bread and
coffee. Dinner was stew with some meat and vegetables.
The last day of
September 1919 was a beautiful end of summer day in Naples. A great
day to embark. By the next evening the ship had sailed to the point
where it was directly between Marsala in Sicily, Cagliari in
Sardinia, and Bizerte in Tunisia. The ship at that position was 100
miles from each city. Each was over the horizon and out of sight. The
Mediterranean is a vast and open sea. Eliseo and Antony were amazed
at the vastness and wondered how the ancients traversed it in small
wooden boats. It would take another four days to reach Gibraltar. The
Rock was clearly visible as was the African city of Puerto de Ceuta,
the furthest southern outcrop of Spain.
After sailing
through the straight they lost sight of the Rock of Gibraltar. Then
leaving behind the last site of land, the city of Tangier in Morocco,
the vast stormy Atlantic opened up. The next two weeks were open
water, rocking seas and seasickness. The last land that was visible
before reaching New York was the Acores Islands. The ship sailed
between Mt Caldaria on the little island of San Petro and Ponta
Delgada on the greater Isle of Saint Miguel. The storms of early
October sent the ship tossing in the North Atlantic for what seemed
like an eternity, actually 18 more days at sea. During that time
Eliseo and Antony were very seasick. A fellow passenger gave them
cigarettes to calm their stomachs. Smoking only made their heads hurt
but after a while the headaches went away, and smoking cigarettes
passed the time. Dying of lung cancer 53 years later was the last
thing on Eliseo’s mind.
Approaching
NYC and the Statue of Liberty
Every morning
Eliseo would come up on deck to see the sun rise over the stern of
the ship. It had been heading east since leaving Gibraltar but on
this morning the sunrise was off the starboard beam, his right as he
looked toward the bow of the ship. It was steaming north, giving him
hope that their journey was coming to an end.
What had started
out as an exciting sea adventure had turned into a sickness drenched,
dirty, exhausting affair. Antony had been sick with a cold for much
of the trip and he was weak and often unable to take care of himself.
Eliseo brought him food and kept him warm by sharing his blanket so
that Antony would have two when it got cold. Sickness was rampant
throughout the passengers and crew.
Finally, the next
daybreak after a particularly bad night with Antony, Eliseo came up
on deck to see in the distance the two sandy beaches separating the
mighty Atlantic from what seemed a safe harbor. These sandy beaches
are Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Breezy Point in Long Island. Eliseo
didn’t know where he was or where he was going next but was
relieved that landing seemed close at hand. Briefly, he had seen the
day before, distant beaches as the ship sailed up the coast of New
Jersey.
Sailing past the
sandy outcroppings on each side, the ship headed straight toward
South Beach on Staten Island then came hard to starboard with Seagate
off the starboard beam. The ship then pointed directly between what
looked like big shoulders of land, those being the Verrazzano Narrows
separating Lower New York Bay from Upper New York Bay. Giovanni da
Verrazzano an Italian explorer followed his compatriot Columbus,
landing on the North American continent’s southeastern shores. He
then sailed northward along the coast, just like Eliseo and Anthony
did, discovering New York’s lower and upper bays, again just like
Eliseo and Anthony. Verrazzano named the narrow entrance to the great
river that Henry Hudson would later name after himself.
Once through the
Narrows the land slipped back and opened to the bustling Upper New
York Bay. Ferryboats and sailing ships and other large ships, garbage
scows and cityscapes on both sides of the Hudson River were visible
with buildings and people. It was a misty, cool morning and there was
so much to look at.
Suddenly, from
out of the mist a gigantic woman dressed in green, bronze robes. It
was the largest thing Eliseo had ever seen. She is mounted on a stone
block pedestal. The woman is lifting a torch in her right hand and
carrying a book in her left. She wore a crown of seven points and
looked down to welcome newcomers. In confusion and gratitude and awe,
Eliseo fell to his knees as he stared at the lady in the harbor. He
heard those on the deck say…
In Italian, “Che
paese e questo! Avere un tale Colosso nel porto accogliere le persone
che vengone a cercare una vita migliore.”
In English, “What
a country this is! To have such a colossus in the harbor to welcome
people who come to seek a better life.”
Scores of other
passengers stood on the deck in stark silent awe at the sight. The
lady in the harbor was silent too but if she could have spoken, she
would say, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside
the golden door!”
What a country
this is.
The lady has many
names. Her official name is “Liberty Enlightening the World”.
Some call her “Lady Liberty”. Eliseo didn’t know any of this.
He just called her “America”.
Steaming past
“America” coming up fast is a small island on which stands a
strange looking building with four domed peak spires. But what is
that just ahead off the starboard bow? What is that great loud noisy
place there. As Governors Island passed there became revealed the
tallest structure in this great city of New York - the Brooklyn
Bridge and its great gothic spires and suspension cables. By then
Antony had come up on deck to see. He and Eliseo had never known such
things could exist and here they were all in one place all at one
time. The Sun was up now, and the mist had burned off on this October
morning a few days before his birthday, October 31, 1918.
Ellis Island
The ship was
coming to dock at the island where the unusual building stood. This
was Ellis Island. There was another ship docked there as well. And
several moored in the harbor. All at once over the loudspeaker, the
order was given to, “gather belongings and line up at the gangplank
to disembark.” People scurried back to their berths as many
languages were spoken on deck. Most people had one or two bags. In
all the excitement Eliseo forgot to eat.
What followed was
a series of lines and waiting. The great room inside the Immigration
Services building was sectioned off by rope lines so that one person
or family could come up to the podium at a time. They were asked
their name, who they were meeting, their country, region, and town of
origin, and how much money they were carrying. The great room was deafeningly loud and chaotic until coming up to the podium. The big
official asked these questions in English as the translator put them
into Italian for Eliseo. Eliseo had the letter from Serafino who was
the person meeting Eliseo. But where would he meet Serafino, and
when?
Most of the
Italians disembarking that day were from Italy south of Naples. Now
Italy had only been unified under one flag since 1861. This period of
unification called Risorgimento, was completed and not to everyone’s
liking, by 1871 - less than 50 years before. When asked about their
country or origin many who lived in the south would state their
closest major city as their country of origin. Bari, Cosenza, Naples,
Foggia, Palermo, Avelino. There was still some animosity between the
peoples of Italy. After all Italy had been living an uneasy peace
between its city-states for centuries. The great cities of northern
Italy, Roma, Venicia, Milano, and Florenzi, looked down on the poor
peasants of southern Italy.
Antony’s Bad
News
After the
interrogation by the customs official Eliseo and Antony were taken to
the infirmary for a medical checkup. Eliseo had a cold but was almost
completely over it. Antony had a more serious illness. It could have
been smallpox or measles or chicken pox. Eliseo and Antony didn’t
know but the USA had a strict prohibition on allowing immigrants into
the country with certain diseases. After some discussion by the
authorities, it was decided that Antony would have to go back. The
two were separated and would only see each other again through glass
windowed doors after that. They got a chance to say goodbye before
the ship taking Antony back to Italy, sailed. This was a harsh
reality that was irrevocable. Eliseo wrote down the return address on
Serafino’s letter and told Anthony to write when he got back to
Italy.
The ship sailed
the next day for Argentina. The shipping line departs Naples for New
York then to Buenos Aires before heading back to Naples. It was the
shipping line’s responsibility to bring immigrants back if US
Customs denied any passenger entry. By the time the ship had reached
Buenos Aires Antony was in good health and decided with some
encouragement by the shipping lines, to disembark there and make his
life in Argentina. The two men would see each other again 45 years
later when Antony came to our home in Belleville.
Eliseo was now
alone, with only the clothes on his back, a change of clothes, and
his letter from Serafino, which was his only link to America and his
family. No word came from Serafino to Ellis Island for Eliseo. He
wondered how and if he would ever find Serafino from this island of
Ellis.
Waiting For
Serafino
After a couple of
weeks on Ellis Island, as November started to bring on winter, Eliseo
was told each morning to board a small boat that would take him to
the harbor in Jersey City. Eliseo didn’t want to go to Jersey City.
He wanted to go to Orange, NJ where his brother lived. Confused, he
got on the boat each day and was delivered to a small outside waiting
area at the Jersey City docks, not far from where the boat let him
off. He was directed to sit on a set of benches and wait there with
other immigrants in a fenced-in area.
November days are
clear and chilly, and Eliseo didn’t have a warm coat. The
immigrants all sat together to keep warm as they watched hundreds of
commuters scurrying around where the immigrants were fenced in. They
came out of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal and walked
over to waiting ferries to take them to New York City’s lower Manhattan. Eliseo knew that they were arriving at the big terminal on
train cars because he could hear the trains. He could see through the
terminal’s open facing doors that scores of locomotives were
arriving every few minutes. Ferries went back and forth to New York
every few minutes. Trains arrived every few minutes. Hundreds and
hundreds of people streamed into New York City. People from New
Jersey had to come by train and then traveled by boat to Manhattan
every day. What was going on over there?
On the third day
sitting on the cold bench on the dock in Jersey City, a few minutes
before 6:00 pm, just before boarding the boat back to Ellis Island,
Eliseo heard his name called by a familiar voice. It was Serafino! He
had just gotten off the train from Orange, New Jersey for the third
time that week. He had been following the schedule of the ship and
knew approximately when Eliseo would be sitting on that same bench
where he disembarked a few years before.
Big smiles. Warm
embraces followed by a rebuke by Serafino as to why it took Eliseo so
long to arrive. Eliseo complained back to Serafino simply in
self-defense as they ran for the train back to Orange New Jersey and
Eliseo’s new home.
Barbara continues the story...
The Story of Mary
While Eliseo was growing up in Italy, Mary Crecco was already in America, but life was not easy for her either. The middle child of three daughters, Mary's mother and father died was she was a child. Her and her younger sister Anna were moved to a orphanage. Her older sister Jenny was already married with children and she could not afford to take her sisters in until they were old enough to work. Mary and Anna struggled in the orphanage but stayed close together to protect and encourage each other. Once they were old enough to move in with Jenny and her husband Carl, they went right to work, also using their sewing skills. Life was hard. Jenny would often buy bones from the nearby butcher to supplement the meals made from the backyard garden.
Once she was of age, Mary and Eliseo were matched up by family friends and married. They continued to live in the house with Jenny in a top floor apartment. The house was heated by coal and since Eliseo was out for long days working, Mary was left to do all the other chores, including carrying the buckets full of coal from the basement to their apartment. Louise was her only child and she would tell us of her hands being lined with coal dust she could never wash out. Louise would become close to Jenny's daughters, Marge, Connie and Anita.
Eventually Eliseo was able to go into business on his own and they moved to an apartment in Belleville. Since Louise was older, Mary would work with Eliseo, coming home to cook him dinner and then return to work. Louise was often alone.
When Louise and Gabe married and had their first child (that was me, Barbara), Louise had injured her arm and was unable to care for her. Mary came over and fed the baby and helped care for her while Louise recovered. After that, she would regularly visit, to help Louise with her children and darn Gabe's socks. She loved to play school with her grandchildren. My clearest memory of her was playing school and one time when I slept over her apartment.
Louise's description of her was "she worked so hard all her life," "she
was so good" and "she never got a chance to enjoy herself but she was
the happiest when she was with her grandchildren!" Sadly she died too soon at the age of 60.
